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3 January – Smooth Radio announces that Jenni Falconer has joined the network to present the Breakfast Show in London, replacing Gary King. The show will also be available on Smooth Extra, while Falconer will also present a national Saturday morning show for Smooth.[1]
The BBC announces a further switching off of MW transmitters. The switch-offs, being done as a cost-cutting measure, will see the end of MW transmissions of Radios Cornwall, Newcastle, Merseyside, Solent, Solent for Dorset, BBC Three Counties Radio and BBC Radio York. Also, BBC Radio Cumbria will stop broadcasting on MW in Whitehaven and BBC Radio Norfolk's Norwich MW transmitter will go silent. In addition, BBC Radio Scotland will stop broadcasting on MW in Aberdeen and BBC Radio Wales will lose some MW coverage in central Wales. A total of 18 MW transmitters are to go.[3] The transmitters will broadcast a retune advice loop prior to full switch-off in early April.[4]
23 January – The BBC announced that Brexitcast will be renamed Newscast after the United Kingdom leaves the European Union on 31 January.[6][7]
27 January – Ofcom says it will take no action over comments Jo Brand made about throwing battery acid on an edition of Radio 4's Heresy in June 2019, saying they were "unlikely to encourage or incite the commission of a crime".[8]
29 January –
BBC News announces it will shed 450 posts, including roles from Newsnight and BBC Radio 5 Live, as part of £80m worth of savings being made by the BBC.[9]
1 February – The final edition of Brexitcast, recorded as a podcast for radio and titled "Over and Out!", is released.[12]
4 February – The BBC announces plans to launch twenty new radio shows on its BBC Sounds platform.[13]
6 February –
Audience figures released by RAJAR indicate that Zoe Ball's breakfast show on Radio 2 was heard by 8.25 million listeners during the final quarter of 2019, an increase of 335,000 on the previous quarter, and reversing a six-month period of decline in the show's listeners.[14]
27 February – Controller of BBC Sounds, Jonathan Wall, announces the launch of a new 24-hour 'Radio 1 Dance' stream on the service in the spring.[17]
March
12 March – Global closes Heart Extra and Smooth Extra on DAB and the Global Player. They are replaced the station with the national feed of both Heart and Smooth
13 March – BBC Radio 1's Big Weekend, scheduled for the Spring Bank Holiday Weekend, is cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.[18] Organisers subsequently run an alternative event called Big Weekend UK 2020, with acts appearing on one of five virtual stages and performed from their homes; the event also features past performances from previous Big Weekend events.[19]
14 March – Anneka Rice takes a break from her Radio 2 show for a while.
15 March – Paul O'Grady takes a break from his Radio 2 show for a while.
18 March – Leeds-based radio news bulletin provider Radio News Hub is producing a daily ten-minute round-up of coronavirus news from around the world that will be made available to radio stations free of charge.[21]
19 March – Sounds of the 90s launches on BBC Radio 2 with Fearne Cotton and to mark the launch, Radio 2 plays 90s music throughout the following day.[22]
20 March – Rhod Sharp presents BBC Radio 5 Live's overnight programme Up All Night for the final time. He had presented the programme for more than 25 years, which launched when 5 Live started broadcasting in March 1994.
28 March – As part of the BBC's Make a Difference campaign, BBC Local Radio announces that it has teamed up with manufacturers, retailers and the social isolation charity WaveLength to give away free DAB radios to vulnerable people over the age of 70, beginning on 30 March.[24]
28 March – Huey Morgan takes a break from his Radio 2 broadcasting for a while, and The Radio 2 Rockshow with Johnnie Walker takes a break from the airwaves for a while.
