1 October – The first Peel Session takes place. Aired as part of his new show Top Gear, the session features psychedelic rock band Tomorrow.[2]
1968
27 January – Tony Blackburn presents the breakfast show on Saturdays for the final time. Rather than replace him, BBC Radio 1 simulcasts the entirety of The Radio 2 Breakfast Show.
For a brief period, Radio 1 is heard on VHF in London when the station is used to broadcast test transmissions for the launch of BBC Radio London.[citation needed]
1 October – The first edition of a new Sunday teatime programme Solid Gold Sixty is broadcast on BBC Radio 1. Presented by Tom Browne, the programme consists of two hours featuring the Radio One playlist tracks which were not in the Top 20. It was followed by a one-hour Top 20 rundown from 6pm–7pm which was carried also on BBC Radio 2's FM transmitters.[citation needed]
1 June – Tony Blackburn presents his final Radio 1 Breakfast, having fronted the show since the station went on air in 1967.
4 June – Noel Edmonds takes over as presenter of Radio 1 Breakfast with Tony Blackburn moving to the mid-morning slot, he takes over from Jimmy Young who leaves the station to join BBC Radio 2. One of the new features is The Golden Hour, an hour of records that charted in the same year.
27 June – Tommy Vance leaves the station for a while to join Capital Radio.
10 September – Newsbeat bulletins air for the first time and Richard Skinner joins the station, as one of the new programme's presenters.[4]
David Symonds leaves the station to join Capital Radio.
1974
17 March – Solid Gold Sixty is broadcast for the final time, it is replaced the following week by a one-hour programme which just features the Top 20 singles chart.
6 January – Broadcasting hours are reduced, due to budget cuts at the BBC. All evening programming stops on BBC Radio 1 and the station simulcasts BBC Radio 2 every evening from 7pm. Consequently, Sounds of the 70s ends and Bob Harris leaves the station for a while. Also, the weekday afternoon programme, presented by David Hamilton, is broadcast on both stations and John Peel's show is moved to the drivetime slot.
September – The first edition of The Sunday Request Show is broadcast, hosted by Annie Nightingale. The show runs until 1979 before being reintroduced in 1982, running until May 1994.
25 September – The final edition of Top Gear is broadcast.
27 September – Paul Gambaccini, who joined the station the previous year, presents his first American chart countdown programme.
29 September – Some late weeknight evening programming returns and John Peel's show moves back to late evenings. For this, BBC Radio 1 uses BBC Radio 2's VHF/FM frequencies on weeknights again (having previously done so from October 1971 to December 1974, for shows hosted by Peel, Annie Nightingale and Bob Harris among others). This one-hour show on weeknights is the only time of the evening that BBC Radio 1 broadcasts its own programmes and the station now ends weekday transmissions an hour earlier at 6pm.
JAM Creative Productions of Dallas, Texas begins at 20-year relationship with BBC Radio 1 when it produces its first jingles package for the station. JAM also created Radio 2's jingles.[5] Previously, BBC Radio 1's jingles had been produced by PAMS. (PAMS was also based in Dallas and the company was purchased by JAM Productions).
2 May – BBC Radio 1 launches Playground, a "magazine programme of special interest to young listeners". The new programme incorporates Young Ideas in Action which had previously been broadcast as part of Junior Choice.
May – Simon Bates joins and gets his first regular show.
September – Emperor Rosko leaves the station to return to America.
4 April – BBC Radio 1 extends its weeknight broadcasting hours. The station's daytime weekday programmes are extended by an hour to 7pm and the John Peel show is also extended by an hour to two hours. Consequently, Radio 1 now borrows Radio 2's VHF/FM frequencies for two hours each weeknight, between 10pm and midnight.
28 November – From that day, BBC Radio 1 has its own all-day weekday schedule with the launch of a new afternoon programme presented by Tony Blackburn. David Hamilton's show, simulcast on both stations since January 1975, moves to BBC Radio 2 only. Tony is replaced on mid-mornings by Simon Bates. Consequently, BBC Radio 1 now has its own all-day schedule on weekdays. However, the station continues to simulcast BBC Radio 2 each night from 7pm apart from the weekday late night John Peel's programme.
17 April – David Jensen replaces Dave Lee Travis as host of the weekday drivetime programme[6] and his Saturday mid-morning show is taken over by Adrian Juste who joins the station.
2 May – Dave Lee Travis takes over as presenter of Radio 1 Breakfast.[7]
12 November – The Sunday teatime chart show is extended from a Top 20 countdown to a Top 40 countdown. Simon Bates is the presenter, having taken over as host from Tom Browne earlier in the year.
17 November – Tommy Vance, one of the station's original presenters, rejoins the station to present a new programme, The Friday Rock Show.[8] Consequently, John Peel is now on air four nights a week instead of five.
