1920 in British radio – January - The first informal and spasmodic broadcasts in the United Kingdom are made by the
Marconi Company from
Chelmsford in England. These broadcasts include both speech and music.[1]
1927 in British radio – The British Broadcasting Company becomes the British Broadcasting Corporation, when it is granted a Royal Charter; First live sports broadcast on the BBC, a
rugby union international. The first football commentary takes place a week later.
1928 in British radio – The first edition of The Daily Service is broadcast. It was originally called A Short Religious Service but was renamed The Daily Service later in the year
1984 in British radio – The BBC conducts five trials of community stations in
Greater Manchester. Each trial, which covers a specific area of Greater Manchester, lasts for a few weeks; First broadcast of Delve Special.
2001 in British radio –
Compass FM launches, Chris Evans is sacked by Virgin Radio for poor timekeeping;
Saga 105.7 FM, the first radio station aimed at an over-50 listening audience, is launched in Birmingham.
2014 in British radio –
Jazz FM stops broadcasting nationally on DAB from New Year's Day, but continues to air in London; London's
LBC is launched as a national talk station on DAB; Smooth Radio is relaunched as a number of local stations; Simon Bates leaves Smooth after three years;
London One Radio is launched to cater for London's Italian community.
2021 in British radio – Woman's Hour celebrates its 75th year with a special message from
The Queen;
Boom Radio is launched to target
baby boomers; UK radio stations enter obituary mode following the
death of Prince Philip on 9 April; The first
DAB multiplex for the Channel Islands begins broadcasting;
Nick Grimshaw leaves
BBC Radio 1 after 14 years with the station;
RAJAR publishes its first set of post-COVID audience figures following an 18-month hiatus; Comedian
Iain Lee launches the online station
Radio Anywhere;
Janice Long dies aged 66; The recording and release of many radio programmes are expected to be delayed due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
2023 in British radio – Figures released by BBC Sounds show there were 57.7 million listens to its content between 20 December 2022 and 2 January 2023;
Absolute Radio stops broadcasting on MW;[7]BRMB is relaunched in Birmingham; Broadcaster
Paul O'Grady dies suddenly, aged 67; Changes are implemented in
BBC Local Radio leading to greater networking of shows and the departure of many long-standing and well-known presenters; Commercial radio in the UK marks its 50th anniversary.
2024 in British radio – Launch of
Boom Rock, which recreates the voice of
Tommy Vance using
artificial intelligence; the BBC announces the launch of four new national DAB stations and draws criticism from the commercial sector; BBC Radio 4's long wave opt-outs will end ahead of the switching-off of the station's long wave signal;
Steve Wright dies suddenly, aged 69.