A timeline of notable events relating to Smooth Radio, a British radio station that first launched in 2004. Note that this article also includes information about the national version of Smooth Radio that existed between 2010 and 2014.

1990s

*1990 **4 March – Jazz FM launches in London. *1994 **1 September – A second Jazz FM station launches in north west England, becoming one of the UK's first five regional commercial radio stations.

2000s

*2002 **The Jazz FM stations are purchased by

GMG Radio GMG Radio, and for a short while Real and Smooth Limited, was a company that owned the Real Radio and Smooth Radio networks. As GMG Radio, the company was the radio division of the Guardian Media Group until it was bought in 2012 by Global Rad ...

. *2003 **GMG Radio conducts market research into the type of music that listeners in the north-west of England wanted to hear on the radio. The study concluded that many people were dissuaded by the name ''Jazz''. Consequently, bosses decide to revamp and relaunch the station as Smooth FM. *2004 **13 February – After nearly 10 years on air,

100.4 Jazz FM 100.4 Jazz FM (launched as JFM 100.4) was an independent local radio station for the North West England playing jazz music. 100.4 Jazz FM played its own music from its Salford studio during the day, whereas specialist shows like ''Dinner Jazz'' ...

closes. **1 March – 100.4 Smooth FM launches across north west England. Jazz continues to be part of the off-peak schedule with daytime programming focussing on mainstream music aimed at an older audience. *2005 **27 May – After more than 15 years on air, 102.2 Jazz FM closes. **7 June – 102.2 Smooth FM launches as the replacement service for 102.2 Jazz FM. **25 July – London's 102.2 Smooth FM signs a three-year deal with

Chelsea F.C. Chelsea Football Club is an English professional football club based in Fulham, West London. Founded in 1905, they play their home games at Stamford Bridge. The club competes in the Premier League, the top division of English football ...

to provide exclusive match coverage of the club's games until the end of the 2007–08 season. *2006 **December –

, owners of the two Smooth stations, purchases the

Saga Radio Group {{Unreferenced, date=June 2019, bot=noref (GreenC bot) The Saga Radio Group was a British radio network owned and operated by Saga Services Ltd, and aimed at an audience aged 50 and over. The first Saga station was launched in the West Midlands on ...

. *2007 **21 March – It is confirmed that former Radio 1 and

Capital London Capital London is a radio station owned and operated by the Global media company as part of its national Capital FM Network. As Capital Radio it was launched in the London area in 1973 as one of Britain's first two commercial radio stations. I ...

presenter

Lynn Parsons Lynn Margaret Parsons (born 27 June 1961) is a British disc jockey. Career Having graduated from college with an OND in electronic principles, Parsons started her career working in the television industry, where she was a sound engineer and l ...

and ex-

host Mike Allen will join 102.2 Smooth Radio which launches on 26 March. The line-up will also include

Graham Dene Graham Dene (born 7 April 1949) is a British radio personality. After a period as a disc jockey on Edgware General Hospital's radio, and at United Biscuits Network, he became famous in the London area as Capital Radio's breakfast presenter in th ...

Mark Goodier Mark Goodier (born 9 June 1961) is a British radio disc jockey best known for his time on BBC Radio 1 between 1987 and 2002. He had two spells presenting the station's Top 40 singles chart, from 1990 to 1992 and from 1995 until 2002. He also h ...

, Nick Piercey,

Kevin Greening Kevin Greening (30 December 1962 – 29 December 2007) was a British radio presenter, who co-hosted ''Radio 1 Breakfast'' on BBC Radio 1 with Zoe Ball from 13 October 1997 to 25 September 1998. Early career Kevin Greening grew up in Bristol whe ...

