# 1974 in British radio

This is a list of events in British radio during 1974.

## Events
### January

* No events.

### February

* 19 February – BRMB begins broadcasting to the Birmingham area.

### March

* 17 March – Solid Gold Sixty is broadcast on BBC Radio 1 for the final time. It is replaced the following week by a one-hour programme which just features the top 20.

### April

* 1 April – BBC Radio Teesside is renamed BBC Radio Cleveland.
* 2 April – Piccadilly Radio begins broadcasting to the Manchester area.

### May

* No events.

### June

* No events.

### July

* 15 July – Metro Radio begins broadcasting to the Newcastle upon Tyne area.

### August

* 30/31 August – Radio North Sea International ceases broadcasting to the UK at midnight.

### September

* American-born music presenter Paul Gambaccini makes his first broadcasts on British radio, initially on BBC Radio 1.
* 30 September – Swansea Sound, the first Independent Local Radio station in Wales, begins broadcasting to the Swansea area.

### October

* 1 October – Radio Hallam begins broadcasting to the Sheffield area.
* 21 October – Radio City begins broadcasting to the Liverpool area.

### November

* 22 November – The first regular programme in the UK for the black community, Black Londoners, launches on BBC Radio London, presented by Alex Pascall. The programme is initially launched as a trial run of six programmes before becoming a weekly, and from 1978, a weeknight, fixture in the schedules.

### December

* No events.

### Unknown

* BBC Radio Leicester launches a weekly programme for the Asian community.

## Station debuts

* 19 February – BRMB
* 2 April – Piccadilly Radio
* 17 April – Hospital Radio Lynn
* 15 July – Metro Radio
* 30 September – Swansea Sound
* 1 October – Radio Hallam
* 21 October – Radio City

## Programme debuts

* 20 April – The Betty Witherspoon Show on BBC Radio 2 (1974)
* 22 November – Black Londoners on BBC Radio London (1974–1988)

## Continuing radio programmes
### 1940s

* Sunday Half Hour (1940–2018)
* Desert Island Discs (1942–Present)
* Down Your Way (1946–1992)
* Letter from America (1946–2004)
* Woman's Hour (1946–Present)
* A Book at Bedtime (1949–Present)

### 1950s

* The Archers (1950–Present)
* The Today Programme (1957–Present)
* The Navy Lark (1959–1977)
* Sing Something Simple (1959–2001)
* Your Hundred Best Tunes (1959–2007)

### 1960s

* Farming Today (1960–Present)
* In Touch (1961–Present)
* The Men from the Ministry (1962–1977)
* Petticoat Line (1965–1979)
* The World at One (1965–Present)
* The Official Chart (1967–Present)
* Just a Minute (1967–Present)
* The Living World (1968–Present)
* The Organist Entertains (1969–2018)

### 1970s

* PM (1970–Present)
* Start the Week (1970–Present)
* Week Ending (1970–1998)
* You and Yours (1970–Present)
* I'm Sorry I Haven't a Clue (1972–Present)
* Good Morning Scotland (1973–Present)
* Hello Cheeky (1973–1979)
* Kaleidoscope (1973–1998)
* Newsbeat (1973–Present)

## Births

* 15 January – Edith Bowman, Scottish music critic, radio disc jockey and television presenter
* 22 February – Chris Moyles, disc jockey
* 28 March – Scott Mills, disc jockey
* 24 April
** Jon Holmes, writer, comedian and broadcaster
** David Vitty (Comedy Dave), radio presenter
* 26 April – Adil Ray, broadcaster and comic actor
* 28 April – Vernon Kay, broadcast presenter
* 21 June – Natasha Desborough, radio presenter
* 24 June – Rob da Bank, disc jockey
* 2 July – Dan Tetsell, comedy writer-performer
* 14 July – David Mitchell, comedy writer-performer
* 24 July – Lisa Francesca Nand, journalist and broadcaster
* 2 August – Phil Williams, radio news presenter
* 6 October – Andy Zaltzman, satirical and cricket broadcaster
* 24 November – Stephen Merchant, comedy writer-performer and radio presenter
* 13 December – Sara Cox, disc jockey
* Ros Atkins, broadcast journalist
* Natalie Haynes, broadcaster, classicist, comedian and writer

## Deaths

* 23 February – Raymond Glendenning, radio sports commentator (born 1907)
* 4 May – Ludwig Koch, German-born British natural sound recordist (born 1881)