29 March –
The BBC reveals that Radio 4 soap The Archers will include its first coronavirus related story in early May.[25]
2 April – At 9.00am, BBC Radios 1, 2, 1Xtra, 6 Music and Asian Network join together for The Great British Singalong, a broadcast aimed at getting the whole nation singing during the coronavirus lockdown. Presenters from each station take turns to play tracks suggested by members of the public who can then sing along with them.[26][27]
18 April – Radio 4's The Archers will air a series of episodes from its archives featuring key moments from the series due to difficulty recording episodes during the coronavirus lockdown. The episodes will be broadcast for three weeks from 3 May.[28]
30 April – The British Library is to archive hundreds of essays submitted to BBC Radio 4's PM programme by listeners detailing their coronavirus experiences. The Covid Chronicles, launched in March, has seen listeners submit their accounts of their lives during the lockdown restrictions, some of which have been broadcast.[29]
12 May – Radio 3 announces plans to resume live concerts from June, having suspended them at the start of the COVID-19 lockdown. A series of lunchtime concerts at London's Wigmore Hall will be held without an audience present.[31]
15 May – Radio 1 confirms that its presenter, Maya Jama, has left the station, with her final show broadcast on 3 May.[32]
18 May – At 10.59am most of the UK's radio stations join together for the Mental Health Minute, a one-minute broadcast that seeks to raise mental health awareness and featuring a number of famous names, including the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge. BBC Radio Four joins the broadcast for the first time this year.[33]
25 May – The Archers returns to Radio 4 after a three week break, with new episodes adapted for the lockdown restrictions. Actors are recording at home and the series features a series of monologues offering a glimpse into the characters' private thoughts rather than the usual interactions with each other.[34]
27 May – Bauer announces that the majority of the stations it acquired from UKRD, Lincs, Wireless and Celador will be joining the Greatest Hits Radio network from September, clustered to provide regional programming outside of network hours. Four of the acquired stations will join the Hits Radio network, retaining local names and a daily breakfast show, and three stations – Lincs FM, Pirate FM and SAM FM Bristol – will continue as largely standalone stations.[35]
30 May – Saxophonist and broadcaster YolanDa Brown joins Jazz FM to present the Saturday afternoon programme YolanDa Brown on Saturday.[36]
June
1 June – An episode of Radio 4's The Infinite Monkey Cage becomes the first BBC programme to be recorded with a live audience at home.[37]
2 June –
BBC Radio 1 presenter Clara Amfo wins praise for a candid and emotional on air speech about the death of George Floyd and her own mental health.[38]
The launch date for Times Radio is confirmed for 29 June, while the station's schedule is also published.[39]
2 July – In a bid to save £25m by 2022, the BBC announces plans to cut 450 jobs in its regional television news and current affairs programming, local radio and online news services in England. These will include restructuring some regional programmes, and making permanent changes to local radio that were introduced during the COVID-19 outbreak.[43]
12 July – Don Black announces the new series of his Sunday evening Radio 2 show will be his last and he is to leave the station in October 2020.
15 July – Alice Levine announces she is to leave BBC Radio 1, with her last show airing on 9 August.[44]
16 July – Bauer announces that Radio Aire will close on 1 September after 39 years on air. Its frequency will be transferred to Greatest Hits Radio.[45]
24 July – Dame Jenni Murray announces she is leaving Radio 4's Woman's Hour after 33 years; she will present her final edition of the programme on 1 October.[46]
31 July-2nd August – Radio 1's Dance Weekend took place to fill what would have been the 25th year in Ibiza
August
8 August – The BBC 1Xtra presenter Sideman quits the station because of the BBC's use of the N-word during a report about a racially-motivated attack on a local news programme.[47]
13 August – Radio 1 announces that Vick Hope will join the station to present the Sunday afternoon Life Hacks show alongside Katie Thistleton. Hope will also present Official Charts: First Look, also on Sundays, as part of a network revamp from 1 September.[48]
^Hanley, James (2020-01-21). "Virgin Radio Groove officially launches". Music Week. London: Future. ISSN0265-1548. Retrieved 2020-05-11. Targeted at 30–45 year olds, Virgin Radio Groove is a presenter-led channel focused on rhythmic pop, beginning at 6.30am with the Chris Evans Breakfast Show with Sky, followed by Chris Brooks (10am-2pm), Steve Denyer (2pm-6pm) and Bam (6pm-10pm).
