Radio History
 
A timeline to some of the biggest events in UK radio history
 
1922: 2LO opened by Marconi in May.
 
1922: 14 Nov: BBC start daily broadcasting on 2LO. The first voice was Arthur Burrows, reading the news. The BBC was funded by radio set manufacturers.
 
1922: 15 Nov: 5IT (Birmingham) and 2ZY (Manchester) become first BBC stations outside London. Further stations in 1922 and 1923 were 5NO, Newcastle; 5WA, Cardiff, 5SC, Glasgow, and in 1924 2BE Belfast started broadcasting.
 
1924: “Pips” (Greenwich Time Signal) first broadcast on 5 Feb
 
1927: 5SW Chelmsford first started broadcasting shortwave broadcasts to Europe.
 
1930: ”National Programme” replaces 2LO. The “Regional Programme", an alternative service, started later this year.
 
1933: Radio Luxembourg commences broadcasting
 
1939: ”Home Service” created in September by a merger of the National and Regional Programmes.
 
1940: ”Forces Programme” launched as a seperate light entertainment programme for servicemen.
 
1945: Forces Programme renamed as ”Light Programme” for peacetime.
 
1946: ”Third Programme” launched in September
 
1955: The BBC launches its VHF (FM) transmitter network
 
1957: ”Network 3” launched as daytime service of the Third Programme.
 
1964: ”Radio Caroline” commences broadcasting on 29th March. Simon Dee was the first voice heard.
 
1966: Radio City, the first hospital radio station in Wales, opens
 
1967: Marine etc Broadcasting Offences Act became law, as effort by the government to regulate broadcasting.
 
1967: On 30th September, BBC radio reorganisation launched Radio 1,2,3 and 4. “Radio 1? was formed after the demand for pirate radio - the first record broadcast (by Tony Blackburn) was “Flowers in the Rain” by The Move, although limitations on needletime and funds meant it only broadcast for 5 hours 35 minutes on its first day. “Radio 2? was the change of name for The Light Programme, “Radio 3? was formed from the Third Programme and various strands from Network 3, and the Home service renamed “Radio 4?.
 
1967: BBC Radio Leicester begins broadcasting on 8th November - the first BBC local radio station.
 
1970: Network 3 fully absorbed into Radio 3 and Radio 4.
 
1970: In Sep - Dec, eight more BBC local radio stations begin broadcasting, after the Leicester experiment (1967) is hailed a success.
 
1973: Radio 1 Roadshow launched by Alan Freeman.
 
1973: Birth of commercial radio, (originally known as ‘independent’ radio after its independence from the BBC). LBC was first, joined by Capital Radio a week later, both in London. Read this account of LBC’s first day.
 
1974: Radio 1 launches ‘Newsbeat’.
 
1988: Radio 1 launched on FM
 
1988: First commercial station ‘splits‘ frequencies (broadcasting different stations on FM and AM frequencies). First to do it permanently was CountySound.
 
1989: ‘Incremental‘ commercial radio stations launched in London, Birmingham, Manchester, Bristol and Bradford as alternative services. While the term ‘incremental’ is now no longer used, these stations were mainly aimed at ethnic minorities in particular areas - broadcasting black dance music, or asian music to widen listener choice.
 
1990: Independent Broadcasting Authority (the commercial radio and television authority) splits into the Independent Television Commission and the Radio Authority, with the Broadcasting Act allowing more deregulation in the industry
 
1990: Radio 5 begins broadcasting on 9am Monday 27 August. First record (played by Bruno Brookes) was “Thunderbirds are Go” by MC Parker. It later re-launched as Radio 5-Live, a rolling news and sport station.
 
1991: Radio 1 goes permanently 24 hours on 1 May. (It had been 24 hours before, most notably during the Gulf War).
 
1992: Launch of Classic FM, first national commercial radio station, on 7th September. The first commercial station to play anything other than 24-hour pop music, the rapid growth of advertising on commercial radio is attributed to Classic FM.
 
1992: Launch of RAJAR, a body jointly funded by commercial radio and the BBC, giving industry-approved listening figures for all subscribing UK radio services
 
1993: Launch of Virgin 1215, now Virgin Radio, on April 30th
 
1994: Radio 1 leaves AM frequencies for new commercial station
 
1995: Talk Radio UK begins broadcasting on February 14th (now “TalkSport")
 
1997: Radio Authority launches Sallies, small scale local licences for smaller communities.
 
2002: The BBC launch three new digital-only radio stations: BBC 6 Music, BBC 1Xtra, and a third, currently un-named, station.
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