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2008 in British radio

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This is a list of events in British radio during 2008.

Events

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January

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  • 11 January – Birdsong Radio launches on the Digital One platform following the closure of Oneword. The station features the recording of birdsong, a device first employed in 1992 as a test transmission for Classic FM.[1][2]
  • 12 January –
    • 100.7 Heart FM breakfast presenter Sarah-Jane Mee announces she will leave the show to join Sky News in London.[3] She presents her final programme on 6 March.
    • The Forces Station BFBS begins a trial period of broadcasting nationwide across the UK on DAB from midnight. The trial runs until 23:59 on 31 March 2008, and audience research carried out during this time concludes that it is successful. BFBS subsequently returns to DAB Digital Radio permanently.[4]
  • 29 January – Bauer completes its purchase of Emap's radio, television and consumer media businesses, purchasing the assets for £1.14bn.[5]

February

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  • February – Classic FM announces a major shake-up of the schedule, which will be rolled out in two parts – weekdays in late February and weekends a month later. Laurence Llewelyn-Bowen and Margherita Taylor join as part of the revamp and former Blur singer Alex James begins presenting a 100-part series called The A to Z of Classical Music.[6] The changes will also see the introduction of a nightly two-hour jazz programme.
  • February – Huddersfield station Home 107.9 is relaunched as Pennine FM, "The New Pennine FM".[7]

March

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April

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May

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  • 3 May – After 14 years on air, Manchester United Radio closes due to the club announcing that they have agreed a deal with local radio station Key 103.

June

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July

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August

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  • 8 August – Thomas Quirk, the former managing director of Saga 105.2 FM (the predecessor to 105.2 Smooth Radio in Glasgow) criticises parent company GMG Radio's decision to sack six local Scottish presenters in favour of increased networking of shows from Smooth stations in London and Manchester. The station had operated a 24-hour schedule of local programming until August 2008.[13]

September

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  • September – An interview on BBC Radio WM between Les Ross and writer and broadcaster Hardeep Singh Kohli is criticised for its awkwardness in the music magazine The Word and in The Guardian newspaper (suggesting that the interview ends up more like an Alan Partridge tribute act). In the interview, Ross ask Singh about his views on self-identity in terms of race; confuses his humorous book on Indian food with a serious radio documentary by Singh discussing genocide during the partition of India; and then mistakenly refers to Singh's book as a TV series. Singh remains polite, if baffled, throughout, before terminating the interview after 4 minutes.[14][15][16]
  • September – After just six months, Classic FM scraps its nightly two-hour jazz programme.
  • 10 September – BBC Radio 4 broadcasts the play "Lost Souls", a spin-off from the Doctor Who spin-off Torchwood
  • 29 September – Virgin Radio changes its name to Absolute Radio.

October

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  • 4 October – BBC7 changes its name to BBC Radio 7.
  • 11 October
  • 14 October – The Radio 4 programme You and Yours undergoes a large change of format, with two presenters being replaced by one. The breadth of topics covered is also extended to global problems as well as those closer to home.
  • 16 October – The Russell Brand Show prank calls row: An episode of the Russell Brand Show, co-hosted by fellow Radio 2 presenter Jonathan Ross is recorded for transmission at a later date. The show includes Brand and Ross leaving four prank messages on actor Andrew Sachs's answerphone including offensive remarks about his granddaughter and use of foul language. The programme is subsequently broadcast on Saturday 18 October, partially censored, having passed the various pre-transmission checks from the programme's editors. Initially the programme receives only a negligible number of complaints regarding Ross's bad language; however, after the incident is reported a week later by The Mail on Sunday a public outcry soon ensues. The case is referred to both Ofcom and the BBC Trust and in the interim Ross and Brand are both suspended for 12 weeks from all BBC programmes pending investigation. Soon after these announcements Russell Brand announces his resignation from the BBC shortly followed by Radio 2 controller Lesley Douglas. Jonathan Ross is suspended from the BBC without pay for 12 weeks.[18][19]
  • 27 October – Former ITV Central Tonight presenter Joanne Malin joins BBC WM. She will present a mid-morning show from February 2009.[20]
  • 30 October

November

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December

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  • No events.

