2009 in British radio

This is a list of events in British radio during 2009.

List of years in British radio (table)
In British television
2006
2007
2008
2009
2010
2011
2012
In British music
2006
2007
2008
2009
2010
2011
2012
In British film
2006
2007
2008
2009
2010
2011
2012

Events

January
  • 5 January –
    • Chiltern Radio, Hereward FM, Radio Broadland, Q103, Northants 96, SGR Colchester, SGR Ipswich, and Horizon Radio are all rebranded as Heart after earlier being acquired by Global Radio.[1]
    • 105.7 Smooth Radio have signed former BRMB presenter Tammy Gooding to present the drivetime show. She takes up the role from today, and replaces Nigel Williams who has moved to 102.2 Smooth Radio in London.[2]
  • 24 January – Jonathan Ross returns to his Saturday morning show on BBC Radio 2 after finishing his 12-week suspension following his role in the Russell Brand Show prank telephone calls row.[3]
  • 27 January – Bob Shennan is appointed as Controller of BBC Radio 2 following the resignation of Lesley Douglas.[4] He takes up the position in February.

February

March

April
  • 1 April – Ownership of Touch FM (Banbury) is transferred to Banbury Broadcasting Company Ltd. The station was subsequently renamed Banbury Sound on 1 June.[9]
  • 3 April – Les Ross presents his final weekday afternoon show on BBC Radio WM as he prepares to retire from radio.[10]
  • 4 April – BBC Radio Swindon, which had opted out of BBC Radio Wiltshire, is closed. The two stations are merged as BBC Wiltshire.
  • April – The third broadcast of Pirate BBC Essex takes place over the Easter holiday weekend. The broadcast began five days after the release of the comedy movie The Boat that Rocked which was set on a 1960s pirate radio station.[11]

May
  • May – Orion Media purchases BRMB, Mercia, Wyvern, Beacon in the West Midlands and Heart 106 in the East Midlands from Global Radio for a sale price worth £37.5 million.[12]
  • 22 May – The BBC says that Jonathan Ross's Radio 2 show will no longer be broadcast live following complaints about a joke he made on an edition of the programme which some listeners interpreted as being anti-gay.[13]
  • 24 May – Children's magazine show Go4It is broadcast for the final time.[14] The reason given is that it does not attract enough young listeners and that less than 1 in 20 of the show's audience is aged between 4 and 14, with the average age of the listeners being between 52 and 55. Consequently, there are now no children's programmes on BBC analogue radio.
  • 30 May – Mo Dutta leaves Radio 2.[15]

June
  • 1 June – Birdsong Radio, a digital radio station broadcast from 2008 as a filler on the Digital One platform following the closure of Oneword goes off air with the launch of Amazing Radio.[16]
  • 6 June – Zoë Ball joins Radio 2 as a weekend presenter.
  • 7 June –
    • Emma Forbes joins Radio 2 as a weekend presenter.
    • Rich Clarke presents the final edition of Hit40UK, which is succeeded by The Big Top 40 Show the following Sunday.
  • 13 June – Singer Emma Bunton begins hosting her own pre-recorded Saturday drive time[17] radio show on Heart in the Saturday afternoon slot 4pm – 7pm. She will also present the Friday drivetime show on London's Heart 106.2.[18]
  • 14 June – Launch of The Big Top 40 Show, a chart show broadcast on commercial radio stations in the UK, and based on a combination of airplay and music download figures provided by iTunes.
  • 18 June – It is announced that the media executive Steve Orchard has bought the CN Group of Midland radio stations, having established the Quidem group. The stations involved in the purchase are: 107.3 Touch FM, 102 Touch FM, 96.2 Touch FM, 101.6 & 102.4 Touch FM and 107.1 Rugby FM.
  • 22 June – Invicta FM, Southern FM and 103.4 Marcher Sound are rebranded as Heart.

July

August
  • 2 August – Jazz singer Clare Teal takes over as presenter of Sunday Night at 10.[20]
  • 15 August – Former Radio 2 presenter Malcolm Laycock criticises the network's management for abandoning its older listeners and claims he was constructively dismissed by the station, although Radio 2 denies this to be the case. Laycock resigned from his position following a long-running dispute with his producer over the content of his show, and because of issues regarding his salary.
  • August – London station Club Asia goes into administration and is taken over by the Litt Corporation, owners of rival station Sunrise Radio. The station is relaunched as Buzz Asia.[23]

September
  • 14 September – All programmes, apart from weekday/Saturday breakfast and Sunday afternoons, are networked across the KMFM network
  • 18 September – Jo Whiley presents her final weekday program for BBC Radio 1.[24]
  • 21 September – Fearne Cotton takes over Jo Whiley's old mid-morning show on Radio 1.

October
  • No events

November

December
  • 1 December – Touch Radio is rebranded to Touch FM.
  • 7 December – Les Ross returns to the airwaves when he becomes the presenter of the Big City Breakfast Show on Birmingham's Big City Radio 89.1.[26]
  • 13 December – Emma Forbes announces that she is to leave her Radio 2 Sunday morning show.
  • 18 December – After 27 years, Sir Terry Wogan presents his final breakfast show on BBC Radio 2.[27]
  • 25 December – Tom Binns cuts off a broadcast of the Queen's Speech while presenting a Christmas Day show on Birmingham's BRMB with the comment "two words: bore ing", an action that leads to him being sacked from the station.[28][29]

Unknown
  • Aston FM changes its name to Big City Radio.