, Martin Collins and Nick Barraclough. Mark Goodier will present his first daily radio show for more than a decade on the station. **26 March – All Smooth Radio and

Saga Radio {{Unreferenced, date=June 2019, bot=noref (GreenC bot) The Saga Radio Group was a British radio network owned and operated by Saga Group, Saga Services Ltd, and aimed at an audience aged 50 and over. The first Saga station was launched in the West M ...

are relaunched as the Smooth Network. **23 August – GMG Radio confirms that

's mid-morning show on 102.2 Smooth Radio will be syndicated across other Smooth stations in the network from September. *2008 **8 January – Launch of 97.5 Smooth Radio in North East England. **11 March – Smooth Radio has recruited

GMTV GMTV (an acronym for Good Morning Television), now legally known as ITV Breakfast Broadcasting Limited, was the name of the national Channel 3 breakfast television contractor/licensee, broadcasting in the United Kingdom from 1 January 1993 ...

presenter

Fiona Phillips Fiona Phillips (born 1 January 1961) is an English journalist, broadcaster and television presenter. She is best known for her presenting roles with the ITV Breakfast programme ''GMTV Today''. Early life Phillips was born in Canterbury Hospit ...

to present a Sunday afternoon show on 102.2 Smooth Radio from Easter Sunday (23 March). **23 April – An application by GMG Radio to end a commitment that Smooth Radio in London and Manchester must play 45 hours of jazz each week is rejected by Ofcom. GMG had wanted to drop the commitment as part of plans to relaunch Jazz FM. **3 June –

Tony Blackburn Anthony Kenneth Blackburn (born 29 January 1943) is an English disc jockey, singer and TV presenter. He first achieved fame broadcasting on the pirate stations Radio Caroline and Radio London in the 1960s, before joining the BBC, on the BBC L ...

's weekend breakfast show on 102.2 Smooth Radio is to be syndicated across the rest of the Smooth network in England from 7 June. **30 June – It is announced that

Chris Tarrant Christopher John Tarrant, (born 10 October 1946) is an English broadcaster, television personality and former radio DJ. He presented the ITV (TV network), ITV children's television show ''Tiswas'' from 1974 to 1981, and the game show ''Who Wa ...

will return to radio, hosting a weekly Saturday morning show for the

's network of stations including London's 102.2 Smooth Radio,

Real Radio (Scotland) Heart Scotland is a regional radio station owned and operated by Global Radio as part of the Heart network. The station relaunched as Heart on 6 May 2014, serving Central and Southern Scotland from studios in Glasgow city centre. Heart Sco ...

and the North West's

Century Radio Century Radio, also known as ''Century 100'' and later ''Century FM'', was a short-lived national commercial radio station in the Republic of Ireland, broadcasting from 4 September 1989 to 19 November 1991. History Launch Launched at 8am on M ...

. The show will air in direct competition to

Jonathan Ross Jonathan Stephen Ross (born 17 November 1960) is an English broadcaster, film critic, comedian, actor, writer, and producer. He presented the BBC One chat show ''Friday Night with Jonathan Ross'' during the 2000s, hosted his own radio show on ...

's show on

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. ...

. It began on 26 July. **21 November – London's 102.2 Smooth Radio announces that former

BBC Radio Scotland BBC Radio Scotland is a Scottish radio network owned and operated by BBC Scotland, a division of the BBC. It broadcasts a wide variety of programmes. It replaced the Scottish BBC Radio 4 opt-out service of the same name from 23 November 197 ...

and

Pebble Mill Pebble Mill Studios was the BBC's television studio complex located in Edgbaston, Birmingham, England, United Kingdom, which served as the headquarters for BBC Birmingham from 1971 until 2004. The nine-acre site was opened by Princess Anne on ...

presenter

Paul Coia Paul Coia (born 19 June 1955 in Glasgow) is a Scottish television presenter and continuity announcer who was the first voice to be heard on Channel 4 on its launch in 1982. His career originally began in the late 1970s as a DJ and in the early 19 ...

will replace Martin Collins as its Drivetime presenter. *2009 **25 July –

presents his last Saturday morning show for

. **4 September – Smooth Radio recruits record producer

Pete Waterman Peter Alan Waterman, (born 15 January 1947) is an English record producer, songwriter, radio and club DJ, television presenter, president of Coventry Bears rugby league club and a keen railway enthusiast. As a member of the Stock Aitken Waterm ...

