UK

Nick Grimshaw is returning to national BBC radio breakfast on a permanent basis as he takes over from Lauren Laverne on the 6 Music Breakfast Show.
Lauren has decided to step down after six years of presenting the programme, with the former Radio 1 breakfast show host set to start in February.
On the show this morning, which Nick has been covering since August 2024, Lauren also announced that she would be returning to mid-mornings, presenting a new weekday programme, which will feature Lauren’s regular features including Desert Island Disco and People’s Playlist, as well as live sessions.
Lauren has been off-air to have treatment for cancer, and was given the “all clear” in November.
Mary Anne Hobbs will be taking a sabbatical and will return to 6 Music later in the spring with a new show.
Nick and Lauren’s new programmes will begin in February. Nemone will present the Breakfast Show in the interim, from Monday 13th January.
Lauren says: “As listeners will know, I had a really tough 2024 and worried at times that I wouldn’t be able to return to the station I love so much. It has been a huge honour (and so much fun) to host the Breakfast Show for six wonderful years, but it is time to pass the baton on, and to set my alarm a little later. During my recovery I learned all over again about the power of music, the people you surround yourself with and the emotional support and joy radio can provide. I’m so grateful to be able to get back to doing what I love and sharing those things with our brilliant listeners every day.”
Samantha Moy, Head of BBC Radio 6 Music says: “It really is wonderful news that Lauren is feeling better and is ready to return to 6 Music. Like our listeners, we have missed her enormously and we can’t wait to have her back on air.”Nick says: “I’ve had the greatest four months covering for Lauren and I can’t wait to continue waking you up on 6 Music. I want to say thank you to the listeners who’ve made me feel so welcome over the past few months and to Lauren’s fantastic team who have been imperative in making me so happy on air. 6 Music is a precious place, a station I love, I’m honestly honoured to be asked to work there and can’t wait to continue supplying the best new music from the world’s most interesting artists.”
Samantha Moy says: “Since the summertime, Nick has hosted our Breakfast show and it’s been clear how much our listeners have taken him into their homes and hearts. He is one of the finest broadcasters of his generation and we are thrilled that he is going to become the brand new presenter of the 6 Music Breakfast show.”

Mary Anne says: “My agenda has been to change daytime radio at 6 Music. It was David Bowie who taught me that creative life is progression. Once the work is complete… stand at the edge of everything you know and ask a different question.
“I’d like to thank every artist whose music and ideas have illuminated the show. I’d like to thank my production team, my Queens, Jax Coombes and Zoe Mullord. And of course, I want to send boundless love to my listeners, my family, thank you for sharing your invaluable time with me, it’s been a joy and a privilege to live with you. My daytime show will end in February, and I’ll return to 6 Music later this spring with something new… come with me.”

Samantha Moy says: “Mary Anne is the very best of us at 6 Music. As well as a DJ, she is a lover of art, the seeker of unheard sounds, fierce advocate, generous mentor and true friend. Mary Anne is a sheer force of nature, compelled to share her passion for music – in all of its forms – with the world. At 6 Music we are richer for it and we look forward to our wild horse’s return later this year.”

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TuneIn has removed a number of radio stations from its platform once again due to music licence reconciliation issues.

Community radio groups UKCRN and CMA are in talks with the website to try and fix the situation as soon as possible.
TuneIn is only allowed to list radio stations it can prove has the relevant licences from PRS, PPL etc, and regularly suspends stations which are not on the list provided by the royalty collection agencies.
It’s following a court ruling in 2022, where the obligation to confirm the licensing status of individual stations now falls on TuneIn.
However, sometimes the radio station name and the name on the licence are not the same, leading to confusion.
Some stations, such as speech stations who don’t require a licence, or those that play licence-free music or audio, have also been suspended.
Martin Steers from UK Community Radio Network, who also runs community station NLive Radio, tells us: “It’s impacted at least a dozen stations that we’re aware of, first brought to my attention because it impacted NLive Radio.
“We have a good relationship with TuneIn and are working with them to resolve the issue.”
Any station having problems are urged to contact UKCRN for help via hello@ukcrn.radio with some details such as station name, TuneIn ID, and the name on your PPL licence.
We’ve contacted TuneIn for a comment but had no reply at the time of publication.

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Frisk Radio’s breakfast presenters Andy and Steph broadcast their show via mobile phones after a power cut.

