Radio News

Actor Cillian Murphy to host shows on BBC Radio 6 Music

Cillian Murphy is set to join BBC Radio 6 Music for a run of shows covering Guy Garvey. The Peaky Blinders actor will be on-air Sundays, 2-4pm, from 3 March until Summer 2019, whilst Guy takes an extended break to work on his next album. Cillian Murphy, also known for his roles in the films Dunkirk, Inception, The Dark Knight Trilogy, Breakfast on Pluto and 28 Days Later, says: “As a music lover, mixtape obsessive and long-time 6 Music fan I couldn’t be more chuffed to be asked to sit in for Guy on his hiatus.

Five MPs to guest present programmes on LBC

Five British MPs will join LBC next week to guest-present the station’s mid-morning programme. Anna Soubry, Emily Thornberry, Jess Phillips, David Lammy and Tom Watson will each host one of the 10am to 1pm slots between Monday 18th and Friday 22nd February, while regular presenter James O’Brien is on holiday.

Commercial radio ignored in Greatest Radio Shows list

The Radio Times has named what it considers to be the ’30 greatest radio shows of all time’ – but every single one is a BBC programme. The magazine’s new edition contains a six-page feature counting down the shows – from Radio 3’s Private Passions at number 30 to Desert Island Discs at number 1. But the feature has attracted criticism that no commercial radio shows are included. Former radio executive John Myers wrote on Twitter: “I’m sorry, but this is the most insulting and ill informed article on radio I’ve read in a long time."...

Global Awards hosts return for second year

Heart’s Rochelle Humes, Capital Breakfast’s Roman Kemp and Classic FM and Smooth presenter Myleene Klass will host The Global Awards once again this year. The ceremony takes place at London’s Eventim Apollo Hammersmith on Thursday March 7th featuring performances from Mark Ronson, Little Mix, Lang Lang, Blossoms, Mabel, Anne-Marie and more.

Radio 1 Breakfast Show with Greg James increases listeners by more than 300,000

The Radio 1 Breakfast Show with Greg James has increased listeners by more than 300,000 in his first full quarter. Latest Rajar data shows since Greg James started on the Radio 1 Breakfast Show, there has been an increase of listeners aged 10+ to 5.59m (Monday-Thursday), from 5.28m last quarter. The same period (17 September-16 December 2018) has also seen a record for digital listening, with the proportion of digital listening now at 52.6%...

Fearne Cotton gets Radio 2 Breakfast cover job

Fearne Cotton will deputise for Zoe Ball when she takes holidays from the Radio 2 breakfast show, with comedian Matt Lucas looking after the show on Bank Holidays. Zoe announced the news this morning, with Fearne coming in to the studio for a chat about it as well as talking about hosting Popmaster and how Fearne used to be a big fan of Live & Kicking.

Young ARIAS awards now open for entries

The Young ARIAS, a new awards scheme celebrating radio and audio created by under 18s are now open for entries. Both the BBC and commercial stations will begin promoting the awards from Monday encouraging school radio stations, podcasts, homemade audio projects, community and hospital radio contributors and DJs to enter their work.

Opinion: Classical Music for Modern Life

Jack Pepper, one of the new presenters on Bauer’s Scala Radio, recently spoke about classical music at the European Radio Show conference in Paris. Here’s what he had to say. “Ludwig van Beethoven. Hearing that name, many people are likely to think of the famous painting of the composer, with his wild grey hair and red cravat. But the name could mean so much more; a man who suffered at home with an abusive alcoholic father, who left school at eleven, and who grappled with physical ailments and used music as an outlet for his emotions"...

Performers revealed for Global Awards 2019

DJ and producer Mark Ronson, RnB singer Mabel, Little Mix, pianist Lang Lang, Blossoms and Anne-Marie are all confirmed to perform at the Global Awards on March 7th at London’s Eventim Apollo Hammersmith. The event brings together Global’s radio stations including Capital, Heart, Classic FM, Smooth, Radio X, Capital XTRA, Gold and LBC to celebrate music, news and entertainment.

Olivia Jones replaces Elliot Holman on Total Access

The Total Access evening show, which airs across local radio stations owned by Wireless, is getting a new host as Olivia Jones takes over from Elliot Holman... Wireless’ Group Programme Director for Local Radio, Terry Underhill told RadioToday: “Elliot has done a fantastic job building Total Access to record high audience levels and we are delighted that he’s accepted our offer to take over the mid-morning show on Signal 1. Olivia is the perfect person to take over Total Access. Her energy, enthusiasm and talent will shine in our newly refreshed network evening show.”...