Scala Radio is a

classical music Classical music generally refers to the art music of the Western world, considered to be distinct from Western folk music or popular music traditions. It is sometimes distinguished as Western classical music, as the term "classical music" also ...

digital radio Digital radio is the use of digital technology to transmit or receive across the radio spectrum. Digital transmission by radio waves includes digital broadcasting, and especially digital audio radio services. Types In digital broadcasting syst ...

station in the United Kingdom, owned and operated by

Bauer Radio Bauer Media Audio UK is a UK-based radio division of the Bauer Media Group. History In early 2008, German magazine publisher Bauer bought the radio division of British company Emap, which had been established as East Midland Allied Press in ...

since its launch in March 2019. The station broadcasts nationally on DAB via the

Sound Digital Sound Digital is a semi-national commercial digital radio multiplex in the United Kingdom, owned by Arqiva, Bauer Media Group and Wireless Group. The multiplex covers 73% of the population from a total of 45 transmitters. History Following ...

multiplex and online through websites and apps, including the station's own. The station was the first national classical music service to launch on terrestrial radio in the UK since Classic FM in 1992. The station's playlist features 70% popular classics and 30% new and "surprising" music. Scala also aims for more speech content – or more "storytelling" – than Classic FM or

BBC Radio 3 BBC Radio 3 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. It replaced the BBC Third Programme in 1967 and broadcasts classical music and opera, with jazz, world music, Radio drama, drama, High culture, culture and the arts ...

History

On 22 December 2018, following the demise of his

BBC Radio 2 BBC Radio 2 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. It is the most popular station in the United Kingdom with over 15 million weekly listeners. Since launching in 1967, the station broadcasts a wide range of content. ...

drivetime showwhich had been co-hosted with

Jo Whiley Johanne Whiley-Morton (born 4 July 1965), better known by her professional name Jo Whiley, is an English radio DJ and television presenter. She was the host of the long-running weekday later weekend '' Jo Whiley Show'' on BBC Radio 1. She curre ...

since May 2018

Simon Mayo Simon Andrew Hicks Mayo (born 21 September 1958) is an English radio presenter and author who worked for BBC Radio from 1982 until 2022. Mayo has presented across three BBC stations for extended periods. From 1986 to 2001 he worked for Radio ...

revealed that "...the new radio show will be announced in January. It will be startling." A month later, on 21 January 2019,

announced plans to launch a new national classical music service under the name Scala Radio from March, with Mayo having signed up to be one of the lead presenters of the new station. More information about presenters and their shows was confirmed in February 2019. Scala Radio launched at 10am on 4 March 2019 with

hosting the first live programme. The first track played was the prélude to Carmen Suite No. 1 by

Georges Bizet Georges Bizet (; 25 October 18383 June 1875) was a French composer of the Romantic music, Romantic era. Best known for his operas in a career cut short by his early death, Bizet achieved few successes before his final work, ''Carmen'', whi ...

. Advance weekly listings for Scala Radio were published from launch in ''

Radio Times ''Radio Times'' (currently styled as ''RadioTimes'') is a British weekly listings magazine devoted to television and radio programme schedules, with other features such as interviews, film reviews and lifestyle items. Founded in May 1923 by J ...

'' and the Bauer-owned ''Total TV Guide''. The ''Radio Times'' removed listings for

BBC Radio 1Xtra BBC Radio 1Xtra is a British digital radio station owned and operated by the BBC. It broadcasts black music and urban music, including hip hop and R&B and is a sister station to Radio 1. Launching at 18:00 on 16 August 2002, it had been cod ...

and details of news and weather bulletins on Radios 1 and 2 to make space for the new station. The station launched on

Sky The sky is an unobstructed view upward from the surface of the Earth. It includes the atmosphere and outer space. It may also be considered a place between the ground and outer space, thus distinct from outer space. In the field of astronomy, ...

on 1 May 2019 on channel 0216. It was removed on 14 December 2022, and was replaced by sister station

Greatest Hits Radio Greatest Hits Radio is a classic hits radio network in the United Kingdom, owned and operated by Bauer. Overview The network launched on 5 January 2015 as the "Bauer City 2 Network", and rebranded on 7 January 2019 due to the success of Ra ...

on the platform.

