2009 in British radio

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

Events

• 5 January - Chiltern Radio, Hereward FM, Radio Broadland, Q103, Northants 96, SGR Colchester, SGR Ipswich, and Horizon Radio are all rebranded as Heart after earlier being acquired by Global Radio.^[1]
• 24 January - Jonathan Ross returns to his Saturday morning show on BBC Radio 2 after finishing his 12-week suspension following his role in the Russell Brand Show prank telephone calls row.^[2]
• 27 January - Bob Shennan is appointed as Controller of BBC Radio 2 following the resignation of Lesley Douglas.^[3] He takes up the position in February.
• 2 February - Joanne Malin joins BBC WM to present her mid-morning show.^[4][5]
• 13 March - BBC Radio 2 confirms plans to overhaul its weekend schedule from April. This will include Paul O'Grady, Alan Carr and Emma Forbes joining the network to present shows, while the Saturday afternoon comedy hour will move to Thursday evenings. The changes will also see Johnnie Walker present Sounds of the 70s on Sunday afternoon.^[6]
• 23 March - Fox FM, GWR FM Bath, GWR Bristol, GWR FM Wiltshire, Champion 103, 2CR, Essex FM, Gemini FM, Severn Sound, Ocean FM, Lantern FM, Coast 96.3, Plymouth Sound, Orchard FM, South Hams Radio, Wirral's Buzz and 2-Ten FM are all rebranded as Heart.
• 1 April - Ownership of Touch FM (Banbury) is transferred to Banbury Broadcasting Company Ltd. The station was subsequently renamed Banbury Sound on 1 June.^[7]
• 3 April - Les Ross presents his final weekday afternoon show on BBC Radio WM as he prepares to retire from radio.^[8]
• May - Orion Media purchases BRMB, Mercia, Wyvern, Beacon in the West Midlands and Heart 106 in the East Midlands from Global Radio for a sale price worth £37.5 million.^[9]
• 22 May - The BBC says that Jonathan Ross's Radio 2 show will no longer be broadcast live following complaints about a joke he made on an edition of the programme which some listeners interpreted as being anti-gay.^[10]
• 30 May - Mo Dutta leaves Radio 2.^[11]
• 1 June - Birdsong Radio, a digital radio station broadcast from 2008 as a filler on the Digital One platform following the closure of Oneword goes off air with the launch of Amazing Radio.^[12]
• 6 June - Zoë Ball joins Radio 2 as a weekend presenter.
• 7 June - Emma Forbes joins Radio 2 as a weekend presenter.
• 7 June - Rich Clarke presents the final edition of Hit40UK, which is succeeded by The Big Top 40 Show the following Sunday.
• 13 June - Singer Emma Bunton begins hosting her own pre-recorded Saturday drive time^[13] radio show on Heart in the Saturday afternoon slot 4pm – 7pm. She will also present the Friday drivetime show on London's Heart 106.2.^[14]
• 14 June - Launch of The Big Top 40 Show, a chart show broadcast on commercial radio stations in the UK, and based on a combination of airplay and music download figures provided by iTunes.
• 18 June - It is announced that the media executive Steve Orchard has bought the CN Group of Midland radio stations, having established the Quidem group. The stations involved in the purchase are: 107.3 Touch FM, 102 Touch FM, 96.2 Touch FM, 101.6 & 102.4 Touch FM and 107.1 Rugby FM.
• 22 June - Invicta FM, Southern FM and 103.4 Marcher Sound are rebranded as Heart.
• 1 July - Premiere of the Torchwood drama Asylum on BBC Radio 4.
• 2 July - Debut of the Torchwood drama Golden Age on BBC Radio 4.
• 3 July - Debut of the Torchwood drama The Dead Line on BBC Radio 4.
• 15 July - Radio 2 presenter Sarah Kennedy causes controversy after describing the late Enoch Powell as "the best Prime Minister this country never had" on her Dawn Patrol programme, and is later reprimanded for the remarks.^[15]
• 25 July - Chris Tarrant presents his last Saturday morning show for GMG Radio.
• 26 July - Malcolm Laycock presents his final edition of Sunday Night at 10 on BBC Radio 2.^[16]
• 29 July - Conservative leader David Cameron apologizes for any offence caused after using the word "twat" on live radio during a breakfast radio show interview on Absolute Radio.^[17][18]
• 2 August - Jazz singer Clare Teal takes over as presenter of Sunday Night at 10.^[16]
• 15 August - Former Radio 2 presenter Malcolm Laycock criticises the network's management for abandoning its older listeners and claims he was constructively dismissed by the station, although Radio 2 denies this to be the case. Laycock resigned from his position following a long-running dispute with his producer over the content of his show, and because of issues regarding his salary.^[19]
• 14 September - all programmes, apart from weekday/Saturday breakfast and Sunday afternoons, are networked across the KMFM network
• 18 September - Jo Whiley presents her final weekday program for BBC Radio 1.^[20]
• 21 September - Fearne Cotton takes over Jo Whiley's old mid-morning show on Radio 1.
• 10 November - Thirteen stations owned by GMG Radio take part in an eighteen-hour on-air appeal to raise money for the Help for Heroes charity. The event raises almost £200,000.^[21]
• 1 December - Touch Radio is rebranded to Touch FM.
• 7 December - Les Ross returns to the airwaves when he becomes the presenter of the Big City Breakfast Show on Birmingham's Big City Radio 89.1.^[22]
• 13 December - Emma Forbes announces that she is to leave her Radio 2 Sunday morning show.
• 18 December - After 27 years, Sir Terry Wogan presents his final breakfast show on BBC Radio 2.^[23]
• 25 December – Tom Binns cuts off a broadcast of the Queen's Speech while presenting a Christmas Day show on Birmingham's BRMB with the comment "two words: bore ing", an action that leads to him being sacked from the station.^[24][25]
• Unknown - Aston FM changes its name to Big City Radio.

Station debuts

• 10 January - Vixen 101
• 1 February - Wight FM
• February - Felixstowe Radio
• 30 March - BBC Surrey
• 1 June - Amazing Radio
• 1 June - Banbury Sound
• 20 June - 96.5 Bolton FM
• 4 December - Absolute 80s

Closing this year

Valleys Radio

Deaths

• 29 January - Bill Frindall, 69, sportscaster and statistician
• 29 August - Simon Dee, 74, television interviewer and disc jockey^[27]
• 8 November - Malcolm Laycock, 71, broadcaster and producer^[28]

References