Timeline of BBC Radio 1

A timeline of notable events relating to BBC Radio 1, a British national radio station which began broadcasts in September 1967.

1960s

• 1967
  • 30 September – Radio 1 launches at 7 am with Tony Blackburn's Daily Disc Delivery show. He welcomes listeners to "the exciting new sound of Radio 1" and then plays the station's first track: The Move's "Flowers in the Rain".
  • 1 October – The first Peel Session takes place, featuring psychedelic rock band Tomorrow.

• 1968
  • January – Tony Blackburn stops presenting the breakfast show on Saturdays. Rather than replace Tony, Radio 1 simulcasts the entirety of Radio 2's breakfast show.

• 1969
  • April – Johnnie Walker begins his first stint at Radio 1. He would have three stints at the station, the final one ending in 1995.
  • 5 October – Annie Nightingale makes her debut and becomes the station's first female presenter.
  • Dave Lee Travis joins.

1970s

• 1970
  • July – Kenny Everett is sacked after making cheeky remarks about the Transport Minister's wife following a news item.
  • Bob Harris joins, staying until 1975 before returning for four years in 1989.

• 1971
  • Radio 1 launches its first promotion badges using the slogan "Go Radio 1 Better on 247".
  • Radio 1 airs its first documentary, The Elvis Presley Story, narrated by Wink Martindale.

• 1972
  • April – Terry Wogan leaves to take over The Radio 2 Breakfast Show.

• 1973
  • 8 April – Kenny Everett briefly returns before moving to Capital Radio later in the year.
  • 1 June – Tony Blackburn presents his final Breakfast Show, having fronted the show since the station went on air in 1967. Noel Edmonds takes over as presenter three days later with Tony moving to the mid-morning slot, taking over from Jimmy Young who moves to Radio 2.
  • 23 July – The first Radio 1 Roadshow takes place, broadcast from Newquay, Cornwall and hosted by Alan Freeman.
  • 10 September – Newsbeat bulletins air for the first time. Richard Skinner joins the station as one of the new programme's presenters.^[1]

• 1974
  • Radio 1 hosts its first "Fun Day".
  • Stuart Henry leaves.

• 1975
  • 6 January – Broadcasting hours are reduced due to budget cuts at the BBC. All evening programming stops on Radio 1 and the station simulcasts Radio 2 every evening from 7pm. Also the weekday afternoon programme, presented by David Hamilton, is broadcast on both stations and John Peel's show is moved to the drivetime slot.
  • 11 January – Alan Freeman broadcasts a live performance by Pink Floyd which featured a performance of The Dark Side of the Moon in its entirety. The performance was recorded at the Empire Pool on 16 November 1974.
  • September – The first edition of The Sunday Request Show is broadcast, hosted by Annie Nightingale. The show runs until 1979 before being re-introduced in 1982, running until the spring of 1994.
  • 27 September – Paul Gambaccini, who joined the station the previous year, presents his first American chart countdown programme.
  • 29 September – Radio 1 'borrows' Radio 2's VHF/FM frequencies on weeknights for the first time when John Peel's show moves back to late evenings. This one hour on weeknights is the only time of the evening that Radio 1 broadcasts its own programmes, and Radio 1 now ends weekday transmissions an hour earlier, at 6pm.

• 1976
  • May – Simon Bates gets his first regular show.
  • September – Emperor Rosko leaves to return to America.
  • December – The first Festive Fifty is revealed by John Peel.
  • David Jensen joins.

• 1977
  • 4 April – Radio 1 extends its weeknight broadcasting hours. The station's daytime weekday programmes are extended by an hour to 7pm and the John Peel show is also extended by an hour, to two hours. Consequently, Radio 1 now borrows Radio 2's VHF/FM frequencies for two hours each weeknight – between 10pm and midnight.
  • 28 November – From today, Radio 1 has its own all-day weekday schedule with the launch of a new afternoon programme presented by Tony Blackburn; David Hamilton's show, simulcast on both stations since January 1975, moves to Radio 2 only. Tony is replaced on mid-mornings by Simon Bates. Consequently Radio 1 now has its own all-day schedule on weekdays. However the station continues to simulcast Radio 2 each night from 7pm, apart from the weekday late night John Peel programme.
  • Peter Powell joins.