Presenters

The presenters on Scala Radio include a range of radio and television personalities, some of whom have previously presented on other Bauer stations, as well as with competitor stations such as Classic FM. The current presenters with regular shows are: *

Richard Allinson Richard John McNeill Allinson (born 12 October 1958) is an English broadcaster with Greatest Hits Radio and Scala Radio and is Creative Director of Magnum Opus Broadcasting. Between 1997 to 2014 he was a disc jockey for BBC Radio 2. Early career ...

Angellica Bell Angellica Bell (born 24 March 1976) is a British television and radio presenter, best known for her presenting on CBBC between 2000 and 2006. She is also known for providing occasional cover on ''The One Show'' and for co-presenting ''The M ...

* Jamie Crick *

Alexis Ffrench Alexis Ffrench (born 1970) is a British classical - soul pioneer, musician, composer, producer, and pianist. Ffrench’s remarkable music has amassed more than half a billion streams and both albums ‘Evolution’ and ‘Dreamland’ reache ...

* Mark Forrest * Luci Holland – presents ''The Console'' which features video games music * Sam Hughes *

Mark Kermode Mark James Patrick Kermode (, ; ; born 2 July 1963) is an English film critic, musician, radio presenter, television presenter and podcaster. He is the chief film critic for ''The Observer'', contributes to the magazine ''Sight & Sound'', prese ...

Charles Nove Charles Alexis Nove (born 29 June 1960 in London, England) is a British radio broadcaster who currently presents the weekday breakfast show for classical music station Scala Radio. Biography Early career The son of Soviet historian Alexander No ...

* Jack Pepper *

Penny Smith Penelope Jane Smith (born 21 September 1958) is an English author, television presenter, newsreader and radio presenter. She has presented for Sky News, GMTV, Classic FM, BBC Radio London, TalkRadio and is a regular contributor to TalkTV la ...

Former presenters

Gemma Cairney Gemma Cairney (born 19 March 1985) is an English television and radio presenter best known for her work on BBC Radio 1 and BBC Radio 6 Music. She most recently presented '' The Leisure Society'' on BBC Radio 6 Music where she interviewed cultura ...

DJ Spoony DJ Spoony (born Johnathan Joseph; 25 June 1970) is a British DJ and radio presenter. He is a member of the UK garage production trio, the Dreem Teem. Early career Dj Spoony was born in Hackney, East London to British West Indian parents. Hi ...

Goldie Clifford Joseph Price MBE (born 19 September 1965), better known as Goldie, is a British music producer and DJ. Initially gaining exposure for his work as a graffiti artist, Goldie became well known for his pioneering role as a musician in th ...

Sister Bliss Ayalah Deborah Bentovim (born 30 December 1970), better known by her stage name Sister Bliss, is a British keyboardist, record producer, DJ and songwriter. In the studio, she is best known for her work with Rollo Armstrong as one half of the pr ...

William Orbit William Mark Wainwright (born 15 December 1956),"William Orbit." ''Contemporary Musicians''. Vol. 30. Farmington Hills, MI: Gale, 2000. Retrieved via ''Biography in Context'' database, 7 May 2017. Available onlinvia ''Encyclopedia.com'' known ...

* Chris Rogers *

Anthea Turner Anthea Turner (born 25 May 1960) is an English former television presenter. She was a host of ''Blue Peter'' from 1992 until 1994, and of ''GMTV'' from 1994 until 1996. Early life Turner was born in Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire, and educated ...

Midge Ure James Ure (born 10 October 1953) is a Scottish musician, singer-songwriter and record producer. His stage name, Midge, is a phonetic reversal of Jim, the diminutive form of his actual name. Ure enjoyed particular success in the 1970s and 1980s ...

Audience

According to

RAJAR Radio Joint Audience Research Limited (RAJAR) was established in 1992 to operate a single audience measurement system for the radio industry in the United Kingdom. RAJAR is jointly owned by the BBC and RadioCentre. RAJAR's predecessor was calle ...

data, the station has a weekly reach of 265,000 people as of September 2022.RAJAR https://www.rajar.co.uk/listening/quarterly_listening.php

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Scala Radio Bauer Radio Classical music radio stations Radio stations in the United Kingdom Classical music in the United Kingdom Radio stations established in 2019 2019 establishments in the United Kingdom