1983 in British radio

Overview of the events of 1983 in British radio

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In British television
1980
1981
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1983
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1980
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1983
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This is a list of events in British radio during 1983.

## Events

[edit]

### January

[edit]

* 4 January – BBC Radio 2 revives Music While You Work.
* 17 January – BBC Local Radio comes to south west England with the launches of BBC Radio Devon and BBC Radio Cornwall.

### February

[edit]

* 12 February – Sounds of the 60s is broadcast for the first time on BBC Radio 2.

### March

[edit]

* No events.

### April

[edit]

* 18 April – Prior to the launch of a commercial station covering Gwent, the BBC launches BBC Radio Gwent. It broadcasts at peak time, opting out of BBC Radio Wales. The station broadcasts on VHF/FM and therefore becomes the only part of Wales where English-language radio programming for Wales can be heard on VHF/FM.[1]

### May

[edit]

* May – The first Birmingham Walkathon is staged by Birmingham's BRMB to raise money for charity, and takes place around the city's Outer Circle bus route.[2]

### June

[edit]

* 13 June – Gwent Broadcasting becomes the first station in the UK to occupy the newly released 102.2 to 104.5Mhz part of the VHF/FM waveband.[3]

### July

[edit]

* 2 July – BBC Radio Medway is expanded to cover all of the county of Kent and is renamed accordingly.

### August

[edit]

* 19 August – "Pirate" radio station Radio Caroline resumes broadcasting to Britain in an album-oriented rock format from MV Ross Revenge anchored in the Knock Deep outside UK territorial waters off the Thames Estuary.[4]

### September

[edit]

* No events.

### October

[edit]

* 6 October – Centre Radio stops broadcasting after running into financial difficulties. A take-over bid is rejected by the IBA and the station goes off air at 5.30pm.[5][6]
* 22 October – BBC Radio Brighton is expanded to cover all of the county of Sussex and is accordingly renamed BBC Radio Sussex.

### November

[edit]

* No events.

### December

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* 12 December – BBC Radio Bury launches as a trial community radio station. It opt outs on MW from BBC Radio Manchester for a few hours each day. It is the first of five such trial stations, each operating in various parts of the Manchester area. Each station is on air for a few weeks.[7]
* 18 December – Sounds of Jazz is broadcast on BBC Radio 1 for the final time. The show is transferred to Radio 2 in the new year.
* December – Kenny Everett leaves BBC Radio 2 a couple of weeks after he made a risqué on-air joke about Margaret Thatcher.[8]

## Station debuts

[edit]

* 17 January –
* BBC Radio Devon
* BBC Radio Cornwall
* 4 April – County Sound
* 11 April – BBC Radio Tweed
* 16 April – BBC Radio Solway
* 18 April – BBC Radio Gwent
* 13 June – Gwent Broadcasting
* 4 July – BBC Radio York
* 29 August – Southern Sound Radio[9]
* 5 September –
* Signal 1[10]
* Marcher Sound
* Unknown – Bridgend Hospital Radio[11]

## Programme debuts

[edit]

* 1 February – In Business on BBC Radio 4 (1983–Present)
* 12 February – Sounds of the 60s on BBC Radio 2 (1983–Present)

## Continuing radio programmes

[edit]

### 1940s

[edit]

* 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

[edit]

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

### 1960s

[edit]

* 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

[edit]

* 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)
* Kaleidoscope (1973–1998)
* Newsbeat (1973–Present)
* The News Huddlines (1975–2001)
* File on 4 (1977–Present)
* Money Box (1977–Present)
* The News Quiz (1977–Present)
* Breakaway (1979–1998)
* Feedback (1979–Present)
* The Food Programme (1979–Present)
* Science in Action (1979–Present)

### 1980s

[edit]

* Radio Active (1980–1987)

## Closing this year

[edit]

* 6 October – Centre Radio (1981–1983)

## Births

[edit]

* 19 January – MistaJam, born Peter Dalton, DJ
* 19 July – Helen Skelton, broadcast presenter
* 6 August
* Kayper, DJ
* Lloyd Langford, Welsh comedian
* 16 August – Colin Griffiths, TV presenter and DJ

## Deaths

[edit]

* 22 February – Sir Adrian Boult, orchestral conductor, BBC director of music (born 1889)
* 24 December – Alan Melville, scriptwriter and war reporter (born 1910)

## See also

[edit]

* 1983 in British music
* 1983 in British television
* 1983 in the United Kingdom
* List of British films of 1983

## References

[edit]

1. ^ BBC Radio Timeline 1990s to date
2. ^ Fair, Thomas (29 May 2022). "Birmingham's Walkathon brought festival atmosphere in the 80s". Birmingham Mail. Retrieved 2 April 2023.
3. ^ "IBA Engineering Announcements – 24 May 1983 'First show on C4 & S4C'". Retrieved 2 April 2023 - via www.youtube.com.
4. ^ "The wet and wild history of Radio Caroline (4)". Icce.rug.nl. Retrieved 4 November 2011.
5. ^ "Why do commercial radio stations stop broadcasting?". A Guide to stations off the air. Archived from the original on 12 February 2010. Retrieved 18 May 2010.
6. ^ Parry, Simon. "Off Centre". Transdiffusion. Retrieved 6 September 2016.
7. ^ [https://www.youtube.com/watch? v=H6gkZUWrzbM&ab_channel=TV&RadioTimelines; BBC Radio Timeline 1990s to date]
8. ^ Hogg, James; Sellers, Robert (2013). Hello Darlings! The Authorized Biography of Kenny Everett (1st ed.). UK: Bantam Press. p. 284\. ISBN 9780593072110.`{{cite book}}`: CS1 maint: date and year (link)
9. ^ Collins, Steve (1 August 2023). "40th anniversary reunion to be held for Southern Sound Radio". Radio Today. Retrieved 1 August 2023.
10. ^ Collins, Steve (31 August 2023). "Signal Radio stars to attend 40th anniversary celebration". Radio Today. Retrieved 31 August 2023.
11. ^ Collins, Steve (31 August 2023). "Bridgend's Hospital Radio celebrates 40 years of broadcasting". Radio Today. Retrieved 31 August 2023.