Bauer Radio begins experimenting with a mixed Salisbury/Hampshire local news service for
Greatest Hits Radio Salisbury, which it later says was done because it felt a city specific bulletin for Salisbury "sounded jarring and parochial against industry-leading shows such as Ken Bruce and Simon Mayo". Local news is restored to Salisbury in March after a review following a bulletin containing a story about Portsmouth, an hour's drive from Salisbury.[7]
3 January – Pete Black announces he is leaving the role of
Bauer Media Audio UK's Director of Music after 18 years with the company.[8]
Jason Rosam presents his final edition of
BBC Radio London early breakfast show.[10]
Speaking to the At Home with Vick and Jordan podcast,
Ant & Dec discuss how they almost became presenters of the Radio 1 Breakfast Show after being asked to record a pilot. The show was eventually presented by
Sara Cox.[11]
Boom Radio announces plans to launch a sister station named
Boom Rock in February. The station will become the third in the Boom family.[14]
8 January –
Dan Walker replaces
Tim Lihoreau as presenter of
Classic FM's breakfast show. The change sees the programme move from its previous slot of 6am to 9am to a new slot of 6.30am to 10am.[15] Lihoreau, who had hosted the programme for the previous 12 years, becomes the new presenter of the station's weekend breakfast show as part of wider changes to the weekend schedule.[16]
Preston-based Beat Radio is rebranded as
Juice Radio, and appears on 103.2FM.[17]
Happy Radio have hired Fiona Sadler and Alex Roland to present a weekday evening and overnight show respectively.[18]
BBC Radio Scotland confirms that
Martin Geissler will present the Monday to Wednesday editions of its Drivetime programme following the departure of John Beattie.[20]
Carol Vorderman joins
LBC to present a Sunday afternoon show from 4pm to 7pm, having previously provided cover for other LBC presenters.[23]
Debut of
Smooth Radio's new television advertising campaign featuring famous UK landmarks and its new strapline, "Always the best music".[24]
15 January – The
Intellectual Properties Office launches a consultation on how record labels and artists from overseas should received royalties for material broadcast in the UK.[25]
17 January –
Kiss have signed a 12-month deal with
Costa Coffee to sponsor their breakfast shows on Kiss, Kisstory and Kiss Fresh.[26]
18 January – Following a consultation, Ofcom gives approval for
BBC Radio Cymru 2 to become a fully fledged radio station.[27]
19 January –
Sunshine 855 switches off its mediumwave frequency on 855KHz, having been granted permission to do so by Ofcom due to the expensive cost of maintaining the transmitters and the small number of listeners who listen on mediumwave.[28]
20 January – DJ Ace presents his final R&B show on
BBC 1Xtra after 21 years with the network; Chuckie is lined up to replace him.[29]
22 January –
BBC 1Xtra launches a second show produced from Birmingham, with DJ Day Day presenting weekday mid-mornings, also in place of DJ Ace.[30]
The relaunched version of
Laser 558 becomes available on
Freeview on Channel 277 via the radio portal.[31]
Scarborough's
Coast and County Radio is found to be in breach of Ofcom's rules following a showbiz news report about the health of
Barry Humphries in which it was reported he was being treated in hospital three days after his death.[32]
27 January – British band
No Guidnce begin a four-week residence guest presenting the R&B show on BBC 1Xtra.[29]
29 January – BBC Radio 2 launches the 2024 series of its Radio 2 Piano Room feature, with
Bruce Hornsby as the first guest.[34]
30 January – The
Media Bill, which proposes changes to radio in the United Kingdom such as reducing regulations for commercial radio and improving access through smart devices, passes its third reading in the
House of Commons.[35]
BBC Radio Solent is scheduled to air the final edition of its indie and alternative music show, Stereo Underground, but drops it from the schedule at the last minute without explanation.[37] The programme will continue to air after moving to the
Mixcloud app.[38]
January – Bauer drops local news bulletins from its
Salisbury frequencies of
Greatest Hits Radio South, on the grounds that they sound "jarring and parochial" alongside networked programming. They are replaced with regional bulletins from
Wave 105. [39]
February
1 February –
RAJAR figures are published for the final quarter of 2023, and indicate that there were 39.1 million weekly listeners to radio, an increase from 38.1 during the previous quarter.