Station debuts

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Programme debuts

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Relaunching this year after a break of one month or more

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Returning this year after a break of one year or longer

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Continuing radio programmes

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1940s

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1950s

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1960s

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1970s

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1980s

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1990s

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2000s

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Ending this year

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Closing this year

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Date Station Debut
11 January Oneword 2000[26]
11 January Core Radio 1999[26]
26 March Fosseway Radio 1998
Oak 107 FM 1999
26 March theJazz 2006[27]
Capital Life 1999
4 April Virgin Radio Groove 2000
3 May Manchester United Radio 1994
31 July Fen Radio 107.5 1999
23 December Talk 107 2006

Deaths

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References

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  1. ^ "Birdsong proves popular on radio". The Daibly Telegraph. London: Telegraph Media Group. 5 February 2008. Archived from the original on 9 December 2008. Retrieved 11 February 2012.
  2. ^ "Birdsong is back". ukdigitalradio. 11 January 2008. Retrieved 11 February 2012.
  3. ^ "icBirmingham – Stan to take over from Sarah-Jane". Birmingham Mail. Trinity Mirror. 12 January 2008. Retrieved 6 January 2012.
  4. ^ "DAB re-armed with BFBS radio". 8 April 2009. Retrieved 8 April 2012.
  5. ^ "Emap sells magazines and radio divisions to Bauer for £1.14bn". Campaign Live. 7 December 2007. Retrieved 11 June 2016.
  6. ^ "Classic FM in major schedule overhaul". The Guardian. 13 February 2008. Retrieved 30 May 2019.
  7. ^ "Pennine FM back from the dead". Radio Today. 29 February 2008. Archived from the original on 27 April 2012. Retrieved 2 July 2010.
  8. ^ "Humphrey Lyttelton retires from BBC Radio 2 jazz show after 40 years". The Guardian. 12 March 2008. Archived from the original on 11 May 2022.
  9. ^ Dorricott, Carmel. "Heart fm Press Centre " A New sound for Heart Breakfast". Heartfmpress.co.uk. Archived from the original on 2 August 2012. Retrieved 6 January 2012.
  10. ^ "Tony Blackburn goes national". Radio Today. 3 June 2008. Archived from the original on 12 October 2013. Retrieved 26 January 2012.
  11. ^ Sweney, Mark (30 June 2008). "Tarrant v Ross: let battle commence". The Guardian. London. Retrieved 30 December 2009.
  12. ^ "TLRC sells six more stations". Radio Today. 30 June 2008. Archived from the original on 5 January 2011. Retrieved 2 July 2010.
  13. ^ Churchill, Carolyn (9 August 2008). "Criticism for radio station that axed Scots DJs". Glasgow Herald. Newsquest Media Ltd. Retrieved 26 January 2012.
  14. ^ Lewry, Fraser (18 September 2008). "When Hardeep met Les". The Word. Development Hell. Archived from the original on 7 January 2010. Retrieved 31 December 2009.
  15. ^ Media Monkey (23 September 2008). "Take it away, Les: Hardeep Singh Kohli terminates BBC radio interview". The Guardian. London. Retrieved 31 March 2009.
  16. ^ "Audio of Hardeep Singh Kohli interview". YouTube. 3 October 2008. Retrieved 6 January 2012.[dead YouTube link]
  17. ^ Plunkett, John (14 October 2008). "The Guardian, News, Media, Radio, Tuesday October 14, 2008 16.52 BST – 4 Digital radio partners in crisis talks". London: Guardian. Retrieved 6 January 2012.
  18. ^ "The ups and downs of Ross' career". BBC News. 30 October 2008. Retrieved 18 December 2009.
  19. ^ "Ross suspended for three months". BBC News. 30 October 2008. Retrieved 18 December 2009.
  20. ^ "Birmingham – BBC WM – Joanne Malin joins BBC WM". BBC. 27 October 2008. Retrieved 6 January 2012.
  21. ^ John Plunkett and Tara Conlan (30 October 2008). "Radio 2 controller Lesley Douglas resigns over Brand-Ross phone prank row | Media". The Guardian. Retrieved 14 January 2018.
  22. ^ Plunkett, John (21 November 2008). "TV and radio presenter Paul Coia is to replace Martin Collins as the drivetime host of London's Smooth Radio". The Guardian. Retrieved 10 January 2014.
  23. ^ a b Blackaby, Anna (4 August 2008). "Birmingham sees launch of two new community radio stations". Birmingham Post. Trinity Mirror Midlands. Archived from the original on 24 September 2012. Retrieved 10 April 2010.
  24. ^ "Farewell, Focal Radio". Radio Today. 28 May 2009. Archived from the original on 18 July 2011. Retrieved 7 April 2010.
  25. ^ "BBC Genome Project". The Comedy Hour. 23 August 2008. Retrieved 30 January 2018.
  26. ^ a b Plunkett, John (10 January 2008). "Two digital radio stations to close". The Guardian. London. Retrieved 18 December 2009.
  27. ^ Sherwin, Adam (2 May 2008). "Jazz station wins record audience after scrapping DJs". The Times. London. Archived from the original on 17 May 2011. Retrieved 18 December 2009.(subscription required)
  28. ^ "Peter Coke". The Daily Telegraph. London. 31 July 2008. Retrieved 30 November 2012.