1996 in British radio

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Last updated May 18, 2024

This is a list of events in British radio during 1996.

Events

January

No events.

February

4 February – Trevor Nelson joins BBC Radio 1 to present the UK's first national R&B show Rhythm Nation.
5 February – Radio Wyvern becomes the last commercial radio station in England to end simulcasting on FM and AM.

March

15 March – Alan Freeman joins Virgin Radio to present a new Friday night rock show.
18 March – Mike Read replaces Nick Bailey as host of Classic FM’s breakfast show.
30 March – Steve Wright joins BBC Radio 2.
31 March – Michael Parkinson begins presenting Parkinson's Sunday Supplement on Radio 2.
March
- Jim Moir replaces Frances Line as controller of BBC Radio 2 and begins repositioning the station to attract a wider audience of over 35s, many of whom have moved to commercial radio following the repositioning of BBC Radio 1 three years earlier. He introduces a daytime playlist consisting of AOR/contemporary music with specialist programmes airing during the evening and at the weekend. Nostalgic/easy listening music is restricted to Sundays only.
- BBC Dorset FM closes and is replaced by a rebroadcast of BBC Radio Solent with localised news bulletins.
- Allied Radio plc is taken over by Independent Radio Group plc.^[1]

April

1 April – Network News closes.
3 April – After 18 years, the name BBC Radio Manchester returns to the airwaves. Since 1988 the station had been called BBC GMR. Shortly after the namechange, the station opens a relay on 104.6 FM to give areas of the Upper Tame Valley, including Saddleworth, Tameside and down to Hyde, improved coverage.
5–8 April – Classic FM broadcasts its first Hall of Fame over the Easter weekend.
9 April – BBC Radio Oxford and BBC Radio Berkshire are merged to form BBC Thames Valley FM.^[2]

May

4 May – BBC Radio 3 commences 24-hour transmission.^[3]
May – Viva 963 is sold to Mohammed Al Fayed, owner of Harrods and chairman of Fulham Football Club, who renames the station as Liberty Radio.^[4]

June

June – Radio 1 starts live streaming on the internet.^[5]
June – Schools programmes are broadcast during the day for the final time. Schools programmes continued to be broadcast overnight until 2003.

July

1 July – The LBC name returns to London's airwaves following a rebrand of London News Radio's MW station News Talk 1152.
9 July – The Radio Authority receives 25 bids for the final FM citywide London licence. In November the Authority announces that XFM has been awarded the licence which will broadcast on 104.9.

August

Hallam FM switches off its transmitter covering Rotherham as part of its licence agreement.
Minster FM extends northwards when it switches on a transmitter covering Thirsk and Northallerton.

September

9 September – Following a change in ownership, Manchester station Fortune 1458 is relaunched as Lite AM.
27 September – Paul Gambaccini leaves BBC Radio 3 after less than a year with the station.
30 September – Belfast Community Radio closes and is replaced by CityBeat.
September
- Scottish Radio Holdings purchases Northern Ireland stations Downtown Radio and Cool FM.
- The Radio Authority awards a full-time commercial licence to a student radio station for the first time when it awards the Oxford licence to Oxygen FM.

October

9 October – BBC Radio 1's London studios move from Egton House to Yalding House.^[6]
October – Richard Skinner, who presented the first show on Virgin Radio, leaves.

November

4 November – The Asian Network expands into a full-time station when it increases the number of hours on air from 80 hours a week to 126 hours a week (18 hours a day). The station, which broadcasts on the MW frequencies of BBC Radio Leicester and BBC WM, is renamed BBC Asian Network.
14 November – London News relaunches its rolling news service as News Direct 97.3 .

December

20 December – Steve Penk leaves Key 103 to move to Capital FM after 18 years at the Manchester station.

Unknown

Matthew Bannister becomes Director of BBC Radio.
Following its purchase of Bedford station Chiltern 96.9, new owners GWR Group rebrand the station as B97 FM.

Station debuts

5 February – Wyvern FM and Wyvern AM
Spring – Burn FM
4 April – 96.4 The Eagle
9 April – BBC Thames Valley FM
21 April – Spirit FM
24 May – FM102 The Bear
3 June – Asian Sound Radio
15 July – Oban FM
29 September – The Beach
23 November – Valleys Radio
Unknown date – Fly Live ^[7]^[8]

Programme debuts

31 March – Parkinson's Sunday Supplement on BBC Radio 2 (1996–2007)
17 April – Chambers on BBC Radio 4 (1996–1999)
5 July – Goodness Gracious Me on BBC Radio 4 (1996–1998)
26 July – Comedy Quiz on BBC Radio 4 (1996–1997)
6 October – The David Jacobs Collection on BBC Radio 2 (1996–2013)

Continuing radio programmes

1940s

Sunday Half Hour (1940–2018)
Desert Island Discs (1942–Present)
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)
Sing Something Simple (1959–2001)
Your Hundred Best Tunes (1959–2007)

