Radio News

Changes for BBC Radio 1 weekend breakfast show

Matt Edmondson and Mollie King are taking over the BBC Radio 1 weekend breakfast show, swapping with Dev Griffin and Alice Levine. Dev and Alice will move to the weekend (Friday to Sunday) afternoon slot from Friday 16th November, and Dev will continue to cover The 8th till the end of the year. Mollie become a permanent member of the Radio 1 family in June when she co-hosted the 1-4pm slot with Matt as part of the new weekend schedule.

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.

RAJAR Q3 2018: Regional and local radio round-up

Manchester is once again our focus on the local radio round-up, where the station previously known as Key 103 has lost more listeners. Hits Radio (Manchester) is reporting 325,000 weekly reach, compared with 374,000 last quarter. This is half the amount of listeners it had four years ago. Newly rebranded Key Radio (previously Key 2) has 53,000 listeners compared with 81,000 three months ago. Hits Radio’s Market Share has dropped from 5.2% to 3.9% and hours are down by 561,000 in three months.

All-female radio station called JACK launching today

The latest JACK-branded radio station will play 100% female artists when it launches in the UK at midday today. JACK Radio – a brand extension from the Oxford station JACK fm and national UK station Union JACK – will take the Jack 3 slot on SDL. In 2017, the team behind JACK in the UK, Oxis Media, said a new “Jack with a twist...

Three cities to get the new Hits Live concert

Events previously known as Radio City Live and Free Radio Live will be known as Hits Live, promoted by Key 103 replacement Hits Radio. Hits Live will take place in Liverpool with Radio City, Birmingham with Free Radio and in Manchester with Hits Radio. Acts lined up includes Little Mix, George Ezra, Olly Murs, Ellie Goulding and Cheryl.

Charlie Sloth leaves the BBC early after stage rant

Charlie Sloth will not be returning to BBC Radio 1 after his outburst at the Audio and Production Awards on Thursday night. The BBC has confirmed to RadioToday that the Rap Show host will not be presenting any further editions of that show on 1Xtra, or his nightly edition of “The 8th” on Radio 1. His last shows were planned for Thursday 1 November (The 8th) and Saturday 3 November (Rap Show).

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...

Vijay Sharma gets Radio Academy Fellowship

Vijay Sharma, former head of BBC Asian Network, was presented with The Radio Academy’s Fellowship award at the Segue radio event in Leeds. Presented by Owen Bentley, one of the original founders of The Asian Network, the Fellowship is The Radio Academy’s highest honour for an individual’s dedication and contribution to the world of radio and broadcasting.

UK stations line-up for International Radio Festival

BBC Radio 1, BBC 1Xtra, Jazz FM, MiSoul, Fun Kids, United DJs, Hits Radio and Flex FM are just some of the radio stations taking part in the International Radio Festival in Malta this year. They’ll be broadcasting live from the Piazza D’Armi in Valletta, reaching over 100 million potential listeners around the globe. Now in its 9th year, this international broadcasting event represents the first and only global conference...