GB News Radio increases its average listener base to 430,000, while listeners to
Boom Radio are down slightly on the previous quarter to 627,000.[40]
2 February –
Ofcom revokes the small-scale DAB licence award for Warminster, Devizes & Trowbridge after the bidder awarded the licence said they could not launch a service within the 18 month timeframe specified by the award.[41]
6 February –
talkSPORT has secured a two-year deal with Rugby League Commercial for broadcast rights for men's and women's
Super League rugby matches.[42]
The BBC announces plans to launch four new radio stations on
DAB+, including a Radio 2 spin-off playing music from the 1950s, 60s and 70s, and a Radio 1 spin-off playing music from the past two decades.[44] The plans are objected to by the commercial radio sector, which describes the new stations as unnecessary.[45]
Global announces plans to launch The Sports Agents, a sister programme to its The News Agents podcast, which will be presented by
Gabby Logan and
Mark Chapman on Tuesdays and Thursdays.[46]
Suzie McGuire joins
Nation Radio Scotland to present weekday evenings as Nation Broadcasting expands its Scottish content.[50]
Anna Sedgley announces she is leaving her post as Group Chief Financial Officer at Bauer Media after three years in the role.[51]
13 February – At 5.00pm BBC Radio 2 and BBC Radio 5 Live break the news of the death of radio presenter
Steve Wright, who died on 12 February. The announcement is followed by on-air tributes from colleagues throughout the radio industry.[52]
14 February –
KISS announces that DJ Ace will join to present a Sunday evening R&B show.[53]
Jordan North confirms he will be leaving Radio 1 after ten years;
Jamie Laing will succeed him as co-presenter of the weekday drivetime show alongside
Vick Hope.[55]
The Radio Today website reports that
Oxis Media, which owns the
Jack FM brand, plans to relaunch the station in the UK at a time of its choosing.[56]
Smart Outdoor Media takes an equity stake in north east DAB station Frisk Radio.[57]
17 February –
Gary Davies presents a special edition of Pick of the Pops paying tribute to Steve Wright, with charts from 1980 and 1996, the years Wright joined Radios 1 and 2 respectively.[58]
GB News announces it has ended its radio advertising and sponsorship contract with
Bauer Media, and that it is launching its own advertising sales operation.[67]
21 February –
Capital confirms that Jordan North will replace Roman Kemp on Capital Breakfast from April.[68]
22 February –
Lyca Radio is announced as the official partner of the 22nd Asian Achievers Awards, replacing
Sunrise Radio.[70]
23 February – BBC Radio 2 broadcasts the final edition of the 2024 series of Radio 2 Piano Room.[34]
24 February –
Graham Norton announces he is leaving his weekend shows at
Virgin Radio with effect from the following day; Virgin boss Mike Cass confirms Norton will still present on the station.[71]
25 February –
At 8am,
Erewash Sound presenter Richard Dawson begins a sponsored broadcast marathon that is scheduled to end at midday on 27 February.[72][73]
BBC Radio Cymru 2 extends its broadcasting hours, going from four to nine hours on Mondays to Thursdays, four to six hours on Fridays and from three to 14 hours on Sundays.[90]
5 March – Blackpool's Coastal DAB is found in breach of Ofcom's Broadcasting Code for mentioning ticket sales for an event during a news bulletin.[91]
6 March –
BBC Radio 4 confirms that the next series of The Now Show, due to air in Spring 2024, will be its last.[92]
Simon Pitts is appointed Group Chief Executive of Global Media from early 2025.[93]
7 March –
Howard Hughes joins Radio News Hub to present news bulletins for a day to mark the company's ninth anniversary.[94]
Bauer is to increase the area coverage of
Hits Radio Pride as heritage stations are rebranded, with areas where
Hits Radio already broadcasts having their heritage frequencies taken over by Hits Radio Pride.[101]
13 March – Sam Sax, a DJ who mixes saxophone with house music, is named Kiss's Chosen One as the station's search for a new DJ concludes.[102]
14 March – Chris Sawyer, co-producer of the Radio 1 Breakfast Show, announces he is leaving his role after fifteen years.[103]
15 March –
The BBC confirms that
Emma Barnett will leave her role presenting Woman's Hour in April to become a presenter on the Today programme.[104]
Radioplayer announces the launch of new apps and a deal with
Google for voice-activated devices.[107]
BBC Radio 2 announces a series of programmes to celebrate the 50th anniversary of
ABBA's
Eurovision 1974 win.[108]
19 March –
The BBC confirms plans to sell adverts on some of its podcasts when streamed through platforms such as Apple and Spotify.[109]
Plans are announced for HGV Radio, an online radio station for truckers.[110]
Greatest Hits Radio confirms that Scott Temple and Holly Day will present weekday afternoons on
Greatest Hits Radio Cornwall from April.[111]