• 1978
  • 2 May – Dave Lee Travis succeeds Noel Edmonds as presenter of the Breakfast Show and David Jensen takes over the drivetime slot that Dave vacates.
  • 12 November – The Sunday teatime chart show is extended from a Top 20 countdown to a Top 40 countdown. Simon Bates is the presenter, having taken over as host from Tom Browne earlier in the year.
  • 17 November – Tommy Vance, one of the station's original presenters, rejoins Radio 1 to present a new programme, The Friday Rock Show.^[2] Consequently, John Peel is now on air four nights a week instead of five.
  • 23 November – Radio 1 moves from 247m (1214 kHz) to 275 & 285m (1053 & 1089 kHz) medium wave as part of a plan to improve national AM reception, and to conform with the Geneva Frequency Plan of 1975.^[3][4]

• 1979
  • 29 January – Radio 1 begins its delayed weeknight mid-evening programme with Andy Peebles joining to host the new programme. It had originally been scheduled to launch on 13 November 1978 but was delayed as a result of trade union disputes.

1980s

• 1980
  • 5 January – Tony Blackburn replaces Ed Stewart as host of Junior Choice, and Steve Wright joins to present the Saturday evening show.
  • 31 March – Radio 1's broadcast hours are cut back. The station starts broadcasting on weekdays an hour later and Saturday evening programming ends. The station simulcasts Radio 2 during this additional downtime although by the end of the year Radio 1 has stopped broadcasting Radio 2 through the night.
  • 6 December – Andy Peebles interviews John Lennon and Yoko Ono in New York City, just two days before John was assassinated.

• 1981
  • 5 January – Mike Read succeeds Dave Lee Travis as presenter of the Breakfast Show.
  • September – Steve Wright, who joined the station the previous year, takes over the weekday afternoon slot, thereby launching Steve Wright in the Afternoon. His new show brings the zoo format to the UK.

• 1982
  • 10 January – Tommy Vance replaces Tony Blackburn as host of Radio 1's Top 40 show.
  • 6 March – Junior Choice disappears from the airwaves and the weekend breakfast show is renamed The Saturday Show/The Sunday Show. Children's requests continue to be a mainstay of the renamed show and Maggie Philbin and Keith Chegwin join Tony Blackburn as co-presenters.
  • 4 December – The transmission time lost in March 1980 is regained. Programmes once again begin at 6 am, finally ending all simulcasts between Radio 1 and Radio 2.^[5] Mike Smith returns to the station – he had been a presenter and producer in the mid 1970s – to present the new weekday early show. Weekend early shows are introduced with Adrian John and Pat Sharp joining to host the new programmes. The station also recommences Saturday evening broadcasting with Janice Long and Gary Davies joining to present the new shows. Programming is also extended by two hours on Sunday evenings with Annie Nightingale's request show returning to the airwaves after a three-year hiatus. Thus Radio 1 is now on air daily from 6 am until midnight.

• 1983
  • 28 February – Adrian John takes over the weekday early show from Mike Smith who moves to the lunchtime show.
  • 1 October – Mark Page joins to present the weekend early show.^[6] Pat Sharp leaves.
  • 18 December – Sounds of Jazz is broadcast on Radio 1 for the final time. From the new year the show is broadcast on Radio 2.

