# 1998 in British radio

This is a list of events in British radio during 1998.

## Events
### January

* 21 January – Capital FM mid morning presenter Steve Penk attracts national attention after making a prank call to 10 Downing Street in which he pretends to be William Hague and speaks to Prime Minister Tony Blair.

### February

* 16 February – The PopMaster quiz segment of the Ken Bruce Show on BBC Radio 2 is first broadcast.

### March

* March – Andy Parfitt replaces Matthew Bannister as controller of Radio 1.
* March – Isle of Wight Radio switches from AM to FM broadcasting. In addition to its main transmitter at Chillerton Down, the station uses three relay transmitters to cover the full island.

### April

* 1 April – By way of an April Fool's stunt, Kix 96 breakfast show presenter Nic Tuff calls South African president Nelson Mandela pretending to be British prime minister Tony Blair.
* 4 April – BBC Radio 3's weekday breakfast programme On Air begins broadcasting at the weekend.
* 6 April – Extensive schedule changes are made to BBC Radio 4. These include an earlier start to the day – 5:30 am instead of 6 am – and an earlier, 6 am, start to Today. Many long standing programmes are axed as part of the shake-up and arts magazine Kaleidoscope is replaced by Front Row.
* 12 April – A Sunday evening episode of The Archers is introduced.
* 13 April – After nearly 30 years on air, Dance Band Days is broadcast on BBC Radio 2 for the final time.
* April – After just seven months on air, East Midlands station Radio 106 is rebranded as Century 106 and relaunched with a new team of presenters.

### May

* No events.

### June

* 1 June – Capital Gold replaces South Coast Radio. 1998 also sees Capital Gold rolled out in Birmingham and Kent, replacing Xtra AM and Invicta Supergold respectively.
* June – Emap purchases London station Melody 105.4 FM.

### July

* 9 July – The BBC unveils a new range of digital car stereos that will go on sale in August.

### August

* August – Virgin Radio launches a new Saturday afternoon football show called Rock 'n' Roll Football.

### September

* September – Kevin Greening leaves the BBC Radio 1 breakfast show, leaving Zoë Ball as sole presenter. She continues to host the show until March 2000.

### October

* 2 October – John Dunn presents his final drivetime show on Radio 2 after 22 years.
* 4 October – On Radio 2, David Jacobs presents Frank Sinatra: The Voice of the Century, a 13-part documentary about the life and career of Frank Sinatra. The series concludes on 27 December.
* 5 October
** A major overhaul of the BBC Radio 2 schedule sees many new faces joining the network, including the singer Katrina Leskanich and former Radio 1 presenter Lynn Parsons, who present overnight shows on weekdays and weekends respectively. Johnnie Walker also joins Radio 2 as a regular presenter hosting the afternoon drivetime show (Monday to Thursday). Sally Boazman becomes the station's first official traffic presenter.
** One hour of Virgin Radio's breakfast show starts simulcasting on Sky One. When a track is played on the radio, viewers see the song's video.
* 9 October – Des Lynam joins Radio 2 to present a weekly drivetime programme on Fridays.
* 12 October – Chris Moyles is promoted from the Early Breakfast show to present the Radio 1 Early Drive show, between 4 pm and 5:45 pm on weekdays (later being extended to 3 – 5:45 pm). He replaces Dave Pearce, and is replaced on Early Breakfast by Scott Mills.
* 15 October – Launch of In Our Time, a weekly series of historical, scientific, literary or philosophical discussions between Melvyn Bragg and three academics on BBC Radio 4. It will pass its 1000th edition in 2023.

### November

* 12 November – TalkCo Holdings, whose chairman and chief executive is former Sun editor Kelvin MacKenzie, purchases Talk Radio.
* 19 November – Mellow 1557 closes and relaunches on FM as Dream 100.

### December

* December – Melody Radio is renamed Magic 105.4 FM following the purchase of Melody Radio by Emap.

### Unknown

* BBC Local Radio stations start carrying BBC Radio 5 Live instead of the BBC World Service when they are not on air. Consequently, the station is heard regularly on FM for the first time, albeit only during overnight hours.

