BBC Radio 1
From Freepedia
| Image:BBC Radio 1.png | |
| First air date | September 30 1967 |
| Frequency | 97 MHz - 99 MHz |
| Broadcast area | UK - National FM & DAB, |
| Style | Contemporary |
| Group | BBC |
BBC Radio 1 is a British radio station, specialising in popular music aimed at a young audience (children, teenagers and young adults). Radio 1 was launched at 7am on September 30, 1967 as a direct response to the popularity of illegal pirate radio stations such as Radio Caroline.
Contents |
History
The first DJ to broadcast on the new station was Tony Blackburn, whose cheery style won him the prime slot on what became known as the "breakfast show". The first record played on Radio 1 was Flowers in the Rain by The Move. The breakfast programme remains the most prized slot in the Radio 1 schedules, with every change of presenter exciting considerable media interest.
The initial rota of staff included the legendary John Peel (with the station until his untimely death in October 2004) and a gaggle of others, some hired from pirates, such as Ed Stewart, Terry Wogan, Jimmy Young, Dave Cash, Kenny Everett, Simon Dee, Pete Murray, and Bob Holness.
Radio 1 initially broadcast on 1214Khz mediumwave (or 247 metres as it was referred to at the time) and moved to 1053/1089Khz (275/285 metres)in 1978 (it was the only BBC National station without an FM frequency). In the 1970s and early 1980s it was allowed to take over Radio 2's FM transmitters for a few hours per week, most notably for the Top 40 Singles Chart on Sunday afternoons. In 1988 the 97–99 MHz frequencies became available when the existing police communication allocation changed, and Radio 1 acquired them for its own national FM network. Its old mediumwave frequencies were reallocated to commercial stations in 1994. In the 1990s it also began broadcasting on Sky Television's analogue satellite, initially in mono and later in stereo. Today it can be heard on DAB, Freeview, ntl and Telewest Broadband cable television services, Sky Digital and the Internet as well as FM. In July of 2005, Sirius Satellite_Radio began simulcasting Radio 1 across the United States. The broadcast is timeshifted five hours to allow US listeners to hear radio programs at the same time UK listeners do.
There were major changes to the station in the mid 1990s by the then controller, Matthew Bannister. He led a campaign to rid the station of its 'Smashie and Nicey' image and revert it to a youth station catering for the under 25s. Although originally launched as a youth station, by the early 1990s, its loyal listeners (and DJs) had aged with the station over its 25 year history. Bannister had a ruthless purge of the older DJs and banned old music (typically anything recorded before 1990) from the daytime playlist. Listeners rebelled as the first new DJs to be introduced represented a crossover from other parts of the BBC media empire with Emma Freud and Danny Baker. Bannister promoted Chris Evans to the prime morning slot even though Evans' own media interests were in conflict with the public benefit remit of the station. Evans was eventually sacked in 1996, and was replaced by Mark and Lard - Mark Radcliffe (along with his sidekick Marc Riley), who was in turn replaced by Zoe Ball and Kevin Greening just 6 months later in October 1997.
Listening figures continued to decline but the station succeeded in its aim to target a younger age group. Eventually, this change in content was reflected by a rise in audience that is continuing to the day. Notably, the station has received praise for shows such as The Sunday Surgery, Bobby Friction and Nihal, The Evening Session with Steve Lamacq and its succesor Zane Lowe. Its website has also been well received.
However, the station's two showcase shows, the breakfast show and the UK Top 40 continued to struggle. In 2000, Zoe Ball was replaced in the mornings by friend and fellow ladette Sara Cox, but despite heavy promotion listening figures for the iconic breakfast show continued to fall. In 2004 Cox was replaced by Chris Moyles. The new rebranded breakfast show is known as The Chris Moyles Show and has dramatically increased its audience to challenge The Today Programme on Radio 4 as the second most popular breakfast show (after Terry Wogan). The chart show has struggled as single sales in the UK fell and Wes Butters unsuccesfully replaced long-time host Mark Goodier. Current hosts JK and Joel now present only the second most popular radio chart show, but the 'official' Radio 1 chart (compiled by The Official UK Charts Company) remains the standard measure of Single sales success in the UK.
Many of the DJs ousted by Bannister (such as Johnnie Walker and Steve Wright) joined Radio 2 which has currently overtaken Radio 1 as the UK's most popular radio station, using a style that Radio 1 had up until the early 1990s
Music
Radio 1 is notable for the range of music it plays. While most commercial stations concentrate on a particular theme, such as 1980s music or "classic rock", Radio 1 plays a diverse mix of current songs, including independent/alternative, rock, house/electronica, drum 'n' bass, world, pop and rap.
Due to restrictions on the amount of commercial music that could be played on radio in the UK until 1988 (the so-called "needle time" limitation) the station has recorded a great many live performances and studio sessions over the years, many of which have subsequently (and perhaps ironically) found their way onto commercially-available LPs and CDs. There have also been innumerable rockumentary shows and interviews. Although this type of programming arose from necessity it has given the station some much-needed diversity.
Presenters
Current presenters on this station include Steve Lamacq, Zane Lowe, Mary Anne Hobbs, and Mike Davies, who all host their own respective rock and indie oriented shows. Also in the station's stable are R&B, garage and rap supremos such as Tim Westwood and Trevor Nelson. Club DJs Pete Tong and Judge Jules, amongst many others all present their own weekend dance shows. With these music specialists presenting in the evenings, the daytime schedules are mostly taken up by less specialised, more mainstream shows primarily hosted by Chris Moyles (The Chris Moyles Show) at breakfast (07:00–10:00), Jo Whiley (10:00–13:00), Colin and Edith (13:00–16:00), Scott Mills (16:00–19:00), Zane Lowe (19:00–21:00) and JK and Joel (04:00–06:55). Following the untimely death of John Peel in October 2004, Annie Nightingale is now the longest serving presenter at the station having worked there since 1969. Her show can be heard Fridays (01:00–03:00).
Regionalisation
Since 1999, Radio 1 has split the nations on a Thursday night with Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland broadcasting their own shows showcasing regional talent with Zane Lowe still being heard in England. Scotland's show is presented by Vic Galloway who's been doing it on his own since 2004 after original co-host Gill Mills departed. Wales's show is hosted by One Music's Huw Stephens and Bethan Elfyn whilst Donna Legge presents the Northern Irish programme having originally co-hosted it with Colin Murray who now has a daytime slot with Edith Bowman. They originally went out from 8-10pm on the Evening Session's time slot but now broadcasts from 7:30-9pm with the first half hour of Zane Lowe going out across the whole of the UK before going their separate ways.
See also
| BBC radio stations |
|---|
| FM/AM: Radio 1 | Radio 2 | Radio 3 | Radio 4 | Radio Five Live |
| Digital: 6 Music | BBC 7 | 1Xtra | Five Live Sports Extra | Asian Network |
| Radio Scotland | Radio nan Gaidheal | Radio Wales | Radio Cymru | Radio Ulster |
| BBC Local Radio | BBC World Service |
External links
- BBC Radio 1
- BBC Radio 1 live streaming
- The Official UK Charts Company
- Radio Rewind's BBC Radio 1 historic website
