BBC Radio 1Xtra

Last updated

BBC Radio 1Xtra
BBC Radio 1Xtra 2021.svg
Logo used since 2021
Broadcast areaUnited Kingdom and Internationally via Satellite and BBC Sounds
Frequency DAB: 12B (BBC National DAB)
Freeview: 701
Freesat: 701
Sky UK: 0127
Virgin Media: 907
Astra 2E (28.2°E) satellite
Intelsat 901 (18°W) satellite
Programming
Language(s)English
Format Electronic, hip hop, R&B, dancehall
Ownership
Owner BBC
BBC Radio 1
BBC Radio 1 Dance
BBC Radio 1 Relax
History
First air date
16 August 2002;21 years ago (2002-08-16)
Technical information
Licensing authority
 Ofcom
Links
Webcast BBC Sounds
Website BBC Radio 1Xtra on BBC Sounds

BBC Radio 1Xtra is a British digital radio station owned and operated by the BBC. It broadcasts black music and urban music, including hip hop and R&B and is a sister station to Radio 1. [1] Launching at 18:00 on 16 August 2002, it had been code named "Network X" during the consultation period. At the time, the station was listed as "1 Xtra BBC" on many electronic programming guides. The station broadcasts from the 8th floor of Broadcasting House, shared with Radio 1 and the Asian Network.

Contents

According to RAJAR, the station broadcasts to a weekly audience of 718,000 with a listening share of 0.3% as of December 2023.[ citation needed ]

Music policy

BBC Radio 1Xtra's music includes largely British, North American, Caribbean and African hip hop, grime, bassline, UK garage, dubstep, drum and bass, UK funky, house, dancehall, soca, reggae, gospel music, bhangra, soul, and R&B. It is available on digital radio (DAB), digital satellite television, digital terrestrial television (Freeview), and the Internet. The first ever track played on 1Xtra was a specially created track produced by DJ Skitz and Rodney P and featuring Beverley Knight and Blak Twang. The five-hour show was presented by the Rampage DJ collective and the station's then breakfast show host, KC. [2]

News and speech

As part of its public service broadcasting remit, 1Xtra is required to carry a significant amount of news, information and speech content. 1Xtra had its own news service, 1Xtra News (formerly known as "TX"), which was operated as a subsidiary of Radio 1's Newsbeat operations. The tone and style of the news presentation is in keeping with the station's overall target audience - young and predominantly urban. [3]

Initially, in addition to regular hourly bulletins, TX had a flagship weekday two-hour news, features and discussion show under the title "TX Unltd" (pronounced "Unlimited"). [4] This show - initially broadcast in a 5 pm –7 pm slot - rated poorly, however, and was later absorbed into a mixed music-and-speech format (similar to that used by Jeremy Vine on Radio 2) which aired in mid-afternoon (2 pm –4 pm) and was named after its host, Max. [5]

In 2009, the BBC Trust agreed to a further change to the scheduling of news content on 1Xtra, such that it could use the same format successfully operated by Radio 1's Newsbeat: two 15-minute news bulletins, one in the middle of the day and another in the early evening, with other speech features, profiles and social/cultural specials being broadcast on an ad hoc basis within music-led shows, and with regular hourly news bulletins also continuing. The Trust required that 1Xtra's main bulletins not air at the same time as those on Radio 1. [6] When the new bulletins were introduced in late summer 2009, they aired at noon and 5 pm, with Radio 1's bulletins remaining at 12:45 pm and 5:45 pm.

As of Summer 2009 it was reported that Radio 1 and 1Xtra were carrying shared news bulletins at weekends; [7] weekday news output remained separate.

September 2012 saw a substantial increase in Newsbeat bulletins simulcast with Radio 1. Weekday breakfast bulletins at 6 am, 7.30 am, 8 am, 8.30 am and 9.30 am remain bespoke 1Xtra broadcasts. From 10:30 am, bulletins are shared with Radio 1, including the 15-minute Newsbeat magazines at 12:45 pm and 5:45 pm.