• 1984
  • 8 January – Simon Bates returns to the Sunday teatime Top 40 programme, but only for a few months as Richard Skinner takes over as host on 30 September.
  • 26 March – Gary Davies replaces Mike Smith as host of the weekday lunchtime programme.^[7]
  • David Jensen leaves and is replaced on the mid evening show by Janice Long.
  • 10 September – Bruno Brookes replaces Peter Powell as presenter of the teatime show.
  • 23 September – Tony Blackburn, the first voice heard on Radio 1, presents his final show for the station.^[8] The following weekend, Peter Powell replaces Tony as presenter of the weekend breakfast show.^[9]

• 1985
  • 31 March – Ranking Miss P becomes the station's first black female DJ when she begins presenting the station's first reggae programme. This was not her first appearance on the station, however, as she had been sitting in for other presenters for the past year.
  • 6 July – Andy Kershaw joins.^[10]
  • 13 July – Radio 1 broadcasts full, live coverage of the Live Aid pop concerts.
  • Johnny Beerling replaces Derek Chinnery as station controller.

• 1986
  • February – Paul Gambaccini presents his final programme for Radio 1, leaving after presenting the station's American chart programme for the previous decade.
  • 13 April – Bruno Brookes takes over as the host of the UK Singles Chart.
  • 18 April – Mike Read presents his final Radio 1 Breakfast Show after five years in the hot seat.
  • 5 May – Mike Smith rejoins Radio 1, after spending the past two years working for BBC television, to take over the breakfast show.^[11] The same day also sees Radio 1 begin broadcasting on weekdays 30 minutes earlier, at 5:30 am.
  • Simon Mayo joins.

• 1987
  • 17 January – Johnnie Walker returns to Radio 1 to present a new Saturday afternoon programme The Stereo Sequence.^[12] The programme, which runs for 5 1/2 hours, incorporates the previous stand-alone Saturday afternoon shows, including the weekly look at the American charts, which is shortened to an hour.
  • 4 October – From this day, the new UK Singles Chart is released on the Sunday afternoon chart show. Previously, the programme had played songs from the chart which had been released the previous Tuesday.
  • 31 October – Radio 1 begins launching its FM frequency, starting in London, initially on 104.8 MHz before moving to the 97–99 frequency range allocated to the station.^[3]
  • Nicky Campbell and Mark Goodier join and Janice Long leaves.

• 1988
  • January – The station has a "More Music Day" which limited presenter chat to news, weather and travel. It was designed as an answer to those who thought that DJs talk too much. It has not been repeated.
  • May – Johnnie Walker ends his second stint at the station and Roger Scott takes over as host of The Stereo Sequence.
  • 23 May – Simon Mayo takes over from Mike Smith as presenter of the Breakfast Show.^[13][14]
  • 1 September –
    • The Radio 1 FM 'switch on' day which sees three new transmitters brought into service covering central Scotland, the north of England and the Midlands. With 65% of the UK now covered by the station's new FM frequency, the pop group Bros fly around the country in a helicopter to encourage listeners to switch over.^[3]
    • To co-inside with the switch-ons, Top of the Pops is simulcast on the station for the first time giving listeners the chance to hear the programme in stereo.^[15]
  • 25 September – Peter Powell leaves^[16] and the following weekend Liz Kershaw and Mark Goodier launch an extended weekend breakfast show, which starts at the earlier time of 6 am, subsuming the early show which for the past year had been presented by Nicky Campbell.
  • 29 September –
    • Radio 1 'borrows' BBC Radio 2's FM frequencies on a weeknight for the final time.
    • Radio 1 starts broadcasting on FM in South Wales and the west of England.^[17]
  • 1 October –
    • Radio 1 extends broadcasting hours, closing down at 2 am instead of midnight. This results in a new weekday evening schedule with John Peel moving to an earlier evening slot, Nicky Campbell taking over the late show and Richard Skinner rejoining after two years at Capital to host the new midnight to 2 am show.
    • The Stereo Sequence is renamed The Saturday Sequence.
  • 25 November – Radio 1 starts broadcasting on FM in Belfast and Oxfordshire. To mark the event, the breakfast show and Simon Bates programmes are broadcast live from the two areas.^[18]

