1996 in British radio

Events

January

• No events.

February

• 4 February – Trevor Nelson joins BBC Radio 1 to present the UK's first national R&B show Rhythm Nation.
• 5 February – Radio Wyvern becomes the last commercial radio station in England to end simulcasting on FM and AM.

March

• 15 March – Alan Freeman joins Virgin Radio to present a new Friday night rock show.
• 18 March – Mike Read replaces Nick Bailey as host of Classic FM’s breakfast show.
• 30 March – Steve Wright joins BBC Radio 2.
• 31 March – Michael Parkinson begins presenting Parkinson's Sunday Supplement on Radio 2.
• March
• *Jim Moir replaces Frances Line as controller of BBC Radio 2 and begins repositioning the station to attract a wider audience of over 35s, many of whom have moved to commercial radio following the repositioning of BBC Radio 1 three years earlier. He introduces a daytime playlist consisting of AOR/contemporary music with specialist programmes airing during the evening and at the weekend. Nostalgic/easy listening music is restricted to Sundays only.
• *BBC Dorset FM closes and is replaced by a rebroadcast of BBC Radio Solent with localised news bulletins.
• * Allied Radio plc is taken over by Independent Radio Group plc.

April

• 1 April – Network News closes.
• 3 April – After 18 years, the name BBC Radio Manchester returns to the airwaves. Since 1988 the station had been called BBC GMR. Shortly after the namechange, the station opens a relay on 104.6 FM to give areas of the Upper Tame Valley, including Saddleworth, Tameside and down to Hyde, improved coverage.
• 5–8 April – Classic FM broadcasts its first Hall of Fame over the Easter weekend.
• 9 April – BBC Radio Oxford and BBC Radio Berkshire are merged to form BBC Thames Valley FM.

May

• 4 May – BBC Radio 3 commences 24-hour transmission.
• May – Viva 963 is sold to Mohammed Al Fayed, owner of Harrods and chairman of Fulham Football Club, who renames the station as Liberty Radio.

June

• June – Radio 1 starts live streaming on the internet.
• June – Schools programmes are broadcast during the day for the final time. Schools programmes continued to be broadcast overnight until 2003.

July

• 1 July – The LBC name returns to London's airwaves following a rebrand of London News Radio's MW station News Talk 1152.
• 9 July – The Radio Authority receives 25 bids for the final FM citywide London licence. In November the Authority announces that XFM has been awarded the licence which will broadcast on 104.9.

August

• Hallam FM switches off its transmitter covering Rotherham as part of its licence agreement.
• Minster FM extends northwards when it switches on a transmitter covering Thirsk and Northallerton.

September

• 9 September – Following a change in ownership, Manchester station Fortune 1458 is relaunched as Lite AM.
• 27 September – Paul Gambaccini leaves BBC Radio 3 after less than a year with the station.
• 30 September – Belfast Community Radio closes and is replaced by CityBeat.
• September
• *Scottish Radio Holdings purchases Northern Ireland stations Downtown Radio and Cool FM.
• *The Radio Authority awards a full-time commercial licence to a student radio station for the first time when it awards the Oxford licence to Oxygen FM.

October

• 9 October – BBC Radio 1's London studios move from Egton House to Yalding House.
• October – Richard Skinner, who presented the first show on Virgin Radio, leaves.

November

• 4 November – The Asian Network expands into a full-time station when it increases the number of hours on air from 80 hours a week to 126 hours a week. The station, which broadcasts on the MW frequencies of BBC Radio Leicester and BBC Radio WM, is renamed BBC Asian Network.
• 14 November – London News relaunches its rolling news service as News Direct 97.3.

December

• 20 December – Steve Penk leaves Key 103 to move to Capital FM after 18 years at the Manchester station.

Unknown

• Matthew Bannister becomes Director of BBC Radio.
• Following its purchase of Bedford station Chiltern 96.9, new owners GWR Group rebrand the station as B97 FM.

Station debuts

• 5 February – Wyvern FM and Wyvern AM
• Spring – Burn FM
• 4 April – 96.4 The Eagle
• 9 April – BBC Thames Valley FM
• 21 April – Spirit FM
• 24 May – FM102 The Bear
• 3 June – Asian Sound Radio
• 15 July – Oban FM
• 29 September – The Beach
• 23 November – Valleys Radio
• Unknown date – Fly Live

Programme debuts

• 31 March – Parkinson's Sunday Supplement on BBC Radio 2
• 17 April – Chambers on BBC Radio 4
• 5 July – Goodness Gracious Me on BBC Radio 4
• 26 July – Comedy Quiz on BBC Radio 4
• 4 August – Independence Day UK on BBC Radio 1
• 6 October – The David Jacobs Collection 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

• ''Loose Ends''

1990s

• ''Private Passions''

Ending this year

• January – Change at Oglethorpe
• September – ''The Mark Steel Solution''

Closing this year

• 9 April –
• *BBC Radio Berkshire
• *BBC Radio Oxford
• 1 September – Supergold

Deaths

• 10 January ‒ Dennis McCarthy, 62, radio presenter
• 26 March – John Snagge, 91, newsreader
• 6 April – Gordon Clough, 61, radio journalist
• 29 April – David Davis, 87, radio executive and broadcaster
• 11 May – Joan Thirkettle, 48, television journalist and radio personality
• 7 June – Percy Edwards, 88, animal impersonator
• 19 June – Vivian Ellis, 92, theme tune composer
• 11 December – Willie Rushton, 59, comic performer, broadcast personality and cartoonist
• 14 December – Norman Hackforth, 87, musical accompanist and radio "mystery voice"