UK

Tributes are being paid to long-serving radio engineer Bruce Davidson who has died at the age of 60.
Bruce has spent the last ten years working at Bauer Media as Broadcast and Technology Director looking after all the national and radio stations and their broadcast technology teams.
He most recently oversaw the move from Golden Square to The Lantern and was relocating.
Before that, he worked for Global and Chrysalis for 15 years as Group Technical Director then Technology Director leading a team of 80 technology professionals covering the areas of Broadcast Technology, IT & Infrastructure and Business Systems.
He started his radio career in 1987 at Metro Radio Group as Chief Engineer and went on to run SunCity for just over a year.
Bruce recently left Bauer and was taking on consultancy/project work, moving back to his native north east.
A Bauer Media spokesperson told RadioToday: “All at Bauer Media Audio UK are saddened to hear of the passing of Bruce Davidson, a much loved colleague, who led our technology team through a period of growth, consolidation and of course Covid.
“Although retired recently from Bauer, we remember him with fondness and our thoughts are with his family, friends and colleagues at this difficult time.”
Giles Squire, who worked with Bruce at Metro, wrote: “I am shocked and saddened by the news that Bruce Davidson died this afternoon. I wrote to Bruce in June of this year telling him all about our party to celebrate Metro Radio almost making it to 50 years. He wrote straight back with these words “It will be great to meet up with old friends. I turned 60 in January and going to move back to the north east. Been a hard slog moving Bauer in London, but now done.”
“It was the last message I received and he wasn’t able to attend our event in September. Andrew Hughes let me know last month that he was in hospital and not at all well. Bruce was an extremely talented engineer who was also great fun and very popular wherever he worked. I send my condolences to family and friends. (In this photo he is in the middle and to the right).
Phil Riley wrote: So saddened to hear that dear Bruce Davidson has died today. I’d known Bruce for over 25 years and was Head of Engineering at Chrysalis Radio when I joined in 1997. He built a studio for my job and it was one of the best and we hit it off immediately. We also went to Philly together in 2005 and worked on Live 8 broadcasts from there with some hilarious stories to tell.
“Since 2018, we worked together at Bauer where we oversaw the transfer of the facility to One Golden Sqaure and recently he led the build of the new state of the art facility in Euston. He ‘retired’ only a few months ago which makes this all the sadder.
“He was one of the good guys, and the technology people who worked under him over the years are all streets ahead of those who didn’t, all leaders in their field today having benefitted from his wisdom and human approach to engineering.
“He was one of those technology bods who was always approachable, would love a challenge and always think of the creative solution for the ears of the listener, and not just the easy answer.
“Bruce – King Of The Wires – RIP you good, good human being.”
Brian Lister posted on RadioToday North East: “Anyone involved in the history of local radio in the North East will be shocked and saddened to hear of the death of Bruce Davidson this week after a short illness.
“I first came across Bruce as a talented young engineer at Metro Radio, then with Minster – where he very rapidly and rightly moved into station management with Sun FM. Always friendly and smiling he was one of those too rare engineers who also understood people.
“Since leaving the region he had worked for all the major commercial radio companies masterminding many high-profile radio station builds, special projects and OBs. At Bauer he oversaw the transfer of their national stations to One Golden Square and recently he led the build of their new state of the art facility in Euston.
“A few years ago he gave me a tour of his Bauer operation and I noticed that everyone we passed in a corridor had cheery word or smile for him. Bruce retired from Bauer in July and was preparing to move back here to the north-east.”
“We’ve lost one of the industry greats.”

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Former CFM presenter Bekah Fowler is to host breakfast on Carlisle’s community radio station CRFM.
She will replace Pete Moss who is leaving to open a new bar in the city.
Programme Director Darrell Thomas told RadioToday: “We are delighted to welcome Bekah as hostess of our breakfast show.
“Bekah will be fantastic on the breakfast show as she is an early bird herself and will brighten up your day Monday to Friday on CRFM.
“I look forward to listening to the new features and competitions she will bring to entertain the listeners throughout the Carlisle area.”
Bekah adds: “I’m so honoured to have been offered the breakfast show at CRFM. I’ve known Pete for about 20 years, and he is a hard act to follow – he’s such a professional.
“The radio station is undoubtedly my ‘Happy Place’, and I can’t wait to get started.”
Pete will be continuing to present his local artists and bands show ‘Cumbriana’ on a Tuesday evening plus co-hosting the CRFM Top 40 Chart on a Saturday with Chloe Quinn and Sunday evenings 7-10pm.