On Tuesday morning, just as the team were preparing to go on air from their home studio in Houghton-Le-Spring, a sudden power cut disrupted their plans.
They switched to their smartphones and continued the broadcast on battery power alone, relying on Vudio, the station’s cloud-based automation system.
Using Andy’s iPhone, the presenters voice-tracked their segments while fielding messages from listeners through the station’s app. With studio computersoffline, pen and paper replaced digital notes, and LED lights illuminated the workspace.
Station Director Stuart Landreth praised the team’s resilience and the system that made it all possible: “Vudio performed exactly as we intended, with the ability to work seamlessly with any recording device, no matter how primitive.
“By using sophisticated server-side audio processing, we were able to achieve a great quality sound from the built-in microphone of Andy’s personal iPhone.”
Developed by Frisk Radio’s in-house technical team, Vudio offers playout, voice-tracking and station management for broadcasters in a fully modular package. It is set to enter beta testing with other stations and operators in April 2025, offering cloud-based radio automation.

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Aiir has added support for Bluesky to Studio Inbox, its listener interaction dashboard product.

Customers can now see replies to their posts or mentions of their handle on Bluesky, as well as reply, follow, like and repost.
Bluesky sits alongside other content like WhatsApp, Instagram, Facebook, SMS, email, website form submissions and RSS feeds.
Studio Inbox brings all of these messages together in one screen and allows users to post content directly to Bluesky, such as news articles, from Aiir’s Social Publisher tool.
Gav Richards, Aiir CTO: “Bluesky has rapidly gained popularity in recent months, with millions of new users joining as an alternative to X (formerly Twitter).
“Our customers have requested the addition of Bluesky to Studio Inbox and we’re delighted to announce we’re launching this today.”
Studio Inbox is available in the USA on barter by Premiere Networks, with cash deals available in UK, Canada, and the rest of the world.

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Daniel Middleton – aka DanTDM on YouTube – is joining Classic FM to front a new video game music series.

Next Level with DanTDM launches this Saturday 11th January at 9pm for an hour and will go on till Easter.
In the first episode on Saturday, he will celebrate gaming’s most legendary soundtracks including The Legend of Zelda, Final Fantasy VII, and The Elder Scrolls V, Street Fighter II and one of his favourite games, Minecraft.
It’s not the first video game music show on the station – in 2012, VGM first entered the Classic FM Hall of Fame and, since then, the station has been a significant supporter of the genre. In 2017, Classic FM broadcast the UK’s first radio series dedicated to VGM, when it launched High Score.
DanTDM said: “Teenage me wouldn’t be able to believe I have my own radio show! Having studied music production at university and then worked in video games for the past 15 years, being given a show that celebrates the meeting of these two worlds feels totally surreal. Classic FM is such an iconic station and I’m really grateful and excited to have been given this opportunity.”
Philip Noyce, Classic FM’s Managing Editor, said: This is a very exciting day for Classic FM, as we welcome the brilliant DanTDM to the presenting line-up. Watched by millions, he is a huge star in the gaming world, as well as being a fan of classical music – so it’s fantastic that he’s joining as the host of Next Level with DanTDM.
“Across three months, he will not only showcase the greatest video game music to our loyal listeners, but with Dan at the controls, we’re looking forward to welcoming VGM fans to Classic FM for the first time too. We have always championed new forms of classical music, from film scores to gaming soundtracks, so I’m pleased to announce this next chapter in our support of video game music.”
Next Level with DanTDM is broadcast on Saturdays from 9pm to 10pm on Classic FM.

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Journalist, broadcaster, and Sunday Times columnist Rod Liddle will be the new host of its Saturday morning show starting this weekend.

A long-standing columnist for The Sunday Times, as well a writer for The Sun and associate editor of The Spectator, Rod also worked on the BBC Today programme from 1988, later becoming its editor for five years.
He is also an author, with books including Too Beautiful For You (a collection of fiction), Selfish Whining Monkeys (a critique of the Boomer generation), and The Great Betrayal (a polemic). His fourth book, Dog: A Biography, is due out later this year.
Rod has made TV documentaries for Channel 4 and BBC Two, as well as a series for BBC Radio 4 on the relationships between wild animals and humans. He is also a regular commentator and guest on Question Time, Have I Got News for You, The Wright Stuff, Newsnight, Daily Politics and others.
Rod Liddle said:”I am thrilled, honoured and slightly terrified to be joining Times Radio as a weekly presenter. I hope that my programme might bring together fractured communities and spread peace and goodwill among people who hate each other.”
Tim Levell, programme director of Times Radio, added; “Rod is one of the most distinctive and fearless voices in British journalism. His show will bring energy to Saturday mornings, mixing sharp analysis with engaging conversations. Times Radio is the voice of The Times and Sunday Times, and this continues our mission to bring the best writers from the paper to our listeners. We’re delighted to have him on board.”

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