23 November – Radio 1 moves from 247m (1214 kHz) to 275 & 285m (1053 & 1089 kHz) medium wave as part of a plan to improve national AM reception and to conform with the Geneva Frequency Plan of 1975.[9][10]
22 December – Industrial action at the BBC by the ABS union which started the previous day, extends to radio when the radio unions join their television counterparts by going on strike. It forces the BBC to merge its four national radio networks into one national radio station from 4pm named the BBC All Network Radio Service. The strike is settled shortly before 10pm on the same day with the unions and BBC management reaching an agreement at the government's industrial disputes arbitration service, Acas.[11][12][13][14]
29 January – BBC Radio 1 begins its delayed weeknight mid-evening programme with Andy Peebles joining the station to host the new it. It had originally been scheduled to launch on 13 November 1978, but was delayed as a result of trade union disputes.
26 August – Simon Bates steps down from Sunday Top 40 hosting.
2 September – Tony Blackburn replaces Simon Bates as host of the Sunday Top 40.
Steve Wright joins the station to present the Saturday evening show.
31 March – BBC Radio 1's broadcast hours are cut back. The station starts broadcasting on weekdays an hour later and Saturday evening programming ends. The station simulcasts BBC Radio 2 during this additional downtime although, by the end of the year, BBC Radio 1 has stopped broadcasting BBC Radio 2 through the night.
5 January – Mike Read succeeds Dave Lee Travis as presenter of Radio 1 Breakfast.
11 February – Listeners in London are, from that day, able to hear BBC Radio 1 on VHF and in stereo on weeknights between 8pm and 10pm when BBC Radio London launches a stereo service which carries Radio 1 during its mid-evening downtime. It reverts to BBC Radio 2 when Radio 1 begins its nightly 'borrow' of Radio 2's VHF frequency.
9–10 April – BBC Radio 1 broadcasts a non-stop Marathon Music Quiz. Featuring two teams, Radio 1 and the Music Industry. It is scheduled to run continuously for 26 hours plus 385 minutes with Mike Read as quizmaster for the whole of the quiz. The overnight portion is broadcast live. [18]
4 December – The transmission time lost in March 1980 is regained. Programmes once again begin at 6am, finally ending all simulcasts between BBC Radio 1 and BBC Radio 2.[20]Mike Smith returns to the station to present the new weekday early show. Weekend early shows are introduced with Adrian John and Pat Sharp who joined the station in September to host the new programmes. The station also recommences Saturday evening broadcasting with Janice Long and Gary Davies also joining the station to present the new shows. Programming is also extended by two hours on Sunday evenings with Annie Nightingale's request show returning to the airwaves after three years away. Thus, BBC Radio 1 is now on air daily from 6am until midnight.
18 December – Sounds of Jazz is broadcast on BBC Radio 1 for the final time. From the new year, the show will be broadcast on BBC Radio 2.
1984
1 January
Tommy Vance steps down from hosting the Top 40 show, as he counts down the best selling singles of 1983.
Robbie Vincent joins the station on a permanent basis to present a Sunday evening soul music show.
8 January – Simon Bates returns to the Sunday teatime Top 40 programme, but only for eight months as Richard Skinner will take over as host on 30 September.
10 September – Bruno Brookes replaces Peter Powell as the presenter of the teatime show. He had been with the station for a short time already, deputised for holidaying presenters on an ad-hoc basis.
23 September – Tony Blackburn, the first voice heard on Radio 1, presents his final show as he leaves the station to rejoin BBC Radio London.[23]
29 September – The weekend breakfast show is revamped with Peter Powell replacing Tony Blackburn as the presenter.[24] The children's requests element of the show is dropped.[25]
30 September – Richard Skinner replaces Simon Bates as the host of the Sunday teatime Top 40 programme.
Rod McKenzie joins.
1985
31 March – The Ranking Miss P becomes the station's first black female DJ where she begins presenting the station's first reggae programme.
5 May – Mike Smith rejoins the station for the last time, after spending the past two years working for BBC TV, to take over Radio 1 Breakfast from Mike Read.[28] The same day also sees BBC Radio 1 begin broadcasting on weekdays 30 minutes earlier, at 5:30am.
1987
17 January – Johnnie Walker rejoins the station to present a new Saturday afternoon programme: The Stereo Sequence. It runs for 5+1⁄2 hours, and incorporates the previous stand-alone Saturday afternoon shows, including the weekly look at the American charts which is shortened to an hour.
4 October – From this day, the new The Official Chart is released on the Sunday afternoon chart show. Previously, the programme had played songs from the chart which had been released the previous Tuesday.
9 October – Jeff Young joins the station to present Big Beat, a new weekly Friday evening dance and rap music programme.
31 October – BBC Radio 1 begins launching its FM frequency, starting in London, initially on 104.8MHz before moving to the 97–99 frequency range allocated to the station.[9]
8 November – Bruno Brookes reveals the 600th UK No. 1 single on The Official Chart as "China in Your Hand" by T'Pau. Over the following three weeks and to mark the musical milestone, Radio 1 plays all 600 singles to have reached number one since the UK Singles Chart was launched in 1952.
January – The station has a More Music Day which limited presenter chat to news, weather and travel. Designed as an answer to those who thought that DJs talk too much, it has not been repeated since.