• 1989
  • 15 January – Alan Freeman rejoins to revive Pick of the Pops and The Rock Show.
  • 1 April – Radio 1 starts broadcasting slightly earlier each morning and is now on air between 5 am and 2 am seven days a week. Tim Smith joins to host the new weekend early breakfast show.
  • 3 July – Simon Bates and producer Jonathan Ruffle set off on an 80-day circumnavigation of the world to raise money for Oxfam. Their progress is charted in a broadcast each weekday morning.^[19]
  • 29 September – Adrian John leaves after presenting the weekday early show for the past six years. He is replaced by Jackie Brambles.
  • 31 October – Roger Scott dies aged 46, three weeks after presenting his final show. Bob Harris rejoins Radio 1 as Roger's Sunday late show replacement.
  • 19 December – Radio 1 starts transmitting on FM across the whole of south-east England (replacing the temporary London transmitter), in East Anglia^[20] and in the Cardigan Bay area.^[21]

1990s

• 1990
  • 8 January –
    • A new 30 minute news programme News 90 replaces the teatime edition of Newsbeat.
    • A new jingles package called "Music Radio for the 90s" is launched.
  • 11 February – Radio 1 starts broadcasting on FM in south west England.^[22]
  • 17 March – Gary King joins to take over the early breakfast show, initially replacing Tim Smith at the weekend before moving to the weekday early show to replace Jackie Brambles, who moves to the weekday teatime show.
  • 25 March – Radio 1 'borrows' Radio 2's FM frequencies for the final time.
  • 24 May – Radio 1 begins FM transmission in central southern England with a Steve Wright outside broadcast from Goodwood Racecourse.^[23] Also during 1990, the transmitters established in 1988 move to higher power.
  • 30 September – Mark Goodier replaces Bruno Brookes as host of Radio 1's Top 40 show.
  • 1 October – A shake-up of the station's evening schedules sees the debut of a "new music" show The Evening Session. Consequently, John Peel's show is moved to the weekend.

• 1991
  • 6 January – For the first time, Radio 1's Sunday chart show plays all 40 tracks and the show is renamed as The Complete Top 40.^[24] This becomes possible due to an extension of the programme's duration – starting half an hour earlier at 4:30 pm.
  • 11 January – The Essential Selection, presented by Pete Tong, debuts. It replaces Jeff Young’s Big Beat, which had launched in 1987 as Radio 1's first dance music programme.
  • 1 May – Radio 1 commences 24-hour transmission, but only on FM – the station's MW frequencies are switched off each night between midnight and 6 am. Lynn Parsons joins to present one of the new overnight shows.
  • 5–30 August – Phil Collins, The Pet Shop Boys, Jason Donovan and Whitney Houston are Bates's Mates, who deputised for Simon Bates on Radio 1.^[25]
  • 29 August – Top of the Pops is simulcast on Radio 1 for the last time, the programme introduced by Jakki Brambles.^[26]
  • 28 September – Johnnie Walker returns to Radio 1 for the third time, returning to begin his second stint as the station's Saturday afternoon presenter.^[27] He replaces the departing Richard Skinner. Johnnie's return comes one day after Mike Read's departure from the station.

• 1992
  • 21 February – Gary Davies presents his final 'bit in the middle.' Jakki Brambles replaces Davies as host of the weekday lunchtime show on 24 February.
  • 9 March – Radio 1 undergoes a schedule revamp, with most of the changes being to the weekend schedule, including Gary Davies becoming host of the weekend breakfast show. Gary King^[28] and Andy Peebles leave. The changes also see the introduction of a new jingles package, based on the theme Closer to the Music.
  • 15 March –
    • Chris Evans makes his Radio 1 debut, presenting a short-lived Sunday early afternoon show called Too Much Gravy. He leaves in September to take over as co-presenter of Channel 4's new breakfast show The Big Breakfast.
    • Bruno Brookes returns as host of the UK Top 40 programme. The programme is extended once again and now airs from 4 pm until 7 pm.^[29]
  • 20 April – The Freddie Mercury Tribute Concert for AIDS Awareness, an open-air concert in tribute to the late Freddie Mercury is held at London's Wembley Stadium. The concert is broadcast on BBC2 and Radio 1 in the UK, and televised worldwide.^[30][31]
  • 27 December – Pick of the Pops is broadcast on Radio 1 for the final time.

