1989 in British radio

none October 2023 1989 British radio British television British music This is a list of events in British radio during 1989. Events January 1 January – London "pirate" radio presenter Sammy Jacob, known as DJ Sammy Jay, sets up part-time "pirate" indie music station Q102,Darryl Chamberlain https://transdiffusion.org/2004/01/01/xfm_2/ X marks the spot – Independent radio Transdiffusion Broadcasting System 2004-01-01 2022-08-31 predecessor of Radio X. 15 January – Pick of the Pops is revived by BBC Radio 1. The show takes on a new classic hits format and features three past charts from three different decades each week. Alan Freeman returns to Radio 1 to present the programme. February No events. March 10 March – Les Ross presents the BRMB breakfast show for the final time ahead of his move to BRMB's forthcoming classic hits service Xtra AM. He had presented the programme for thirteen years. April 1 April – BBC Radio 1 starts broadcasting slightly earlier each morning and is now on air between 5am and 2am seven days a week. May Undated in May The BBC Night Network is launched on the BBC's six local radio stations in Yorkshire and north east England. It provides all six stations with a daily evening service, thereby keeping the stations on air with regional programming until midnight. All local evening programming – mainly local sport and programming for ethnic minorities – is broadcast as an opt-out but is aired only on the station's AM frequencies. In a down-the-line interview with James Naughtie recorded for BBC Radio 4's World at One programme, Leader of the Labour Party Neil Kinnock loses his temper, exclaiming "I'm not going to be bloody kebabbed"; the interview is not broadcast at the time but is leaked to the media.Kinnock 'kebabbed' by Naughtie on World at One – 1989 https://audioboom.com/posts/4005442-kinnock-kebabbed-by-naughtie-on-world-at-one-1989 Radio Moments Audioboom 2015-12-30 2023-04-25 1 May – Classic Gold launches on the MW transmitters of Pennine Radio, Viking Radio and Radio Hallam. 26 May – BBC Radio 4 airs the 10,000th episode of The Archers.https://genome.ch.bbc.co.uk/9860e20dd1a541d8ac0bb79d8904da7a https://web.archive.org/web/20180927050239/https://genome.ch.bbc.co.uk/9860e20dd1a541d8ac0bb79d8904da7a dead 27 September 2018 The Archers – BBC Radio 4 FM – 26 May 1989 – BBC Genome genome.ch.bbc.co.uk 26 September 2018 June No events. July 3 July – Simon Bates and producer Jonathan Ruffle set off on an 80-day circumnavigation of the world to raise money for Oxfam. Their progress is charted on BBC Radio 1 in a broadcast each weekday morning.https://radiotoday.co.uk/2017/09/50-historic-moments-for-bbc-radio-1s-50th/ 50 historic moments for BBC Radio 1's 50th – RadioToday radiotoday.co.uk 26 September 2018 4 July – A new transmitter for DevonAir is switched on allowing the station to expand its transmission area to East Devon, West Dorset and South Somerset. The relay broadcasts under the name of South West 103. August 19 August – United Kingdom and Netherlands radio regulatory authorities conduct an armed raid on offshore pirate radio station Radio Caroline in which equipment is disabled or confiscated,http://dxradio.co.uk/audio/Caroline_558_19aug1989.mp3 Dxradio MP3 Dxradio.co.uk taking it off the air until 1 October. September 1 September – The Ireland-based long wave station Atlantic 252 is launched. Operated by RTÉ it broadcasts to both Ireland and the United Kingdom. The first presenter to be heard is Gary King who announces at 8am: "Mine is the first voice you will ever hear on Atlantic 252." The station broadcasts only during the day – between 6am and 7pm – and at closedown invites listeners to tune in to Radio Luxembourg. October 1 October – BBC Radio 2 begins a series of Sunday afternoon performances of works by Gilbert and Sullivan. The 12-week series, which runs until Christmas, replaces the station's usual Sunday afternoon schedule.http://genome.ch.bbc.co.uk/schedules/radio2/1989-10-01 https://web.archive.org/web/20141017084007/http://genome.ch.bbc.co.uk/schedules/radio2/1989-10-01 dead 17 October 2014 BBC Genome Project BBC Radio 2 listings 1 October 1989 22 July 2017 2 October – LBC is replaced on FM by news and comment station LBC Crown FM. 19 October – Home Secretary Douglas Hurd issues a notice under clause 13(4) of the BBC Licence and Agreement to the BBC and under section 29(3) of the Broadcasting Act 1981 to the IBA prohibiting the broadcast of direct statements by representatives or supporters of 11 Irish political and military organisations.Glasgow Media Group Reader: Industry, Economy, War and Politics 48 2 Psychology Press John Eric Thomas Eldridge Greg Philo 1995 9780415130363 https://books.google.com/books?id=vo4FQX4B-msC&pg=PA48Political Debate and the Role of the Media: The Fragility of Free Speech p 91 footnote 14 European Audiovisual Observatory 978-92-871-5675-4 2004 https://books.google.com/books?id=vPXw-8wmitQC&pg=PA91 The prohibition lasts until 1994 and denies the UK news media the right to broadcast the voices, though not the words, of all Irish republican and Loyalist paramilitaries. The restrictions, targeted primarily at Sinn Féin, means that actors are used to speak the words of any representative interviewed for radio and television.The 'broadcast ban' on Sinn Féin BBC News Francis Welch 5 April 2005 