May – Johnnie Walker ends his second stint at the station as he leaves for a while and Roger Scott joins the station and takes over as host of The Stereo Sequence.
The Radio 1 FM 'switch on' day which sees three new transmitters brought into service covering central Scotland, the north of England and the Midlands. With 65% of the UK now covered by the station's new FM frequency, the pop duo Bros fly around the country in a helicopter to encourage listeners to switch over.[9]
To coincide with the switch-ons, Top of the Pops is simulcast on the station for the first time giving listeners the chance to hear the programme in stereo.[30]
25 September – Peter Powell leaves and dropping the early show as Nicky Campbell moves to weekdays.
BBC Radio 1 starts broadcasting on FM in South Wales and the west of England.[31]
1 October
BBC Radio 1 extends its broadcasting hours, closing down at 2am instead of midnight. This results in a new weekday evening schedule with John Peel moving to an earlier evening slot, Nicky Campbell taking over the late show and Richard Skinner rejoining the station, after two years with Capital Radio, to host the new midnight to 2am show.
The Stereo Sequence is renamed The Saturday Sequence.
2 October
BBC Radio 1 stops borrowing BBC Radio 2's FM frequencies on Sunday evenings after 7pm.
The UK Top 40 is the only remaining programme left to continue to borrow Radio 2's frequencies between 5pm and 7pm on Sundays.
24 November – BBC Radio 1 starts broadcasting on FM in Belfast and Oxfordshire with a simulcast of Top of the Pops.[32] To mark the event, the next day's breakfast show and Simon Bates programmes are broadcast live from the two areas.[33]
Some BBC Local Radio stations broadcast Radio 1 during their evening downtime, doing so because Radio 1's network of FM transmitters does not currently cover their broadcast area.
1 April – BBC Radio 1 starts broadcasting slightly earlier each morning and is now on air between 5am and 2am seven days a week. Tim Smith joins the station to host the new weekend early show and Bruno Brookes replaces Mark Goodier as co-host of weekend breakfast with Liz Kershaw.
3 July–13 September – Simon Bates and producer Jonathan Ruffle set off on an 80-day circumnavigation of the world to raise money for Oxfam. Their progress is charted in a broadcast each weekday morning.[34]
29 September – Adrian John leaves the station after presenting the weekday early show for the past six years. He is replaced the following week by Jackie Brambles who had joined the station the previous year.
8 October – Roger Scott hosts his final show before his death on 31 October.
31 October – Bob Harris rejoins the station as Roger Scott's Sunday late show replacement.
19 December – BBC Radio 1 starts transmitting on FM across the whole of south-east England (replacing the temporary London transmitter), in East Anglia,[35] in north Cumbria and south Scotland[36] and in the Cardigan Bay area.
30 December – BBC Radio 1 broadcasts on BBC Radio 2's FM frequencies on Saturday afternoons for the final time.
A new 30-minute news programme News 90 replaces the teatime edition of Newsbeat, it is presented by Sybil Ruscoe and Allan Robb.
A new jingles package, Music Radio for the 90s, is launched.
11 February – BBC Radio 1 starts broadcasting on FM in most of south-west England.[37]
17 March – Shortly after joining the station, Gary King replaces Tim Smith at weekends before moving to weekdays to take over the weekday early show. He replaces Jackie Brambles who moves to the weekday drivetime show.
25 March – BBC Radio 1 'borrows' BBC Radio 2's FM frequencies for the final time. Consequently, some BBC local radio stations in areas where Radio 1 is still not available on FM, broadcast the Top 40 show whilst Radio 1's FM network continues to expand to more areas.
12 April – BBC Radio 1 starts broadcasting on FM throughout north-east England (having previously had a low-power transmitter for Newcastle upon Tyne for a period) and because this area is a renowned heartland of heavy rock music, Tommy Vance hosts a special Friday Rock Show live from Newcastle to mark the switch-on.[38]
24 May – BBC Radio 1 begins FM transmission in central-southern England with Steve Wright's show outside broadcast from Goodwood Racecourse.[39]
1 October – A shake-up of the station's evening schedules sees the debut of a new-music show The Evening Session, as John Peel's show moves to weekends.
Paul Gambaccini rejoins, Jenny Costello joins to host the Weekend Early Show.
Radio 1 starts broadcasting split travel bulletins during the Simon Mayo Breakfast Show. This allows for the London area to receive a separate bulletin from the rest of the country. One is broadcast live, the other recorded during the preceding record.
6 January – For the first time, BBC Radio 1's Sunday chart show plays all 40 tracks and the show is renamed The Complete Top 40.[40] This becomes possible due to an extension of the programme's duration, starting half an hour earlier at 4:30pm.
17 January – BBC Radio 1 begins broadcasting a temporary 24-hour service in order to provide round-the-clock updates with the latest events in the Gulf War which includes news bulletins every 30 minutes. The 2am to 5am closedown reappears by the end of the month, although the half hourly news bulletins continue until the end of the war.
4 April – Pete Tong presents the first edition of the station's first show dedicated solely to rap music. Called The Rap Selection, the show is broadcast on Thursday evenings and lasts until March 1992.