• 1993
  • March – After nearly 15 years of presenting The Friday Rock Show, Tommy Vance leaves to go to new station Virgin 1215.
  • 18 April – The Official 1 FM Album Chart show is broadcast for the first time. Presented by Lynn Parsons, the 60-minute programme is broadcast on Sunday evenings, straight after the Top 40 singles chart.
  • 8 August – Dave Lee Travis resigns on air, stating that he could not agree with changes that were being made to Radio 1. Travis told his audience that changes were afoot that he could not tolerate "and I really want to put the record straight at this point and I thought you ought to know – changes are being made here which go against my principles and I just cannot agree with them".^[32]
  • 16 August–20 September – Loud'n'proud, a series presented by DJ Paulette, is the UK's first national radio series aimed at a gay audience.
  • 3 September – Simon Mayo leaves the Radio 1 Breakfast Show after five years in the chair. Simon moves to mid-mornings. Mark Goodier takes over as presenter until the end of the year.
  • September – Steve Lamacq and Jo Whiley replace Mark Goodier as host of The Evening Session.
  • October – Major changes to the output take place following Matthew Bannister replacing Johnny Beerling as controller. The changes, which are designed to reposition the station to attract a younger audience, see long standing DJs, including Simon Bates, Gary Davies, Bob Harris and Alan Freeman, leave in the months surrounding the changes. They are replaced with a raft of new younger presenters, and specialist music programmes, previously heard late at night, are given weekend afternoon slots.
  • 30 October – As part of the roll-out of the new schedule, Andy Kershaw and John Peel move from nighttime to Saturday afternoons and Danny Baker takes over the weekend morning show. Also, this day sees the first broadcast of Essential Mix.
  • 24 December – Steve Wright in the Afternoon ends its 13-year run on Radio 1.

• 1994
  • 1 January – Kevin Greening joins the station and takes over Weekend Breakfast from the recently departed Gary Davies.
  • 10 January –
    • Steve Wright becomes Radio 1's latest breakfast show presenter.^[33] Other changes on this day see Mark Goodier present a new early afternoon show with Nicky Campbell hosting the drive time show and Emma Freud joining to replace the departing Jakki Brambles as host of the lunchtime show.
    • The teatime edition of Newsbeat returns after four years. The bulletin airs in its old slot – 5:30 pm to 5:45 pm.
  • 1 May Annie Nightingale hosts the request show for the final time, having presented the programme since 1982.Lynn Parsons takes over as the show's presenter the following week.
  • 8 May –
    • In the early hours of Sunday 8 May, Annie Nightingale launches her career as a club music DJ, presenting the first edition of The Chill Out Zone.
    • After six months of rocking Sunday afternoons, the rock show moves to mid-evenings, swapping slots with The Steve Edwards Soul Show.
  • June – Radio 1 begins broadcasting announcements on its medium wave frequency voiced by Nicky Campbell telling listeners to retune to FM because it will no longer be broadcasting on medium wave from 1 July.^[34]
  • 1 July – Radio 1's last broadcast on mediumwave. Stephen Duffy's "Kiss Me" was the last record played on MW just before 9:00am.^[35]
  • 19 September – Danny Rampling joins.^[36]
  • Radio 1 starts broadcasting on satellite, using audio carriers on the Astra satellite.
  • 27 November – Clive Warren joins from Capital Radio and takes over Weekend Breakfast from Kevin Greening who moves to Weekend Lunchtime.
  • 10 December – Tim Westwood joins to present the station's first ever rap show.^[37]