to present a Sunday evening programme focusing on music from the 1970s and 1980s; his show begins on 13 September. **10 November – Thirteen stations owned by

take part in an eighteen-hour on-air appeal to raise money for the

Help for Heroes Help for Heroes (H4H) is a British charity which provides lifelong recovery support to British Armed Forces service personnel who have been wounded or injured in the line of duty, and to their families, originally only since 11 September 2001, th ...

charity. The event raises almost £200,000.

2010s

*2010 **27 February – The six stations in the Smooth Radio network stage a "Starlight Supper", en event aimed at raising money for a number of charities:

Breast Cancer Care Breast Cancer Care is the only specialist UK-wide charity in the UK providing care, support and information to anyone affected by breast cancer. The charity's headquarters are in London, with additional offices in Sheffield, Cardiff, and Glasgow. ...

in London,

Macmillan Cancer Support Macmillan Cancer Support is one of the largest British charities and provides specialist health care, information and financial support to people affected by cancer. It also looks at the social, emotional and practical impact cancer can have, a ...

in the Northwest, North East and West Midlands, the Rainbows Hospice for Children and Young People in the East Midlands and Marie Curie's Big Build in Glasgow. **30 April – It is reported that Smooth and Real Radio have become the official broadcasters of the switch-on ceremony for the

Blackpool Illuminations Blackpool Illuminations is an annual lights festival, founded in 1879 and first switched on 18 September that year, held each autumn in the British seaside resort of Blackpool on the Fylde Coast in Lancashire. Also known locally as The Lights ...

, after securing the broadcast rights from BBC Radio 2 which had aired it since 1997. **29 June – Smooth Radio announces plans to merge its five stations based in England, creating a national network. The new station will be based in

Manchester Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The t ...

and will see the loss of 60 jobs at Smooth's other bases. A phased launch will begin on 4 October. **17 August – It is announced that

Simon Bates Simon Philip Bates (born 17 December 1946) is an English disc jockey and radio presenter. Between 1976 and 1993 he worked at BBC Radio 1, presenting the station's weekday mid-morning show for most of this period. He later became a regular pres ...

to join Smooth Radio as its new national breakfast presenter from 4 January 2011. **29 September – Smooth launches an ad campaign ahead of its national launch featuring eight of its listeners, who have been recruited as Smooth ambassadors. **4 October – Smooth Radio launches its new national station. **31 October –

presents his final Weekend Breakfast Show, as he leaves the station. **11 December – It is reported that

David "Kid" Jensen David Allan "Kid" Jensen (born 4 July 1950) is a Canadian-born British radio DJ and television presenter. Born in Victoria, British Columbia, Jensen began as a radio DJ on Radio Luxembourg. Jensen was later a broadcaster for the BBC from 1976 ...

is to join Smooth Radio as an afternoon presenter. He will make his debut on the station on 4 April 2011. *2011 **4 January –

joins the station to become its new national breakfast presenter. **12 January –

Pat Sharp Patrick Sharpin, known professionally as Pat Sharp (born 25 October 1961), is an English radio presenter, television presenter and DJ. In the UK, he is known mainly for his work on the children's ITV programme ''Fun House'', and his extensive ...

joins the station as Smooth Radio's new Weekend Breakfast presenter with immediate effect. By this time he had been presenting the show since December 2010, having taken over from

who had been standing in since

's departure in October. **27 March –

Emma B Emma Louise Boughton (born 27 November 1970), better known as Emma B, is a radio presenter in the UK. Early career Boughton's childhood was spent in Canada before she moved to Birmingham, England as a teenager. She graduated from the Univers ...

joins the station to present a Sunday afternoon programme. **4 April –

joins the station to present a weekday afternoon show. **11 September – On the 10th anniversary of the

September 11 attacks The September 11 attacks, commonly known as 9/11, were four coordinated suicide terrorist attacks carried out by al-Qaeda against the United States on Tuesday, September 11, 2001. That morning, nineteen terrorists hijacked four commercia ...

on the United States, Smooth airs a documentary featuring British people who were living in New York City at the time of the attacks. This is followed by live coverage of the remembrance service from

Ground Zero In relation to nuclear explosions and other large bombs, ground zero (also called surface zero) is the point on the Earth's surface closest to a detonation. In the case of an explosion above the ground, ''ground zero'' is the point on the ground ...

