BBC Radio 2

BBC Radio 2

Broadcast area	United Kingdom - National
Slogan	Online, On Digital and on 88-91FM
Frequency	FM: 88.1 MHz - 90.2 MHz DAB: 12B Freeview: 702 Freesat: 702 Sky: 0102 Virgin Media: 902 TalkTalk TV: 602 UPC Ireland: 908 Live Stream Real/WM
First air date	30 September 1967
Format	Hot AC, Indie Music, Infotainment
Language	English
Audience share	16.5% (December 2009, [1])
Owner	BBC BBC Radio
Website	BBC Radio 2

BBC Radio 2 is one of the BBC's national radio stations and the most popular station in the UK.^[1] Much of its daytime playlist-based programming is best described as Adult Contemporary or AOR, although the station is also noted for its specialist broadcasting of other musical genres. Radio 2 broadcasts throughout the UK on FM between 88.1 and 90.2MHz from studios in Western House, adjacent to Broadcasting House in central London. Programmes are relayed on digital radio via DAB, Sky Digital, Cable TV, IPTV, Freeview, Freesat and the Internet. The station's programming is broadcast on a network of FM transmitters of up to 250 kW, the strongest FM signals in the EU.^[2]

History

1967–1986

The station launched at 05:30 ^[3] on 30 September 1967, and evolved from the Light Programme, with some of the Light Programme's music shows transferring to the newly-launched Radio 1. The first show had started at 05:30am (on the Light programme) but continued with Breakfast Special from Paul Hollingdale as Radio 1 split.

In early years, much programming and music was common to both stations, particularly on the shared FM frequency. Radio 1 was targeted at the audience of pirate radio stations whereas Radio 2 settled down as a middle-of-the-road station playing laid-back pop/rock, folk and country, jazz and big-band music, easy listening, light classics, and oldies, with significant amounts of comedy and sport. Notable broadcasters on Radio 2 in the 70s and 80s were Ray Moore on early breakfast, Terry Wogan on breakfast, replaced by Ken Bruce and later Derek Jameson; Jimmy Young and his lunchtime news and current affairs show; 'Diddy' David Hamilton on mid-afteroons, John Dunn at what became known as drivetime. Radio 2 became the first 24-hour radio station in the UK in 1979.

Frances Line: 1986–1996

The station's policy remained stable with only minor changes until April 1986 when Frances Line, head of music, repositioned the station. She would become Controller in 1990. An ageing Radio 1 audience which had grown up with the station was sticking with it into their 40s and beyond; Line repositioned Radio 2 to appeal exclusively to the over-fifties and introduced older presenters and based the playlist around nostalgia, easy listening and light music. As a result, David Hamilton quit the station at the end of 1986, claiming the music policy had become geriatric; Terry Wogan's replacement Derek Jameson also appealed to an older, down-market demographic. Although popular with its target audience, the policy alienated many younger listeners who had listened to both Radio 1 and Radio 2 and the station's audience fell. It took another hit when sports coverage moved to Radio 5 in August 1990. Another blow was struck by the rise of album-rock commercial stations (particularly Virgin Radio) and 'gold' spinoffs from Independent Local Radio stations playing classic pop and rock. With the station's audience in decline a change of emphasis was needed.

James Moir "The Nation's Favourite" — 1996 onwards

Line was replaced by James Moir in 1996. Moir repositioned Radio 2 with a largely AOR/contemporary playlist by day, aimed at a more mature audience than Radio 1 (which, post-Britpop, was again starting to focus on a young audience) but still embracing new music, and more specialist broadcasting by recognised genre experts in the evenings. Unlike the early-90s repositioning of Radio 1 in which the BBC lost many well-known names, many former Radio 1 presenters stayed with the BBC and moved across to Radio 2.