• 1995
  • Radio 1's roll-out of its FM network is completed and the station now has the same coverage on FM as the other BBC national stations.
  • 21 April – Steve Wright^[38] and Bruno Brookes present their final shows for the station.
  • 23 April – Following Bruno Brookes's departure, Mark Goodier begins his second stint as presenter of the Sunday afternoon Top 40 show.
  • 24 April – Chris Evans takes over the Radio 1 Breakfast Show from Steve Wright, who left the network following differences with the station's new management over restructuring and Dave Pearce joins to take over the early breakfast show.
  • July – The station holds its first Ibiza weekend.^[39]
  • 27 September – The BBC begins regular Digital Audio Broadcasting, from the Crystal Palace transmitting station.
  • 21 October – Ahead of a schedule revamp, Johnnie Walker leaves Radio 1 for the last time. The changes include Clive Warren moving from the weekend breakfast show to the weekday early show, replacing Dave Pearce who launches a new weekend mid-morning show, replacing Kevin Greening who takes over weekend breakfasts, which includes a new weekend breakfast Newsbeat presented by Peter Bowes.^[40]

• 1996
  • June – Radio 1 starts live streaming on the internet.^[41]
  • Lynn Parsons leaves.

• 1997
  • January – Chris Evans leaves the Radio 1 Breakfast Show after being sacked for demanding a four day week, sparing Fridays to work on his Channel 4 TV show.
  • 17 February – Mark and Lard become the breakfast show's new presenters.
  • 27 July – The first edition of Radio 1's Dance Anthems is broadcast, hosted by Dave Pearce.^[42]
  • 28 July – Chris Moyles becomes the new host of the Early Breakfast Show.
  • 31 August – Regular programming is interrupted on all BBC stations to provide ongoing news coverage of the death of Diana, Princess of Wales. Radio 1 cancels all programmes, including the Top 40 programme, and replaces them with non-stop music and extended news bulletins every 30 minutes.^[43]
  • 13 October – Mark and Lard are replaced as Radio 1 breakfast presenters by Zoë Ball and Kevin Greening. Mark and Lard are moved to an afternoon slot.
  • October – Nicky Campbell leaves to join BBC Radio 5 Live.

• 1998
  • March – Andy Parfitt replaces Matthew Bannister as station controller.
  • 25 September – Kevin Greening leaves the weekday breakfast show, leaving Zoë Ball as sole presenter. He replaces Clive Warren as host of the Sunday breakfast show.
  • 12 October – Chris Moyles is promoted from the Early Breakfast show to present the Radio 1 Early Drive show, between 4 pm and 5:45 pm on weekdays (later being extended to 3 pm – 5:45 pm). He replaces Dave Pearce, who moves to a new early evening show. Dave is replaced on Early Breakfast by Scott Mills.

• 1999
  • 19 September – The first edition of a new Sunday evening advice programme called The Sunday Surgery is broadcast.^[44]
  • Radio 1 broadcasts its first split programming when it introduces weekly national new music shows for Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.
  • Radio 1's Live Lounge is established as part of the mid-morning show. The programmes are broadcast on a three-weekly rotational basis in England.

2000s

• 2000
  • 16 January – Kevin Greening leaves. The following week a new Sunday breakfast show, The Breakfast Club, hosted by Sarah HB, launches.
  • 31 March – Sara Cox replaces Zoë Ball as presenter of the Radio 1 Breakfast Show.
  • May – Andy Kershaw leaves. He had presented the station's world music programme since 1987.^[45]
  • September – Clive Warren leaves.

• 2001
  • 19 February – Jo Whiley begins presenting her weekday morning programme, The Jo Whiley Show, replacing Simon Mayo who leaves the station to join BBC Radio 5 Live.
  • 10 May – Radio 1 loses its crown as the UK's most listened to radio station to Radio 2.^[46]

• 2002
  • March – Danny Rampling leaves.
  • 16 August – Spin-off station BBC Radio 1Xtra launches.
  • 17 November – Mark Goodier presents the Top 40 for the final time on the 50th anniversary of the chart.before leaving the station entirely in 2002 owing to falling audiences and BBC bosses considering him "too old for the job."^[47][48][49]

• 2003
  • 9 February – Wes Butters becomes the presenter of The Official Chart.
  • 3 May – Radio 1 cancels the first day of its One Big Weekend at Heaton Park, Manchester due to poor weather. However, the second day of the event goes ahead as scheduled.^[50]
  • 13 and 14 September – Radio 1's second One Big Weekend festival takes place at Cardiff.^[51]
  • 19 December – Sara Cox presents her final breakfast show.
  • Zane Lowe joins to present a new weeknight evening show.

