1983 in British radio

Events

January

• 4 January – BBC Radio 2 revives Music While You Work.
• 17 January – BBC Local Radio comes to south west England with the launches of BBC Radio Devon and BBC Radio Cornwall.

February

• 12 February – Sounds of the 60s is broadcast for the first time on BBC Radio 2.

March

• No events.

April

• 18 April – Prior to the launch of a commercial station covering Gwent, the BBC launches BBC Radio Gwent. It broadcasts at peak time, opting out of BBC Radio Wales. The station broadcasts on VHF/FM and therefore becomes the only part of Wales where English-language radio programming for Wales can be heard on VHF/FM.

May

• May – The first Birmingham Walkathon is staged by Birmingham's BRMB to raise money for charity, and takes place around the city's Outer Circle bus route.

June

• 13 June – Gwent Broadcasting becomes the first station in the UK to occupy the newly released 102.2 to 104.5Mhz part of the VHF/FM waveband.

July

• 2 July – BBC Radio Medway is expanded to cover all of the county of Kent and is renamed accordingly.

August

• 19 August – "Pirate" radio station Radio Caroline resumes broadcasting to Britain in an album-oriented rock format from anchored in the Knock Deep outside UK territorial waters off the Thames Estuary.

September

• No events.

October

• 6 October – Centre Radio stops broadcasting after running into financial difficulties. A take-over bid is rejected by the IBA and the station goes off air at 5.30pm.
• 22 October – BBC Radio Brighton is expanded to cover all of the county of Sussex and is accordingly renamed BBC Radio Sussex.

November

• No events.

December

• 12 December – BBC Radio Bury launches as a trial community radio station. It opts out on MW from BBC Radio Manchester for a few hours each day. It is the first of five such trial stations, each operating in various parts of the Manchester area. Each station is on air for a few weeks.
• 18 December – Sounds of Jazz is broadcast on BBC Radio 1 for the final time. The show is transferred to Radio 2 in the new year.
• December – Kenny Everett leaves BBC Radio 2 a couple of weeks after he made a risqué on-air joke about Margaret Thatcher.

Station debuts

• 17 January –
• * BBC Radio Devon
• * BBC Radio Cornwall
• 4 April – County Sound
• 11 April – BBC Radio Tweed
• 16 April – BBC Radio Solway
• 18 April – BBC Radio Gwent
• 13 June – Gwent Broadcasting
• 4 July – BBC Radio York
• 29 August – Southern Sound Radio
• 5 September –
• * Signal 1
• * Marcher Sound
• Unknown – Bridgend Hospital Radio

Programme debuts

• 1 February – In Business on BBC Radio 4
• 12 February – Sounds of the 60s on BBC Radio 2

Continuing radio programmes

1940s

• ''A Book at Bedtime''

1950s

• ''Your Hundred Best Tunes''

1960s

• ''The Organist Entertains''

1970s

• ''Science in Action''

1980s

• ''Radio Active''

Closing this year

• 6 October – Centre Radio

Births

• 19 January – MistaJam, born Peter Dalton, DJ
• 19 July – Helen Skelton, broadcast presenter
• 6 August
• * Kayper, DJ
• * Lloyd Langford, Welsh comedian
• 16 August – Colin Griffiths, TV presenter and DJ

Deaths

• 22 February – Sir Adrian Boult, orchestral conductor, BBC director of music
• 11 September – Brian Lawrance, Australian-born bandleader
• 22 October – Sir Harold Bishop, broadcasting engineer
• 24 December – Alan Melville, scriptwriter and war reporter