2026 in British radio

Events

January

• 1 January –
• *BBC Radio 4 celebrates the 75th anniversary of The Archers with a day of programmes and drama dedicated to the rural soap. It includes a re-enactment of the opening scene of the first episode broadcast on 1 January 1950, the original episode having been lost.
• *Radio X listeners have voted the Wolf Alice single "The Sofa" as their Record of the Year for 2025 in the station's annual poll of music for the year.
• 2 January – Tiffany Calver presents her final edition of BBC Radio 1Xtra's The Rap Show after seven years as its host.
• 6 January –
• *Launch of STV Radio, with Ewen Cameron and Cat Harvey presenting the weekday breakfast show.
• *Bauer Media adds local news, weather and travel to Hits Radio UK in Scotland.
• 12 January – Comedian Josh James joins Fix Radio as drivetime presenter. Previous hosts Rich and Trev move to Saturdays as part of changes to the weekend schedule.
• 15 January – Amol Rajan announces he is leaving his role as presenter of BBC Radio 4's The Today Programme to start his own company.
• 17 January – Daryl Robinson joins Fix Radio to present a Saturday morning programme.
• 19 January – Magic Radio hires Claire Sturgess to present the breakfast show on Mellow Magic, and announces that current presenter Jen Thomas will move to afternoons on Magic Musicals.
• 23 January – Cheshire’s Mix 56 partners with Cadent Gas Distribution Network to promote its programme of community engagement across Cheshire.
• 24 January – Jazz FM presenter Helen Mayhew announces her retirement from broadcasting, with her final show airing on 30 January.
• 26 January –
• *BBC Radio 5 Live appoints Steffan Powell as permanent Breakfast co-presenter on Fridays and Sundays, and Rima Ahmed as co-presenter on Fridays.
• *Magic unveils a new weekend schedule, which includes Rich Clarke presenting Saturday Breakfast.
• 29 January – It is announced that Alun Thomas has been hired by BBC Radio Cymru to present Post Prynhawn from Tuesdays to Fridays.
• 31 January – BBC Radio 2 repeats its 2022 programme Wogan: In His Own Words to mark the 10th anniversary of Sir Terry Wogan's death.

February

• 2 February – The Radio 2 Piano Room returns throughout February, beginning with Pulp on 2 February and ending with Jessie J on 26 February.

Station debuts

Terrestrial

• 6 January – STV Radio

Online

• 31 January – 80s Heaven

Small-scale multiplex switch-ons

• 2 February – Bournemouth and Boscombe

Programme debuts

• 1 January – Tony Blackburn's Sounds of Soul on BBC Radio 2.
• 6 February – Classical Love Themes with Dawn O’Porter, a four-part series looking at love through classical music, on Classic FM.

Continuing radio programmes

1940s

• ''A Book at Bedtime''

1950s

• ''The Today Programme''

1960s

• ''The Living World''

1970s

• ''Science in Action''

1980s

• ''Loose Ends''

1990s

• ''The Now Show''

2000s

• ''Newsjack''

2010s

• ''Radio 1's Party Anthems''

2020s

• ''Radio 2's The Week-est Link''

Deaths

• 2 January – Jenny Collins, 83, broadcaster and producer
• 25 January – Sir Mark Tully, 90, BBC India correspondent
• 27 January – Nigel Ogden, 71, theatre organist