## Station debuts

* 17 January – KMFM Thanet
* 1 March – Huddersfield FM
* 7 March
** Isle of Wight Radio
** Isles FM (Outer Hebrides, Scotland)
* 23 March – Star Radio (Cambridge and Ely)
* 27 March – 107 Crash FM
* 10 April – Arrow FM
* 18 May
** Kestral FM
** Active FM
* 25 May – Silk FM
* 6 June – Centre FM
* 14 June – Wave 105
* 15 August – QuayWest Radio
* 1 September – Wire FM
* 7 September – CAT FM
* 8 September – Century 105
* 5 October – Kingdom FM (Fife, Scotland)
* 7 October – Peak FM
* 18 October – Chelmer FM
* 1 November – Fosseway Radio
* 28 November – RNA Arbroath
* 29 November – The Falcon (Gloucestershire)
* 11 December – Champion FM (North Wales)
* 13 December – Rutland Radio

## Programme debuts

* January – Scott Mills on BBC Radio 1 (1998–2022)
* 4 March – World of Pub on BBC Radio 4 (1998–1999)
* April – Bussmann and Quantick Kingsize on BBC Radio 4 (April–May)
* 9 April – Material World (1998–2013)
* 11 April – The Archive Hour on BBC Radio 4 (1998–Present)
* 19 April – Broadcasting House on BBC Radio 4 (1998–Present)
* 20 May – The Alan Davies Show on BBC Radio 4 (1998)
* 2 July – Puzzle Panel on BBC Radio 4 (1998–2005)
* 17 July – Like They've Never Been Gone on BBC Radio 4 (1998–2002)
* 31 July – The Write Stuff on BBC Radio 4 (1998–2014)
* 13 August – The Very World of Milton Jones on BBC Radio 4 (1998–2001)
* ? August – Dan and Nick: The Wildebeest Years on BBC Radio 4 (1998)
* 22 September – The 99p Challenge on BBC Radio 4 (1998–2004)
* 26 September – The Now Show on BBC Radio 4 (1998–2024)
* 4 October – Frank Sinatra: The Voice of the Century on BBC Radio 2 (1998)
* 5 October – Drivetime with Johnnie Walker on BBC Radio 2 (1998–2006)
* 9 October – Des Lynam on BBC Radio 2 (1998–1999)
* 15 October – In Our Time on BBC Radio 4 (1998–Present)

## Continuing radio programmes
### 1940s

* Sunday Half Hour (1940–2018)
* Desert Island Discs (1942–Present)
* 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)
* Sing Something Simple (1959–2001)
* Your Hundred Best Tunes (1959–2007)

### 1960s

* Farming Today (1960–Present)
* In Touch (1961–Present)
* 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)
* You and Yours (1970–Present)
* I'm Sorry I Haven't a Clue (1972–Present)
* Good Morning Scotland (1973–Present)
* Newsbeat (1973–Present)
* The News Huddlines (1975–2001)
* File on 4 (1977–Present)
* Money Box (1977–Present)
* The News Quiz (1977–Present)
* Feedback (1979–Present)
* The Food Programme (1979–Present)
* Science in Action (1979–Present)

### 1980s

* In Business (1983–Present)
* Sounds of the 60s (1983–Present)
* Loose Ends (1986–Present)

### 1990s

* The Moral Maze (1990–Present)
* Essential Selection (1991–Present)
* No Commitments (1992–2007)
* The Pepsi Chart (1993–2002)
* Wake Up to Wogan (1993–2009)
* Essential Mix (1993–Present)
* Up All Night (1994–Present)
* Wake Up to Money (1994–Present)
* Julie Enfield Investigates (1994–1999)
* Private Passions (1995–Present)
* Chambers (1996–1999)
* Parkinson's Sunday Supplement (1996–2007)
* The David Jacobs Collection (1996–2013)
* Blue Jam (1997–1999)
* Westway (1997–2005)

## Ending this year

* 3 April
** The Afternoon Shift (1995–1998)
** Breakaway (1979–1998)
** Kaleidoscope (1973–1998)
** Week Ending (1970–1998)
* 27 December – Frank Sinatra: The Voice of the Century (1998)

## Closing this year

* 31 May – Xtra AM (1989–1998)
* Unknown – South Coast Radio (1991–1998)
* Late 1998 – European Klassik Rock (1997–1998)

## Deaths

* 2 January – Frank Muir, comedy writer (born 1920)
* 11 April – Francis Durbridge, scriptwriter (born 1912)
* 22 June – Benny Green, jazz saxophonist and radio presenter (born 1927)
* 18 July – Betty Marsden, comedy actress (born 1919)
* 4 August – Charles Maxwell, radio producer (born 1910)
* 2 October
** Ken Platt, Lancashire comedian (born 1921)
** Raymond Raikes, radio drama producer (born 1910)
* 20 October – Frank Gillard, broadcaster and executive (born 1909)