Latest news about BBC Radio 6 Music

All the new radio shows starting in January 2019

Radio was alive and well in 2018 with numerous announcements on major changes to schedules, breakfast shows and more. Most of the news towards the end of the year revealed changes from January, so in case you’ve lost track, here’s the RadioToday guide to what’s new in 2019. January 2nd: Tom and Daisy start the new KISS FM UK Breakfast Show, whilst Neev returns to KISS mid-mornings, replacing Pandora...

6 Music Recommends: Albums of the Year 2018 revealed

IDLES’ album, Joy as an Act of Resistance has topped the list of 6 Music Recommends: Albums of the Year, as announced on Shaun Keaveny’s BBC Radio 6 Music Breakfast Show this morning. The station’s 21 presenters selected their top 2018 album choices which were collated to create a final Top 10. The list represents the wealth of music that can be found on BBC Radio 6 Music from an eclectic range of artists and genres.

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: Record share of 52.4% for digital radio

Digital listening share has remained above the important halfway mark and increased from 48.8% to 52.4% in the last 12 months. Total digital listening hours grew by 5.4% year on year, or 27.5 million hours. DAB listening in cars accounted for 11 million hours (or 40%) of all digital listening growth, while listening in home via online/Apps accounted for 13.5 million hours (or 49%) of all digital listening growth.

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.

After Chris Evans ... why women are leading the race for the breakfast slot

As the longtime presenter vacates his breakfast slot, five of the six favourites to take over his popular show are women. So what has prompted this cultural shift in a schedule that has been dominated by men for years? On Monday morning, on his Radio 2 breakfast show, Chris Evans surprised many by announcing that he would be leaving at Christmas. “Some of us are mountain climbers,” he said. “But if you get to the top of your favourite mountain and stay there, you become an observer.”

Laverne to replace Keaveny on 6 Music Breakfast

Big changes at 6 Music have been announced to staff this morning, with Lauren Laverne set to take over the breakfast show from Shaun Keaveny. The former Radio 1 and Xfm presenter has been hosting mid-mornings since 2009 and will move shows early in the new year.

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).

Kylie Minogue leads BBC Music Day celebrations

Kylie Minogue is headlining the promotion of BBC Music Day 2018, which will be heard across BBC Radio on Friday 28th September. Gareth Malone and Jarvis Cocker are also amongst the famous names taking part in the event, featured on Radio 1, Radio 2, Radio 3, Radio 4, 6 Music and local and regional stations. Kylie has recorded some music-related messages that will be played out at major rail stations on that day and...

Lauren Laverne to broadcast from Sage Gateshead

Lauren Laverne will broadcast her BBC Radio 6 Music show live from Sage Gateshead next weekend as part of the Great Exhibition of the North. Lauren’s show will feature Leeds DJ Nightmares on Wax, who will take charge of the tunes for regular Friday feature Desert Island Disco.