Radio 2 is now termed "the nation's favourite", a title the BBC formerly used for BBC Radio 1. It is the most listened-to station in the UK, its schedule filled with broadcasters such as: Sir Terry Wogan, Steve Wright, Chris Evans, Ken Bruce, Jeremy Vine, Mark Radcliffe, Stuart Maconie, Janice Long, Johnnie Walker and Bob Harris.

As well as having most listeners nationally, it ranks first in many regions above local radio stations. BBC Radio 2 played to 27% of the available audience in 2006.^[4]

The current position

The station now has adult listeners, mainly aged 25 and above, although in recent years it has attracted more younger listeners. Its daytime playlist features music from the 1960s to various current chart hits, album and indie music. The station's appeal is broad and deep, with accessible daytime programmes and specialist programmes of particular types or eras of music. In 2009 Radio 2 again won the Music Week Award for National Radio Station of the Year, an award it has won for several consecutive years.^[5]

Weekday evenings feature specialist music, including jazz, folk music, blues, country and western, reggae, classic rock, showtunes and biographies and documentaries on musical artists and genres. This specialist programming typically runs from 19:00 to 20:00, and from 22:00 to midnight. Radio 2 hosts both the BBC Concert Orchestra and the BBC Big Band.

Brian Matthew's "Sounds of the Sixties" remains a regular fixture on the Saturday schedule, as does Johnnie Walker's "Sounds of the Seventies".

On Sundays the schedule reverts closer to its old style, with a focus on easy listening, Jazz and Show music, with presenters like Clare Teal and David Jacobs and long-standing programmes like Sunday Half Hour.

Radio 2 does not broadcast complete works of classical music (the domain of Radio 3) or offer in-depth discussion or drama and although some book readings, comedy and arts coverage still remains on the station this is the remit of Radio 4. Jeremy Vine's weekday lunchtime show covers current and consumer affairs informally, a style pioneered by Jimmy Young. Until Radio 5 Live, Radio 2's medium wave frequencies carried the BBC's sports coverage. Radio 5 Live was positioned on Radio 2's mediumwave frequencies.

Like all BBC radio stations broadcasting to UK audiences, Radio 2 is funded by the television licence fee, and does not broadcast commercials.

BBC Radio 2's last closedown was at 02:02 on 27 January 1979. Sarah Kennedy (who, since 1993 has been a daily early-morning presenter) was at the Newsdesk after Brian Matthew finished "Round Midnight". From 02:00 to 05:00 the following night, listeners heard "You and the Night and the Music". Radio 2 has the longest period of continuous broadcasting of any national radio station in the UK.

The BBC Pips are broadcast at 07:00 and 08:00 on weekdays, then at 17:00.

BBC Radio 2 moved its studios from Broadcasting House to the adjacent Western House in 2005.^[6] Although the majority of programming comes from London, some shows are broadcast from other cities around the UK, including Birmingham and Manchester. For many years, the network's overnight presenters, such as Janice Long and Alex Lester, were based in Birmingham, but made the move to London in April 2008. Mark Radcliffe and Stuart Maconie continue to present their show from Manchester.

In February 2007, Radio 2 recruited Jeff Smith, director of UK and International programming at Napster and a former head of music at Radio 1, as its new head of music. Smith joined the network on 26 March.^[7]

Presenters and programmes

Daytime

Evenings

Notable programming

Weekday Breakfast Show

Currently this slot is broadcast between 07:00 and 09:30, Monday to Friday and is hosted by Chris Evans . This means that Sarah Kennedy's Dawn Patrol show is broadcast at an earlier time from 05.00 until 07.00.

