Radio News

Jimmy and Summaya pair up for BBC Radio Leicester Drive

Jimmy Carpenter and Summaya Mughal are joining up to present a brand new Drive show together on BBC Radio Leicester from Monday 16 September. Summaya won a talent search competition at BBC Radio Nottingham last year to host evening shows whilst Jimmy moves over from hosting the afternoon show on BBC Radio Leicester. In the first week they will be working towards giving someone the #BestCommuteHomeEver on Friday, with an open-top bus tour of the city.

US radio exec Caroline Beasley lined up for Drive to Digital

CEO of the Beasley Broadcast Group, Caroline Beasley, is lined up to speak at this year’s Drive to Digital event. Caroline most recently served as Joint Board Chair of the National Association of Broadcasters and was honored as US Radio Executive of the Year in 2017. Beasley Broadcast Group owns and runs 64 radio station in 15 markets across the US. In addition, Kevin Nolan, Vice-President, UX Innovation Practice at Strategy Analytics; Kurt Dusterhoff, Senior Specialist at SBD Automotive; and Joe D’Angelo, Vice-President: Broadcast at Xperi, will share their insights on...

Overnight changes at talkRADIO and talkSPORT

There’s a new addition to the talkRADIO weeknight schedule as Darryl Morris takes over from Paul Ross, who moves to talkSPORT. Darryl joins talkRADIO full time to host 1am till 5am, whilst Paul Ross now hosts the same slot on its sister station. In addition, Paul Coyte is launching an early sports breakfast show at 5am across the talkSPORT network. “I can’t begin to tell you how excited I am to do this every day. I’m going to jump in with both feet and see what adventures await,” Darryl posted on social media.

Union JACK introduces live breakfast radio show with Adam English

Union JACK is launching a live breakfast show each weekday morning with Student Radio Awards winner Adam English. The station says Adam will be the youngest national breakfast show host in the UK, and The Full English will be the first live show on the station since it launched in 2016. Adam was awarded the Best Male winner at the Student Radio Award 2018 and presented a one-off show on BBC Radio 1 following his win. The Full English – weekdays 7am till 9am from this Friday – will feature silly games and will make Union JACK’s listeners...

BBC Local Radio starts search for New Voices

Open auditions are to take place across England and the Channel Islands for BBC local radio’s new talent search. All 39 local radio stations across England and the Channel Islands are hosting open auditions for New Voices on Saturday 28 and Sunday 29 September, following our report in January about the project getting underway. Hopefuls will have 60 seconds to impress a panel of judges. They could tell a story about something they care about, something local, something personal… anything as long as it’s unique. Judges across the country will include BBC editors and producers plus special guests such as vocal coaches Carrie and David Grant.

Tony Dibbin gets weekday mornings on Absolute Radio 70s

Former Gold breakfast presenter Tony Dibbin is joining Absolute Radio 70s for a new morning show. Tony will be on-air each weekday from 10am till 1pm starting on Monday September 9th. Absolute Radio’s Content Director, Paul Sylvester told RadioToday: “Tony is a great addition to the Absolute Radio family. With a wealth of music knowledge and experience, he is genuinely passionate about our music offering. We can’t wait to have him on board.”

Drive to Digital event to be hosted by Penny Smith

Scala Radio presenter Penny Smith will Chair this year’s Drive to Digital event at the British Library. Penny will be joined by a host of expert speakers throughout the afternoon including: Miranda Sawyer, Radio and Audio Critic, The Observer, and Patricia Nicol, Media Journalist, The Sunday Times; Alison Winter, Head of Audiences, BBC Radio and Education, Mark Crawford, Head of Audience and Brand Insight, Global, and Adrian Fitch, Director of Brand Insight, Bauer; and Clare McNally-Luke, Senior Audience Performance Manager, Ofcom.

Hits Radio weekend show for Fleur East, Greg Burns and James Barr

Fleur East, Greg Burns and James Barr are to host a new Saturday morning show across the Hits Radio Network in England. The weekday breakfast trio replace Mike Toolan and Kelly Pegg – Mike is moving to Sunday morning whilst Kelly is leaving the station ‘for new opportunities’. ‘Saturday mornings with Fleur East, Greg and James’ will be a chance to highlight some of the content from the Breakfast show across the week, including celebrity interviews with the likes of Katy Perry, Lewis Capaldi and Craig David...

Smooth Radio regional Breakfast presenters confirmed

Smooth Radio is launching its national Drive show with Angie Greaves this week as a number of regional presenters leave the network. The brand will keep the majority of its current breakfast presenters with just one moving from Drive to Breakfast. Global (and Communicorp) previously announced Breakfast would be networked at some point this year, but later changed strategy to network Drive instead. Therefore, last week saw final regional Drive shows for Clive Warren (north east), John Mellis (Glasgow), Charlie Jordan...

Global to launch Capital XTRA Reloaded across the UK

Capital XTRA is to get its own spin-off station on Monday as Capital XTRA Reloaded goes national on DAB digital radio. The station will feature former Galaxy, Vibe and Capital presenter Sacha Brooks in the morning slot, from 8am till midday weekdays. Global says Capital XTRA Reloaded is the ultimate throwback to the nineties and noughties playing old skool hip-hop, grime, garage, dance and RnB anthems from the likes of Usher, Drake, Beyoncé, Destiny’s Child, Sean Paul and Rihanna...