• 2004
  • 5 January – Chris Moyles takes over the breakfast show.
  • 26 March – Mark and Lard (Mark Radcliffe and Marc Riley) present their final show, after 11 years and one failed eight-month stint on the Radio 1 Breakfast Show.
  • 7 June – Scott Mills takes over as presenter of the drivetime show.

• 2005
  • 6 March – JK and Joel take over as presenters of The Official Chart.
  • 13 October – Radio 1 hosts the first John Peel Day, a year after John presented his final show for the station which was two weeks before his death.

• 2006
  • 8 March – Radio 1 launches its YouTube channel.

• 2007
  • 1 June – Greg James joins.
  • 14 October – Fearne Cotton and Reggie Yates take over as presenters of The Official Chart.
  • 18 December – Radio 1 is forced to backtrack on a decision to begin playing a censored version of The Pogues' 1987 Christmas hit Fairytale of New York. The song which sees Kirsty MacColl and Shane MacGowan trading insults has the words "faggot" and "slut" edited out to "avoid offence", but after a day of criticism from listeners, the band, and MacColl's mother, the decision is reversed and the original version played in full.^[52][53]
  • BBC Introducing is launched, providing a vital platform for thousands of emerging musical talent. A decade later over 460,000 tracks have been uploaded to the BBC Music Introducing website and 170,000 artists are registered.

• 2008
  • August – Dave Pearce leaves.^[54]

• 2009
  • 18 September – Jo Whiley presents her final weekday programme.^[55]
  • 21 September – Fearne Cotton takes over the mid-morning show and stops presenting The Official Chart, leaving Reggie Yates as the programme's sole presenter.

2010s

• 2010
  • 31 May – Radio 1 teams up with forces broadcaster BFBS for a ten-hour takeover show from Camp Bastion, Afghanistan.^[56]

• 2011
  • 18 March – Chris Moyles breaks the record for presenting the longest radio programme, after hosting a 52-hour live broadcast in aid of Comic Relief 2011.^[57]
  • April – Jo Whiley leaves Radio 1 after 17 years to move to BBC Radio 2, where she will present an evening show from Mondays to Wednesdays.^[58]
  • 21 July – The BBC confirms that Andy Parfitt will step down as Controller of Radio 1 after 13 years to pursue other opportunities from the end of the month.^[59]
  • 28 October – Ben Cooper is appointed as Controller of Radio 1 and 1Xtra, replacing Andy Parfitt who stepped down in July.^[60]

• 2012
  • 26 February – The Top Ten countdown from The Radio 1 Chart Show is made available in vision for the first time through the station's website.^[61]
  • 2 April – A shake-up of the schedule sees Scott Mills and Greg James swapping shows, James hosting the drivetime show and Mills the afternoon show.^[62] Also major changes take place to the dance music schedule: Skream & Benga, Toddla T, Charlie Sloth and Friction will take over from Judge Jules, Gilles Peterson, Kissy Sell Out and Fabio & Grooverider resulting in a shuffle of most late night shows Monday to Saturday to incorporate the new line-up.^[63]
  • June – The regional new music shows are scrapped after thirteen years as a cost cutting measure^[64] and replaced by BBC Introducing.^[65]
  • 20 June – The BBC Trust says that Radio 1′s core audience is still too old, despite changes made to output following an amendment to the wording of its service licence in 2009. The station is aimed at the 15–29-year age group, but the average age of their listeners is 30.^[66]
  • 23–24 June – 100,000 people attend Radio 1's Hackney Weekend, a two-day music concert at Hackney Marshes, which forms part of the build-up to the 2012 Summer Olympics.^[67]
  • 11 July – Chris Moyles announces on-air that he will leave the Radio 1 Breakfast Show in September. It is confirmed later the same day that he will be succeeded by Nick Grimshaw.^[68]
  • 14 September – Chris Moyles hosts his final breakfast show.^[69]
  • 24 September – Nick Grimshaw takes over the Radio 1 Breakfast Show.^[69][70]