1 May – BBC Radio 1 begins broadcasting a continuous 24-hour service on a permanent basis, but only on FM as the station's MW frequencies are switched off each night between midnight and 6am.[41]
28 September – Johnnie Walker rejoins for the third and final time to begin his third stint as the station's Saturday afternoon presenter.[44] He replaces Mike Read and Richard Skinner.
Tim Smith, Jenny Costello and Jeff Young leave, Paul McKenna joins to present the Weekend Early Show, but later leaves.
21 February – Gary Davies presents his final 'Bit in the Middle' weekday lunchtime show.
24 February – Jackie Brambles replaces Gary Davies as presenter of the weekday lunchtime show.
6 March – Round Table is broadcast for the final time.
9 March – BBC Radio 1 undergoes a schedule revamp with several changes at the weekend, including Gary Davies becoming host of the weekend breakfast show. Gary King and Andy Peebles leave. The changes also see the introduction of a new jingles package, based on the theme Closer to the Music. As part of the changes,The Rap Selection broadcasts for the final time.
15 March
Chris Evans makes his BBC Radio 1 debut as he joins the station, presenting a short-lived Sunday early-afternoon show called Too Much Gravy.
Bruno Brookes begins his second stint as host of the UK Top 40 programme. It is extended once again and now airs from 4pm until 7pm, allowing sufficient time for all songs to be played in full.[45]
30 August – 100,000 people attend Radio 1's biggest ever Radio 1 Roadshow to celebrate the 25th anniversary of the station. The event, held at Sutton Park in the West Midlands, features live performances from bands including Del Amitri, Aswad, The Farm and Status Quo.[48][49]
18 April – The Official 1 FM Album Chart show is broadcast for the first time. Presented by Lynn Parsons, the 60-minute programme is broadcast on Sunday evenings, immediately after the Top 40 singles chart.
8 August – Dave Lee Travis resigns on air and leaves the station stating that he could not agree with changes that were being made to Radio 1. He told his audience that changes were afoot that he could not tolerate "and I really want to put the record straight at this point and I thought you ought to know, changes are being made here which go against my principles and I just cannot agree with them".[51]
16 August–20 September – Loud'n'proud, a series presented by DJ Paulette, was the UK's first national radio series aimed at a gay audience.
6 September – Mark Goodier takes over as presenter of Radio 1 Breakfast and hosts the show until the end of the year.
September – Steve Lamacq and Jo Whiley both join the station and they replace Mark Goodier as co-presenters of The Evening Session.
October – Major changes take place, designed to reposition the station to attract a younger audience, following Matthew Bannister replacing Johnny Beerling as controller, as Matthew joins and Johnny leaving the station. Long-standing DJs, including Simon Bates, Gary Davies, Bob Harris, Paul Gambaccini and Alan Freeman leave around this time. They are replaced with several new younger presenters and specialist music programmes, previously heard late at night are given weekend afternoon slots.
25 October – Simon Mayo takes over weekday mid-mornings from Simon Bates. Mark Radcliffe takes over the late night 10pm-midnight slot and Lynn Parsons takes over from Bob Harris on the midnight to 4am slot.
30 October
As part of the roll-out of the new schedule, Andy Kershaw and John Peel move from night time to Saturday afternoons and Danny Baker takes over the weekend morning show as he joins the station.[52]
The first Essential Mix dance music programme is broadcast.
24 December – Steve Wright in the Afternoon ends its 13-year run on Radio 1. It would return on Radio 2 in July 1999.
8 January – Adrian Juste presents his last show on the station and leaves, having presented his Saturday lunchtime programme of music and comedy since 1978.
10 January
Steve Wright becomes Radio 1's latest breakfast show presenter.[53] Other changes on this day see Mark Goodier present a new early afternoon show with Nicky Campbell hosting the drivetime show and Emma Freud as the host of the lunchtime show (as Emma herself joins the station) to replace Jackie Brambles who leaves the station for a career in America.
The teatime edition of Newsbeat returns after four years away. The bulletin airs in its old slot between 5:30 and 5:45pm.
1 May – Annie Nightingale hosts the request show for the final time, having presented the programme since 1975. Lynn Parsons takes over as the show's presenter the following week, but it is dropped entirely six months later.
8 May
In the early hours of Sunday morning, Annie Nightingale launches her career as a club music DJ, presenting the first edition of The Chill Out Zone.
After six months of rocking Sunday afternoons, the rock show moves to mid-evenings, swapping slots with The Steve Edwards Soul Show.
June – BBC Radio 1 begins broadcasting announcements on its medium wave frequency voiced by Nicky Campbell, telling listeners to retune to FM because it will no longer be broadcasting on medium wave from 1 July.[54]
25 June – For its final week of broadcasting on MW, the station only broadcasts on the frequency between 6am and 9am.
1 July – BBC Radio 1's last broadcast on medium wave. Stephen Duffy's "Kiss Me" is the last record played on MW just before 9am.[55]
BBC Radio 1 starts broadcasting on satellite, using audio carriers on the Astra satellite.
