BBC Radio 1 (UK radio station)

***BBC Radio 1*** is a British radio station operated by the British Broadcasting Corporation which also broadcasts internationally, specialising in modern and current popular music and chart hits throughout the day. Radio 1 provides alternative genres after 7:00 pm, including electronic dance, hip hop, rock, indie or interviews. It was launched at 06:55 on September 30, 1967 to meet the demand for music generated by pirate radio stations, when the average age of the UK population was 27. Recently, the BBC claimed that it still targets the 15–29 age group, although the average age of its UK audience in 2008 had risen to 33. BBC Radio 1 started 24-hour broadcasting on May 1, 1991.

Radio 1 began broadcasting on the same day, and alongside BBC Radio 2, BBC Radio 3 and BBC Radio 4, as a successor to the BBC Light Programme, which had broadcast popular music and other entertainment since 1945. Radio 1 was conceived as a direct response to the popularity of offshore pirate radio stations such as Radio Caroline and Radio London, which had been outlawed by Act of Parliament.

The first disc jockey to broadcast on the new station was Tony Blackburn, whose cheery style, first heard on Radio Caroline and Radio London, won him the prime slot on what became known as the "Radio 1 Breakfast Show". The first words on Radio 1 – after a countdown by the Controller of Radios 1 and 2, Robin Scott, and a jingle, recorded at PAMS in Dallas, Texas, beginning "The voice of Radio 1" – were "... And, good morning everyone. Welcome to the exciting new sound of Radio 1". This was the first use of US-style jingles on BBC radio, but the style was familiar to listeners who were acquainted with Blackburn and other DJs from their days on pirate radio.

The first complete record played on Radio 1 was "Flowers in the Rain" by The Move. The breakfast show remains the most prized slot in the Radio 1 schedule, with every change of breakfast show presenter exciting considerable media interest. The initial rota of staff included John Peel and a gaggle of others, some hired from pirates, such as Keith Skues, Ed Stewart, Mike Raven, David Ryder, Jim Fisher, Jimmy Young, Dave Cash, Kenny Everett, Simon Dee, Terry Wogan, Duncan Johnson, Doug

Crawford, Tommy Vance, Chris Denning, Emperor Rosko, Pete Murray, and Bob Holness. Many of the most popular pirate radio voices, such as Simon Dee, had only a one-hour slot per week, ("Midday Spin.") Annie Nightingale, who joined in 1970, was Britain's first female DJ and is now the longest serving presenter, having constantly evolved her musical tastes with the times.

BBC Radio 1's chart show had aired the UK Singles Chart exclusively on Sunday afternoons since the programme began. In 1981, Radio 1 broadcast a radio adaptation of the space opera film, Star Wars.[36] The 13-episode serial was adapted for radio by the author Brian Daley and directed by John Madden, and was a co-production between the BBC and the American Broadcaster NPR.

The Radio 1 Roadshow, which usually involved Radio 1 DJs and pop stars travelling around popular UK seaside destinations, began in 1973, hosted by Alan Freeman in Newquay, Cornwall, with the final one held at Heaton Park, Manchester in 1999.

Find out more at bbc.co.uk/radio1.