January • 5 January – •
Chiltern Radio,
Hereward FM,
Radio Broadland,
Q103,
Northants 96,
SGR Colchester,
SGR Ipswich, and
Horizon Radio are all rebranded as
Heart after earlier being acquired by
Global Radio. •
105.7 Smooth Radio have signed former
BRMB presenter Tammy Gooding to present the drivetime show. She takes up the role from today, and replaces
Nigel Williams who has moved to
102.2 Smooth Radio in London. • 24 January –
Jonathan Ross returns to his Saturday morning show on
BBC Radio 2 after finishing his 12-week suspension following his role in the
Russell Brand Show prank telephone calls row. • 27 January –
Bob Shennan is appointed as Controller of
BBC Radio 2 following the resignation of
Lesley Douglas. He takes up the position in February.
February • 2 February –
Joanne Malin joins
BBC Radio WM to present her mid-morning show. • 20 February –
Radio 1's Minimix launches. • 21 February – A radio adaptation of
Alan Bennett's drama
The Lady in the Van starring
Maggie Smith and Bennett premieres on
BBC Radio 4.
March • 1 March – The final edition of chart show
Fresh 40 is broadcast. • 13 March – BBC Radio 2 confirms plans to overhaul its weekend schedule from April. This will include
Paul O'Grady,
Alan Carr and
Emma Forbes joining the network to present shows, while the Saturday afternoon comedy hour will move to Thursday evenings. The changes will also see
Johnnie Walker present
Sounds of the 70s on Sunday afternoon. • 23 March –
Fox FM,
GWR FM Bath,
GWR Bristol,
GWR FM Wiltshire,
Champion 103,
2CR,
Essex FM,
Gemini FM,
Severn Sound,
Ocean FM,
Lantern FM,
Coast 96.3,
Plymouth Sound,
Orchard FM,
South Hams Radio,
Wirral's Buzz and
2-Ten FM are all rebranded as
Heart. • 30 March – •
BBC Southern Counties Radio closes resulting in the return of
BBC Surrey and
BBC Sussex as stand-alone separate stations. •
Century 105 is re-branded as
Real Radio North West.
April • 1 April – Ownership of
Touch FM (Banbury) is transferred to Banbury Broadcasting Company Ltd. The station is renamed Banbury Sound on 1 June. • 3 April –
Les Ross presents his final weekday afternoon show on
BBC Radio WM as he prepares to retire from radio (but will return to the airwaves in December). • 4 April –
BBC Radio Swindon, which had opted out of BBC Radio Wiltshire, is closed. The two stations are merged as
BBC Wiltshire. • 16 April – Huddersfield station
Pennine FM stops broadcasting after going into administration. • April – The third broadcast of Pirate BBC Essex takes place over the Easter holiday weekend. The broadcast began five days after the release of the comedy movie
The Boat that Rocked which was set on a 1960s
pirate radio station.
May • May –
Orion Media purchases
BRMB,
Mercia,
Wyvern,
Beacon in the West Midlands and
Heart 106 in the East Midlands from
Global Radio for a sale price worth £37.5 million. • 7 May –
Pennine FM is bought by Pennine Media Ltd and returns to the air as ''Pennine FM, Huddersfield's More Music Station'' • 22 May – The BBC says that Jonathan Ross's Radio 2 show will no longer be broadcast live following complaints about a joke he made on an edition of the programme which some listeners interpreted as being anti-gay. • 24 May – Children's magazine show
Go4It is broadcast on
BBC Radio 4 for the final time. The reason given is that it does not attract enough young listeners and that less than 1 in 20 of the show's audience is aged between 4 and 14, with the average age of the listeners being between 52 and 55. Consequently, there are now no children's programmes on BBC analogue radio. • 30 May –
Mo Dutta leaves Radio 2.
