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BBC Radio 1 is a British radio station, specialising in popular music aimed at a young audience (children, teenagers and young adults). Radio 1 was launched at 7am on September 30, 1967 as a direct response to the popularity of illegal pirate radio stations such as Radio Caroline.
History
The first DJ to broadcast on the new station was Tony Blackburn, whose (sometimes sickeningly) cheery style won him the prime slot on what became known as the "breakfast show". The first record played on Radio 1 was Flowers in the Rain by The Move. The breakfast programme remains the most prized slot in the Radio 1 schedules, with every change of presenter exciting considerable media interest.
The initial rota of staff included the legendary John Peel (with the station until his untimely death in October 2004) and a gaggle of others, some hired from pirates, such as Ed Stewart, Terry Wogan, Jimmy Young, Dave Cash, Kenny Everett, Pete Murray, and Bob Holness.
Radio 1 initially broadcast on mediumwave only (it was the only station without an FM frequency). In the 1970s and early 1980s it was allowed to take over Radio 2's FM transmitters for a few hours per week. Eventually it acquired its own national FM network on 97–99 MHz in 1988, and its old mediumwave frequencies were reallocated to commercial stations in 1994. In the 1990s it also began broadcasting on Sky Television's analogue satellite, initially in mono and later in stereo. Today it can be heard on DAB, Freeview, Sky Digital and the Internet as well as FM.
There were major changes to the station in the mid 1990s by the then controller, Mathew Bannister. He lead a campaign to return Radio 1 into a youth station catering for the under 25s. Although originally launched as a youth station, by the early 1990s, its loyal listeners (and DJs) had aged with the station over its 25 year history. Bannister had a ruthless purge of the older DJs and banned old music (typically anything recorded before 1990) from the daytime playlist. Listeners rebelled as the first new DJs to be introduced represented a crossover from other parts of the BBC media empire with Emma Freud and Danny Baker. Bannister promoted Chris Evans to the prime morning slot even though Evans' own media interests were in conflict with the public benefit remit of the Channel. Evans was eventually sacked in 1996 and his replacement Sara Cox - another TV crossover - managed to lose two thirds of the breakfast show audience.
Ironically, many of the DJs ousted by Bannister, such as Johnnie Walker and Radio 2 which ultimately succeeded Radio 1 as the UK's most popular radio station.
Music Radio 1 is notable for the range of music it plays. While most commercial stations concentrate on a particular theme, such as 1980s music or "classic rock", Radio 1 plays a diverse mix of current songs, including independent/alternative, rock, house/electronica, drum 'n' bass, world, pop and rap.
Due to restrictions on the amount of commercial music that can be played on radio in the UK (the so_called "needle time" limitation) the station has recorded a great many live performances and studio sessions over the years, many of which have subsequently (and perhaps ironically) found their way onto commercially_available LPs and CDs. There have also been innumerable rockumentary shows and interviews. Although this type of programming arose from necessity it has given the station some much-needed diversity.
In recent years, Radio 2 has overtaken Radio 1 as the most listened to UK radio station, with an audience of slightly older people (over 25), using a style that Radio 1 had up until the early 1990s.
Presenters Current presenters on this station include Steve Lamacq, Zane Lowe, Mary Anne Hobbs, and Mike Davies, who all host their own respective rock and indie orientated shows. Also in the station's stable are R&B, garage and rap supremos such as Tim Westwood, The Dreem Teem and Trevor Nelson. Club DJs Pete Tong and Judge Jules, amongst many others all present their own weekend dance shows. With these music specialists presenting in the evenings, the daytime schedules are mostly taken up by less specialised, more mainstream shows primarily hosted by Chris Moyles at breakfast (06:55–10:00), Jo Whiley (10:00–13:00), Colin and Edith (13:00–16:00), Scott Mills (16:00–19:00), and Zane Lowe (19:00–21:00).
Shows Aside from the daily scheduled programmes, Radio 1 also broadcasts a number of special programmes throughout the week. One of these is The Official UK Chart, broadcast on Sundays from 4–7 pm, hosted by Wes Butters
See also
External links - BBC Radio 1 (http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio1/)
- BBC Radio 1 live streaming (http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio/aod/radio1.shtml?listen)
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