1998 in British radio

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This is a list of events in British radio during 1998.

Events

January

• 21 January – Capital FM mid morning presenter Steve Penk attracts national attention after making a prank call to 10 Downing Street in which he pretended to be William Hague and spoke to Prime Minister Tony Blair.

February

• No events.

March

• March – Andy Parfitt replaces Matthew Bannister as controller of Radio 1.

April

• 1 April – By way of an April Fool's stunt, Kix 96 breakfast show presenter Nic Tuff calls the then South African president Nelson Mandela pretending to be British prime minister Tony Blair.
• 4 April – BBC Radio 3's weekday breakfast programme On Air begins broadcasting at the weekend.
• 6 April – Extensive schedule changes are made to BBC Radio 4. These include an earlier start to the day – 5:30 am instead of 6 am – and an earlier, 6 am, start to Today. Many long standing programmes are axed as part of the shake-up.
• 12 April – A Sunday episode of The Archers is introduced.
• 13 April – After nearly 30 years on air, Dance Band Days is broadcast on BBC Radio 2 for the final time.
• April – After just seven months on air, East Midlands station Radio 106 is rebranded as Century 106 and relaunched with a new team of presenters.

May

• No events.

June

• 1 June – Capital Gold replaces South Coast Radio. 1998 also saw capital Gold rolling out in Birmingham and Kent, replacing Xtra AM and Invicta Supergold respectively.
• June – Emap purchases London station Melody 105.4 FM.

July

• 9 July – The BBC unveils a new range of digital car stereos that will go on sale in August.

August

• August – Virgin Radio launches a new Saturday afternoon football show called Rock 'n' Roll Football.

September

• September – Kevin Greening leaves the Radio 1 breakfast show, leaving Zoë Ball as sole presenter. She continued to host the show until March 2000.

October

• 2 October – John Dunn presents his final drivetime show on Radio 2 after 22 years.
• 4 October – On Radio 2, David Jacobs presents Frank Sinatra: The Voice of the Century, a 13-part documentary about the life and career of Frank Sinatra. The series concludes on 27 December.
• 5 October –
  • A major overhaul of the Radio 2 schedule sees many new faces joining the network, including the singer Katrina Leskanich and former Radio 1 presenter Lynn Parsons, who present overnight shows on weekdays and weekends respectively. Johnnie Walker also joins Radio 2 as a regular presenter hosting the afternoon drivetime show (Monday to Thursday). Sally Boazman becomes the station's first official traffic presenter.
  • One hour of Virgin Radio's breakfast show starts simulcasting on Sky One. When a track was played on the radio, viewers saw the song's video.
• 9 October – Des Lynam joins Radio 2 to present a weekly drivetime programme on Fridays.
• 12 October – Chris Moyles is promoted from the Early Breakfast show to present the Radio 1 Early Drive show, between 4 pm and 5:45 pm on weekdays (later being extended to 3 – 5:45 pm). He replaced Dave Pearce, and was replaced on Early Breakfast by Scott Mills.

November

• 12 November – TalkCo Holdings, whose chairman and chief executive was former Sun Editor Kelvin MacKenzie, purchases Talk Radio.
• 19 November – Mellow 1557 closes and relaunches on FM as Dream 100.

December

• December – Melody Radio is renamed Magic 105.4 FM following the purchase of Melody Radio by Emap.

Unknown

• BBC Local Radio stations start carrying BBC Radio 5 Live instead of the BBC World Service when they are not on air. Consequently, the station is heard regularly on FM for the first time, albeit only during overnight hours.

Station debuts

• 17 January – KMFM Thanet
• 1 March – Huddersfield FM
• 7 March –
  • Isle of Wight Radio
  • Isles FM
• 23 March – Star Radio (Cambridge and Ely)
• 27 March – 107 Crash FM
• 10 April – Arrow FM
• 18 May –
  • Kestral FM
  • Active FM
• 25 May – Silk FM
• 6 June – Centre FM
• 14 June – Wave 105
• 15 August – QuayWest Radio
• 1 September – Wire FM
• 7 September – CAT FM
• 8 September – Century 105
• 5 October – Kingdom FM
• 7 October – Peak FM
• 18 October – Chelmer FM
• 1 November – Fosseway Radio
• 28 November – RNA Arbroath
• 29 November – The Falcon
• 11 December – Champion FM
• 13 December – Rutland Radio

Closing this year

• 31 May – Xtra AM (1989–1998)
• Unknown – South Coast Radio (1991–1998)
• Late 1998 – European Klassik Rock (1997–1998)

Programme debuts

• January – Scott Mills on BBC Radio 1 (1998–Present)
• 4 March – World of Pub on BBC Radio 4 (1998–1999)
• 9 April – Material World (1998–Present)
• 19 April – Sunday Night at 10 on BBC Radio 2 (1998–2013)
• 20 May – The Alan Davies Show on BBC Radio 4 (1998)
• 22 September – The 99p Challenge on BBC Radio 4 (1998–2004)
• 26 September – The Now Show on BBC Radio 4 (1998–Present)
• 4 October – Frank Sinatra: The Voice of the Century on BBC Radio 2 (1998)
• 5 October – Drivetime with Johnnie Walker on BBC Radio 2 (1998–2006)
• 9 October – Des Lynam on BBC Radio 2 (1998–1999)
• 15 October – In Our Time on BBC Radio 4 (1998–Present)
• Unknown – Puzzle Panel on BBC Radio 4 (1998–2005)

Continuing radio programmes

1940s

• Sunday Half Hour (1940–2018)
• Desert Island Discs (1942–Present)
• 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)
• 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)
• You and Yours (1970–Present)
• I'm Sorry I Haven't a Clue (1972–Present)
• Good Morning Scotland (1973–Present)
• Newsbeat (1973–Present)
• The News Huddlines (1975–2001)
• File on 4 (1977–Present)
• Money Box (1977–Present)
• The News Quiz (1977–Present)
• 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)

1990s

• The Moral Maze (1990–Present)
• Essential Selection (1991–Present)
• No Commitments (1992–2007)
• The Pepsi Chart (1993–2002)
• Wake Up to Wogan (1993–2009)
• Essential Mix (1993–Present)
• Up All Night (1994–Present)
• Wake Up to Money (1994–Present)
• Julie Enfield Investigates (1994–1999)
• Private Passions (1995–Present)
• Chambers (1996–1999)
• Parkinson's Sunday Supplement (1996–2007)
• The David Jacobs Collection (1996–2013)
• Blue Jam (1997–1999)
• Westway (1997–2005)

Ending this year

• April –
  • Breakaway (1979–1998)
  • Kaleidoscope (1973–1998)
• 27 December – Frank Sinatra: The Voice of the Century (1998)
• Unknown – Week Ending (1970–1998)

Deaths

• 2 January – Frank Muir, comedy writer (born 1920)
• 4 August – Charles Maxwell, radio producer (born 1910)
• 20 October – Frank Gillard, broadcaster and executive (born 1909)

See also

• 1998 in British music
• 1998 in British television
• 1998 in the United Kingdom
• List of British films of 1998