my-server
← Wiki

2026 in British radio

This is a list of events taking place in 2026 relating to radio in the United Kingdom.

Events

January

  • 1 January –
  • BBC Radio 4 celebrates the 75th anniversary of The Archers with a day of programmes and drama dedicated to the rural soap. It includes a re-enactment of the opening scene of the first episode broadcast on 1 January 1951, the original episode having been lost.
  • Radio X listeners have voted the Wolf Alice single "The Sofa" as their Record of the Year for 2025 in the station's annual poll of music for the year.
  • 2 January – Tiffany Calver presents her final edition of BBC Radio 1Xtra's The Rap Show after seven years as its host.
  • 6 January –
  • Launch of STV Radio, with Ewen Cameron and Cat Harvey presenting the weekday breakfast show.
  • Bauer Media adds local news, weather and travel to Hits Radio UK in Scotland.
  • 12 January – Comedian Josh James joins Fix Radio as drivetime presenter. Previous hosts Rich and Trev move to Saturdays as part of changes to the weekend schedule.
  • 15 January – Amol Rajan announces he is leaving his role as presenter of BBC Radio 4's The Today Programme to start his own company.
  • 17 January – Daryl Robinson joins Fix Radio to present a Saturday morning programme.
  • 19 January – Magic Radio hires Claire Sturgess to present the breakfast show on Mellow Magic, and announces that current presenter Jen Thomas will move to afternoons on Magic Musicals.
  • 23 January – Cheshire's Mix 56 partners with Cadent Gas Distribution Network to promote its programme of community engagement across Cheshire.
  • 24 January – Jazz FM presenter Helen Mayhew announces her retirement from broadcasting, with her final show airing on 30 January.
  • 26 January –
  • BBC Radio 5 Live appoints Steffan Powell as permanent Breakfast co-presenter on Fridays and Sundays, and Rima Ahmed as co-presenter on Fridays.
  • Magic unveils a new weekend schedule, which includes Rich Clarke presenting Saturday Breakfast.
  • 29 January – It is announced that Alun Thomas has been hired by BBC Radio Cymru to present Post Prynhawn from Tuesdays to Fridays.
  • 31 January – BBC Radio 2 repeats its 2022 programme Wogan: In His Own Words to mark the 10th anniversary of Sir Terry Wogan's death.

February

  • 2 February – The Radio 2 Piano Room returns throughout February, beginning with Pulp on 2 February and ending with Jessie J on 26 February.
  • 3 February – BBC Radio 6 Music announces plans to launch a streaming service on BBC Sounds dedicated to indie music from the 1980s to the 2010s.
  • 4 February – Times Radio confirms a schedule refresh beginning later in February, which includes the addition of Jane Mulkerrins on Saturday afternoons and Ryan Tubridy on Sunday afternoons. They will replace Chloe Tilley and Alexis Conran.
  • 5 February – Release of the RAJAR figures for the final quarter of 2025, which indicate that 50 million people in the UK are listening to radio on a weekly basis.
  • 9 February –
  • Ofcom finds LBC in breach of its rules after broadcaster James O'Brien failed to properly contextualise an email from a listener during a discussion about the Gaza war in July 2025.
  • Ofcom finds talkRADIO in breach of its regulations after a caller used the C-word during a mid-morning programme in September 2025.
  • 10 February – Bauer Media Audio UK secures a three-month sponsorship deal with PG Tips for the brand to sponsor PopMaster on Greatest Hits Radio from the end of February.
  • 12 February – The UK government begins a review of radio broadcasting beyond 2030 should the decision be made to switch off FM transmissions.
  • 16 February – Comedian Bobby Davro officially reopens the Gateway 97.8 studios in Basildon.
  • 18 February – The Prince of Wales joins an edition of BBC Radio 1's Life Hacks for a discussion on mental health and male suicide.
  • 20 February – The winners of the 2026 Radio 1 Dance Awards are announced.
  • 23 February –
  • BBC Radio Cymru 2 launches Diwrnod Gorau Erioed, four weeks of competitions with a different prize available each week, ranging from live events to sporting fixtures and television finals. It is the station's biggest ever competition.
  • Central 103.1 FM moves into new studios in Bridge of Allan.
  • 24 February –
  • Ofcom finds KCC Live in breach of its licence after being continuously off-air since December 2024.
  • Pierre Petrou steps down as operations manager of Radio Maria England after a three-year expansion which has seen the station broadcasting in 17 areas of the UK.
  • 25 February – Ofcom confirms plans for new mandatory regulations to require local analogue stations to produce a certain amount of local news coverage on weekdays.
  • 28 February – BBC Radio Scotland confirms that Kaye Adams will not be returning to her morning show on the network.