20 March –
Ofcom fines
Big City Radio £1,200 after finding it in breach of its Kay Commitments for not broadcasting enough local content, including news, travel, weather, community information and sport. The findings follow an investigation after Ofcom received a complaint before the station's change to
BRMB.[112]
Bauer Media Audio UK agrees a deal to acquire the software streaming company, SharpStream, subject to regulatory approval.[113]
21 March – The UK government appoints a panel of nine experts from the world of radio, television and business to advise on the future funding of the BBC.[114]
22 March –
Ofcom opens a three-month consultation process on whether to relax the Key Commitments criteria for community radio stations.[115]
25 March – BBC Radio 1 confirms that its Friday Early Breakfast Show will be presented by Richie Driss in April and SMASHBengali in May as it continues a rotating presenter format for the programme.[120]
26 March – Global appoints Dena McCallum as the Chair of Trustees at its Make Some Noise charity, replacing Jo Kenrick.[121]
28 March –
BBC Radio 5 Live celebrates its 30th anniversary with a day of special programming.[122]
March – Salisbury-specific bulletins on the
Salisbury frequencies of
Greatest Hits Radio South on weekdays are reinstated two months after Bauer dropped them in favour of regional bulletins from
Wave 105.[39]
The Daily Service is broadcast on
BBC Radio 4 Extra for the first time and Shipping Forecasts are reduced from four bulletins each day to two on weekdays and three at the weekend.[130]
A new weeknight jazz programme launches on
BBC Radio 3. Titled Round Midnight, the show is presented by saxophonist, composer and MC
Soweto Kinch.[131]
Radio 1 announces its Radio 1 Residency Thursday late night presenters for April, May and June, with Fleur Shore presenting in April, Emerald in May and Ben Hemsley in June.[138]
West Hull FM 106.9FM announces a rebrand to Humber Wave Radio to coincide with its launch on
DAB+ from mid-April.[139]
5 April –
It is announced that
Garry Richardson will, in September, step down from presenting the sports news on Radio 4's Today programme, after 43 years in the role and 50 with the BBC.[140]
Free Thinking is first broadcast as a weekly programme on BBC Radio 4, having transferred from Radio 3; and Friday Night Is Music Night transfers to Radio 3, having run on Radio 2 (or predecessor) since 1953.
V2 Radio announces it is launching on DAB in Hampshire, thus expanding beyond the Sussex area, and as a potential alternative to the now defunct Wave 105.[142]
8 April –
Ofcom launches an investigation into the 29 March edition of
David Lammy's show on LBC to determine whether it broke the rules regarding politicians acting as newsreaders.[143]
13 April –
Boom Radio announces the launch of a £500,000 advertising campaign on
ITV1, its first on the channel.
Jo Brand has also been hired to present a series of programmes in which she interviews prominent television personalities, including
Michael Grade.[148]
BBC Radio 4 turns off its
medium wave frequencies. They had been used to provide reception on AM where the long wave signal was weak, such as in
London,
Northern Ireland and in south west England.[150]
Virgin Radio announces schedule changes following the departure of Graham Norton that will include Angela Scanlon presenting weekend breakfast.[153]
18 April –
Bauer Media announce plans to rename Liverpool's
Radio City Tower as the Hits Radio Tower.[154]
Capital Buzz is launched to replace the PopBuzz website.[155]
19 April –
Ofcom invites applications for the sixth round of the small-scale DAB process.[156]
Research carried out by economists at
Compass Lexecon indicates BBC radio, and in particular BBC Local Radio, could not survive in its present format under a commercially funded BBC.[157]
22 April –
Asian Sound Radio is renamed Lyca Radio Greater Manchester following Lyca's acquisition of the station in 2023.[158]
23 April – Happy Radio hires Faye Bamford to co-present its weekday drivetime show alongside Ian Roberts.[162]
24 April –
Ofcom warns radio and television stations with programmes hosted by politicians that they could be fined if they break impartiality rules in the run up to the
next general election.[163]
Milton Keynes station 1055 The Point is warned by Ofcom it faces a fine for breaching its Key Commitments for a second time.[164]
25 April –
BFBS announces it will launch a new schedule, with Kam Kelly and Danni G presenting the breakfast show.[165]
26 April –
Tesco signs a deal to become headline sponsor of Global's The Sports Agents podcast.[166]
Bauer Media Audio UK completes its acquisition of SharpStream.[172]
2 May –
Bauer stages its annual Cash for Kids fundraiser, raising £1,004,030 for the charity, its largest amount to date.[173]
Brighton's Regency Radio hires former BBC presenter John Mann to present a show on Monday evenings titled John Mann's Treasure Test.[174]
