S1 Ep119: Children's Favourites
1m Sep 07, 2011
1m
S1 Ep118: Eddie Mair - Pips
1m Sep 07, 2011
1m
S1 Ep117: David Hamilton
Happy 75th birthday to Diddy David! It’s strange to think of a daytime show being simulcast on BBC Radio 1 and BBC Radio 2. In the seventies, David Hamilton’s afternoon show was; and given this was just at the very start of commercial radio’s rise, you can imagine the audience size. David’s radio career began in 1959 with the British Forces Network in Germany, before hosting The Beat Show on ...
5m Sep 07, 2011
5m
S1 Ep116: 101.6 Star FM launch
1m Sep 06, 2011
1m
S1 Ep115: Heart 106.2 launch package
#radio
2m Sep 03, 2011
2m
S1 Ep114: 100.7 Heart FM launch package
And so began the first true commercial radio brand, from the edge of Birmingham on 6th September 1994. Heart is coming. Other stations had shared names, as their franchise areas grew, but as the Radio Authority’s first new regional stations came on air, here was the glimmer of something different. And, contrasting with Century’s 50/50 music :speech ratio and Jazz’s obvious format, Heart was a p...
2m Sep 03, 2011
2m
S1 Ep113: BBC Radio Bristol, launch - 1970
BBC Radio Bristol launched in September 1970, the ninth BBC Local Radio station, and the first one after the original tranche of eight. Frank Gillard, seen as the architect of BBC Local Radio, appeared in the opening moments. A fitting time for such an appearance: this was his last year at the BBC; and it was the year in which the incoming Cons...
4m Sep 03, 2011
4m
S1 Ep112: Albert Hall disruption - Radio 3
1m Sep 01, 2011
1m
S1 Ep111: Capital, first AM/FM split - 1986
As FM became universally available at last, the Home Office gave some ILR franchisees the chance to participate in an AM/FM splitting experiment. Until then, the two wavebands had transmitted the same programming for each station; and the regulator was reluctant to agree to any departures. The question was what to do.  Create something new on FM? Or on AM?  Where do you leave the heritage brand...
2m Aug 29, 2011
2m
S1 Ep110: PM Theme
18s Aug 29, 2011
18s
S1 Ep109: Annie Nightingale
1m Aug 29, 2011
1m
S1 Ep108: Radio Nottingham launch
#BBC
1m Aug 29, 2011
1m
S1 Ep107: Radio West closedown - 1985
In the mid eighties, after a bizarre yet fun few years of stop-start launches, government vacillation, industrial strife, suspicious national advertisers, puzzling programming, a piecemeal UK network and enthusiastic regulation, commercial reality hit the growing ILR network. Centre in Leicester and GB Radio in Gwent collapsed and folded into their neighbours. In Bristol, Radio West had begun ...
3m Aug 29, 2011
3m
S1 Ep106: Radio West launch
2m Aug 29, 2011
2m
S1 Ep105: Stuart Henry - Scotland/R1/Luxembourg
Stuart Henry began his broadcasting career on board the pirate Radio Scotland, before becoming one of the many ex-pirates to grace the early days of BBC Radio 1 in 1967, when they recruited just about everyone on short-term contracts, just in case. A colourful character, on-air and visually, he became most famous for his work from 1974 at Radio Luxembourg, which, back then, simply owned evenin...
1m Aug 29, 2011
1m
S1 Ep104: GEM AM launch
3m Aug 29, 2011
3m
S1 Ep103: Silk FM launch
24s Aug 29, 2011
24s
S1 Ep102: Luxembourg - Haw Haw and return
1m Aug 28, 2011
1m
S1 Ep101: Laser 558, Jessie Brandon
1m Aug 28, 2011
1m
S1 Ep100: Family Favourites- first presenter
As the War ended, and radio emerged from its functional days, 'Forces Favourites' evolved into (Two Way) Family Favourites on the BBC Light Programme. It was to become as much a part of British Sunday lunchtimes as roast beef and Brussel sprouts. Family Favourites was a request programme, linking families with their relatives serving abroad. Its signature tune was 'With A Song in My Heart'; a...
2m Aug 28, 2011
2m
S1 Ep99: Downtown launch
I can still do a Harold Wilson impersonation. Sad, but true. Actually, it’s an impersonation of Mike Yarwood doing an impersonation of that Gannex-clad Prime Minister. The day of his surprise resignation, 16 March 1976, was the same day that Downtown Radio launched in Belfast. It was the first commercial station in Northern Ireland. The station faced not only the challenges of all early comme...
6m Aug 28, 2011
6m
S1 Ep98: Robin Scott-on R1 preparations
1m Aug 28, 2011
1m
S1 Ep97: Grace Archer's death - 1955
As an 'everyday story of country folk, 'The Archers' is the World's longest-running radio soap opera. A pilot series began on May 29, 1950, broadcast just to the Midlands. This 'farming Dick Barton', with educational aims and an old maypole dance (Barwick Green) as a sig tune, was re-commissioned for a new series on the Light Programme (Later Home Service) from January 1st, 1951. It remains t...
3m Aug 27, 2011
3m
S1 Ep96: Classic FM launch and test
A national commercial radio station might have seemed a logical idea, as commercial radio began its tardy arrival in the early '70s. But, having embarked on a local model, many of those City operators became fearful of a national competitor. Eventually, the 1990 legislation permitted it, and the award was made, in accordance with a ‘highest cash bid’ system, coupled with some format pre-determi...
