1994 in British radio

This is a list of events in British radio during 1994.

List of years in British radio (table)
In British television
1991
1992
1993
1994
1995
1996
1997
In British music
1991
1992
1993
1994
1995
1996
1997
In British film
1991
1992
1993
1994
1995
1996
1997

Events

January

  • 7 January – BBC Radio Sussex and BBC Radio Surrey are merged and the new station is temporarily named BBC Radio Sussex and Surrey prior to a full relaunch as BBC Southern Counties Radio. The new station is the first BBC Local Radio station to adopt an all-talk format.
  • 8 January – Andy Kershaw and John Peel are given Saturday afternoon slots on BBC Radio 1.
  • 10 January –
    • Steve Wright becomes Radio 1's new breakfast show presenter.[1]
    • Also on Radio 1, the teatime edition of Newsbeat returns after four years. The bulletin airs in its old slot of 5:30 pm to 5:45 pm.

February

March

  • 5 March – Radio Trent's Derbyshire service is renamed Ram FM.
  • 7 March – Following the purchase by GWR of Mercia FM, Xtra AM is replaced by a Mercia-branded relay of Classic Gold and at around the same time, GWR replaces The Worlds Greatest Music Station in Peterborough is replaced by Classic Gold 1332, whose only Peterborough-based show is the breakfast show.
  • 18 March – BBC Radio Kent stops broadcasting on 1035khz MW. The frequency is reallocated to commercial radio to allow a new London-wide station to start broadcasting.
  • 27 March – The original BBC Radio 5 signs off after three and a half years on air.
  • 28 March – BBC Radio 5 Live launches at 5 am, and at 2 am the following morning 5 Live broadcasts the first edition of its overnight Up All Night show.

April

  • 8 April – Test Match Special is transferred from BBC Radio 3 and BBC Radio 5 to BBC Radio 4’s long wave frequency.
  • April – The closure of BBC Radio 5 sees adult education and Open University programmes return to Radio 4. They are broadcast on long wave only as a two-hour block on Sunday evenings. Open University programmes are broadcast between February and September with language courses aired from October until January. Children’s programmes also return to Radio 4. However, instead of daily programmes, just one weekly 30-minute programme is broadcast.
  • April – Pick of the Pops returns, on Capital Gold.

May

  • 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 on BBC Radio 1.

June

  • June – BBC 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.[2]
  • 20 June – Fortune 1458 launches in Manchester, headed by former Piccadilly Radio boss Colin Walters. The station uses BBC Radio Manchester's old MW frequency.
  • 29 June – The Radio Authority receives 41 applications for six London-wide licenses.[3]
  • June – Following the purchase of Cambridge station CNFM by GWR, the station is relaunched as Q103.

July

August

  • No events.

September

  • 1–16 September – The UK's first five regional commercial stations start broadcasting.

October

  • 8 October – Virgin 1215 is awarded one of the new FM licences advertised in London.[6] The station applied for a London licence after attempts to persuade authorities to allow it to broadcast nationally on FM[7][8] had failed. The other three newly licensed stations are Heart 106.2, Premier Christian Radio and Viva 963.

November

  • No events.

December

  • 31 December – This is the final day on air for DevonAir and Buzz FM. The stations lost their licenses to Gemini Radio[9] and Choice FM respectively.

Station debuts

Closing this year

Programme debuts

Continuing programmes

1940s

1950s

1960s

1970s

1980s

1990s

Ending this year

Births

Deaths

  • 5 January – Brian Johnston, 81, cricket commentator and radio presenter
  • 23 January – Brian Redhead, 64, author, journalist and broadcaster

See also

References

  1. "BBC Radio 1 England – 10 January 1994 – BBC Genome". genome.ch.bbc.co.uk. Retrieved 14 July 2018.
  2. "Radio Rewind – Radio 1 History – Transmitters". www.radiorewind.co.uk. Retrieved 14 July 2018.
  3. Culf, Andrew (29 June 1994). "41 fight for London radio licences". The Guardian. London. p. 5. Retrieved 8 May 2011.
  4. "Radio 1 History – Transmitters". Radio Rewind. Retrieved 30 December 2009.
  5. Sterling, C. (2004). Encyclopedia of Radio. Fitzroy Dearbon.
  6. Williams, Rhys (8 October 1994). "Virgin wins one of six new slots on London's airwaves". The Independent. London. Retrieved 8 May 2011.
  7. Culf, Andrew (29 April 1993). "Virgin pushes for Radio 4's FM slot". The Guardian. London. p. 7. Retrieved 8 May 2011.
  8. Culf, Andrew (9 February 1994). "Branson begins crusade to gain FM frequency for Virgin Radio". The Guardian. London. p. 8. Retrieved 8 May 2011.
  9. "DevonAir Radio – An unofficial tribute – Devon Air". www.devonairfm.com. Retrieved 14 July 2018.
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