The Official Big Top 40
![]() The UK's Biggest Chart Show | |
Genre | Top 40 |
---|---|
Running time | 180 minutes (4:00 pm–7:00 pm) |
Country of origin | United Kingdom |
Language(s) | English |
Home station | Global's London studios |
Syndicates | |
Hosted by | Will Manning |
Produced by | Paul Phelps |
Original release | 6 January 2019 | – present
Website | www![]() |
The Official Big Top 40 is a radio chart show broadcast every Sunday from 4-7pm on Global's Capital and Heart networks, presented by Will Manning.
The show replaced The Network Chart Show, which started in September 1984 and had been broadcast on 140 commercial radio stations in the UK.[1]
Format[]
The Official Big Top 40 begins with a recap of the previous week's Top 5 songs, followed by a countdown of the 40 biggest songs from the last seven days. A recap is broadcast after every ten songs, apart from the top 10 which they recap after every 9 songs. Interviews with the artists making that particular week's chart, competitions, calls with listeners and advertisements make up the remaining airtime. The Number 1 song is announced just before 7pm.
The chart is compiled based on iTunes downloads, Apple Music streaming, and radio airplay from the stations that broadcast the show.[2] It is the only UK chart which includes radio airplay, much like the Billboard Hot 100 in the US. The algorithm differs to that of the Official Singles Chart, which includes physical sales, as well as downloads and streaming from all sources–but does not take radio airplay into account.
Will Manning is the programme's current host. He started on the show in January 2019.[3] The show is produced by Paul Phelps and broadcast from Global's studios in Leicester Square, London.
The whole top 40 chart gets published on Big Top 40.com after the show for fans to read.
History[]
The show began on 30 September 1984 as The Network Chart Show. It was originally presented by David Jensen (known then as 'Kid Jensen') and was unique in that it was a cross-industry show, broadcast on competing commercial radio stations across the UK.
The Network Chart Show aired on Sundays from 5-7pm, as competition to BBC Radio 1's own Top 40 chart show. In October 1990, the show was extended to start at 4pm and the chart expanded from a Top 30 to a Top 40 countdown.
The show became hit40uk on 5 January 2003 with Fox initially remaining as the host..
It was relaunched as The Big Top 40 Show on 14 June 2009. Between 2010 and 2018, the programme was sponsored by Vodafone, becoming The Vodafone Freebees Big Top 40 (later The Vodafone Big Top 40 and The Official Vodafone Big Top 40. For the first time, listeners could change the chart during the show by downloading tracks on iTunes.[4] Songs 40 to 11 were played before the new Top 10 was finalised at 6:10pm, with iTunes sales from during the show taken into account. This made it the first real-time chart show broadcast on UK radio.
In September 2018, Bauer announced that their Hits Radio Network would stop carrying the show after the expiration of its contract at the end of 2018. Global, which produced the show, made the decision to withdraw the programme from syndication to the wider commercial radio network. The final show across the commercial radio network aired on 30 December 2018.
Presenters[]
- Current presenter: Will Manning (2019–present)
- Cover presenter: Dev Griffin (2021-present)
Previous presenters
- Marvin Humes (2014-2018)
- Kat Shoob (2009-2018)
- Rich Clarke (2009-2013)
- Matt Wilkinson (cover, 2009-2018)
- Greg Burns (cover, 2014-2016)
- James Bassam (cover, 2017-2019)
- Sian Welby (cover, 2019)
Previous producers
- Richard Steel
- Greg Hughes
- Paddy Bunce
Radio stations[]
List of radio stations that broadcast The Official Big Top 40.
Records and statistics[]
The current song at Number 1 is "Merry Christmas” by Ed Sheeran & Elton John.
The song holding the record for most weeks at Number 1 is "Despacito (Remix)" by Luis Fonsi, Daddy Yankee and Justin Bieber with 11 non-consecutive weeks.[5]
The song that has spent the most consecutive weeks at Number 1 is "These Days" by Rudimental, Jess Glynne, Macklemore and Dan Caplen with nine consecutive weeks (4 February - 1 April 2018).[6]
The song that has spent most weeks inside the Big Top 40 is Blinding Lights by The Weeknd (99 non-consecutive weeks) and Dance Monkey by Tones and I (65 non-consecutive weeks)
The artist with the most Number 1 songs is Ed Sheeran with 11 singles to date.[7]
The group with the most Number 1 songs is Little Mix with 8 songs to date. [8]
References[]
- ^ "Marvin Humes and Kat Shoob are stepping down from hosting the Big Top 40 chart show at Global". Radio Today. 14 December 2018. Retrieved 13 May 2020.
- ^ "Frequently Asked Questions". Big Top 40. Global. 14 May 2021.
- ^ "Will Manning announced as new host of The Official Big Top 40". The Official Big Top 40. Global. 20 December 2018. Retrieved 13 May 2020.
- ^ Barnett, Emma (22 May 2009). "The 'Top 10' singles go real time in iTunes deal". The Daily Telegraph. London. Archived from the original on 25 May 2009.
- ^ http://www.bigtop40.com/list/longest-reigning-number-1/
- ^ http://www.bigtop40.com/chart/archive/2018/
- ^ "Most Number 1 Songs: Who's had the most Number 1's in the UK charts?". The Official Big Top 40. Global. Retrieved 19 July 2019.
- ^ "Little Mix have broken the record for the group with the most Number 1s on The Official Big Top 40". The Official Big Top 40. Retrieved 27 March 2021.
External links[]
- British music radio programmes
- British record charts
- Music chart shows
- Capital (radio network)
- Vodafone