Format: Top 40

Broadcast From: London, England

First Aired: 1967

Official Site: BBC Radio 1 Homepage

Listen: Live Stream

History: BBC Radio 1 is a British radio station operated by the BBC, specialising in popular music aimed at the 16-24 age bracket. Radio 1 was launched at 7 a.m. on September 30, 1967 as a direct response to the popularity of offshore pirate radio stations such as Radio Caroline, which had been outlawed by Act of Parliament.

The first DJ to broadcast on the new station was Tony Blackburn, whose cheery style, first heard on Radios Caroline and London, won him the prime slot on what became known as the "Radio 1 Breakfast Show" (although its original formal title, as shown in the Radio Times was Daily Disc Delivery, while Blackburn himself referred to it eponymously as the Tony Blackburn Show). The first words spoken on Radio 1 - after a "countdown" by the Controller of Radios 1 and 2, Robin Scott, and a jingle, recorded at PAMS in Dallas, Texas, beginning "The voice of Radio 1" - were "... And, good morning everyone. Welcome to the exciting new sound of Radio 1". The first record played on Radio 1 was Flowers in the Rain by The Move. There has been some speculation that this was intended to signal the end of the "flower power" "Summer of Love" of 1967. The breakfast programme remains the most prized slot in the Radio 1 schedules, with every change of presenter exciting considerable media interest.

The initial rota of staff included the legendary John Peel (who remained with the station until his death in October 2004) and a gaggle of others, some hired from pirates, such as Ed Stewart, Terry Wogan, Jimmy Young, Dave Cash, Kenny Everett, Simon Dee, Pete Murray, and Bob Holness.

There were major changes to the station in the mid-1990s by the then controller, Matthew Bannister. His aim was to rid the station of its 'Smashie and Nicey' image and make it appeal to the under 25s. Although originally launched as a youth station, by the early 1990s, its loyal listeners (and DJs) had aged with the station over its 25 year history. Bannister removed many of the older DJs and banned old music (typically anything recorded before 1990) from the daytime playlist. Listeners rebelled as the first new DJs to be introduced represented a crossover from other parts of the BBC (notably Bannister and Trevor Dann's former colleagues at the BBC's London station, GLR) with Emma Freud and Danny Baker. Bannister promoted Chris Evans to the prime morning slot. Evans was a popular but controversial presenter who was eventually sacked in 1997 after he demanded to present the breakfast show for only four days per week. Evans was replaced by Mark and Lard - Mark Radcliffe (along with his sidekick Marc Riley), who found the slick, mass-audience style required for a breakfast show didn't come naturally to them. They were in turn replaced by Zoe Ball and Kevin Greening just 6 months later in October 1997, with Greening eventually moving on and leaving Ball as a solo presenter. The re-invention of the station happened at a fortuitous time, with the rise of Britpop in the early 90s - bands like Oasis, Blur and Pulp were both popular and 'credible' at the time and the station's popularity rose with them. As the 90s went on the Britpop boom declined and manufactured chart pop (boy bands and acts aimed at sub-teenagers) came to dominate the charts Radio 1 found itself again in the position it had been in the late 80s, where bland playlisted chart music dominated the daytime shows and new genre music (through most of the late 90s, indie on weekdays and dance at weekends) occupied the evenings with a mix of specialist shows and playlist filler through late nights. The Rise of Rave culture through the late '80s and early '90s gave 1 FM the opportunity to move into a controversial and completely youth orientated movement by bringing in a Rave DJ, Pete Tong. This quickly gave birth to the Essential Mix where underground DJs mix and scratch rave orientated music for two hours.

Listening figures continued to decline but the station succeeded in its aim of targeting a younger age group. Eventually, this change in content was reflected by a rise in audience that is continuing to the day. Notably, the station has received praise for shows such as The Sunday Surgery, Bobby Friction and Nihal, The Evening Session with Steve Lamacq and its successor Zane Lowe. Its website has also been well received.

However, the station's two showcase shows, the breakfast show and the UK Top 40 continued to struggle. In 2000, Zoe Ball was replaced in the mornings by friend and fellow ladette Sara Cox, but despite heavy promotion listening figures for the iconic breakfast show continued to fall. In 2004 Cox was replaced by Chris Moyles. The new rebranded breakfast show is known as The Chris Moyles Show and has dramatically increased its audience to challenge Today programme on Radio 4 as the second most popular breakfast show (after Terry Wogan). The chart show has struggled as single sales in the UK fell and Wes Butters unsuccessfully replaced long-time host Mark Goodier. JK and Joel are the current hosts, and the show is the second most listened to chart in the country - after networked commercial radio's hit40uk.