Boom Radio
Boom Radio is an independent, commercial, national radio station in the United Kingdom. Owned by Boom Radio Ltd, the station is aimed at baby boomers, the generation of people born between 1946 and 1964. Launched on 14 February 2021, Boom Radio broadcasts nationally on the Sound Digital DAB multiplex and is also available online.
The station was developed and launched by Phil Riley and David Lloyd, two commercial radio executives who felt older listeners were being overlooked by stations such as BBC Radio 2 in favour of a younger audience. Boom's content features a mixture of music, conversation and radio personality, with presenters including many who have previously made their name in national and commercial radio, such as Graham Dene, David Hamilton and Diana Luke. The programming for Boom Radio is recorded and presented remotely by its presenters from their own homes, rather than being done in a traditional in-house studio setting. Boom's launch against the backdrop of the COVID-19 pandemic influenced its decision to operate without a central studio.
History
Launch
The idea for Boom Radio was conceived and developed by Phil Riley and David Lloyd, two radio executives with lengthy careers in commercial radio, who felt there was a gap in the market for a station aimed at the baby boomer generation, which they felt was being overlooked by other stations. Riley's background in radio includes his role as Chief Executive of Chrysalis Radio, where he oversaw the launch of Heart, and the network's eventual sale to Global Radio, while Lloyd has worked both in presenting and executive roles at stations such as LBC and Virgin.Plans for the launch of Boom Radio were announced on 23 November 2020, when Riley and Lloyd confirmed the station would launch on DAB early the following year. Named after the generation it planned to cater for, Boom Radio would initially be available in London, Birmingham, Bristol, Portsmouth and Glasgow, as well as broadcasting online, and offer a mix of music, conversation and presenter personality. Speaking about Boom Radio, Riley said, "Our own research has found radio is still the most popular medium for the Boomer generation, yet the majority feel that the industry is geared more towards younger people. We see Boom Radio filling that gap".
On 2 December 2020 the station announced a round of executive appointments to its commercial team, drawing on people with experience at large media companies such as Global and Sky. Dawn Le Men, former Head of Media Partners at Sky, was appointed as Boom's Head of Sales, while Ali Page, former Director of Client and Category Development for Global, was appointed to be Client Development Adviser. It was also announced that Don Thomson, a former Chief Operations Officer at Global, and who had also worked in roles for Yorkshire Television and Chrysalis Radio, would join the board of Boom Radio as a non-executive director.
On 11 January 2021 the station unveiled its inaugural schedule and list of presenters, with Graham Dene presenting the weekday breakfast show. Other weekday presenters would include David Hamilton, Nicky Horne and Diana Luke, while Greg Edwards would present a soul programme and Anna Raeburn would relaunch her Talk to Anna programme. Other programmes planned for Boom Radio included a show with Esther Rantzen and her daughter, Rebecca Wilcox, Still Busy Living, described as the station's own version of Desert Island Discs, and programming covering topics such as gardening and book reviews.
Later in January 2021, Travel Weekly reported that Silver Travel Advisor, a mature travel information hub, had signed an exclusive deal to provide travel content for Boom Radio. As part of this deal, it was announced that a weekly Silver Travel Show would air on Sunday evenings, as well as a monthly podcast presented by Jennie Carr, Silver Travel Advisor's creative director. Also in January, Boom Radio confirmed it had signed a deal with online dating platform provider White Label Dating to launch Boom Singles, a dating website for its target audience.
Boom Radio was officially launched at 10:00 on 14 February 2021, with Graham Dene being the first presenter to be heard on the station. The first song to be played was "All You Need is Love" by The Beatles. The station also dedicated its own poem, An Ode to Boomers, to its audience.
Expansion
Following the initial launch the station planned to expand to DAB in other parts of the UK throughout 2021. But on 11 March it was confirmed the station would launch nationally on the Sound Digital multiplex from the following day. The announcement was made on air by presenter David Hamilton and on social media with a letter to its listeners: "The response has been so strong that we've brought forward all our plans to grow. You told us you wanted us on DAB across the UK and from Friday – we will be!" The Nottingham Post subsequently reported that positive audience figures from the station's first two weeks on air, as well as feedback from listeners, had prompted Boom's investors to finance the national launch.On 19 October 2021, it was announced that David Elms, Head of Media at KPMG, had joined the board of Boom Radio as non-executive chairman.
In October 2022 Boom launched a £1m television advertising campaign featuring presenter David Hamilton.
