1974 in British radio

This is a list of events in British radio during 1974.

Events

January

• No events.

February

• 19 February – BRMB begins broadcasting to the Birmingham area. ^{[1] [2]}

March

• 17 March – Solid Gold Sixty is broadcast on BBC Radio 1 for the final time. It is replaced the following week by a one-hour programme which just features the top 20.

April

• 1 April – BBC Radio Teesside is renamed BBC Radio Cleveland.
• 2 April – Piccadilly Radio begins broadcasting to the Manchester area. ^[1]

May

• No events.

June

• No events.

July

• 15 July – Metro Radio begins broadcasting to the Newcastle upon Tyne area. ^[1]

August

• 30/31 August – Radio North Sea International ceases broadcasting to the UK at midnight. ^[3]

September

• American-born music presenter Paul Gambaccini makes his first broadcasts on British radio, initially on BBC Radio 1.
• 30 September – Swansea Sound, the first Independent Local Radio station in Wales, begins broadcasting to the Swansea area. ^[1]

October

• 1 October – Radio Hallam begins broadcasting to the Sheffield area. ^[1]
• 21 October – Radio City begins broadcasting to the Liverpool area. ^[1]

November

• 22 November – The first regular programme in the UK for the black community, Black Londoners , launches on BBC Radio London, presented by Alex Pascall. ^[4] The programme is initially launched as a trial run of six programmes before becoming a weekly, and from 1978, a weeknight, fixture in the schedules.

December

• No events.

Unknown

• BBC Radio Leicester launches a weekly programme for the Asian community. ^[5]

Station debuts

• 19 February – BRMB
• 2 April – Piccadilly Radio
• 17 April – Hospital Radio Lynn ^[6]
• 15 July – Metro Radio
• 30 September – Swansea Sound
• 1 October – Radio Hallam
• 21 October – Radio City

Programme debuts

• 20 April – The Betty Witherspoon Show on BBC Radio 2 (1974) ^[7]
• 22 November – Black Londoners on BBC Radio London (1974–1988) ^[8]

Continuing radio programmes

1940s

• Sunday Half Hour (1940–2018)
• Desert Island Discs (1942–Present)
• Down Your Way (1946–1992)
• Letter from America (1946–2004)
• Woman's Hour (1946–Present)
• A Book at Bedtime (1949–Present)

1950s

• The Archers (1950–Present)
• The Today Programme (1957–Present)
• The Navy Lark (1959–1977)
• Sing Something Simple (1959–2001)
• Your Hundred Best Tunes (1959–2007)

1960s

• Farming Today (1960–Present)
• In Touch (1961–Present)
• The Men from the Ministry (1962–1977)
• Petticoat Line (1965–1979)
• The World at One (1965–Present)
• The Official Chart (1967–Present)
• Just a Minute (1967–Present)
• The Living World (1968–Present)
• The Organist Entertains (1969–2018)

1970s

• PM (1970–Present)
• Start the Week (1970–Present)
• Week Ending (1970–1998)
• You and Yours (1970–Present)
• I'm Sorry I Haven't a Clue (1972–Present)
• Good Morning Scotland (1973–Present)
• Hello Cheeky (1973–1979)
• Kaleidoscope (1973–1998)
• Newsbeat (1973–Present)

Births

• 15 January – Edith Bowman, Scottish music critic, radio disc jockey and television presenter
• 22 February – Chris Moyles, disc jockey
• 28 March – Scott Mills, disc jockey
• 24 April
  • Jon Holmes, writer, comedian and broadcaster
  • David Vitty (Comedy Dave), radio presenter
• 26 April – Adil Ray, broadcaster and comic actor
• 28 April – Vernon Kay, broadcast presenter
• 21 June – Natasha Desborough, radio presenter
• 24 June – Rob da Bank, disc jockey
• 2 July – Dan Tetsell, comedy writer-performer
• 14 July – David Mitchell, comedy writer-performer
• 24 July – Lisa Francesca Nand, journalist and broadcaster
• 2 August – Phil Williams, radio news presenter
• 6 October – Andy Zaltzman, satirical and cricket broadcaster
• 24 November – Stephen Merchant, comedy writer-performer and radio presenter
• 13 December – Sara Cox, disc jockey
• Ros Atkins, broadcast journalist
• Natalie Haynes, broadcaster, classicist, comedian and writer

Deaths

• 23 February – Raymond Glendenning, radio sports commentator (born 1907) ^[9]
• 4 May – Ludwig Koch, German-born British natural sound recordist (born 1881)

See also

• 1974 in British music
• 1974 in British television
• 1974 in the United Kingdom
• List of British films of 1974

References

1. Radiomusications: Radio Reference: Independent Local Radio Stations (TBS Editors) Archived 2010-11-14 at the Wayback Machine ; accessed 18 February 2010
2. Young, Graham (21 February 2014). "How BRMB bravely took to the airwaves". Business Live. Retrieved 19 August 2023.
3. "The Radio Northsea Story". Archived from the original on 21 May 2015. Retrieved 17 April 2023.
4. "Alex Pascal MBE – Writer, broadcaster and musician" ^{[ usurped ]}, Black in Britain.
5. Parry, AUTHOR: Simon. "Asian Sound". Transdiffusion. Retrieved 22 October 2024.
6. Martin, Roy (22 October 2024). "Hospital Radio Lynn celebrates 50 years of service in King's Lynn". Radio Today. Retrieved 22 October 2024.
7. "The Betty Witherspoon Show". The British Comedy & Drama Website. Retrieved 24 March 2021.
8. Scafe, Suzanne (2002). "Black Londoners". In Alison Donnell (ed.). Companion to Contemporary Black British Culture. Routledge. p. 46. ISBN   9781134700257.
9. Sellens, Nicolas (2005). Commentating Greats: From Alliss to Wolstenholme. West Ridge. p. 92. ISBN   978-0-9540733-1-2.