• 2013
  • January – A series of changes take place. These include the departure of Reggie Yates and Vernon Kay. Jameela Jamil is announced as the new presenter of The Official Chart, Matt Edmondson is to host a weekend morning show and Tom Deacon will return to present a Wednesday night show.YouTubers Dan Howell and Phil Lester also join the station.^[71]
  • 12 April – Radio 1 Controller Ben Cooper announces that the station's Radio 1 Chart Show will not air "Ding-Dong! The Witch Is Dead", a song which charted following an internet campaign in the wake of the death of former Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher on 8 April. Instead a portion of the song will air as part of a news item.^[72]
  • September – Tim Westwood leaves.^[73]

• 2014
  • February – Sara Cox hosts her last show for the station.
  • 7–8 March – Radio 1 marks International Women's Day with two nights of an all-female line-up from 7 pm to 7 am, featuring presenters including Annie Nightingale and Adele Roberts. The second night is also aired on 1Xtra.^[74]
  • September – A series of changes sees many notable presenters leave the station, including Edith Bowman, Nihal and Rob da Bank. Huw Stephens gains a new show hosting 10 pm – 1 am Monday–Wednesday with Alice Levine presenting weekends 1 pm – 4 pm. Radio 1's Residency is also expanded with Skream joining the rotational line-up on Thursday nights 10 pm – 1 am.

• 2015
  • 25 January – Clara Amfo takes over as presenter of The Official Chart.
  • 27 February – Fearne Cotton announces she is to leave Radio 1 to start "a new chapter".^[75]
  • 5 March – Zane Lowe presents his final show.
  • 24 March – Radio 1 announces that The Official Chart will move from Sundays to Friday afternoons from mid-July in response to changes in the day new music is released.^[76]
  • June – Schedule changes at Radio 1 and BBC 1Xtra see Adele Roberts presenting the Early Breakfast Show, replacing Gemma Cairney. Cairney will become the station's social action presenter, hosting The Surgery and documentaries for both networks.^[77]
  • 5 July – The final Sunday broadcast of Radio 1's The Official Chart.^[78]
  • 10 July – The first Friday broadcast of Radio 1's The Official Chart.^[79] The programme is broadcast on Fridays as part of the drive time show, hosted by Greg James. The programme's airtime is almost halved, to just 1 hour 45 minutes with only the top 10 now being played in full.

• 2016
  • No events.

• 2017
  • 30 September – Radio 1 celebrates its 50th birthday. Commemorations include a three-day pop-up station Radio 1 Vintage celebrating the station's presenters and special on-air programmes on the day itself, including a special breakfast show co-presented by the station's launch DJ Tony Blackburn, which is also broadcast on BBC Radio 2.^[80]

• 2018
  • 24 February – Radio 1 overhauls its weekend schedule. The changes see Maya Jama and Jordan North joining the network as weekend presenters, fronting the Greatest Hits programme, while current presenter Matt Edmondson moves to present a weekday afternoon show on which he will be joined by a different guest co-presenter each week. Alice Levine moves from afternoons to weekend breakfasts to co-present with Dev.^[81]
  • 15 June –
    • Radio 1 starts broadcasting much of its weekend schedule on Fridays meaning that the weekday daytime schedule is now only broadcast from Mondays to Thursdays. ^[82]
    • Scott Mills replaces Greg James as host of The Official Chart.^[83]
  • 9 August – Nick Grimshaw presents the breakfast show for the final time.
  • 20 August – Greg James becomes the 16th person to present the Radio 1 Breakfast Show.^[84][85]
  • 3 September – Nick Grimshaw takes over as host of the drivetime show.
  • 3 October – Charlie Sloth announces he will leave BBC Radio 1 and BBC 1Xtra after ten years.^[86]

References