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Forth’s Boogie in the Morning is expanding to more areas of Scotland replacing the breakfast shows on MFR, Northsound 1 and Tay FM.
The breakfast show, hosted by Boogie, Arlene and Marty, will be heard in Tayside, Perthshire and the North and North East of Scotland from January.
It will mean all four stations will broadcast the same programmes 24/7, following the new Media Bill becoming law.
MFR’s Jodie, and Northsound 1’s Jeff and Lauren will be leaving after their final shows at the end of December.
Current Tay FM breakfast duo Gregor & Lynsey will host a new networked weekday breakfast show. The programme will air every weekday from 4am to 6am across all Hits Radio Network stations in Scotland which also includes Clyde 1 Glasgow and the West and Clyde 1 Ayrshire.
Greigsy’s 10am till 1pm weekday show will also end this year, but he will continue to host on weekends.
As a result, Grant Thomson, Garry Spence and Callum Gallacher are all getting an extra hour on air as they extend their shows to 10am-2pm, 2pm-6pm and 6pm-10pm respectively.
George Bowie continues to host Breakfast in Glasgow and the West on Clyde 1 and in the recently expanded area of Ayrshire. Superscoreboard also remains on air 6pm-8pm on both Clyde 1 stations.
Victoria Easton-Riley, Content Director for Hits Radio Portfolio in Scotland said, “Audiences across Scotland love Boogie and Arlene. Their Saturday show is hugely popular and is Scotland’s most listened to weekend radio show.
“Also, their Forth 1 Breakfast show Boogie in the Morning is welcoming its biggest number of listeners for seven years, as well as bagging national awards, so I’m delighted that we’re able to bring it to more of our listeners across the country each weekday morning.
“I’m equally excited for our brand-new Scotland-wide early Breakfast show from Gregor and Lynsey, who currently host Tay FM breakfast and a national weekend show across our stations. Bringing overnighters and early risers the biggest hits and the biggest throwbacks, it’ll be the much-needed injection of energy for the start of the day.”
Victoria added, “We share our huge thanks with Jodie, Jeff and Lauren for all they’ve contributed. Each brilliant broadcasters, we wish them all the very best on their last few weeks with us and for everything in the future.”
Here’s how the new schedules will look..
Forth 1, MFR, Tay FM schedule from January 2025
Monday – Thursday4am-6am – Gregor & Lynsey6am-10am – Boogie in the Morning10am – 2pm – Grant Thomson2pm – 6pm – Garry Spence6pm – 10pm – Callum Gallacher10pm – 1am – Amber
Friday4am-6am – Gregor & Lynsey6am-10am – Boogie in the Morning10am – 2pm – Grant Thomson2pm – 6pm – Garry Spence6pm – 10pm – The GBXperience10pm – 1am – Callum Gallacher – Hits Party
Saturday6am-9am – Amber9am – 12pm – Boogie and Arlene12-2pm – Grant Thomson2pm – 6pm – The Big Saturday Football Show6pm – 10pm – Greigsy’s Saturday Night Anthems10pm – 1am – Callum Gallacher – Hits Party
Sunday6am-9am – Gavin Pearson9am – 12pm – Greigsy12-4pm – Gregor & Lynsey4-7pm – The Hits UK Chart7pm – 10pm – Garry Spence’s Sunday Night Anthems10pm – 1am – Amber
Clyde 1 Glasgow and the West and Clyde 1 Ayrshire schedule from 6th January 2025
Monday- Thursday4am-6am – Gregor & Lynsey6am-10am – Bowie at Breakfast10am – 2pm – Grant Thomson2pm – 6pm – Garry Spence6pm – 8pm – Clyde 1 Superscoreboard8pm – 10pm – Callum Gallacher10pm – 1am – Amber
Friday4am-6am – Gregor & Lynsey6am-10am – Bowie at Breakfast10am – 2pm – Grant Thomson2pm – 6pm – Garry Spence6pm – 8pm – Clyde 1 Superscoreboard8pm – 10pm – The GBXperience10pm – 1am – Callum Gallacher – Hits Party
Saturday6am-9am – Amber9am – 12pm – Boogie and Arlene12-2pm – Grant Thomson2pm – 6pm – Clyde 1 Superscoreboard6pm – 10pm – The GBXperience10pm – 1am – Callum Gallacher – Hits Party
Sunday6am-9am – Gavin Pearson9am – 12pm – Greigsy12-4pm – Gregor & Lynsey4-7pm – The Hits UK Chart7pm – 10pm – Garry Spence’s Sunday Night Anthems10pm – 1am – Amber

