UK

Heart has become the exclusive radio partner for Manchester Pride and Leeds Pride, in addition to London and Brighton and Hove.

The station has also launched a brand-new Heart Pride Playlist via Global Player.
Heart presenters will be joining the Pride in London parade aboard the Heart Truck once again this year as the station returns as national radio partner. The Global network, pride@global, made up of LGBTQ+ staff and allies will also be marching at the event playing their Heart Pride Playlist.
In Brighton & Hove Pride, Heart South’s Rich Clarke will be at the event live intro-ing artists on stage.
The world-famous Manchester Pride Parade returns to Manchester Pride Festival and the station says this year it is ‘Buzzin’ to be Queer’! Heart presenters will be joining the Manchester Pride parade aboard the Heart Truck once again this year as theGlobal network, pride@global, will be marching at the event playing their Heart Pride Playlist on Saturday 24th August 2024.
Manchester Pride continues with the Gay Village Party taking place from Friday 23rd August to Monday 26th August 2024.
In Yorkshire, the Leeds Pride parade starts at Millennium Square and then winds its way down to Lower Briggate by the Calls, and includes a DJ set from Heart Yorkshire’s Dixie. […]

Gaydio and Warner Music Group have partnered to launch a special project for Pride in London 2024.

Together they’ll bring to life a Pride float titled Sounds Like Pride; a slogan they say encapsulates the spirit and freedom of Pride itself.
The Sounds Like Pride float will house an array of artists, songwriters, producers, DJs, and radio presenters, like Atlantic Records’ all-new pop group, Say Now, and Warner Chappell Music UK’s Blythe and Lozeak.
Kriss Herbert, Network Content Director, Gaydio says: “Gaydio and Warner Music Group both bring the Sound of Pride to people’s lives so it’s only right that we team up to do the same for the streets of London during the iconic Pride in London Parade.
“We can’t wait to march with Pride through the city, celebrating love and inclusivity at one of the biggest events in the queer calendar.”
Marcia Fray, Head of DEI, EMEA, Warner Music Group says: “We’re so excited to partner with Gaydio this Pride, and I hope the LGBTQIA+ community and its allies know that we stand with them in solidarity. We’re actively taking steps to ensure everybody is valued for who they are and we recognise within the community there are individuals that experience additional challenges due to intersectionalities.
“It’s vital we all do what we can to support our communities, artists and songwriters so they can create authentic music that’s true to their identity and appeals to a diverse audience.” […]

Three Bauer radio brands will be live from the Isle of Wight Festival at Seaclose Park this weekend.

Absolute Radio, Greatest Hits Radio and Hits Radio will be bringing live performances, interviews and other highlights from the festival, along with special documentaries.
Absolute leads the comprehensive coverage, kicking off this Thursday night with a Pet Shop Boys documentary hosted by Matt Lucas. ‘Pet Shop Boys – A Celebration’ will air on Absolute Radio at 9pm, ahead of the weekend, with the chance to listen again on Greatest Hits Radio on Sunday afternoon at 4pm.
Absolute Radio’s Ben Burrell and Sarah Champion will be broadcasting live backstage with shows on Friday from 7pm, Saturday from 6pm and Sunday from 5pm.
Both Absolute Radio and Hits Radio have been offering listeners a chance to win tickets to the festival in the run-up to the event.
In addition to the Pet Shop Boys documentary this Sunday, Greatest Hits Radio South Coast’s Rick Jackson joins Richard Allinson and Kate Thornton on their Saturday shows (from 10am and 1pm) and Rick will be with Richard again the Sunday with even more festival news from 10am.
And for those who miss out at the weekend – or want to relive festival highlights once again – Jackie Brambles will be sharing all the best bits on her Greatest Hits Radio show the week after (Monday – Thursday from 7pm).
Gary Stein, Director of Audio for Bauer Media Audio UK said: “The Isle of Wight Festival is one of the year’s most anticipated live music events, and we are thrilled to immerse our listeners in the experience, whether it be winning their way into the event or making them feel like they are there, as we bring their favourite artists to their radio, smart speaker and phone.” […]