On 21 November 2022, it was announced that Paul O'Grady would join Boom Radio to present a show on Christmas Day similar to the one he presented for BBC Radio 2. Riley later described how the presenter "rocketed our audience", giving Boom record audience numbers on the day. He was scheduled to return for a show on Easter Sunday 2023, then to join the station for a weekly show on Sunday afternoons. But on 28 March, a few days before he was due to present the show, O'Grady died suddenly aged 67. Boom described the news of his death as "absolutely shocking". Boom subsequently announced it would repeat O'Grady's Christmas 2022 show on Easter Sunday, at the time he was scheduled to be on air, and following requests by listeners for them to do so.
On 10 October 2023, it was reported that Boom Radio had been added to the DAB multiplex in the Channel Islands.
On 4 December 2023, it was announced that Chris Tarrant would present his first Christmas show for Boom Radio on Boxing Day afternoon. Other highlights over Christmas 2023 would include a musical tribute to Paul O'Grady on Christmas Day, presented by his friend Julian Clary, and a show by Angela Rippon.
On 13 April 2024, Boom Radio announced the launch of a £500,000 advertising campaign on ITV1, its first on the channel. It was also confirmed that Jo Brand had been hired to present a series of programmes in which she would interview prominent television personalities, including Michael Grade.
In December 2024, Boom launched a new jingles package, which had been devised by TM Studios. The package also included a station song, something that was popular on radio stations during the 1980s.
On 1 June 2025, and following the death of presenter John Peters the previous week, Boom played a final edition of his programme, The Vintage Chart, which he had recorded shortly before his death. The programme was preceded by a tribute from David Lloyd, who had been a friend and colleague of Peters' for many years.
On 18 September 2025, Pete Murray celebrated his 100th birthday by presenting an edition of the Boom Top Five at 11am. On 21 September, Boom aired 70 Years of ITV, a two-hour programme celebrating ITV's 70th anniversary, with Jenny Hanley and Sir Trevor McDonald.
Sister stations
Boom Light
On 3 June 2022, Boom Radio announced plans to launch a spin-off station in July. Boom Light plays music from the 1950s, standards and easy listening, and was initially available online and via smart devices, as well as on DAB in Salisbury with plans to expand its DAB output. The station was launched in response to listener requests for more 1950s music content, and is aimed at those aged 75 and over, although Boom has said it believes there is also a lot of interest in 1950s music among younger listeners. Boom Light has a playlist of 10,000 tracks, and plays music often no longer heard on mainstream radio.On 2 June 2025, Boom Light was launched on DAB+ in several major UK cities, including London, Birmingham, Cardiff, Manchester, Leeds and Edinburgh, with plans for further expansion. Pete Murray announced the switch-on at 10am. Fran Godfrey and Don Black joined the station as presenters.
Boom Rock
On 7 January 2024, Boom Radio announced that a sister station, Boom Rock, would be launched in February, playing genres including album rock, hard rock, psychedelic rock, progressive rock, folk rock, new wave and West Coast rock. The station would be available on DAB in Nottingham, as well as online. Boom Rock was launched on 14 February 2024, Boom Radio's third anniversary. Presenters on the station include Gary Burton presenting weekday mid mornings and Nicky Horne, who presents the Friday Rock Show, as well as a revival of his 1970s Capital Radio show Your Mother Wouldn't Like It on Saturday afternoons. Boom Rock's station ID also features the voice of Tommy Vance, who died in 2005, but whose voice was recreated using artificial intelligence with permission from his family.Broadcasting
Boom Radio went on air against the backdrop of the COVID-19 pandemic and opted to follow a model whereby its presenters were presenting their shows remotely from home-based studios. Riley has described this approach as "taking advantage of what's been happening in lockdown to completely rethink how you run a radio station". Kevin Hilton of the International Broadcasting Convention writes that Boom Radio is believed to be the first national UK radio station not to have a central studio building.In order to put together the technology needed to establish a radio station with this model of broadcasting, Riley and Lloyd employed the services of Quentin Howard, an executive with experience in launching in excess of 30 stations. Following research, Boom Radio chose RCS Sound Software to host its content. Some of the presenters already had home studios, but for those who did not, a package including a laptop, microphones and acoustic foam was provided to them.
Once the station's infrastructure was established, it was then possible for content to be assembled using scheduling software that enables presenters to record spoken content to correspond with scheduled tracks – known as Voice-tracking. Commercials and breaks for news and weather updates are then inserted by an automated system as the shows are broadcast. A live two-minute news bulletin from IRN is broadcast on the hour, followed by a national weather forecast from Radio News Hub. Although Boom Radio's content is automated in this way, many of the presenters record their spoken content shortly before it is aired to enable them to respond to real-time information, such as listener requests, and to provide reviews of the day's newspaper headlines.