Presenter history

Specialist programming

Mondays

• Paul Jones: Blues
• Clare Teal: Big Band Special: Jazz, featuring the BBC Big Band
• Jools Holland: R&B

Tuesdays

• Jamie Cullum: Jazz
• Nigel Ogden: The Organist Entertains

Wednesdays

• Mike Harding: Folk Music
• Trevor Nelson: Soul Music
• Steve Lamacq: Rock/Alternative Music

Thursdays

• Bob Harris: Country
• Suzi Quatro: Rock 'n Roll

Fridays

• Friday Night is Music Night: light music featuring the BBC Concert Orchestra
• Frank Renton: Listen to the Band
• Claudia Winkleman : The Weekender (arts programme)
• Desmond Carrington: The Music Goes Round

Saturdays

• Paul Gambaccini: America's Greatest Hits
• Brian Matthew: Sounds of the 60s
• Dale Winton: Pick of the Pops (nostalgia)

Sundays

• Michael Ball: Michael Ball's Sunday Brunch
• Aled Jones: Good Morning Sunday (religious-themed breakfast show)
• Elaine Paige show tunes
• Alan Titchmarsh: Melodies for You
• Brian D'Arcy: Sunday Half Hour (hymns)
• Russell Davies: Sunday Evening
• Clare Teal – Celebrating The Age of Swing
• David Jacobs: The David Jacobs Collection (musicals, film music)

Others

• It's Been a Bad Week – Comedy starring Steve Punt and Hugh Dennis.
• The Day the Music Died – music comedy series starring Jon Holmes and Andrew Collins
• Book Sequence
• Stand-in presenters heard when a regular presenter is away

Stand-in presenters

News/travel/continuity staff

Daytime

Evenings

Past presenters

Controllers

Controversy

In April 1999 Radio 2 presenter Johnnie Walker was suspended from his drivetime show after allegations concerning a drug problem appeared in the Sunday tabloid, the News of the World. Walker had been the victim of a tabloid exposé over his cocaine problem.^[9] Bosses later reinstated him after he was fined £2,000 for possession of cocaine.

The presenter Sarah Kennedy has sometimes attracted controversy. In May 1999 she gave a bizarre performance while standing in for Terry Wogan, blaming the incident on a lack of sleep the previous night.^[10] Her slurred speech throughout her show on 13 August 2007 also made the headlines. She blamed a sore throat and later took a month-long break.^[11] It was later reported that Kennedy was recovering from pneumonia,^[12] and she returned to work on 10 September. In October 2007 she was reprimanded after joking that she had almost run over a black pedestrian because she couldn't see him in the dark. The BBC later apologised for the comment.^[13] She was also "spoken to" by BBC bosses after praising Enoch Powell during a show in July 2009, describing him as "the best prime minister this country never had".^[14]

On 16 October 2008, an episode of the Russell Brand Show, co-hosted by fellow Radio 2 presenter Jonathan Ross was recorded for transmission at a later date. The show included Brand and Ross leaving four prank messages on actor Andrew Sachs's answerphone including offensive remarks about his granddaughter and use of foul language. The programme was subsequently broadcast on Saturday 18 October, partially censored, having passed the various pre-transmission checks from the programme's editors. Initially the programme only received a negligible number of complaints regarding Jonathan Ross' bad language; however, the incident was reported a week later by the Mail on Sunday and a public outcry soon ensued. The case was referred to both Ofcom and the BBC Trust and in the interim Ross and Brand were both suspended for 12 weeks from all BBC programmes pending investigation. Soon after these announcements Russell Brand announced his resignation from the BBC shortly followed by the controller at the time, Lesley Douglas. Jonathan Ross was suspended from the BBC without pay for 12 weeks.^[15][16]

In July 2009 long time presenter Malcolm Laycock announced his resignation live on air following a long running dispute over the content of his show, Sunday Night at 10, and issues regarding his salary.^[17] He later criticised Radio 2 management for abandoning its older listeners and claimed to have been constructively dismissed by the station, although Radio 2 denied this was the case.^[18]

References

External links

• Official BBC Radio 2 website
• Official BBC Radio 2 Facebook site
• Media UK's BBC Radio 2 site including scheduled programming
• Radio Rewind's Radio 2 history
• R2OK! the Radio 2 Preservation Society
• Radio 2 Timeline/History
• Listen BBC Radio Latest Bulletins Listen to Business Bulletin