Specsavers has won the Grand Prix for Audio & Radio at Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity.
They won it for their campaign “The Misheard Version”, marking the first ever UK Grand Prix for radio.  
The campaign, masterminded by Golin London, also took home one gold and two silvers after being shortlisted for 13 Cannes Lions across audio, health & wellness, PR and social influencer. 
Running across commercial radio, the campaign’s 60 second radio spot featured a re-recording of Rick Astley’s ‘Never Gonna Give You Up’ with lyrics altered to reflect common mishearings. It seemingly played as if part of the normal music airplay but it was the Specsavers Misheard version re-recorded by Rick which included misheard lyrics such as ‘Never gonna run around with dessert spoons’ and ‘you wouldn’t catch nits from any other guy’.
Commenting on the news, Client Director at Radiocentre, Lucy Barrett said: “With humour at its heart, Specsavers always set a high bar in its radio advertising. But since it started promoting its hearing teats, the brand has really embraced all radio has to offer making the most of sound. This ad, which uses a classic radio 80s hit, deserves its recognition at the Cannes Lions. Congratulations to Alex Wood and the team at Golin London and Specsavers, we are very proud to have a UK Grand Prix for radio.”
The UK put in a strong performance overall and also picked up three silver awards for Baileys’ “Sound scales”, by VML in London and New York; Pot Noodle’s “Sorry for slurping” by Adam & Eve/DDB; and another trophy for Specsavers’ “The misheard version”.
More details of all the winners can be found here.
Hear from Specsavers’ Claire Bryant talking with System1’s Orlando Wood at Radiocentre’s Tuning In event about how the brand uses radio and audio on Radiocentre’s YouTube channel. […]

An Election 2024 pop up stream on BBC Sounds has appeared bringing together all of the BBC’s journalism in one place for the first time.

The temporary stream offers uninterrupted coverage of live news and current affairs ahead of the UK’s general election, covering all the breaking stories as they unfold.
Election 2024 brings together BBC journalism across TV and Radio in one place for the first time, featuring programmes such as Newscast, Today, Question Time, Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg and more.
Jonathan Wall, Director, BBC Sounds said: “We have created an easy to find, easy to access one stop shop for rolling election coverage from the BBC and the top on demand shows including Newscast and The Today Programme.
“It’s powered by the best of BBC News, Radio 4 and 5 live, and all just at the press of a button or an ask of your Smart speaker.”
Naja Nielsen, Digital Director, BBC News said: “BBC News’ top priority in the general election is to be an essential, impartial service for voters, allowing them to follow developments and access the information they need to make up their minds.
“I am delighted we are able to launch this innovative Election 2024 pop-up stream for audiences, now on BBC Sounds as well as BBC iPlayer.”
The Election 2024 collection runs from June 17th to July 8th and listeners can find the stream in the live dial at the top of the Sounds homepage (between 5 Sports Extra and 6Music). […]

Tim Smith is joining Jazz FM to present the station’s Summer Book Club.

The feature returns on June 22nd, and Tim comes from BBC Radio 2 where he was co-host of the Book Club on Steve Wright in the Afternoon, although he has more recently been presenting shows at Jazz.
Across the Summer, every Saturday from 9am, there’ll be interviews with a fiction and non-fiction author, plus, each week a different writer will share their essential jazz favourite to round off the show.
Of fronting the 10-week series Tim Smith said “I’m delighted to be hosting the Jazz FM Summer Book Club. I’m an avid reader, especially of contemporary literature, so I’m excited to be focusing on that and hearing from a wide variety of authors.
“Hopefully I’ll be able to provide some great suggestions for both the listeners and my own summer reading lists! It’s a sad moment to be taking over from Jamie under such sad circumstances, but hopefully I can do him proud.”
Jazz FM and Scala Radio Content Director Nick Pitts added: “It’s great to be able to bring back Jazz FM’s Summer Book Club, and with someone like Tim in charge.
“Through his time on the Radio 2 Book Club with the legendary Steve Wright he spoke to many of the authors of today gaining an insight into what appeals to those who love a good book.
“We know that as the Jazz FM listening audience go off on their summer holidays, not only do they take Jazz FM with them, but they also take a couple of good books and I’m hoping that we will be able to influence their reading list.” […]