In the first quarter of 2011, 1Xtra was part of an efficiency review conducted by John Myers. [8] His role, according to Andrew Harrison, the chief executive of RadioCentre, was "to identify both areas of best practice and possible savings." [8]

In November 2017, reports signalled that the Roundhouse Rising concert series would partner with 1Xtra. As part of the change, the BBC curated a free grime night in the venue's Sackler Space. [9]

Audience profile

BBC Radio 1Xtra's typical audience is between fifteen and thirty years old. [10]

According to the "Submission to the Secretary of State's review of digital channels" in March 2004, Radio 1Xtra "provides music output 24 hours a day, punctuated by bespoke BBC news bulletins and other speech output designed specifically to be pertinent to the audience."

Notable presenters

Current notable presenters

Weekday evening shows began with MistaJam helming a three-hour multi-genre show, followed by six hours of specialist output tailored to a particular genre (e.g. UK Garage, dancehall, etc.) Between October 2009 and spring 2010, the 4 am –6 am slot housed a replay of selected weekend specialist programming; this and the one-hour Morning Mix programme were dropped in spring 2010 and a new six-days-a-week 'early breakfast' show (4 am –7 am) hosted by Nick Bright was introduced. (The Saturday 4 am replay of Target's Friday night show was also axed, to make room for Bright's sixth show) This has now itself been replaced by a rerun of the previous week's overnight mix show from 4 am to 6 am, giving nine hours of specialist output.

Weekday overnights (1 am –3 am), Saturday overnights (1 am –4 am) and Saturday evenings (7 pm –1 am) are now simulcast entirely with Radio 1 - this allows Radio 1's flagship urban content to air on 1Xtra.

Former notable presenters

Logo history

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">BBC Radio 1</span> British national radio station

BBC Radio 1 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. It specialises in modern popular music and current chart hits throughout the day. The station provides alternative genres at night, including electronica, dance, hip hop and indie, while its sister station 1Xtra plays black contemporary music, including hip hop and R&B. Radio 1 also runs two online streams, Radio 1 Dance, dedicated to dance music, and Radio 1 Relax, dedicated to chill-out music; both are available to listen only on BBC Sounds.

BBC Radio 5 Live is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. It broadcasts mainly news, sport, discussion, interviews and phone-ins. It is the principal BBC radio station covering sport in the United Kingdom, broadcasting virtually all major sports events staged in the UK or involving British competitors.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">BBC Radio Kent</span> Radio station in Royal Tunbridge Wells

BBC Radio Kent is the BBC's local radio station serving the county of Kent.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">BBC Radio York</span> BBC Local Radio service for North Yorkshire, England

BBC Radio York is the BBC's local radio station serving the county of North Yorkshire.

BBC Asian Network is a British Asian radio station owned and operated by the BBC. The station's target audience is people "with an interest in British Asian lifestyles", especially British Asians between the ages of 18 and 34. The station has production centres at Broadcasting House in London and The Mailbox in Birmingham.

This is a timeline of the history of the British Broadcasting Corporation.

Hits Radio Herefordshire & Worcestershire is an Independent Local Radio station owned and operated by Bauer as part of the Hits Radio network. It broadcasts to Herefordshire and Worcestershire.

Greatest Hits Radio North East Scotland is an Independent Local Radio station broadcasting to Aberdeen and Aberdeenshire on DAB digital radio and online. Owned and operated by Bauer as part of the Greatest Hits Radio network of classic hit music stations in England, Scotland and Wales, carrying networked programmes originating mainly from Glasgow and Manchester 24 hours a day, featuring local news and traffic bulletins.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">BBC Radio Ulster</span> Radio station in Belfast, Northern Ireland

BBC Radio Ulster is a Northern Irish national radio station owned and operated by BBC Northern Ireland, a division of the BBC. It was established on New Year's Day 1975, replacing what had been an opt-out of BBC Radio 4.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Capital Xtra</span> British radio station

Capital XTRA is a Global-owned radio station that broadcasts on 96.9 FM and 107.1 FM in Greater London. Nationally, it is heard on DAB Digital Radio, Freesat, Sky, Virgin Media and Global Player. It specialises in hip hop, grime and R&B music, and is a commercial competitor to BBC Radio 1Xtra.

