UK

The BBC is the exclusive partner of Glastonbury and has released its plans for coverage of the festival which includes a six-week build up.

It will run from Monday 3rd June – Sunday 14th July across TV, BBC iPlayer, radio and BBC Sounds.
Highlights of the radio coverage include, BBC Radio 6 Music extending its celebrations for an extra day this year, hosting All Day Glastonbury from Wednesday 26th June – Monday 1st July.
The station air over 54 hours of live shows from Glastonbury with presenters broadcasting from the event.
On Radio 1 and Radio 1 Dance from 6pm on Thursday 27th June, Arielle Free, Danny Howard and Sarah Story will be live from Worthy Farm, building up to the BBC Radio 1 Dance Takeover on the BBC Music Introducing Stage, which will be simulcast live on the stations until 11pm.
The following evening, Arielle, Danny and Sarah are back on Radio 1 and Radio 1 Dance from 6pm, building up to the first Pyramid Stage headliner of the weekend, Dua Lipa, whose set will be broadcast on Radio 1 in a show presented live by Katie Thistleton.
DJ Target’s BBC Radio 1Xtra Takeover on Saturday will be aired on the station from 7-9pm and from 9pm on Sunday evening Radio 1 and 1Xtra will simulcast SZA’s Pyramid Stage set as part of a show presented by Nadia Jae, Chuckie and Melvin Odoom.
Zoe Ball takes her Radio 2 Breakfast Show to Glastonbury on Friday 28th June from 7-10am, with some special guests and live music from artists who will be performing over the coming days.
Dermot O’Leary chats to big name guest on the Saturday (3-6pm), before the station broadcasts Coldplay’s Pyramid Stage set that evening as part of a show presented by OJ Borg from 8pm.
On the Sunday from 5-8pm, Jo Whiley will preview and present Shania’s debut Glastonbury performance on the Pyramid Stage.
Radio 4’s Woman’s Hour will return to Glastonbury on Friday 28th June 10-11am, with Anita Rani presenting special guests, live music and exploring the women behind the event – including at the new Arrivals stage in Shangri-La – Glastonbury’s first dedicated South Asian space.
Lorna Clarke, BBC Director of Music says: “The BBC’s coverage of Glastonbury is one of the biggest jewels in the BBC’s pop crown and we’re evolving our programming to bring audiences many ways to enjoy the festival across our platforms – it’s their Glastonbury on the BBC.
“This year will see the debut of Glastonbury Channel II, a welcome addition to our multiple BBC iPlayer streams, giving viewers a rolling round-up of the key moments from each day.
“We’re also proud that for the second year, Pyramid Stage – Signed returns, with performances from Glastonbury’s most iconic stage in British Sign Language, bringing the Glastonbury experience closer to all viewers.
“This is in addition to over 90 hours of live performances from the five main stages on BBC iPlayer, extensive coverage on TV, 90 hours of radio broadcasts live from the festival, plus much more to discover on BBC Sounds – including Sidetracked by Glastonbury, presented by Annie Macmanus and Nick Grimshaw, which will also be available on BBC iPlayer from the first week of June.
“I would like to thank Emily and Michael Eavis once again for allowing us this exclusive access to Glastonbury, as only the BBC can bring the nation together to enjoy their unique festival.”
Emily Eavis says: “We’re incredibly proud of our ongoing partnership with the BBC and always look forward to hearing about the exciting developments in their coverage each year.
“I’d like to thank Lorna Clarke, Alison Howe and their team for celebrating our festival so brilliantly and for sharing the special spirit of Glastonbury with an audience far beyond these fields. We’re so looking forward to welcoming them back to Worthy Farm in June.”
Find out more about the BBC’s coverage of Glastonbury here. […]

Bauer Media Audio UK has appointed Gary Stein into the newly created role of Director of Audio with immediate effect.

Gary previously held the role of Group Programme Director of the Hits Radio and Greatest Hits Radio networks.
In his new position, Gary will sit on the UK Executive board and reports into CEO Simon Myciunka. As the strategic and creative lead for all content for all of Bauer audio services in the UK, his focus will primarily be on shaping and implementing the content strategy, which includes overseeing the Content Directors and teams across Bauer’s stations.
Simon Myciunka, CEO for Bauer Media Audio UK said: “Gary’s vision and leadership has helped us build two of the most exciting new audio brands in the UK with Hits Radio and Greatest Hits Radio, and through this well-deserved promotion, I look forward to seeing him steer our ambitious UK teams in creating more stand-out moments that our audiences can enjoy both on-air and on-demand.”
Gary Stein said: “I’m absolutely delighted to take on the role of Director of Audio at such an exciting time for Bauer Media Audio UK. Our strong, well-loved audio brands entertain millions of listeners each week, with our creativity and collaboration driving innovation in the audio space.
“Evolving our products and platforms to attract new audiences and enable new ways of listening remains at the forefront of our ambition. I’m looking forward to working with our brilliant programming teams and industry partners to unlock greater opportunities for our brands.”
In addition to Gary’s promotion, Bauer’s UK Chief of Staff Peter Davies will become Chief Operating Officer, managing areas of the business including production and properties, as well as oversight of the engineering teams.
Meanwhile Alice Douglas has been promoted to General Counsel for the UK Audio business from her role as Associate General Counsel. Both roles sit alongside Gary and Simon on the UK Executive board.
Simon Myciunka added: “It’s fantastic to welcome Alice to our senior Leadership team and also appoint Peter into his new role as Chief Operating Officer. Both offer extensive expertise and experience and contribute a great deal as we focus on enriching everyday lives.” […]

Exclusive production and ad sales rights to the political podcast The Trawl have been acquired by Global.