1m Aug 27, 2011
1m
S1 Ep95: Sabras Theme
1m Aug 27, 2011
1m
S1 Ep94: Signal launch
2m Aug 26, 2011
2m
S1 Ep93: Piccadilly launch medley - 1974
Manchester, a fitting home to the fifth ‘ILR’ commercial radio station. It was to become one of the biggest, taking out ads in the Times, proudly trumpeting it as the ’largest station outside London’ (Jicrar 1978). A week before launch, the station claimed to have booked £1/4m of revenue from 100 clients. Its national sales were to be handled by Air Services, at a time when national advertising...
7m Aug 26, 2011
7m
S1 Ep92: Moyles longest-serving
5m Aug 26, 2011
5m
S1 Ep91: Century 105 launch
15s Aug 26, 2011
15s
S1 Ep90: Century,Kiss,Aire
3m Aug 25, 2011
3m
S1 Ep88: Kiss and Aire
3m Aug 25, 2011
3m
Capital Gold
After weekend experiments of frequency splitting, with 'CFM' in 1986, and later the gold format trials from mid 1988, Capital Gold began as a full-time oldies station on November 1st 1988. It was not the first, with County Sound's Gold from Guildford the first full-time oldies station, with GEM AM (East Midlands) being the first 24 hour full-time oldies station.
1m Aug 25, 2011
1m
S1 Ep87: Radio 1 FM 'Switch-On Day' and roll-out
FM was once like DAB. Most folk had AM radios in their cars and homes; and a few, by the early 60s, had FM 'VHF' sets, although it was some years before the latter arrived in cars. Radio 1 had launched in 1967 on 247m on the AM medium frequency band, before being awarded the better 275/285m in November '78 (1089 and 1053 kHz; the latter, from Droitwich, was the UK's most powerful AM Tx). By th...
3m Aug 25, 2011
3m
S1 Ep86: BBC Radio Birmingham launch - 1970
BBC Radio Birmingham launched on 7th November 1980.
4m Aug 25, 2011
4m
S1 Ep85: Jacobs final POTP
In 1961, Alan Freeman took over the ‘Pick of the Pops' late night slot from David Jacobs. Enjoy the delicious detail in this and Fluff being 'English':
1m Aug 25, 2011
1m
S1 Ep84: The Pulse - launch 1991
Commercial radio was born in Bradford as Pennine Radio.  In 1991, it was one of the earliest commercial radio brand changes as it changed to 'The Pulse (of West Yorkshire). Here, Elliott Webb opens in frantic style and embraces the new jingle package.
1m Aug 24, 2011
1m
S1 Ep83: UBN
1m Aug 24, 2011
1m
S1 Ep82: Sue MacGregor
1m Aug 21, 2011
1m
S1 Ep81: BBC Radio Manchester - Launch
BBC Manchester was destined to be the first BBC Local station. Its local authority volunteered a council-funded model in the early 60s, although Gillard was reluctant owing to the risks to impartiality owing to the source of income. Nevertheless, for the early stations, an element of council-funding was to be the eventual model. This was also the reason for Manchester's tardiness: a change of c...
3m Aug 20, 2011
3m
S1 Ep80: 5NG
The BBC's (British Broadcasting Company) early strategy was based on a network of local stations, with Nottingham being added to the map on Tuesday September 16th, 1924. The station broadcast from Bridlesmith Gate in the City, on 920 kHz medium wave, with its aerial dangling from a chimney on Noel Street. It launched with a live outside broadcast from the Albert Hall and the RAF band. Attendan...
1m Aug 20, 2011
1m
S1 Ep79: LBC Newstalk FM/Talkback AM
1m Aug 20, 2011
1m
S1 Ep78: Fluff Light
1m Aug 20, 2011
1m
S1 Ep77: Radio Times
2m Aug 17, 2011
2m
S1 Ep76: Harmony
1m Aug 17, 2011
1m
S1 Ep75: Freeman POTP
2m Aug 17, 2011
2m
S1 Ep74: Steve Wright
1m Aug 17, 2011
1m
S1 Ep73: Announcement of War - Bruce Belfrage, Chamberlain, Alvar Lidell
Some broadcasts are truly momentous. The announcement of War on September 3rd 1939 was one such broadcast. Bruce Belfrage was on continuity duty that night. As the war took hold, he was to be the reader on duty a year later when Broadcasting House was bombed, killing seven people.  Chamberlain’s well documented speech is then followed by a lengthy announcement from Alvar Lidell, in which he giv...
2m Aug 16, 2011
2m
S1 Ep72: Blackburn Top 40
1m Aug 16, 2011
1m
S1 Ep71: Elvis Death - IRN/Radio Luxembourg
The death of Elvis is one of those moments in history. If you are old enough to remember; you do remember. You recall where you are; and how you heard. For many, in those pre-internet days, the news broke on radio. Hear here the IRN bulletin on Capital (albeit off-mic at the start). But maybe more poignantly, hear the reaction on Radio Luxembourg. Evening pop radio in those days was still domi...
2m Aug 15, 2011
2m
S1 Ep70: Wyvern launch & Test
#radio
2m Aug 15, 2011
2m