1976 in British radio

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This is a list of events in British radio during 1976.

Events[]

January to February[]

• No events.

March[]

• 8 March – Radio 210 begins broadcasting to the Reading area.^[1]
• 16 March – Independent Local Radio begins in Northern Ireland when Downtown Radio, begins broadcasting to the Belfast area.^[1]
• 29 March – Former BBC Radio Birmingham presenter Les Ross joins the lineup at Birmingham station BRMB.^[2]

April[]

• 12 April – Beacon Radio in the Wolverhampton area is the final station in the first wave of Independent Local Radio stations to begin transmission.^[1]

May[]

• 2 May – BBC Radio 1 launches Playground – a "magazine programme of special interest to young listeners." The new programme incorporates Young Ideas in Action which has previously been broadcast as part of Junior Choice.
• 17 May – begins broadcasting programming in Gaelic.^[3]

June to November[]

• No events.

December[]

• Capital London launches the 'Capital Radio Helpline'.
• The first Festive Fifty is revealed by John Peel on BBC Radio 1.

Unknown[]

• Capital London launches the 'Flying Eye', a traffic spotting light aircraft, which reports on traffic congestion on the streets of Central London.
• BBC Radio Leicester, responding to the growth of the size of the South Asian population and rising racial tension in Leicester, introduces a daily community show called 'Six Fifteen' aimed primarily at that community in the city. ^[4]

Station debuts[]

• 8 March – Radio 210
• 16 March – Downtown Radio
• 12 April – Beacon Radio

Programme debuts[]

• 4 January – Quote... Unquote on BBC Radio 4 (1976– )
• 27 August – The Burkiss Way on BBC Radio 4 (1976–1980)
• 30 September – The Food Programme on BBC Radio 4 (1976– )
• Funny You Should Ask on BBC Radio 2 (1976–1982)
• Poetry Please on BBC Radio 4 (1976– )

Continuing radio programmes[]

1940s[]

• Sunday Half Hour (1940–2018)
• Desert Island Discs (1942–Present)
• Down Your Way (1946–1992)
• Letter from America (1946–2004)
• Woman's Hour (1946–Present)
• A Book at Bedtime (1949–Present)

1950s[]

• The Archers (1950–Present)
• The Today Programme (1957–Present)
• The Navy Lark (1959–1977)
• Sing Something Simple (1959–2001)
• Your Hundred Best Tunes (1959–2007)

1960s[]

• Farming Today (1960–Present)
• In Touch (1961–Present)
• The Men from the Ministry (1962–1977)
• Petticoat Line (1965–1979)
• The World at One (1965–Present)
• The Official Chart (1967–Present)
• Just a Minute (1967–Present)
• The Living World (1968–Present)
• The Organist Entertains (1969–2018)

1970s[]

• PM (1970–Present)
• Start the Week (1970–Present)
• Week Ending (1970–1998)
• You and Yours (1970–Present)
• I'm Sorry I Haven't a Clue (1972–Present)
• Good Morning Scotland (1973–Present)
• Hello Cheeky (1973–1979)
• Kaleidoscope (1973–1998)
• Newsbeat (1973–Present)
• The News Huddlines (1975–2001)

Ending this year[]

• 21 January – Petticoat Line (1965–1976)

Births[]

• 21 January – Emma Bunton, pop singer and broadcast presenter
• February – Tom Sandars, radio continuity announcer and newsreader
• 23 March – Ed James, disc jockey
• 24 June – Zeb Soanes, radio newsreader, continuity announcer and children's author
• 8 August – Laura Kuenssberg, political journalist
• 9 August – Aled Haydn Jones, Welsh radio presenter and producer
• 16 November – Danny Wallace, filmmaker, comedian, writer, actor and broadcast presenter and producer
• 20 November – Debbie Barham, comedy scriptwriter (died 2003)
• 15 December – Chris Warburton, radio presenter

Deaths[]

• 15 May – David Munrow, early music performer and presenter (Pied Piper on BBC Radio 3), suicide (born 1942)

See also[]

• 1976 in British music
• 1976 in British television
• 1976 in the United Kingdom
• List of British films of 1976

References[]