27 November – Clive Warren joins the station and takes over Weekend Breakfast from Kevin Greening who moves to Weekend Lunchtime.
10 December – Tim Westwood joins to present the station's first long-standing rap show, although Pete Tong had hosted The Rap Selection in 1991 and 1992, a continuation of the National Fresh segment in Jeff Young's Friday night show in the late 1980s.[57]
1995
Radio 1's FM network is completed and the station now has the same coverage on FM as the other BBC national stations.
Having been known on air as Radio 1 FM or even simply as 1FM since the start of the decade in order to promote the station's move to FM, the on air name reverts to BBC Radio 1.
January – As part of the major changes taking place at BBC Radio 1, older music (typically anything recorded before 1990) is dropped from the daytime playlist and Emma Freud hosts her final weekday lunchtime show as she leaves the station, she is replaced by Lisa I'Anson who joins the station.
23 April – After Bruno Brookes' departure, Mark Goodier begins his second stint as presenter of the Sunday afternoon Top 40 show.
24 April – Chris Evans takes over Radio 1 Breakfast from Steve Wright, following differences with the station's new management over restructuring as he rejoins the station. Dave Pearce joins the station to take over the early breakfast show.
9 May – Wendy Lloyd joins and hosts her first show.
July – The station holds its first Ibiza weekend.[59]
21 October – Ahead of a schedule revamp, Johnnie Walker leaves the station. The changes include Clive Warren moving from the weekend breakfast show to the weekday early show, replacing Dave Pearce who launches a new weekend mid-morning show, replacing Kevin Greening. Kevin takes over the weekend breakfast show which includes a new weekend breakfast Newsbeat, presented by Peter Bowes.[61]
1996
4 February – Trevor Nelson joins the station to present the UK's first national R&B show Rhythm Nation.
June – BBC Radio 1 starts live streaming on the internet.[62]
27 June – Wendy Lloyd hosts her final show as she leaves the station.
28 July – Chris Moyles joins and becomes the new host of Early Breakfast.[66]
31 August – Regular programming on the BBC's radio and television stations was abandoned to provide ongoing news coverage of the death of Diana, Princess of Wales with BBC Radio 1 airing a special programme from BBC Radio News which is also carried on BBC Radio 2, BBC Radio 3, BBC Radio 4 and BBC Radio 5 Live and The Official Chart doesn't air for the first time.[67]
13 October – Mark and Lard move to an afternoon slot and Zoe Ball joins the station as Kevin Greening and Zoe herself replace them as presenters of the breakfast show.
25 September – Kevin Greening leaves the weekday breakfast show, leaving Zoe Ball as its sole presenter as he moves back to weekends to replace Clive Warren as host of the Sunday weekend breakfast show.
12 October – Chris Moyles replaces Dave Pearce who moves to a new evening show. Scott Mills joins the station as the new host of early breakfast.
19 August – BBC Radio 1 broadcasts its first split programming when it introduces weekly national new music shows for Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. One of the new presenters is Huw Stephens who joins the station and Bethan Elfyn also joins.[69]
16 January – Kevin Greening leaves the station to join BBC Radio 5 Live. The following week, a new weekend breakfast show, The Breakfast Club, hosted by Sarah HB, launches as Sarah herself joins the station.
10 March – Zoe Ball presents the Radio 1 Breakfast show for the final time as she leaves the station.[71]Scott Mills begins a three-week stint as the show's temporary presenter.[72] By coincidence, Mills would succeed Ball as the presenter of the Radio 2 breakfast show 25 years later.
3 April – Sara Cox takes over as presenter of Radio 1 Breakfast and Mark Chapman joins and starts hosting his first ever Newsbeat sports bulletins.[73]
May – Andy Kershaw leaves to join BBC Radio 3. He had presented the station's world music programme since 1985.
31 October – The Evening Session is broadcast for the final time.
17 November – Mark Goodier presents the Top 40 for the final time on the 50th anniversary of the chart and leaves the station due to falling audiences and BBC bosses considering him "too old for the job."[75][76][77]
2003
9 February – Wes Butters joins and becomes the new presenter of The Official Chart. Various presenters had hosted the show since Mark Goodier's departure in November 2002.
29 March – Edith Bowman joins as Colin Murray and Edith herself present their shows together until 2006.
26 March – Mark and Lard (Mark Radcliffe and Marc Riley) present their final show as Radcliffe leaves the station to join BBC Radio 2 and Riley also leaves the station to join BBC Radio 6 Music after 11 years of broadcasting and one failed eight-month stint on Radio 1 Breakfast in 1997.
14 October – Fearne Cotton and Reggie Yates take over as presenters of The Official Chart.
18 December – BBC Radio 1 is forced to backtrack on a decision to begin playing a censored version of The Pogues' 1987 Christmas hit "Fairytale of New York". The song which sees Kirsty MacColl and Shane MacGowan trading insults has the words "faggot" and "slut" edited out to "avoid offence", but after a day of criticism from listeners, the band and MacColl's mother, the decision is reversed and the original version is played in full.[80][81]
BBC Introducing is launched, providing a vital platform for thousands of emerging musical talent. A decade later, over 460,000 tracks have been uploaded to the BBC Music Introducing website and 170,000 artists are registered.