Station debuts

Closing this year
DateStationDebut
30 January 107.3 Abbey FM 2006
30 March BBC Southern Counties Radio 1994
1 April Mersey 106.7 2001
3 April Time 107.3 1999
Time 106.8 1990
30 April Valleys Radio 1996
28 May Focal Radio 2008[30]
1 June Birdsong Radio 2008
1 July Mix 107 2001

Programme debuts

Returning this year after a break of one year or longer

Continuing programmes

1940s

1950s

1960s

1970s

1980s

1990s

2000s

Ending this year

Deaths

References
  1. Plunkett, John (5 January 2009). "Global Radio's Heart rebrand: what do you think?". London: Guardian.co.uk. Retrieved 1 January 2010.
  2. "Smooth move for Tammy Gooding". The Birmingham Post. Trinity Mirror. 5 January 2009. Retrieved 23 September 2018.
  3. "Line-up announced for Ross return". BBC. 2009-01-07. Retrieved 2009-12-18.
  4. Holmwood, Leigh (27 January 2009). "Bob Shennan named Radio 2 controller". London: Guardian Media. Retrieved 18 December 2009.
  5. "Birmingham – BBC WM – Joanne Malin joins BBC WM". BBC. 14 October 2008. Retrieved 6 January 2012.
  6. "WM Programmes – Schedule, Monday 2 February 2009". BBC. Retrieved 6 January 2012.
  7. Plunkett, John (13 March 2009). "Paul O'Grady, Alan Carr and Emma Forbes in at Radio 2". The Guardian. guardian.co.uk. Retrieved 1 February 2012.
  8. "End of an Era for Century". Radio Today. 18 Dec 2008. Archived from the original on 2009-01-23.
  9. RadioToday.co.uk – Banbury Sound launches Archived 2009-06-03 at the Wayback Machine, 1 June 2009
  10. Young, Graham (2 April 2009). "Les Ross ready to hang up his headphones". Birmingham Post. Retrieved 31 December 2009.
  11. Ship ahoy, it's Tony Blackburn! (2009-02-20). "Essex – Local Radio – Ship ahoy, it's Tony Blackburn!". BBC. Retrieved 2015-09-27.
  12. "Midlands radio sale cleared". Radio Today. 2 July 2009. Retrieved 9 September 2012.
  13. "Jonathan Ross will no longer record live after gay jibe". London: The Independent. 22 May 2009. Retrieved 18 December 2009.
  14. BBC Genome Project – BBC Radio 4 listings 24 May 2009
  15. Plunkett, John (27 May 2009). "Zoe Ball to host Saturday early breakfast show on Radio 2". London: The Guardian. Retrieved 18 December 2009.
  16. "Birdsong radio taken off the air". BBC News. BBC. 1 June 2009. Retrieved 11 February 2012.
  17. Westfield, Hannah (5 March 2011). "Emma Bunton protects bump at Heart FM fundraiser". News.carrentals.co.uk. Archived from the original on 6 October 2011. Retrieved 12 February 2012.
  18. "Emma Bunton signs to Heart". Radio Today. 1 June 2009. Retrieved 12 February 2012.
  19. "Kennedy rapped for Powell comment". BBC News. 19 July 2009. Retrieved 14 February 2012.
  20. Gammell, Caroline (4 August 2009). "Radio 2 listeners 'appalled' at presenter's sudden departure". London: Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 18 December 2009.
  21. "David Cameron on Absolute Radio". Absolute Radio. Archived from the original on 1 August 2009. Retrieved 13 March 2010.
  22. Siddique, Haroon (29 July 2009). "David Cameron says sorry for 'twat' comment during radio interview". London: The Guardian. Archived from the original on 24 April 2010. Retrieved 13 March 2010.
  23. "Ofcom change of control review" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 11 August 2011. Retrieved 23 August 2011.
  24. "Whiley bows out with full house". Pres Association. 18 September 2009. Retrieved 18 December 2009.
  25. "GMG Radio raises £200k for heroes". Radio Today. 12 November 2009. Archived from the original on 2011-12-18. Retrieved 14 February 2012.
  26. Young, Graham (7 December 2009). "Legendary DJ Les Ross MBE comes out of retirement for third time". Birmingham Mail. Archived from the original on 23 September 2012. Retrieved 31 December 2009.
  27. "Sir Terry Wogan bids farewell to show". BBC News. 18 December 2009. Archived from the original on 24 December 2009. Retrieved 18 December 2009.
  28. "CMU Beef Of The Week #235: Tom Binns v Simon Bates". Complete Music Update. 12 December 2014. Retrieved 9 May 2015.
  29. "Birmingham DJ loses job over 'boring' Queen's Speech". BBC News. BBC. 30 December 2009. Retrieved 9 May 2015.
  30. "Farewell, Focal Radio". Radio Today. 28 May 2009. Archived from the original on 18 July 2011. Retrieved 7 April 2010.
  31. Bowater, Donna (2009-08-31). "Fallen Sixties idol Simon Dee dies at 74". Daily Express. London. Retrieved 2019-11-05.
  32. Vacher, Peter (2009-11-10). "Malcolm Laycock Obituary". The Guardian. London. Retrieved 2019-11-05.
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