Radio News

BBC exec announces ‘ambitious plans’ for Radio 3

The BBC’s Director of Radio and Education, James Purnell, has announced what he called ‘ambitious plans’ for Radio 3 to help audiences develop a lifelong love of classical music. Speaking at the Association of British Orchestras (ABO) Conference in Manchester, he announced a collaboration with Sport Relief and a showcase of female creativity. “Beat Beethoven’ will see the composer’s music taken out of the concert hall and onto the running track, while “Seven Ages of Woman’ to mark International Women’s Day will see the world premiere broadcasts of work from seven composers, specially commissioned for Radio 3...

Manveen Rana joins The Times for daily podcast

BBC Radio 4 Today reporter and BBC News journalist Manveen Rana is joining The Times and Sunday Times to host a new daily podcast. News UK and Wireless Studios are working together on the new show, called The Stories of Our Times, which will be available each weekday at 6am. Times columnist David Aaronovitch will also be hosting the podcast once a week. Rana is joining from the BBC where she is an investigative reporter for Radio 4’s Today programme and BBC News, including Panorama and the News at Ten...

KISS and Radio 1 team up for the Young Audio Awards

Presenters Matt Edmondson and Mollie King from BBC Radio 1 and KISS FM’s Swarzy and Tyler West are joining forces for the Young Audio Awards 2020. The national presenters are ambassadors for the event which takes place on March 17th in London. There’s just one week left to submit entries for the competition, which celebrates radio and audio created by under-18s and school radio stations. KISS FM’s Swarzy, who presented an award last year, said: “I am so excited to be returning to the Young Audio Awards, this year as an Ambassador, after the thrill of 2019’s event where I got to meet so many talented future stars.”...

BBC Radio 1 chooses Dundee for Big Weekend 2020

Greg James has announced on Breakfast that Dundee is the location for BBC Radio 1’s Big Weekend this year. Harry Styles, Camila Cabello and Dua Lipa are among the first acts named on the bill at the event, happening Friday 22nd to Sunday 24th May. Greg James says: “Radio 1 is nothing without its listeners. We rely on them getting involved in every show so to repay them for this, we love putting on a massive festival with our favourite artists – and this year we’ve got a brilliant opportunity to shout about our Scottish listeners and demonstrate how much we love them...

Guests take over the shows at BBC Radio Nottingham

A former England cricketer, a soap star, a YouTuber, and a singer will guest present on BBC Radio Nottingham throughout February. Regular mid-morning presenter Mark Dennison is taking the month off so the station has brought in a host of local stars to cover his break including former Strictly contestant and cricketer Graeme Swann and blogger Ladbaby (aka Mark Hoyle). They will host the show for a week each every weekday from 9am to midday. February begins with singer Harleighblu who has supported Rag’n’Bone Man on tour. She will cover from 3rd to the 7th February...

Eamonn Holmes replaced by Dan Wootton on talkRADIO

The Sun’s Executive Editor Dan Wootton is to replace Eamonn Holmes on talkRADIO Drive from February 2020. Dan has hosted a weekly weekend show on the digital station since March 2018, and more recently Friday Drive, but will now be promoted to a full-time show, whilst continuing his work on the newspaper. Wireless CEO Scott Taunton said: “I’m absolutely thrilled that he has committed to expanding his contribution to talkRADIO, bringing his insider take on the day’s news and the best guests from his bulging contacts book, as the station continues to drive record growth...

Team announced for Six Nations on BBC Radio 5 Live

The BBC has announced details of its coverage for the Six Nations 2020 which includes live commentary of every home nation’s game on the radio. And for 2020, there’s a new Women’s Rugby edition of Rugby Union Weekly hosted by Sara Orchard and Philippa Tuttiett alongside the return of Rugby Union Weekly podcast with Ugo Monye, Chris Jones, Danny Care and Chris Ashton. Every home nation’s men’s game will be broadcast live on BBC Radio 5 Live or 5 Live Sports Extra throughout the competition. Live commentary of every England Women’s game will be broadcast on 5 Live Sports Extra or online, with highlights on the BBC Sport website...

Brexitcast to end as UK departs EU this month

BBC political podcast Brexitcast is to finish later this month after two and a half years, RadioToday understands. Formed following the 2017 election on the back of the success of ‘Electioncast’, hosts Adam Fleming and Chris Mason were subsequently joined by the BBC’s political editor Laura Kuenssberg and Europe editor Katya Adler. As well as weekly episodes of the podcast, there have been ’emergency Brexitcasts’ to cover the Brexit story from Westminster and Brussels. In total more than 150 episodes have been recorded, with many also airing on BBC Radio 5 Live...

Radio City’s Dave Kelly to leave Breakfast Show

Breakfast Show co-host Dave Kelly is leaving Radio City in March to take up a full-time live show on X1071 in the Cayman Islands. Co-host Leanne Campbell is staying with the station and has just signed on for another two years at Breakfast. Dave moved to Liverpool in 2011 to be the host of Radio City’s Drive show before moving to co-host the breakfast show with Leanne in 2014. He has been hosting a daily pre-recorded show on X1071 for the last eight years and also hosts programmes on Z953 in Vancouver and Radio Essex. Dave also produces The Hix Mix, a syndicated show available for radio stations to air...

Bauer’s Cash for Kids raised £20.9 million in 2019

Cash for Kids, Bauer Media’s dedicated charity network, has announced that £20.9 million was raised in 2019 to help disadvantaged children. Over 1 million sick and underprivileged children benefited from Cash For Kids’ campaigning, thanks to generous donations from the British public. Cash For Kids runs a number of initiatives throughout the year which is driven by Bauer brands including the Hits Radio Network, Absolute Radio, Magic Radio, Take a Break, That’s Life, Grazia, Closer and Total TV Guide...