''Evening Extra'' is the BBC's drive time

news News is information about current events. This may be provided through many different Media (communication), media: word of mouth, printing, Mail, postal systems, broadcasting, Telecommunications, electronic communication, or through the tes ...

and current affairs radio programme in

Northern Ireland Northern Ireland ( ga, Tuaisceart Éireann ; sco, label= Ulster-Scots, Norlin Airlann) is a part of the United Kingdom, situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, that is variously described as a country, province or region. Nort ...

. It is broadcast live on

BBC Radio Ulster BBC Radio Ulster ( ga, BBC Raidió Uladh) is a Northern Irish radio station owned and operated by BBC Northern Ireland, a division of the BBC. It was established on New Year's Day 1975, replacing what had been an opt-out of BBC Radio 4. It is ...

, BBC Radio Foyle and

BBC Sounds BBC Sounds is a Closed platform, walled garden streaming media and audio download service from the BBC that includes live radio broadcasts, audio on demand, and podcasts. The service is available on a wide range of devices, including mobile pho ...

on weekday evenings, from 4pm to 6pm. It is presented by Richard Morgan, Tara Mills and

Declan Harvey Declan Harvey (born 28 November 1983) is a journalist and presenter with BBC News. He anchors the BBC's flagship nightly television news programme in Northern Ireland, ''BBC Newsline'', and the daily radio drive time news programme, ''Evening Extr ...

. The programme provides a daily round-up of the day's main news and sports stories, as well as the latest breaking news.

Programme origin

Evening Extra was launched in 1996 as part of a wider station re-launch by

Anna Carragher Anna Carragher (born 9 July 1948) is an Irish former broadcasting executive and television producer. From 2000 to 2006, she was Controller of BBC Northern Ireland. Early life and education Carragher was born on 9 July 1948 to Thomas Carragher an ...

in light of the paramilitary ceasefires of 1994 and a need to alter the tone and range of the news output. The first presenter was

Sean Rafferty Sean Rafferty MBE is a Belfast-born, Northern Irish broadcaster, now best known for his work on BBC Radio 3. Early life Rafferty was born in Belfast, Northern Ireland and spent his childhood in Newcastle, County Down. He went on to study law a ...

. As part of wider schedule changes in September 2019 Evening Extra was extended to fill two hours in the schedule, having previously been broadcast from 5pm - 6.30pm for many years. Evening Extra is the most listened to drive time news programme in Northern Ireland.

Presenters

Since April 2020 the programme is presented by

and Tara Mills. Both also present BBC NI television news programme,

BBC Newsline ''BBC Newsline'' is the BBC's national television news programme for Northern Ireland, broadcast on BBC One Northern Ireland from the headquarters of BBC Northern Ireland in Ormeau Avenue, Belfast. As well as being available via all multi-ch ...

on alternate evenings. In February 2020 it was announced Richard Morgan would also join the team as a full time third presenter.

Relief Presenters

A selection of presenters, reporters and correspondents front the programme in the absence of Mills or Harvey. They include Joel Taggart, Julie McCullough, Sara Girvan, Enda McClafferty and Jayne McCormack.

Previous Presenters

Seamus McKee retired as a regular presenter of Evening Extra in January 2020, having fronted the programme since 2009. Presenter Conor Bradford left BBC Radio Ulster in early 2022, after an extended term of absence.

Year ‘21 spin-off

In December 2020 it was announced Mills and Harvey would create and front a spin-off podcast, produced by BBC News NI, to mark one hundred years since the creation of Northern Ireland. 'Year '21' was billed as: "the fascinating story of how Northern Ireland was created, told week-by-week." The podcast was made available on

and other external platforms. 50 episodes, of 15 minutes each, were commissioned for between January and December 2021. Year ‘21 was made a finalist for Best Serialised Podcast in the 2021 New York Festivals Radio Awards. It was also a finalist for Best Sound Design. It was nominated for Best Podcast at the 2021 IMRO Awards. The following year, 2022, it was awarded Silver for Best History Podcast, and shortlisted for Best Educational Podcast.

Studio

Evening Extra is broadcast live from Studio 4 at BBC

Broadcasting House, Belfast Broadcasting House, Belfast is the headquarters of BBC Northern Ireland and operates many of its broadcasting services. The building is located on Ormeau Avenue in Belfast city centre, at the junction with Bedford Street. Public tours of the ...

. Studio 4 is the only full service studio to sit within the main newsroom.

References

Evening Extra homepageNew Presenter Line-Up Revealed, 2020Year '21 podcast homepageSeamus McKee Announces Retirement, 2019

References

Radio programmes in Northern Ireland {{NorthernIreland-media-stub