18 September – Jo Whiley presents her final weekday mid-morning show and Edith Bowman also hosts her final weekday lunchtime show as they move to weekends.[83]
21 September – Fearne Cotton takes over the weekday mid-morning show and stops presenting The Official Chart and also Greg James takes over the weekday lunchtime show.
27 September – Reggie Yates becomes the sole presenter of The Official Chart.
15 February – Tina Daheley joins the station and replaces Carrie Davis on Newsbeat sports bulletins for The Chris Moyles Show and later hosts news, sport and weather bulletins for Radio 1 Breakfast with Nick Grimshaw from 24 September 2012.
10 March – The Official Chart Update is launched to give a midweek insight into how the Official Singles Chart is shaping up.[84] It is broadcast as a 30 minute mid-afternoon programme on Wednesdays.
16–18 March – Chris Moyles breaks the record for presenting the longest radio programme, after hosting a 52-hour live broadcast in aid of Red Nose Day 2011.[86]
21 July – The BBC confirms that Andy Parfitt will step down as Controller of BBC Radio 1 after 13 years to pursue other opportunities from the end of the month.[88]
31 July – Andy Parfitt leaves.
28 October – Ben Cooper is appointed as Controller of BBC Radio 1 and BBC Radio 1Xtra, replacing Andy Parfitt who stepped down in July.[89]
2012
26 February – The Top Ten countdown from The Official Chart is made available in vision for the first time through the station's website.[90]
1 April – Tom Deacon leaves the station for a while and Edith Bowman hosts her final weekend breakfast show as she moves back to weekdays in March 2013 to replace Nihal on Tuesday nights.
2 April – A shake-up of the schedule sees Scott Mills and Greg James swapping shows, James hosting the drivetime show and Mills the afternoon show.[91] Also, major changes take place to the dance music schedule: Skream & Benga, Toddla T, Charlie Sloth and Friction take over from Judge Jules, Gilles Peterson, Kissy Sell Out and Fabio & Grooverider as Judge, Gilles, Kissy, and Fabio & Grooverider leave the station and also as Skream & Benga, Toddla, Charlie, and Friction join the station, resulting in a shuffle of most late night shows from Monday to Saturday to incorporate the new line-up.[92]
8 April – Gemma Cairney joins the station, as she replaces Edith Bowman at weekends.
June – The regional new music shows are scrapped after thirteen years as a cost-cutting measure.[93] and replaced by BBC Introducing.[94]
20 June – The BBC Trust says that Radio 1's core audience is still too old, despite changes made to output following an amendment to the wording of its service licence in 2009. The station is aimed at the 15–29-year age group, but the average age of their listeners is 30.[95]
January – A series of changes take place. Jameela Jamil is announced as the new presenter of The Official Chart, Matt Edmondson is to host a weekend morning show and Tom Deacon rejoins the station to present a Wednesday night show. YouTubers Dan Howell and Phil Lester also join the station.[99]
Jameela Jamil joins and becomes the new presenter of The Official Chart.
Dan and Phil take over the Radio 1 Request Show.
19 March – Nihal presents his final Radio 1's Review Tuesday night show.
26 March – Edith Bowman returns to weekdays to replace Nihal on Radio 1's Review on Tuesday nights.
3 April – Tom Deacon leaves the station after hosting his last Wednesday night show.
12 April – BBC Radio 1 controller Ben Cooper announces that the station's The Official Chart will not play "Ding-Dong! The Witch Is Dead", a song which charted following an internet campaign in the wake of the death of former Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher on 8 April. Instead, a portion of the song will air as part of a news item.[100]
September – A series of changes sees many notable presenters leave the station, including Edith Bowman, Nihal and Rob da Bank. Huw Stephens gains a new show, hosting between 10pm and 1am Monday to Wednesday with Alice Levine, presenting weekends between 1pm and 4pm. Radio 1's Residency is also expanded with Skream joining the rotational line-up on Thursday nights between 10pm and 1am.
Rod McKenzie is dismissed following bullying allegations and is moved to another job outside the BBC.
27 February – Fearne Cotton announces she is to leave the station to start "a new chapter".[102]
5 March – Zane Lowe presents his final show as he leaves the station.
9 March – Annie Mac replaces Zane Lowe on weekday evenings.
24 March – BBC Radio 1 announces that The Official Chart will move from Sunday to Friday afternoon from mid-July in response to changes in the day new music is released.[103]
22 May – Fearne Cotton leaves.
25 May – Clara Amfo replaces Fearne Cotton on weekday mid-mornings.
June – Schedule changes at BBC Radio 1 and BBC Radio 1Xtra see Adele Roberts presenting the Early Breakfast Show, replacing Gemma Cairney. Cairney has become the station's social action presenter, hosting The Surgery and documentaries for both networks as Aled Haydn Jones leaves the hosting and producing role to become Head of Programmes.[104]
5 July – The final Sunday broadcast of BBC Radio 1's The Official Chart.[105]
10 July – The first Friday broadcast of BBC Radio 1's The Official Chart.[106] The programme is broadcast as part of the drivetime show, hosted by Greg James. Its airtime is almost halved, to just 1 hour 45 minutes with only the top 10 now being played in full.
