1980 in British radio

none October 2023 1980 British radio British television British music This is a list of events in British radio during 1980. Events January 2 January – BBC Radio 3 launches a new, extended teatime programme Mainly for Pleasure. The two-hour long programme replaces the much shorter Homeward Bound.BBC Genome Project – Radio 3 listings 2 January 1980 13 January – Forces request programme Family Favourites is broadcast on BBC Radio 2 for the final time. February BBC Radio Wales launches the first of two permanent community opt-out stations, Radio Deeside, after successful community radio experiments in 1978. The reopening is in response to the closure of the Shotton steelworks. March 19–20 March – Mi Amigo, the ship from which the pirate radio station Radio Caroline is broadcast, runs aground and sinks off the Thames Estuary. 31 March – BBC Radio 1's broadcast hours are cut back. The station starts broadcasting on weekdays an hour later and Saturday evening programming ends. The station simulcasts BBC Radio 2 during this additional downtime although by the end of the year Radio 1 has stopped broadcasting Radio 2 through the night. April 11 April – CBC in Cardiff becomes the first of the second tranche of Independent Local Radio stations to start broadcasting. It is the first new ILR station since 1976. May 30 May – The final edition of soap opera Waggoners' Walk is broadcast on BBC Radio 2. June to August No events. September September – Due to the continued expansion of BBC Local Radio, the regional news bulletins, broadcast in England four times a day Monday to Saturday on BBC Radio 4, end, apart from in the south west which is the sole part of England which still does not have any BBC local service. October 18 October – Radio Tay begins broadcasting to the Dundee area from the Angus transmitter. November 14 November – Radio Tay begins broadcasting to the Perth area. 15 November – The very last episode of BBC Radio 4 sketch comedy show The Burkiss Way, "Wave Goodbye to CBEs the Burkiss Way", lampoons what the writers considered to be the BBC's obsequious approach to the Queen Mother's 80th birthday celebrations, and its first repeat transmission is cut by 6 minutes on the instructions of the station controller.The Burkiss Way https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Radio/TheBurkissWay tv tropes 2024-10-25 December 1 December – BBC Scotland carries out a one-week experiment in breakfast television. It is a simulcast of BBC Radio Scotland's breakfast show Good Morning Scotland.BBC Genome Project BBC1 Scotland listings 1 December 1980 6 December – Andy Peebles records an in-depth interview with John Lennon in New York City for BBC Radio 1, two days before Lennon's murder. Undated Autumn – Land-based pirate radio station Dread Broadcasting Corporation begins to air from West London as Britain's first black music "pirate" station.Dennis, Tony Black Pirates in the Grove https://archive.org/details/time-out_black_pirates_1981 24 August 2014 Time Out 1981-10-23 Station debuts February – BBC Radio Deeside 11 April – CBC (Cardiff Broadcasting Company) 23 May – Mercia SoundRoy Martin https://radiotoday.co.uk/2025/05/mercia-returns-to-the-radio-for-one-night-only-to-mark-45-years/ Mercia returns to the radio for one night only to mark 45 years 15 May 2025 Radio Today 15 May 2025 10 July – Hereward Radio 11 September – BBC Radio Norfolk 15 September – 2CR (Two Counties Radio) Autumn – Dread Broadcasting Corporation 17 October – Radio Tay 23 October – Severn Sound 7 November – DevonAir Radio 11 November – BBC Radio Lincolnshire Programme debuts 8 April – Radio Active on BBC Radio 4 (1980–1987) 8 October – The Senior Partner on BBC Radio 4 (1980–1981) 25 November – Hordes of the Things on BBC Radio 4 (1980) Continuing radio programmes 1940s Sunday Half Hour (1940–2018) Desert Island Discs (1942–Present) Down Your Way (1946–1992) 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) Ending this year 13 January – Family Favourites (1945–1980) 30 May – Waggoners' Walk (1969–1980) 15 November – The Burkiss Way (1976–1980) Births February – Sara Mohr-Pietsch, classical music presenter 6 February – Tom Ravenscroft, radio DJ 28 February – Katy Wix, Welsh comedy actres 22 April – Helen Zaltzman, podcaster, broadcaster and scriptwriter 7 May – Kate Lawler, reality TV personality, DJ and model 3 June – Rickie Haywood-Williams, radio DJ and TV presenter 4 June Nii Odartei Evans, radio announcer and voice actor Danielle Perry, radio presenter and musician 30 July – Melvin Odoom, radio DJ and TV presenter/comedian 5 August – Sophie Winkleman, Lady Frederick Windsor, actress 3 November – Elis James, Welsh comedian Unknown – Joe Sims, actor and radio presenter Deaths 9 February – Renée Houston, actress (The Clitheroe Kid) (born 1902)John Parker Who's who in the Theatre https://books.google.com/books?id=lslBAQAAIAAJ Pitman 746 26 April – Dame Cicely Courtneidge, actress (Discord in Three Flats) (born 1893) 4 May – Joe "Mr Piano" Henderson, Scottish pianist, composer and broadcaster (born 1920)Joe "Mr. Piano" Henderson Songs, Albums, Revie... https://www.allmusic.com/artist/joe-mr-piano-henderson-mn0000900270 2025-05-28 AllMusic en 23 June – John Laurie, actor (The Man Born to Be King) (born 1897) 24 July – Peter Sellers, actor, comedian and radio personality (born 1925) 22 August – Norman Shelley, actor (born 1903) 6 October – Hattie Jacques, actress (Educating Archie, Hancock's Half Hour) (born 1922)Merriman Andy Hattie: The Authorised Biography of Hattie Jacques 2007 Aurum Press London 978-1-84513-257-6 205–8 19 October – D. G. Bridson, radio producer and author (born 1910)The Listener https://books.google.com/books?id=2stBAQAAIAAJ July 1980 British Broadcasting Corporation 615 20 October – Isobel Barnett, broadcasting personality (born 1918; suicide) 8 December – Charles Parker, documentary producer (born 1919) See also 1980 in British music 1980 in British television 1980 in the United Kingdom List of British films of 1980 References Radio British Radio, 1980 In Category:Years in British radio