March

  • 1 March –
  • Robert Robertson, lead singer of Tide Lines, presents a programme about Scottish music for STV Radio.
  • Absolute Radio launches a season of monthly artist residencies, starting with Clint Boon in March. Future residencies will be KT Tunstall in April, Felix White in May, Sergio Pizzorno in June and Ricky Wilson in July.
  • Hospital Radio Glamorgan becomes available on DAB in Cardiff and the Vale of Glamorgan.
  • 2 March –
  • Data released by Radiocentre indicates that commercial radio advertising generated £747m during 2025.
  • Greenwich Media CIC acquires the assets of Made in Kent Radio, which closed in December 2025, and will relaunch it in April 2026.
  • 7 March – Stephanie Hirst joins Greatest Hits Radio to present Spinnin' The Decades, a show she has previously presented on Greatest Hits Radio 60s.
  • 8 March –
  • Katherine Jenkins presents a special programme to mark International Women's Day on Classic FM.
  • Heart Musicals broadcasts live backstage from the 2026 WhatsOnStage Awards.
  • 9 March –
  • Nation Radio launches regional programming for Somerset.
  • Lorna Bailey takes over as weekday breakfast show presenter on BBC CWR.
  • 12 March –
  • Liza Tarbuck confirms she is leaving her Radio 2 Saturday evening show, having last been on air on 17 January.
  • It is announced that The Archers will celebrate its 75th anniversary with a live stage tour hosted by comedian and fan Angela Barnes.
  • 17 March – Nation Radio announces its presenter line up for Devon and Cornwall ahead of a DAB launch in the area.
  • 19 March –
  • Lucy Bacon is appointed Deputy Managing Editor of Classic FM.
  • BBC 1Xtra announces that Sian Anderson will join in September to present weekday afternoons, taking over from Kaylee Golding.
  • 20 March – Greg James raises £4m for Comic Relief after completing a tandem cycling challenge.
  • 22 March – As part of BBC Radio 4 Extra's listener request weekend, an interview Iain Mann recorded with Kenny Everett for BBC Radio Merseyside in February 1976 receives its first national broadcast.
  • 23 March –
  • Peterborough's Salaam Radio is fined £400 by Ofcom for failing to meet its licence Key Commitments in June 2024.
  • Craig Hunter is appointed as Managing Director of the newly launched Global Studios.
  • 24 March – Radio 2 newsreader Harvey Cook announces his departure from the network.
  • 25 March –
  • Former Google executive Matt Brittin is appointed as the next Director-General of the BBC, succeeding Tim Davie, and will take up the post from May.
  • Gary Davies stands in for Scott Mills on his Radio 2 breakfast show.
  • 28 March – Musician Dave Stewart joins presenter Elliot Moss alongside entrepreneur and investor Dominic Joseph for the first in a two-part special edition of Jazz FM's business series, Jazz Shapers, with the second part airing on 4 April.
  • 30 March
  • Scott Mills is dismissed from BBC Radio 2 following complaints about his "personal conduct".
  • Nation Radio extends its coverage to DAB on Devon and Cornwall.
  • 31 March – BBC Radio Guernsey and BBC Radio Jersey will stop broadcasting on MW.

April

May

August

Unknown

  • BBC Radio 4 is expected to be the last station to stop broadcasting on longwave at some point in 2026.

Station debuts

Terrestrial

Online

  • 31 January – 80s Heaven

Small-scale multiplex switch-ons

  • 2 February – Bournemouth and Boscombe
  • 3 February – Ayrshire and West Renfrewshire
  • 14 February – Chelmsford
  • 4 March – East Devon
  • 20 March – Halifax

Closing this year

Programme debuts

  • 1 January – Tony Blackburn's Sounds of Soul on BBC Radio 2.
  • 6 February – Classical Love Themes with Dawn O'Porter, a four-part series looking at love through classical music, on Classic FM.
  • 12 February – Catholic Celebs, a monthly series presented by Edward Adoo, on Radio Maria England.
  • 3–5 April – Totally Outrageous with Tom Allen, a three-part series in which Tom Allen explores the larger than life figures in classical music, on Classic FM.
  • 4 April – Key Changes: Radio 3's Essential History of Classical Music, a weekly series exploring turning points in classical music history, presented by Gillian Moore, on BBC Radio 3.

Podcast debuts

Continuing radio programmes

These programmes are still running as of 2026. They are listed by the year they were first broadcast.

1940s

1950s

1960s

1970s

1980s

1990s

2000s

2010s

2020s

  • Frank Skinner's Poetry Podcast (started 2020)
  • Newscast (started 2020)
  • Sounds of the 90s (started 2020)
  • Life Changes (started 2021)
  • Romesh Ranganathan: For The Love of Hip Hop (started 2021)
  • The News Agents (started 2022)
  • Ten to the Top (started 2023)
  • Love Songs with Michael Ball (started 2024)
  • Radio 2's The Week-est Link (started 2024)

Ending this year

  • 28 February –
  • America's Greatest Hits (2020–2026)
  • The Kaye Adams Morning Show
  • 24 March – The Scott Mills Breakfast Show (2025–2026)

Deaths

See also

References