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Ofcom is going to remove the vast majority of Key Commitments quotas for all community radio stations, following a consultation.
Changes are coming to:
• The types of programming to be broadcast such as the main types of music and speech output.
• The number of hours of original output broadcast each week.
• The number of hours of locally-produced output broadcast each week.
• The languages broadcast on the service.
In return for more flexible on-air content, Ofcom will develop some additional principles for compliance with off-air social gain requirements.
In terms of the music relaxations, Ofcom said the music requirements are not central to the character of a community radio service. In their responce, Radiocentre argued that this proposal could lead to ‘mission drift’ in parts of the community radio sector, with some stations becoming similar to local commercial stations, rather than providing unique services as community radio was established to do.
Ofcom replied saying where specialist music is a particularly important part of a station’s character of service (for example genre-based stations), they will ensure that this is reflected in the station’s character of service requirements.
Speech would be treated the same, and Ofcom would ensure any specialist speech programming which is particularly relevant to a station’s character of service is captured in the new Key Commitments format.
Community radio stations will now have no quotas with regards to original and locally-produced output, meaning more programmes can be shared and produced outside of their service area. Ofcom expects stations will still broadcast local programmes, as without original, locally-relevant content, it is unlikely they could effectively serve their target communities.
Ofcom said: “We want to ensure that licensees have more flexibility to determine how best to serve their community, while ensuring appropriate rules remain in place to protect the overarching character of a service.
“We will now write to all analogue community radio licensees to start the formal licence variation process and propose new draft character of service descriptions.
“These will be based on the character of service description already included in each respective licence, with standardised wording and including any aspects of programming which we consider to be fundamental to the station’s character.”
Twenty-one responses were received to the to the consultation, most of which were in favour of the move.
Ofcom added that it does not expect to see significant changes in the service provided by most community radio stations as a result of these proposals, which are instead about providing greater flexibility for stations in considering how best to deliver a service to their audiences.
They continued: “We believe that the remaining Key Commitments (relating to the character of the service and the off-air Key Commitments) will be sufficient to ensure that the community radio sector remains distinct from commercial radio and continues to deliver for its audiences.”
Read the full document here.

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Former Bake Off host and broadcaster Mel Giedroyc is joining Magic to host a new live Sunday request show from January 2025.
The Eurovision presenter is no stranger to Magic, having previously presented a Saturday afternoon show on the station from 2016 – 2018.
Mel said: ‘I am overjoyed to be back in the bosom of my Magic Radio family and can’t wait to spend Sunday mornings with our lovely listeners from January next year.
“Join me for a chat about the week you’ve just had or what’s to come in your week ahead and whether you’re celebrating, commiserating or just want to hear some brilliant music I’ll be there! Can’t wait…”
Paul Sylvester, Magic Radio Content Director said: ‘Mel epitomises the Magic audience in terms of her outlook on life. She’s brilliantly funny, warm and engaging. She loves our music and is the perfect friend to spend Sunday mornings with.
“I think this show will become a stand-out in the schedule and a real appointment-to-listen.’
As previously announced, Lynn Parsons will be moving to Friday, Saturday and Sunday evenings to host Mellow Magic when Nicki Chapman joins the station in January. The same month will also see Gok Wan as the new co-host of the Magic Radio Breakfast Show.
Mel’s new show will be on air every Sunday from 10am on Sunday 12th January.

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Changes at BBC Radio 1 include James Cusack taking over weekend breakfast and hosting the show from Manchester.

James was first heard on Radio 1 in 2020 as part of Radio 1’s Christmas Takeover and has since covered a wide-range of shows across the station.
Also announced today, Jeremiah Asiamah is to cover for Mollie King, joining Matt Edmondson to host the station’s afternoon show.
In addition, Maia Beth and Jodie Bryant will cover Mollie’s Radio 1 Future Pop show on rotation.
Maia was given her first opportunity to host on the station during the 2021 festive period as part of Radio 1’s Christmas Takeover. From there she has regularly covered Radio 1’s Future Pop and currently presents two shows on Radio 1’s new extension – Radio 1 Anthems.
Jodie also came through Radio 1’s Christmas Takeover where she was given the opportunity to host Radio 1’s Future Pop during Christmas 2022.
She has since gone on to frequently cover the show whilst also being a regular host for BBC Introducing Sussex and Surrey. Jodie’s keen interest in new music has led her to host and curate a number of live events focussed on championing the very best independent and new music.
Presenting duo Sam and Danni will move to a new afternoon show (Friday – Sunday, 1pm-4pm) from weekend breakfast.
And finally, Oré Olukoga and Swarzy will join the station to host a brand-new show, Radio 1 Weekend Early Breakfast (Saturday and Sunday, 6am-7am). Oré will present the show on Saturdays and Swarzy on Sundays.
Oré was part of Radio 1’s Christmas Takeover 2022 and after trying his hand at hosting Radio 1 Anthems, took over Friday Early Breakfast in 2023 and has since covered various shows on the network. Swarzy currently hosts 1Xtra’s Weekend Breakfast Show on Saturdays, joining the station in 2022 after having previously presented the weekend breakfast show on KISS FM.
Aled Haydn Jones says: “Everyone at Radio 1 is thrilled for Mollie as she embarks on this new chapter and we wish her the best of luck on her maternity leave. It’s also an amazing opportunity for Jeremiah, Maia and Jodie who I’m sure will do a brilliant job at covering her shows.
“Congratulations to Sam and Danni on their new afternoon show. This is an exciting next step, and I know they’ll bring something special to the slot.
“I’m also delighted to welcome three fantastic new presenters to the Radio 1 family and can’t wait for listeners to get to know James, Oré and Swarzy.”

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