2016
No events.
2017
30 September – BBC Radio 1 and BBC Radio 2 celebrate their 50th birthday. Commemorations include a three-day pop-up station Radio 1 Vintage celebrating their presenters and special on-air programmes on the day itself, including a special breakfast show co-presented by the station's launch DJ Tony Blackburn which is also broadcast on BBC Radio 2.[107]
6 November – BBC Radio 1 has some schedule changes. A new weeknight show is launched, The 8th presented by Charlie Sloth broadcast on BBC Radio 1 and its sister station BBC Radio 1Xtra. Other changes involved Danny Howard, Katie Thistleton, Huw Stephens and Phil Taggart. Kan D Man, DJ Limelight and René LaVice join.[108][109]
2018
24 February – BBC Radio 1 overhauls its weekend schedule. The changes see Maya Jama and Jordan North joining the network as weekend presenters, fronting the Greatest Hits programme, while Matt Edmondson moves to present a weekday afternoon show on which he will be joined by a different guest co-presenter each week. Alice Levine moves from afternoons to weekend breakfasts to co-present with Dev.[110]
15 June
Radio 1 starts broadcasting much of its weekend schedule on Fridays meaning that the weekday daytime schedule is now only broadcast from Mondays to Thursdays.[111]
3 October – Charlie Sloth announces he will leave BBC Radio 1 and BBC Radio 1Xtra after ten years of broadcasting.[116]
20 October – Having announced earlier in the month that he is leaving BBC Radio 1 and BBC Radio 1Xtra, Charlie Sloth now says this will happen with immediate effect. Previously, he has been scheduled to leave in November.[117]
6 September – The new early weekend breakfast show is running from Friday to Sunday and is presented by Arielle Free. Mollie King gained a new slot named Best New Pop.[121]
2020s
2020
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.[122]
28 March – Radio 1 implements temporary changes to its schedule due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The changes see the length of shows across Radio 1 daytime increase, meaning fewer presenters are required in the studios throughout the course of the day.[124]
5 August – The station announces a major schedule overhaul which launches on 1 September. The new schedule sees Greg James move to a new time slot, 7am to 10:30am. Clara Amfo’s show moves to 10:30am to 1pm, followed by Scott Mills from 1pm to 3:30pm and Nick Grimshaw from 3:30pm to 6pm. Radio 1's Future Sounds with Annie Mac moves forward an hour to a new 6pm to 8pm slot with the Hottest Record now at 6pm. This is followed by Rickie, Melvin & Charlie from 8pm to 10pm and Jack Saunders from 10pm to midnight.[126]
19 November – BBC Radio 1 announces plans to play an edited version of the Christmas song "Fairytale of New York" by The Pogues and Kirsty MacColl over the Christmas period, because it feels its audience may be offended by some of its lyrics.[131]
20 December – Dev Griffin leaves the station after eighteen years of broadcasting to join Heart.
2021
9 April – Following the death of Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, regular programming is abandoned for the rest of the day, BBC Radio 1 simulcasts the BBC Radio News special news programme until breaking away at 4pm for a special edition of Newsbeat and then plays appropriate music for the rest of the day. The Official Chart doesn't air for the second time since Princess Diana's death in 1997.[132]
20 April – Annie Mac announces that she will leave the station at the end of July. From September, Clara Amfo is to take over Radio 1's Future Sounds and Rickie, Melvin and Charlie will take over the weekday mid-morning show. Other changes include Radio 1's Future Artists with Jack Saunders moving to an earlier slot from 8pm to 10pm on Monday to Wednesday along with Radio 1's Indie Show on Thursdays. Radio 1's Power Down Playlist will become a standalone programme for the first time with Sian Eleri hosting from 10pm to 11pm from Monday to Wednesday. Danny Howard will take over as host of Radio 1's Dance Party on Fridays from 6pm to 8pm and Jaguar will host Radio 1 Dance Introducing on Thursdays from 10pm to 11pm. New presenter Sarah Story will join the station to host Radio 1's Future Dance on Fridays from 8pm to 10pm.[133]
22 April – BBC Radio 1 Relax launches exclusively on BBC Sounds with little notice. The stream aims to play a selection of well-being focussed music content throughout the day and ASMR and relaxing sounds throughout the night.[134]
30 June – During his drivetime show, Nick Grimshaw announces he will leave the station after fourteen years in mid-August. From 6 September, Vick Hope and Jordan North will host a new drivetime show together from Monday to Thursday from 3:30pm to 6pm. Dean McCullough will also permanently join Radio 1 to replace Jordan North's weekend show from Friday to Sunday from 10:30am to 1pm. The first show will air 10 September and will be broadcast from Salford, the first daytime Radio 1 programme to move out of London as part of the BBC's Across The UK plans. Victoria Jane will also join the station to launch a new show, Radio 1 Future Soul, broadcast from Salford.[135]
30 July – Annie Mac presents her final show as she leaves the station after seventeen years of broadcasting.
5 August – Clara Amfo presents her final weekday mid-morning show.
12 August – Nick Grimshaw presents his final show as he leaves the station after fourteen years of broadcasting.
9 September – BBC Introducing on Radio 1 Dance broadcasts for the first time as Jaguar joins the station.
10 September – Danny Howard replaces Annie Mac on Friday evenings and Radio 1's Future Dance broadcasts for the first time as Sarah Story joins the station.