Newsbeat is the BBC's radio news programme broadcast on Radio 1, 1Xtra and Asian Network. Newsbeat is produced by BBC News but differs from the BBC's other news programmes in its remit to provide news tailored for young people.

<i>The 7 OClock News</i> British TV show on BBC Three 2003–05

The 7 O'Clock News is a British news programme. It was the main news programme broadcast each weekday at 7:00 pm, on British digital television channel BBC Three between 10 February 2003 to 2 December 2005. Originally called The News Show from its launch on 10 February 2003, the night after the launch of BBC Three, it was rebranded later in the year, though retaining the same presentation team.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Radio Carmarthenshire</span> Radio station in Carmarthenshire, Wales

Radio Carmarthenshire is an Independent Local Radio station broadcasting to Carmarthenshire. It is owned and operated by Nation Broadcasting and broadcasts on 97.1 and 97.5 FM from studios near the St Hilary transmitter in the Vale of Glamorgan.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Charlie Sloth</span> British DJ, producer and TV presenter (born 1981)

Charlie Ian Paul Rouillon, known professionally as Charlie Sloth, is a British DJ, hype man, producer and TV presenter.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">BBC Radio Surrey</span> BBC Local Radio service for the English county of Surrey

BBC Radio Surrey is the BBC's local radio station serving Surrey, north-east Hampshire and north West Sussex.

Fearne Cotton was a British weekday radio show on BBC Radio 1, hosted by Fearne Cotton. The programme was on air from 21 September 2009 until 22 May 2015, when Fearne left the station. It was broadcast each morning from 10:00 a.m. to 12:45 p.m., and on Bank Holidays from 10:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. The show focused on playing and interviewing new bands and styles of music.

This is a list of events in British radio during 1990.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Capital (radio network)</span> British radio network

Capital is a network of twelve independent contemporary hit radio stations in the United Kingdom, broadcasting a mix of local and networked programming. Ten of the stations are owned and operated by Global, while the other two are owned and operated under separate franchise agreements.

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

A timeline of notable events relating to BBC Radio News.

References

  1. ↑ "Inside the BBC: BBC Radio stations". www.bbc.co.uk. BBC. Archived from the original on 10 January 2019. Retrieved 10 January 2019.
  2. ↑ Wells, Matt (19 August 2002). "BBC enlists raw talent for radio station to woo black audience". The Guardian. London. Archived from the original on 26 August 2013. Retrieved 3 May 2009.
  3. ↑ "1Xtra News homepage". BBC.co.uk. 1 January 1970. Archived from the original on 13 June 2011. Retrieved 4 August 2012.
  4. ↑ BBC Governors report includes a reference to TX Unltd Archived 3 July 2008 at the Wayback Machine
  5. ↑ "Max's 1Xtra page". Bbc.co.uk. Archived from the original on 7 September 2009. Retrieved 4 August 2012.
  6. ↑ "BBC Trust review of youth audiences, 2009 (pdf) - includes approval of 1Xtra News changes" (PDF). Retrieved 4 August 2012.
  7. ↑ "Digital Spy forums: 'Radio 1 and 1Xtra share news'". Digitalspy.co.uk. Archived from the original on 18 August 2009. Retrieved 4 August 2012.
  8. 1 2 Andrews, Amanda (28 November 2010). "BBC enlists commercial sector help to shake up radio". The Telegraph. London. Archived from the original on 22 January 2011. Retrieved 12 March 2011.
  9. ↑ "Roundhouse Rising partners with 1Xtra". Archived from the original on 10 November 2017. Retrieved 10 November 2017.
  10. ↑ "Submission for the Secretary of State's review of the BBC's new digital radio services". BBC. March 2004. Archived from the original on 21 March 2005. Retrieved 21 August 2006.

Sources

This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.