The deal will see the podcast produced by Global’s in-house production team and it will be available to Global’s advertising partners for host read and spot ad opportunities. It will also be added to Global’s digital ad exchange, DAX.
Hosted by political commentator Marina Purkiss, and broadcaster and writer Jemma Forte, each week they scroll through social media to find entertaining, and often damning political discussions.
Previous guests discussing the political stories include Carol Vorderman, comedian Jen Brister, and Green Peer Jenny Jones.
Marina and Jemma said: “We’re very proud of what we’ve achieved so far with The Trawl but it’s definitely time to take it out of our bedrooms and into the state-of-the-art studios at Global.
“We both listen to LBC all the time and love The News Agents podcast so becoming part of the Global network feels like a perfect fit.
“With the weight of Global behind us, we are hoping their experienced sales house will take the pod to the next level, find more ears for us to beam into and continue to grow our audience.”
Vicky Etchells, Global’s Head of News and Factual podcasts added: “I’m delighted to be welcoming The Trawl to Global. This year will see more elections than any other year in history as around half the world goes to the polls, so it’s the perfect time to expand our news podcast portfolio.
“Hosts Marina Purkiss and Jemma Forte have a unique style that combines expert analysis with witty, relatable humour and with so many political podcasts led by all-male line-ups, I’m looking forward to working with two incredibly impressive women.
“Their entertaining and candid conversations have built up a loyal audience and the podcast will sit seamlessly alongside our slate of hit news podcasts which includes The News Agents with Emily Maitlis, Jon Sopel and Lewis Goodall, Full Disclosure with James O’Brien, and Rachel Johnson’s Difficult Women.”
The Trawl was launched in July 2022 and was previously produced and represented by Goalhanger. […]

Former sports reporter, commentator and journalist Neil Roy has passed away at the age of 80.

Neil’s was best-known for his time as editor of The Bedfordshire Times, he also worked at Chiltern Radio and BBC Three Counties Radio.
He spent more than 30 years covering the Bedford Blues rugby club, and as a former Keeper of the Records, was a part of the production of the club’s history books. He was Editor of 100 Years of the Blues released in 1986 and 125 Years of the Blues released in 2011.
In the early days of his broadcasting career, Neil was involved with Bedford hospital radio and helped many younger local and national journalists across the years.
An obituary on the Bedford Blues website described Neil as: “A true Bedfordian who will be sadly missed.”
It added that the club’s flag will fly at half-mast this week in his memory. […]

Ofcom is reminding stations about their obligations to ensure their content complies with the Broadcasting Code for the upcoming General Election.

The regulator wants broadcasters to make sure they and their staff are aware of the due impartiality, due accuracy and special election rules.
It adds that it will consider breaches of Sections Five and Six in election programming as serious resulting in financial penalty or even revocation of a licence in the most serious cases.
These rules are designed to safeguard the integrity of democratic debate, recognising the important role that the broadcast media play in ensuring that audiences are able to access news and current affairs they can trust.
Rules around election programming include not having candidates as presenters, and for all and any election coverage to comply with the highest standards of due impartiality.
You can see the full details of this note here. […]

Iain Dale has hosted his last radio show on LBC for the time being to put himself forward to be selected as a candidate for MP in the General Election on 4th July.
Talking live on air this evening, Iain Dale told his listeners: “You know how much politics means to me. And if you’ve listened for any length of time, you know I’ve always had two ambitions in life.
“One was to be a radio presenter and the other was to be an MP. Last time I tried, the electorate fought back. But now I am putting my hat in the ring again to be a candidate at the General Election.
“Whatever the result, I feel I can play a role in restoring trust and honesty in politics. There are no guarantees I’ll even be selected, let alone elected, but I know that I would forever kick myself if I didn’t at least have a go.
“Even if you don’t share my politics, I hope at least, that is something you can respect. I want to thank everyone at LBC and at Global for their support, friendship and love and for their understanding, especially to all my producers over the years.”

Iain Dale bids us farewell after 14 years as he announces he’ll be standing to be an MP
“Now I am putting my hat in the ring again… Whatever the result I feel I can play a role in restoring trust and honesty in politics. I would forever kick myself if I didn’t have a go.”… pic.twitter.com/7xceTzWpEs
— Natasha Clark (@NatashaC) May 28, 2024

Iain joined LBC in 2010 and has presented four LBC General Election Night shows, two American Presidential Election shows, the station’s Scottish and Brexit referendum night shows, as well as the station’s evening show.
Tom Cheal, LBC’s Senior Managing Editor, told RadioToday: “Iain Dale is a world-class broadcaster, and has been hugely important in helping to make LBC the political powerhouse it is today. I’m sure this isn’t the last we’ve heard of Iain on LBC.
“We understand his decision and thank him for his massive contribution to the station.”
Broadcast rules mean candidates in the General Election aren’t allowed to present radio shows and LBC tells RadioToday it will announce its evening programming plans for the election period shortly.

An emotional farewell from @IainDale as he announces on air that he is leaving LBC, for now, to stand for a seat in the General Election.
Great fun to have around and a master at what you do – best of luck, Iain.
⬇️ pic.twitter.com/cLbKVppmwD
— Fraser Knight (@Fraser_Knight) May 28, 2024 […]