1960s

Farming Today (1960–Present)
In Touch (1961–Present)
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)
Kaleidoscope (1973–1998)
Newsbeat (1973–Present)
The News Huddlines (1975–2001)
File on 4 (1977–Present)
Money Box (1977–Present)
The News Quiz (1977–Present)
Breakaway (1979–1998)
Feedback (1979–Present)
The Food Programme (1979–Present)
Science in Action (1979–Present)

1980s

In Business (1983–Present)
Sounds of the 60s (1983–Present)
Loose Ends (1986–Present)

1990s

The Moral Maze (1990–Present)
Essential Selection (1991–Present)
No Commitments (1992–2007)
Harry Hill's Fruit Corner (1993–1997)
The Pepsi Chart (1993–2002)
Wake Up to Wogan (1993–2009)
Essential Mix (1993–Present)
Up All Night (1994–Present)
Wake Up to Money (1994–Present)
Collins and Maconie's Hit Parade (1994–1997)
Julie Enfield Investigates (1994–1999)
Private Passions (1995–Present)

Ending this year

January – Change at Oglethorpe (1995–1996)
September – The Mark Steel Solution (1992–1996)

Closing this year

9 April –
- BBC Radio Berkshire (1992–1996)
- BBC Radio Oxford (1970–1996)
1 September – Supergold (1988–1996)

Deaths

26 March – John Snagge, 91, newsreader
6 April – Gordon Clough, 61, radio journalist
29 April – David Davis, 87, radio executive and broadcaster
11 May – Joan Thirkettle, 48, television journalist and radio personality^[9]
7 June – Percy Edwards, 88, animal impersonator
19 June – Vivian Ellis, 92, theme tune composer ( My Word , Paul Temple )
11 December – Willie Rushton, 59, comic performer, broadcast personality and cartoonist
14 December – Norman Hackforth, 87, musical accompanist and radio "mystery voice"

Related Research Articles

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.

Hits Radio Coventry & Warwickshire is an Independent Local Radio station based in Birmingham, England, owned and operated by Bauer as part of the Hits Radio network. It broadcasts to Coventry and Warwickshire.

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.

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

This is a list of events in British radio during 2007.

This is a list of events in British radio during 2005.

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

This is a list of events in British radio during 2002.

This is a list of events in British radio during 2001.

This is a list of events in British radio during 2000.

This is a list of events in British radio during 1997.

This is a list of events in British radio during 1995.

This is a list of events in British radio during 1994.

This is a list of events in British radio during 1993.

This is a list of events in British radio during 1992.

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

This is a list of events in British radio during 1989.

This is a list of events in British radio during 1986.

This is a list of events in British radio during 1985.

BBC Radio 2 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. It is the most popular station in the United Kingdom with over 14 million weekly listeners. Since launching in 1967, the station broadcasts a wide range of content. The 'About Radio 2' BBC webpage says: "With a repertoire covering more than 40 years, Radio 2 plays the widest selection of music on the radio—from classic and mainstream pop to a specialist portfolio including classical, country, folk, jazz, soul, rock 'n' roll, gospel and blues."

References

↑ Independent Radio Group, UK Business Park(Page No Longer Available, Retrieved from the Internet Archive).
↑ "The BBC Radio Oxford 40 year timeline". BBC News. 12 October 2010. Retrieved 13 November 2011.
↑ "Schedule – BBC Programme Index". genome.ch.bbc.co.uk. Retrieved 12 March 2022.
↑ "Viva sex appeal". The Independent. 19 November 1996. Archived from the original on 1 May 2022. Retrieved 12 March 2022.
↑ "BBC Internet Services – History". BBC. Retrieved 26 January 2009.
↑ "History: Egton House". Radio Rewind. Retrieved 20 August 2022.
↑ "Nottingham Trent's student radio station celebrates 25 years". 11 March 2022. Retrieved 12 March 2022.
↑ "A history of Fly Live and meet the committee". Fly Live. Retrieved 24 March 2022.
↑ "Joan Thirkettle dies aged 48". The Independent . London. 14 May 1996. Archived from the original on 1 May 2022. Retrieved 22 February 2012.

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[BusinessPark-1] Independent Radio Group, UK Business Park(Page No Longer Available, Retrieved from the Internet Archive).

[2] "The BBC Radio Oxford 40 year timeline". BBC News. 12 October 2010. Retrieved 13 November 2011.

[3] "Schedule – BBC Programme Index". genome.ch.bbc.co.uk. Retrieved 12 March 2022.

[fayed-4] "Viva sex appeal". The Independent. 19 November 1996. Archived from the original on 1 May 2022. Retrieved 12 March 2022.

[5] "BBC Internet Services – History". BBC. Retrieved 26 January 2009.

[6] "History: Egton House". Radio Rewind. Retrieved 20 August 2022.

[7] "Nottingham Trent's student radio station celebrates 25 years". 11 March 2022. Retrieved 12 March 2022.

[8] "A history of Fly Live and meet the committee". Fly Live. Retrieved 24 March 2022.

[Independent-1996-05-14-9] "Joan Thirkettle dies aged 48". The Independent . London. 14 May 1996. Archived from the original on 1 May 2022. Retrieved 22 February 2012.

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