Latest news about Classic FM

The Prince of Wales to host Classic FM shows

Classic FM is to broadcast two special programmes with His Royal Highness The Prince of Wales next week. Both two-hour programmes will be a celebration of His Royal Highness’s life-long support and enjoyment of classical music – with each piece personally chosen by him through recordings made by his extensive musical patronages across the UK. These include the Philharmonia Orchestra, Scottish Chamber Orchestra, the Monteverdi and Bach Choirs, the Orchestra of the Royal Opera House and Welsh National Opera Orchestra. Classic FM presenter Alan Titchmarsh will join His Royal Highness for the first programme, on Monday 25th May at 8pm...

RAJAR Q1 2020: London and national brands roundup

BBC Radio 2 has lost almost a million listeners in the last year, according to the Q1/2020 audience research from RAJAR. The reach of the UK’s biggest radio station fell from 15.356m at the start of 2019 to 14.362m over the first three months of this year. The two biggest commercial radio networks – Heart and Capital – both lost significant reach over the 12 months too. The Heart network lost 787,000 listeners to leave a reach of 7.737m, while Capital dropped 815,000 to 6.386m. When you add in the other Heart and Capital branded stations – 70s, 80s, 90s, Dance, Xtra and Xtra Reloaded – the Heart brand reaches 9.365m and the Capital brand 7.502m...

Global radio stations join in with mass applause

LBC, Heart, Capital, Capital XTRA, Smooth, Classic FM, Radio X and Gold will pause for a mass applause to thank NHS workers this week. All the Global stations will join the show of appreciation at 8pm on Thursday 26th March, encouraging people up and down the country to stand and clap at their windows, front doors, balconies and in their living rooms. The call-to-action, which will amplify the sentiment of the online ‘Clap for our Carers’ campaign, was launched this morning at 0815 on-air...

Global’s Classic FM Live event won’t go ahead

Global says its Classic FM Live event at the Royal Albert Hall on Monday 18th May won’t now go ahead. This follows the government’s advice regarding mass gatherings because of the developing coronavirus outbreak, together with the uncertainty surrounding live events and the Royal Albert Hall’s closure period. The sold-out concert was to be in celebration of the 20th anniversary of ‘Classic FM Live’...

RAJAR Q4 2019: London and national brands round-up

Coverage of the general election helped 5 Live, Radio 4 and LBC each add half a million listeners across 2019. 5 Live is up from 4.9m to 5.4m in the Q4/2019 RAJAR listening figures, while Radio 4 has added a similar amount, rising from 10.4m a year ago to 10.9m now. LBC, including new digital station LBC News, posts a record high of 2.7m listeners (up more than half a million year on year), while talkRADIO is up more than 40% from 12 months ago to now have 433,000 listeners a week – another record high for the Wireless station...

John Humphrys joins Classic FM on a permanent basis

Classic FM’s new Sunday schedule for 2020 includes former BBC Radio 4 host John Humphrys presenting a weekly programme and the end of the Classic FM Chart. From 5th January, John Humphrys will be on-air each Sunday from 3pm to 5pm sharing his own stories and reflections on his favourite composers and their music. Charlotte Hawkins, who currently hosts that slot, will present a new Sunday night edition of Smooth Classics at Seven, keeping her Young Classical Star feature but in a new time slot...

£850,000 raised at Global’s Make Some Noise gala

A number of presenters from Global’s radio brands hosted the Make Some Noise annual charity gala at London’s Finsbury Square on Monday. The event raised £850,000 for charity, as music artists including Robbie Williams, Tom Walker and Freya Ridings took to the stage to perform live in front of almost 500 special guests. Global united all its radio brands for the event – Heart, Capital, Smooth, Classic FM, LBC, Radio X, Capital XTRA and Gold – to help children and young people living with illness, disability or lack of opportunity.

RAJAR Q3 2019: London and national brands round-up

Zoe Ball has lost another 364,000 listeners to her BBC Radio 2 breakfast show in the latest radio listening figures from RAJAR. It means more than a million weekly listeners have switched off since she took over the breakfast show from Chris Evans in January. In the period 24th June to 15th September 2019 (Q3/2019), Radio 2 breakfast had a weekly reach of 7.902m – that’s down from 8.266m in Q2 and 9.047m in Q1.While Zoe is still the presenter of the UK’s biggest breakfast show, the figures are the lowest for the slot in a decade – since...

John Humphrys joins Global to cover Classic FM Breakfast

Former BBC Radio 4 presenter John Humphrys is joining Global after over 30 years at the BBC. He will host Classic FM’s More Music Breakfast from Monday 28th October to Friday 1st November inclusive from 6am to 9am, as he stands in for regular presenter Tim Lihoreau. Moira Stuart, who presents the breakfast news bulletins, will also be with him for the week. John Humphrys said: “I’m struggling to think of a greater contrast with my old job: the bliss of Beethoven and Brahms instead of Brexit and backstops! Maybe there really is another world out there!”

Pet Sounds radio show returns to Classic FM to help cats and dogs

Classic FM is partnering with the RSPCA next month to broadcast two special programmes to help keep anxious pets – and their owners – calm and relaxed this fireworks season. Pet Sounds, hosted by Classic FM’s weekend presenter and dog-lover Bill Turnbull, will be broadcast on Saturday 2nd November, with a second programme on Guy Fawkes Night itself, Tuesday 5th November. They follow Classic FM’s inaugural Pet Sounds programme last November, which saw digital listening hours on the day increase by almost 70% compared to the rest of the month...