4 May –
Richard Allinson takes over as presenter of weekend mid-mornings on
Greatest Hits Radio as part of an overhaul of the weekend schedule following Mark Goodier's departure.[175]
BBC Radio 5 Live have hired Times Radio's
Matt Chorley to replace Nihal Arthanayake on weekday afternoons.[187]
Following an investigation into Bauer's news experiment with Greatest Hits Radio, initiated by a listener complaint, Ofcom reminds Bauer of its local news obligations.[7]
28 May –
Iain Dale presents his final show for
LBC ahead of the
general election, announcing his intention to put his name forward as a candidate.[193] He subsequently withdraws from putting his name forward after comments made in a 2022 podcast resurface.[194]
31 May –
BBC Asian Network counts down a chart of the Ultimate 90s Bollywood Songs. The chart is presented by Nikita Kanda and Haroon Rashid.[195]
June
2 June –
Michael Ball takes over as presenter of Radio 2's Sunday Love Songs.[196]
3 June –
Capital launches the pop-up station Capital (
Taylor's Version), to coincide with the UK leg of Taylor Swift's
Eras Tour, the first time a radio station in the UK has been dedicated to a single artist.[197]
Andrew Neil joins
Times Radio to present an afternoon show from Mondays to Thursdays, doing so earlier than his originally planned September start because of the general election.[198]
Rewind Radio hires former
BBC Radio Cornwall presenter Jack Murley as programme controller and weekday midmorning presenter.[199] The station also appoints Mark Peters, the former managing director of
Pirate FM, as AI Integration Specialist.[200]
4 June – Capital announces that weekend presenter Kemi Rodgers will cover for Capital Breakfast co-presenter Sian Welby while she is on maternity leave over the summer.[201]
Frisk Radio becomes the official partner of the Blyth Live Festival, which takes place on 15 June.[208]
Ofcom approves changes to the Key Commitments of B Radio in Farnborough to allow it to appeal to an older audience and drop travel news bulletins from its schedule.[209]
14 June –
BBC Radio 4 airs the tribute programme There's Only One Michael Mosley following the recent death of television doctor
Michael Mosley on the Greek island of
Symi.[210]
Global have hired
Aggie Chambre for the new role of LBC Political Correspondent.[211]
A coalition of commercial media and content businesses write to
Labour to urge them not to introduce advertising on the BBC, fearing it could have a negative impact on consumers, licence fee payers and creative industries.[213]
The UK Community Radio Network publishes a manifesto aimed at garnering support from political parties regarding the future of community radio in the UK.[217]
18 June –
LBC's
Nick Ferrari presents the first of two editions of Britain's Next PM, a phone-in giving listeners the opportunity to speak to
Keir Starmer and
Rishi Sunak, with Starmer appearing on the first edition and Sunak the following day.[218]
During an election debate on
BBC Radio 4's Woman's Hour, representatives from Labour, the Liberal Democrats, Greens and Scottish National Party express their support for making
misogyny a hate crime.[219]
Lyca Radio and Lyca Gold host the Hounslow Mela, while in Milton Keynes, Lyca Gold presenters Bali Brahmbhatt and Kajal host India Day Milton Keynes, with both events being covered on air and online.[225]
24 June –
BBC Radio 4's Today programme announces it has dropped the daily
horse racingtips which it has carried for 47 years.[226]
Bauer launches Rayo, a new audio platform that enables online listeners to stream 50 Bauer stations.[227]
As part of its Analogue Radio Technical Code consultation, Ofcom confirms that AM radio stations will be allowed to offer better audio quality.[228]
At 9.45pm, BBC Radio 4 begins its election night coverage presented by
Rachel Burden and
Nick Robinson with Radio 5 Live simulcasting.[238]
At 9.55pm,
Matt Chorley begins presenting
Times Radio's election night coverage. The programme, which airs until 6.00am on 5 July begins 100 hours of live election coverage, something Times Radio describes as Britain's biggest ever live election programme.[239]
At 10pm,
Radio News Hub begins an eight-hour live election night broadcast from
College Green and presented by Jonathan Charles that will be made available free to its clients.[240]
9 September –
Garry Richardson is scheduled to present his final sports news bulletin for the Today programme, exactly 50 years to the day that he started working for the BBC.[249]
30 September –
Radio Tircoed rebrands and relaunches as SA Radio Live. The station had originally intended to rebrand as Swansea Live Radio, but changed its plans after complaints from rival broadcasters.[250][251]
7 January – Gangster Presents... Catching the Kingpins, a series presented by Mobeen Azhar and looking at how police infiltrated the
EncroChat phone network on
BBC Sounds and
BBC Radio 4.[284]