Latest news about BBC Radio 4

BBC Radio 5 Live appoints Heidi Dawson as Controller

Heidi Dawson has been appointed as the new Controller of BBC Radio 5 Live and 5 Live Sports Extra. Heidi is currently Managing Editor of BBC Radio 5 Live and becomes Controller with immediate effect. She succeeds Jonathan Wall who was appointed as Controller of BBC Sounds in July 2019. Heidi started her career in local radio at BBC Radio Solent before working as a journalist on BBC Radio 4’s World At One and PM. She moved to BBC Radio 5 Live in 2001 as a Breakfast show producer; she has produced and edited most...

Bob Harris returns to BBC Radio 2 Country Show

Bob Harris will be back on BBC Radio 2 to host his country show from September 19th 2019. He announced in June that he’d be taking a few weeks off to recover from an aortic dissection, and a number of people have been covering the show ever since. In his first show back, he will be joined in session by guitarist and singer Molly Tuttle, who Bob hails as “one of the greatest performers in the world at this moment.” Bob Harris said: “I am so happy to be returning to Radio 2. Following my aortic dissection at the beginning of the summer the past few months have been amongst the toughest of my life, but I am now fit again and raring to go.

The Sound Odyssey with Gemma Cairney returns to BBC Radio 4

Loyle Carner, Kate Stables of This is the Kit, Nubya Garcia and Roxanne Tataei feature in the second series of BBC Radio 4’s The Sound Odyssey. TV and radio presenter, Gemma Cairney, will once again accompany four contemporary musicians to locations across the world as they collaborate with local artists; creating a new piece of music especially for the programme. Gemma Cairney says: “Making The Sound Odyssey, I’m left ever inspired by the beautiful human connection created through music...

Record listening figures for Greg James and Dotty on Radio 1 and Radio 1Xtra

Latest Rajar data (Q2 2019, 1 April - 23 June 2019) shows Radio 1 and Radio 1Xtra have drawn in more listeners each week. BBC Radio 1 had a weekly reach of 10.56 million listeners aged 10+, an increase from 10.18m last quarter and 10.25m last year. BBC Radio 1Xtra also saw increases this quarter, with 1.17 million weekly listeners (10+) up on 1.13m last quarter and 1.11m last year. Highest number of listeners for Radio 1 Breakfast with Greg James as he adds a quarter of a million new listeners since he started last year...

RAJAR Q2 2019: London and national brands round-up

Zoe Ball has lost more than three quarters of a million listeners to her BBC Radio 2 breakfast show, according to the latest audience research from RAJAR. The show’s reach is down 781,000 quarter-on-quarter to 8.266m for the three months survey period up to the 23rd June 2019. In Q1/19 she had 9.047m listeners; in Q2/2018 Chris Evans reached 9.038m. Radio 2’s audience at breakfast is now the lowest its been since Q3/2010, when Evans was fairly new in the job.

Nadiya Hussain, Dany Cotton, Harriet Wistrich, Amika George and Cressida Cowell to takeover BBC Radio 4’s Woman’s Hour

BBC Radio 4’s Woman’s Hour Takeover returns, where five incredible women each choose the content for one edition of Woman’s Hour from 22-26 July 2019. The line-up across the week is cook, author and television presenter Nadiya Hussain; retiring Commissioner of the London Fire Brigade, Dany Cotton; activist Amika George; the lawyer who represented victims of the ‘black cab rapist’ John Worboys and founder of The Centre of Women’s Justice, Harriet Wistrich; and Children’s Laureate and author of the How to Train Your Dragon series, Cressida Cowell...

Kirsty Young steps down from Desert Island Discs

Kirsty Young is leaving BBC Radio 4’s Desert Island Discs after 12 years as host. Since 2006, Kirsty has presented 496 episodes of the programme as well as fronting the programme’s 70th and 75th anniversary celebrations. Lauren Laverne, who has been hosting the show in recent months, will continue to host Desert Island Discs for the foreseeable future as planned. Kirsty Young said: “After 12 incredibly happy and fulfilling years on Desert Island Discs I’ve decided to step down permanently.

Zoe Ball joins top earners list at the BBC

New BBC Radio 2 breakfast show host Zoe Ball has joined the BBC big earners top 10 list whilst Jeremy Vine took at £110k pay cut. Vanessa Feltz also makes it inside the top 10 list, which this year includes three women for the first time, along with Claudia Winkleman. Chris Evans is still in the list, as it covers the period from April 2018 to March 2019, so will only represent nine months of work. He got £1.25m for 150 editions of the Breakfast Show (or £8.3k per programme).

Charlie Higson joins Scala Radio for new series

Actor, comedian, author and former singer Charlie Higson is to host a new series entitled ‘The Playlists’ on Scala Radio. Known widely as one the creators, writers and actors of The Fast Show, Charlie co-produced BBC Radio 4’s spoof series Down the Line, has also appeared in ITV’s Broadchurch, and in the 1980s featured in band, The Higsons. For his new five-part series, Charlie will be sharing samples of curated classical music playlists that have helped him find the right words and set the atmosphere for writing over the years.

6 Music’s Lauren Laverne named Radio Broadcaster of the Year

Lauren Laverne has been named Radio Broadcaster of the Year at the 45th Broadcasting Press Guild Awards. The national breakfast presenter was honoured for her work on BBC Radio 6 Music as well as Desert Island Discs and Late Night Woman’s Hour, both on BBC Radio 4. The chair of the BPG radio jury, Julian Clover, said: “Our winner moves seamlessly between speech and music radio"...