Radio News

Magic Radio has flipped to 100% Christmas music

Ronan Keating and Harriet Scott were joined by Dolly Parton on Magic Breakfast Wednesday morning to help flip the station to a Christmas playlist. The 100% Christmas tunes will last till December 27th, and is the 3rd year in a row the station has dropped its usual playlist in favor of a festive one. Dolly played the first Christmas song along with a selection of songs from her new album, ‘A Holly Dolly Christmas’. Speaking about the launch of 100% Christmas on Magic, Content Director Tony Moorey told RadioToday: “Like our listeners, we are simply huge fans of Christmas at Magic Radio, and having seen the need for some more cheer this year we thought it only right to flip our playlist once again...

Claudia Winkleman to take over Radio 2 Saturday morning show

BBC Radio 2 has announced Claudia Winkleman as Graham Norton’s replacement on Saturday mornings from next February. Graham will leave the station at Christmas to join Virgin Radio UK for weekend mornings. The BBC says Claudia’s Saturday 10am-1pm show will ‘welcome some of the world’s most popular stars to Wogan House for a chat against a backdrop of a brilliant mix of music and musings of the day’. Claudia says: “I’m not often speechless but the chance to be with the wonderful Radio 2 listeners every Saturday has left me, quite frankly, gobsmacked. I hope my voice comes back in time for the first show as I can no longer simply rely on a fake tan and a fringe. There’s nobody I’d rather be with at the weekend, it’s a privilege and an honour.”...

You are invited to Absolute Radio’s Christmas Party

Absolute Radio has announced it is creating the UK’s first virtual office Christmas party, and anybody is invited to join in. Bastille and Blossoms will be the headline performers in the day-long event which is happening on-air on Friday 4th December. Bastille will be performing live tracks and chatting to Dave Berry on the Absolute Radio Breakfast show while Blossoms will be joining Andy Bush and Richie Firth for Hometime. To bring the Office Christmas party to a close, the station is working with KISS FM stablemates the Dixon Brothers who will be doing a special Absolute 80s mix from 7pm...

Jazz FM introduces Space Is The Place drama

As part of its 30th anniversary season of programmes, Jazz FM is set to broadcast a new series of specially commissioned dramas in the run up to Christmas. Based on five pivotal moments in the lives of some of the station’s artists, “Space Is The Place” will broadcast each evening in Dinner Jazz with an omnibus edition on Saturday evenings. The stories will feature moments in the lives of jazz titans Miles Davis, Nina Simone, Louis Armstrong and the man whose album and film ‘Space Is The Place’ lends its name to this series, Sun Ra. The first series of stories are from the ‘first lady of song’ who launched Jazz FM in 1990 – Ella Fitzgerald...

Chris Evans turns on the Christmas lights in Marlow

Chris Evans has turned on the Christmas lights in Marlow, Buckinghamshire, in the middle of the night as a surprise for residents. The Virgin Radio breakfast show presenter stopped by with his son Noah on his way to his radio show to perform the act without a crowd.

talkSPORT secures England cricket exclusive

talkSPORT will be the exclusive radio broadcaster for England’s tour of South Africa starting this month, with every ball of every game live on talkSPORT 2. The broadcasting team includes talkSPORT cricket regulars, Mark Butcher, Steve Harmison, Gareth Batty, Alex Tudor, Neil Manthorp, Jarrod Kimber and Andrew McKenna, plus England bowler Kate Cross and former South African players Shaun Pollock, Dane Vilas and Alfonso Thomas join the team for the series. talkSPORT Drive presenter and former England star Darren Gough will continue to present the Drive show whilst making contributions and providing analysis of the series, with the stats once again powered by CricViz...

Graham Norton joins Virgin Radio UK for weekends

After news of his departure from Radio 2, Wireless has confirmed the signing of Graham Norton to do Saturday and Sunday shows for Virgin Radio. His new programmes will launch in the New Year and Graham will continue to present his Friday night chat show on BBC 1. During his appearance on Chris Evans’ Virgin Radio breakfast show on 30th September, Graham had commented on how nice the studios were and how close they were to his home in Wapping. Evans went on to spend a large part of the hour-long interview trying to convince Graham to join Virgin. Listen to the audio below…

BBC Radio 3 presents the first broadcast of Max Richter’s Voices on Global Human Rights Day

Bringing together 35 radio stations across the world BBC Radio 3, Thursday 10 December, 7.30pm. BBC Radio 3 marks Global Human Rights Day with the first ever broadcast of Max Richter’s Voices, incorporating text adapted from the 1948 Universal Declaration Of Human Rights. 35 European Broadcasting Union radio stations in Europe and beyond to join the broadcast, sharing a message of unity through music with international audiences across the globe. The performance features Max Richter and his ensemble, conductor Robert Ziegler, solo violinist Viktoria Mullova, soprano Grace Davidson, Tenebrae, and actor Sheila Atim as the narrator...

The Lockdown Awards are heading to BBC Radio 1

BBC Radio 1 will host The Lockdown Awards to celebrate some of the most weird and wonderful moments of 2020. Greg James will dedicate his breakfast show on Thursday 26 November to the event, taking a look back at some of his favourite moments from the past twelve months, handpicking the nominees and eventual winners himself across a series of categories, including Favourite Live Performance, Biggest Zoom Fail and Fitness Inspiration of the Year. The Lockdown Awards will also feature live music highlights from over the years at Radio 1’s Teen Awards, including from One Direction, Little Mix and Camila Cabello...

BBC Radio 2 record star-studded official charity single to support BBC Children in Need’s 2020 Appeal, featuring Cher, Kylie Minogue, Gregory Porter and many more

To support BBC Children in Need this year, iconic artists from across the world have collaborated on a cover of Stop Crying Your Heart Out by Oasis, to help raise vital funds for the charity. Today (Tuesday 10 November), BBC Radio 2 announced that they are bringing together some of the most iconic artists from around the world for this year’s official BBC Children in Need single – Stop Crying Your Heart Out (BBC Radio 2 Allstars). The charity single, available for pre-order now, will be released by Decca Records on the day of the charity’s fundraising spectacular, Friday 13 November, and will see some of the music industry’s biggest stars...