2003 in British radio

This is a list of events in British radio during 2003.

List of years in British radio (table)
In British television
2000
2001
2002
2003
2004
2005
2006
In British music
2000
2001
2002
2003
2004
2005
2006
In British film
2000
2001
2002
2003
2004
2005
2006

Events

January

  • 3 January – Galaxy 101 is renamed Vibe 101.
  • 3 January – Hirsty's Daily Dose launches on Galaxy 105.
  • 5 January
    • 'Doctor' Neil Fox presents the first Hit40UK, the successor of the Pepsi Chart Show.
    • Meanwhile, Mark Goodier joins Classic FM to present its weekly chart show.[1]
  • 6 January
    • Jeremy Vine takes over Jimmy Young's old lunchtime show on BBC Radio 2.[2]
    • Les Ross takes over from David Hamilton as breakfast show presenter on Birmingham's Saga 105.7FM.
    • The LBC services swap wavebands. The rolling news service News Direct 97.3 moves to AM and is renamed LBC News 1152 and LBC News 1152 transfers to FM and is renamed LBC 97.3. The change takes place following the purchase of the two stations by Chrysalis Radio.
  • January – Neptune Radio and CTFM are rebranded KMFM Shepway and White Cliffs Country and KMFM Canterbury respectively.
  • January – Just over a year after EMAP decided to simulcast London station Magic 105.4 on its eight medium wave Magic stations in northern England, and following a sharp decline in listening, the station ends the networking of Magic 105.4. It replaces the simulcast with a regional northern network.

February

  • 9 February – Wes Butters becomes the presenter of The Official Chart.
  • 11 February – John Peters presents the first programme (the breakfast show) on Saga 106.6 FM in Nottingham, making it his third station launch. He launched Radio Trent in 1975 and GEM-AM in 1988.[3]
  • 17 February – A breakfast presenter who was dismissed from Century 106 after playing a spoof song about the Taleban in the wake of the September 11 attacks has settled his case for unfair dismissal, it is reported.[4]

March

  • 1 March – Dee 106.3 launches in the local Chester area – the first dedicated station for the city.
  • 17 March – Death in London of Alan Keith, aged 94. Earlier in the month he recorded an announcement that he intended to retire from the BBC programme Your Hundred Best Tunes, which he devised, after 44 years, but fell ill almost immediately afterwards; his final programme is broadcast 12 days after his death, making him the longest serving and oldest presenter on British radio.[5]

April

May

  • 3 May – BBC 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.[7]

June

  • 5 June – Radio 2 presenter Johnnie Walker announces that he will be taking time off air to undergo treatment after being diagnosed with non-Hodgkin's lymphoma.[8] During his time away the show is presented by Stuart Maconie and Noel Edmonds (who makes a brief return to radio).
  • 9 June – Simon Bates replaces Henry Kelly as the station’s weekday breakfast show presenter.[9]

July

  • 1 July – The rolling news service on Digital One, provided by ITN, stops broadcasting.

August

  • No events.

September

October

  • 10 October – Lesley Douglas is appointed Controller of BBC Radio 2 and BBC 6 Music.
  • 19 October – More than three decades after it first began broadcasting as a pirate station, and 18 years since its last broadcast, Radio Jackie goes on air as a legal station.[11] It broadcasts to south west London, replacing Thames Radio which had fallen into financial difficulty.

November

  • 28 November – Some of the BBC's radio and television services, including BBC Radio 4, BBC Radio Five Live and BBC News 24, are blacked out by a power cut and a fire alert.

December

Station debuts

Closing this year

Programme debuts

Continuing programmes

1940s

1950s

1960s

1970s

1980s

1990s

2000s

Ending this year

Deaths

  • 17 March – Alan Keith, 94, actor and longtime classical music presenter
  • 20 April – Debbie Barham, 26, comedy scriptwriter
  • July – Kerry Juby, 55, disc jockey
  • 23 September – Sarah Parkinson, 41, producer and writer of radio and television programmes

References

  1. "Mark Goodier quits BBC for Classic FM". The Guardian. 12 November 2002. Retrieved 30 May 2019.
  2. "Vine on critics' wavelength". BBC News. 7 January 2003. Retrieved 18 December 2009.
  3. "Biography of John Peters". Aircheck UK. Archived from the original on 20 November 2008. Retrieved 31 December 2009.
  4. Day, Julia (17 February 2003). "Sacked DJ settles case". The Guardian. Guardian Media Group. Retrieved 10 April 2014.
  5. "Veteran DJ Alan Keith dies". BBC News. 18 March 2003. Retrieved 18 December 2009.
  6. "Radio stars launch Hall of Fame". BBC News. BBC. 8 April 2003. Retrieved 9 January 2012.
  7. "Radio 1 – One Big Weekend". BBC. 3 May 2003. Retrieved 24 March 2012.
  8. "DJ Johnnie Walker in cancer battle". BBC News. 5 June 2003. Retrieved 18 December 2009.
  9. "Kelly axed by Classic FM". The Guardian. 9 June 2003. Retrieved 30 May 2019.
  10. "Press Office – One Big Weekend Cardiff". BBC. 2014-09-24. Retrieved 2017-05-29.
  11. Aircheck UK – Surrey
  12. "Veteran DJs in radio hall of fame". BBC News. BBC. 4 December 2003. Retrieved 9 January 2012.
  13. "Saga 106.6 FM goes for February launch". RadioNow.co.uk. 7 January 2003. Retrieved 31 December 2009.
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