Latest news about BBC Radio 5 Live

Festive Highlights for 2018 on BBC Radio

BBC Radio has today announced its on-air highlights for the festive period. Bob Shennan, BBC Director of Radio & Music, says: “This Christmas BBC Radio will offer an unrivalled collection of programmes featuring the finest DJs, musicians and actors. Across our stations, teams have curated brilliant schedules with world-class talent - all of which are available on BBC Sounds.”

RAJAR Q3 2018: London and national brands update

Nick Grimshaw left the BBC Radio 1 Breakfast Show with half a million more listeners than a year ago – handing them to Greg James who took over the show halfway through the last quarter. The show now attracts 5.75m listeners (Mon – Fri) and is up 465,000 Year on Year. In London, Capital is back on top with almost 2,100,000 listeners according to Reach in the London commercial radio battle, as Kiss slips back under the 2m listener mark (1,958,000). Magic is in third place (1.5m) whilst Heart comes in 4th (1.4m). But BBC Radio 4 continues to lead the London Reach with 2.4m listeners.

Audio and Radio Industry Awards 2018 – winners

Podcasters, local radio and the independent sector challenged the big networked radio groups at this year’s Audio & Radio Industry Awards, picking up some of the evening’s biggest awards. The ceremony at the first direct Arena in Leeds saw podcasters picking up three of the big awards on the night, with Best New Show going to You, Me & the Big C; Best Specialist Music Show was won by Edith Bowman with her podcast, Soundtracking and Best Sports Show was...

RAJAR Q2 2018: London and national brands update

Kiss has taken over from Capital as the biggest commercial radio station in London in the latest Q2/2018 RAJAR listening figures. Capital’s audience in the capital is down 10.8% year on year to 2.063m, while Kiss has had a great quarter, hitting 2.087m weekly listeners – 24,000 more than its rival. In third place is Magic (1.667m), which leapfrogs rival Heart this quarter (1.404m). LBC is in fifth on reach with 1.280m listeners in the capital (down 9.3% year on year).

Record online figures for BBC Radio 5 Live sport

A record number of people have listened to 5 live’s podcasts and the station has seen a surge in online listening since the start of the World Cup in June. Last month there were more than six million downloads of station podcasts – a record monthly figure for the station. That includes more than two million downloads of the World Cup Daily podcast in June alone.

TV’s Laura Whitmore ventures into radio with new show on BBC Radio 5 live

Laura Whitmore starts a new show on BBC Radio 5 live from Sunday 22 July at 11am. TV presenter and broadcaster Laura Whitmore is to host her first ever radio show, with a live one hour Sunday morning slot on BBC Radio 5 live this summer.

Word Cup Winners: 5 live surges as England succeeds

BBC Radio 5 live has emerged as one of the winners of the World Cup as listeners have switched to the station for the latest from Russia 2018. A record number of people have listened to 5 live’s podcasts and the station has seen a surge in online listening since the tournament started in June.

Radio is the perfect Number 10: The Three Lions assist machine

England’s fine form in Russia has undoubtedly lifted the mood of the nation. As we cheer the players on in the searing heat, we’ve never felt more connected to the national team. Nothing taps into the spirit of the nation quite like a world cup… Well, except for radio.

Radio scores as fans enjoy World Cup ‘feelgood factor’

With England’s World Cup opening game becoming the most-watched programme of the year so far, radio coverage seems on course to hit new heights too. BBC Radio 5 Live and TalkSport are both broadcasting all the tournament’s games and, although figures are not yet out, report that listeners have been engaging more than ever with their shows.

2018 New York Radio Festivals winners announced

Two of the five top ‘Grand Awards’ of the New York International Radio Festivals have gone to the UK this year, thanks to the BBC and TBI Media. The BBC won in the Best Digital Special Event category for putting on BBC Radio 1 Vintage for the station’s 50th birthday last year, whilst TBI Media took home the prize for its Born This Way documentary made for BBC Radio 2.