June • 1 June –
Birdsong Radio, a digital radio station broadcast from 2008 as a filler on the
Digital One platform following the closure of
Oneword goes off air with the launch of
Amazing Radio. • 6 June –
Zoë Ball joins Radio 2 as a weekend presenter. • 7 June – •
Emma Forbes joins Radio 2 as a weekend presenter. •
Rich Clarke presents the final edition of
Hit40UK, which is succeeded by
The Big Top 40 Show the following Sunday. • 13 June – Singer
Emma Bunton begins hosting her own pre-recorded Saturday drive time radio show on
Heart in the Saturday afternoon slot 4pm – 7pm. She will also present the Friday drivetime show on London's
Heart 106.2. • 14 June – Launch of
The Big Top 40 Show, a chart show broadcast on
commercial radio stations in the UK, and based on a combination of
airplay and
music download figures provided by
iTunes. • 15 June – Commercial radio's chart show
Hit40UK is relaunched as
The Big Top 40 Show. • 18 June – It is announced that the media executive Steve Orchard has bought the
CN Group of Midland radio stations, having established the
Quidem group. The stations involved in the purchase are:
107.3 Touch FM,
102 Touch FM,
96.2 Touch FM,
101.6 & 102.4 Touch FM and
107.1 Rugby FM. • 21 June –
BBC Radio Shropshire presenter Matthew Carr, presenter of the station's Country Music Show and The Wrekin Wrangler, described as the "toughest quiz on radio", presents his final show before retiring after 23 years with the station. • 22 June –
Invicta FM,
Southern FM and
103.4 Marcher Sound are rebranded as
Heart.
July • 1 July – Premiere of the
Torchwood drama "
Asylum" on
BBC Radio 4. • 2 July – Debut of the
Torchwood drama "
Golden Age" on BBC Radio 4. • 3 July – Debut of the
Torchwood drama "
The Dead Line" on BBC Radio 4. • 15 July – Radio 2 presenter
Sarah Kennedy causes controversy after describing the late
Enoch Powell as "the best Prime Minister this country never had" on her
Dawn Patrol programme, and is later reprimanded for the remarks. • 25 July –
Chris Tarrant presents his last Saturday morning show for
GMG Radio. • 26 July –
Malcolm Laycock presents his final edition of
Sunday Night at 10 on BBC Radio 2. • 29 July – Conservative leader
David Cameron apologizes for any offence caused after using the word "
twat" on live radio during a breakfast radio show interview on
Absolute Radio.
August • 2 August – Jazz singer
Clare Teal takes over as presenter of
Sunday Night at 10.
September • 14 September – All programmes, apart from weekday/Saturday breakfast and Sunday afternoons, are networked across the
KMFM network • 18 September –
Jo Whiley presents her final
weekday program for
BBC Radio 1. • 21 September –
Fearne Cotton takes over Jo Whiley's old mid-morning show on Radio 1. • 27 September –
Reggie Yates becomes the sole presenter of
The Official Chart.
October • No events
November • 2 November –
Alpha 103.2,
Minster Northallerton and
Durham FM are merged into a single station called
Star Radio North East. • 10 November – Thirteen stations owned by
GMG Radio take part in an eighteen-hour on-air appeal to raise money for the
Help for Heroes charity. The event raises almost £200,000.
December • 1 December –
Touch Radio is rebranded to Touch FM. • 7 December –
Les Ross returns to the airwaves when he becomes the presenter of the Big City Breakfast Show on Birmingham's
Big City Radio 89.1. • 13 December –
Emma Forbes announces that she is to leave her Radio 2 Sunday morning show. • 18 December – After 27 years, Sir
Terry Wogan presents his final
breakfast show on
BBC Radio 2. • 25 December –
Tom Binns cuts off a broadcast of the Queen's Speech while presenting a Christmas Day show on Birmingham's
BRMB with the comment "two words: bore ing", an action that leads to him being sacked from the station.
Unknown •
Aston FM in Birmingham changes its name to Big City Radio. ==Station debuts==