11 September – Dean McCullough joins the station and replaces Jordan North at weekends.
13 September – Radio 1's Future Soul broadcasts for the first time as Victoria Jane joins the station.
16 October – Radio 1's Out Out! Live, a music concert to celebrate the return of the night out, will be held at the SSE Arena in Wembley, London.[136]
2022
8 March – It is announced that Mollie King will present a new show, Radio 1's Future Pop on Thursdays from 8pm to 10pm. Monday nights will be dedicated to Rock and Alternative, with the Radio 1 Rock Show with Daniel P Carter moving to 11pm to 1am. Alyx Holcombe will join the station to present Radio 1 Introducing Rock from 1am to 2am following the Radio 1 Rock Show and Nels Hylton will present Radio 1's Future Alternative. Radio 1's Drum & Bass Show will move to Saturday nights from 11pm with Charlie Tee as René LaVice leaves the station. Radio 1's Indie Show with Jack Saunders moves to Sundays at 9pm and Radio 1's Soundsystem with Jeremiah Asiamah moves to Saturdays at 7pm. The 1Xtra Takeover with DJ Target will no longer air on Radio 1.
17 May – BBC Radio 1 launches the Presenter Uploader tool to enable potential new presenters to upload their demo tapes to its server. The software is also made available to the entire radio industry.[137]
1 July – It is announced that Scott Mills and Chris Stark will leave the station at the end of August.
5 July – Dean McCullough and Vicky Hawkesworth are announced as the new hosts of Radio 1's afternoon show from 1pm to 3:30pm from Monday 5 September. In addition, Katie Thistleton is announced to be taking over the Friday and Saturday editions of McCullough's weekend show, with Nat presenting Radio 1's 00's in the Sunday edition's slot.[138]
28 July – Jack Saunders is announced as the new host of The Official Chart on Radio 1, starting on 9 September.[139]
5 August – Roisin Hastie announces she will be leaving Newsbeat and ending her contributions to Radio 1 Breakfast with Greg James.
15 August – Calum Leslie is announced as the new Breakfast newsreader for Newsbeat.
14 October – Radio 1 hosts Europe's Biggest Dance Show 2022 with eleven radio stations from across Europe joining together to showcase the best of dance music and Ukraine's Radio Promin joining for the first time.[140]
25 December – Radio 1 presents a Christmas Day TikTok Takeover between 2pm and 6pm, with ten presenters from the social media platform presenting 30 minute slots.[142]
2023
21 June – Adele Roberts and Gemma Bradley announce they are leaving Radio 1, Sam & Danni will replace Roberts, while Jess Iszatt replacing Bradley.[143]
3 July – BBC Radio 1 introduces a summer schedule that sees its flagship Radio 1 Breakfast with Greg James start and finish 30 minutes later, from 7:30am to 11am.[144]
31 July – Arielle Free is suspended while an on-air disagreement with Charlie Hedges over her choice of music is investigated.[145]
19 December – Annie Nightingale presents her final show before her death the following month.
2024
7 February – The BBC announces plans to launch a new Radio 1 spin-off station on DAB and online via BBC Sounds. The station will focus on music from the 2000s and 2010s. The plans, which will see four new stations launch, include Radio 1 Dance start broadcasting on DAB+ as an expanded service with new and enhanced content.[146]
16 February – The BBC announces that Jordan North will leave Radio 1, with Jamie Laing being announced as the new drivetime presenter alongside Vick Hope.
14 March – Chris Sawyer, co-producer of the Radio 1 Breakfast Show, announces he is leaving his role after fifteen years.[147]
^Williams, Rhys (28 September 1995). "BBC switches on CD-quality radio". The Independent. Independent Print Limited. Archived from the original on 7 May 2022. Retrieved 3 May 2019.
^"... Radio 1 denied he has been fired because of falling listener figures, saying his contract is coming to an end.""DJ Goodier leaves Radio 1". Entertainment News. BBC News. 15 August 2002. Retrieved 18 May 2009.
^"... station bosses want to replace him with someone younger, who will be more in tune with its target audience of 15 to 24-year-olds." Day, Julia (15 August 2002). "Countdown begins for Goodier's departure". Media Guardian. Guardian News and Media. Retrieved 18 May 2009.
^"Mark Goodier is leaving Radio 1's weekly chart show after 15 years because he is considered too old for the job." Gray, Chris (16 August 2002). "Goodier drops out of the charts". The Independent. Archived from the original on 15 November 2010. Retrieved 18 May 2009.
