Radio News

Former Radio 1 host Dev Griffin is joining Heart

Dev Griffin will join Heart in January just weeks after leaving BBC Radio 1 at the end of December. Dev’s last show at the BBC, where he has been for the last 18 years, is on December 20th, and he’ll start on Heart January 2nd 2021. He’ll be on the Heart network every Saturday afternoon from 12pm till 4pm replacing Zoe Hardman who moves to Saturday breakfast in addition to her Sunday morning show. Andy Everett, Managing Editor of Heart, said: “Dev is a huge talent and we’re over the moon to welcome him to Heart. He brings a fresh new sound to weekends on Heart and I’m sure our listeners will instantly connect with him...

The Beast returns to Union JACK for new radio quiz

Union JACK has brought back Mark “The Beast” Labbett to front a new and revamped twice-weekly quiz show. The Beast of all Pub Quizzes broadcasts live at 1pm every Tuesday and Thursday with the use of voice-activated technology using mobile phones. To join in, listeners simply need to download the Union JACK radio App for free and listen online of via DAB. Speaking of the show, Labbett said: “The Beast is back – and this time with The Beast of all Pub Quizzes! We had so much fun doing it before and this time is even better – if you think you can outwit the nation, then download the app, tune into Union JACK radio and come and have a go.”...

More syndicated programmes for BBC Radio this Christmas

The official launch of Christmas at BBC network radio will take place on Tuesday 1st December when Radio 1, Radio 1 Dance, 1Xtra, Asian Network, Radio 2 and 6 Music come together for a syndicated show. The BBC Radio Christmas House Party will see the six services come together to launch their festive celebrations at 5pm. And BBC local radio stations will be handing over their local frequencies for more networked shows than usual over Christmas with only seven hours of local output on Christmas Day as all 39 stations take the same shows before 7am and after 2pm. Between Christmas and New Year, local stations will also syndicate from 6pm till 6am with Nana Akua from 6pm and Jim Davis from 10pm...

Research shows increase in listening during lockdown

New research published by Radiocentre shows that UK commercial radio listening has been significantly boosted during the November lockdown as workers spend more time at home. More than a third of commercial radio listeners are tuning in for an extra one hour and 53 minutes each day compared to the period before the April lockdown. This compares to the leap in commercial radio listening that occurred during April, when Radiocentre’s research showed that 38% of listeners tuned in for one hour 45 minutes a day longer than during the pre-lockdown period. Slightly fewer people increased their listening in November compared to...

New radio schedule planned for BBC Asian Network

BBC Asian Network’s new Head of Station Ahmed Hussain is introducing a new schedule from March 2021. The first change will introduce four new shows to the weekly schedule as part of Ahmed Hussain’s commitment to increasing British Asian representation and popular South Asian music culture across the station. The station is also going 24 hours with the overnight hours being used for repeating its own content rather than simulcasting shows from Radio 1. Current Entertainment Reporter for BBC Asian Network Haroon Rashid, will host a brand new Saturday Morning Show Beyond Bollywood (10am-1pm). He will look at all of the newest and biggest cinema and on-demand hits from the Bollywood genre and the sub-continent...

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...

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...

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...

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.”...

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.