https://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/4409447.stm 22 October – The first of the Independent Broadcasting Authority's series of incremental radio stations launches when Sunset 102 begins broadcasting to Manchester. More than 20 licences will be issued, allowing new stations to start broadcasting in areas already served by independent local radio. The stations come on air in 1989 and 1990. November 13 November – London Greek Radio and WNK become the first stations in the UK to share a frequency. They alternate every four hours.https://www.amfm.org.uk/pirates/london-greek-radio.html Stephen Hebditch London Greek Radio – London pirate radio history – AM/FM 17 February 2015 Amfm.org.ukhttps://radiotoday.co.uk/2019/11/london-greek-radio-celebrates-30-years-of-broadcasting/ London Greek Radio celebrates 30 years of broadcasting 13 November 2019 5 November 2024 December 19 December – BBC Radio 1 starts transmitting on 98.8 MHz across the whole of London and south-east England from Wrotham, replacing the temporary London transmitter from Crystal Palace which broadcast on 104.8 MHz. The BBC Radio 1 network also expands to East Angliahttp://genome.ch.bbc.co.uk/schedules/radio1/england/1989-12-19 https://web.archive.org/web/20141019113216/http://genome.ch.bbc.co.uk/schedules/radio1/england/1989-12-19 dead 19 October 2014 BBC Genome Project BBC Radio 1 listings 19 December 1989 22 July 2017 and the Cardigan Bay area. 30 December – BBC Radio 1 uses BBC Radio 2's shared FM frequencies on a Saturday afternoon for the final time. Unknown City Talk 1548 AM in Liverpool becomes the UK's first all-talk radio station outside of London.Advert showing the new names and frequencies of City FM and City Talk in 1989. http://www.citygold.me.uk/newsroom/images/split-front.jpg The Brian Jones Radio City Tribute Website 20 August 2013 https://web.archive.org/web/20131217133851/http://citygold.me.uk/newsroom/images/split-front.jpg 2013-12-17 dead The station broadcasts as an opt-out between the hours of 0700 and 1900 on weekdays, sharing content with Radio City's FM service outside these times. This approach differs from that taken by many other stations, which have begun launching "oldies" format stations on their former AM frequencies. Radio Luxembourg launches a daytime schedule in English for the first time, the first since the early 1950s. It broadcasts the new 24-hour stereo schedule on the recently launched Astra 1A satellite to supplement the 208 analogue night-time service. Southern Sound's broadcast area is expanded when it obtains the licence for Eastbourne and Hastings in East Sussex on 97.5 MHz. WM Heartlands launches as a mid-morning experimental opt-out from BBC Radio WM. It serves the 'Heartlands' area of East Birmingham using the station's 1458MW frequency.https://forums.digitalspy.com/discussion/1593463/bbc-radio-wm-heartlands BBC Radio WM Heartlands 2 December 2011 Digital Spy 5 November 2024 Station debuts 15 January – WABC 14 February – BBC Hereford and Worcester 4 March – BBC Wiltshire Sound 27 March – Coast AM 31 March – MFM 97.1 Marcher Gold 4 April – Xtra AM (1989–1998) 8 April – Great North Radio (1989–1997) 1 May – Classic Gold 16 July – The Breeze 1 September – Atlantic 252 (1989–2002) 15 September – Fox FM 2 October – LBC Crown FM and London Newstalk 15 October – Horizon Radio 22 October – Sunset 102 (1989–1993) 5 November – Sunrise Radiohttps://radiotoday.co.uk/2024/11/sunrise-radio-celebrates-35th-birthday-will-an-all-request-week/ Sunrise Radio celebrates 35th birthday will an all request week 5 November 2024 Radio Today 5 November 2024 13 November – London Greek Radio and WNK 26 November – Orchard FM 2 December – CNFM 9 December – Sunrise Radio Yorkshire Unknown – City Talk (1989–1991) Programme debuts 20 January – An Actor's Life For Me on BBC Radio 2 (1989–1993) March – The Mary Whitehouse Experience on BBC Radio 1 (1989–1990) 26 April – Winston (Peter Tinniswood) on BBC Radio 4 (1988–1994) 5 November – Sherlock Holmes on BBC Radio 4 (1989–1998) 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) 1980s In Business (1983–Present) Sounds of the 60s (1983–Present) Loose Ends (1986–Present) Flying the Flag (1987–1992) Citizens (1987–1991) Top of the Pops (1988–1991) Ending this year 6 March – After Henry (1985–1989) Closing this year 1 May – Viking Gold (1988–1989) Births 20 January – Glenn Moore, newsreader and comedian 16 February – Yinka Bokinni, broadcast presenter 23 April – Laura Anderson, radio and television personality 13 May – Katie Thistleton, broadcast presenter 9 August – Jimmy Hill, radio and television presenter 25 September – Vick Hope, broadcast presenter Deaths 27 January – Arthur Marshall, 78, broadcaster and humorous writer 10 July – Tommy Trinder, 80, radio, stage and screen comedian 22 August – Lord Hill, 85, physician, medical and broadcast executive, politician and "The Radio Doctor" 22 October – Ewan MacColl, 74, folk singer-songwriter, actor and labour activist, co-creator of the radio ballad 28 October – Henry Hall, 91, bandleader 31 October – Roger Scott, 46, disc jockey 2 November – Tom Mennard, 71, comedian 16 December – Marjorie Westbury, 84, radio actress and soprano See also 1989 in British music 1989 in British television 1989 in the United Kingdom List of British films of 1989 References Radio British Radio, 1989 In Category:Years in British radio