, the former site of the World Trade Center, which was destroyed in the attacks. **September –

presents a week of programmes from

South Australia South Australia (commonly abbreviated as SA) is a state in the southern central part of Australia. It covers some of the most arid parts of the country. With a total land area of , it is the fourth-largest of Australia's states and territories ...

as part of a promotion in which the station gives away a holiday to the state. **1 November –

launches a dedicated station playing nothing but

Christmas music Christmas music comprises a variety of genres of music regularly performed or heard around the Christmas season. Music associated with Christmas may be purely instrumental, or, in the case of carols or songs, may employ lyrics whose subject ma ...

, under the brand "Smooth Christmas". The station had no news or advertisements but did promote Smooth Radio and broadcast until 27 December 2011. **12 December –

takes

Smooth Radio Breakfast ''Simon Bates at Breakfast'' was the flagship show on Smooth Radio in the United Kingdom from January 2011 to March 2014. It was presented by Simon Bates, who took on the role of the station's breakfast show presenter on 4 January 2011, having le ...

show to

Afghanistan Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan,; prs, امارت اسلامی افغانستان is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. Referred to as the Heart of Asia, it is bordere ...

for a week of programmes with British troops from

Camp Bastion Camp Shorabak (formerly Camp Bastion) is a former British Army airbase, located northwest of the city of Lashkargah in Helmand Province, Afghanistan. The camp was situated in a remote desert area, far from population centres. The camp was built ...

. **23 December – GMG Radio confirms plans to launch a station dedicated to music from the 1970s on trial basis.

Smooth 70s Smooth 70s was a British radio station dedicated to 1970s in music, music from the 1970s. Launched by GMG Radio as a sister station to Smooth Radio (2010), Smooth Radio, it first aired on 27 December 2011, replacing a temporary station GMG had lau ...

will replace ''Smooth Christmas'' on the

Digital One Digital One is a national commercial digital radio multiplex in the United Kingdom, owned by Arqiva. , the multiplex covered more than 90% of the population from 137 transmitters. Coverage was extended to Northern Ireland in July 2013. It conta ...

platform from 27 December. **27 December – Launch of

. *2012 **8 January –

Graham Torrington Graham Torrington (born 1960) is a British radio presenter and broadcaster. Radio work Romantica After starting out as a hospital radio presenter, Torrington joined Birmingham's BRMB in the 1980s to cover an overnight programme for Steve Denni ...

joins the station to host his ''Late Night Love'' show on the network. **12 January –

confirms a deal with US syndication firm

Premiere Networks Premiere Networks (formerly Premiere Radio Networks, shortened as PRN) is an American media company, a wholly owned subsidiary of iHeartMedia, for which it currently serves as its main original radio content distribution and production arm. It ...

to air 1970s editions of the original ''

American Top 40 ''American Top 40'' (previously abbreviated to ''AT40'') is an internationally syndicated, independent song countdown radio program created by Casey Kasem, Don Bustany, Tom Rounds, and Ron Jacobs. The program is currently hosted by Ryan Seacr ...

'' show presented by

Casey Kasem Kemal Amin "Casey" Kasem (April 27, 1932 – June 15, 2014) was an American disc jockey, actor, and radio personality, who created and hosted several radio countdown programs, notably '' American Top 40''. He was the first actor to voice Nor ...

at weekends on its new digital station "

". The station also features ''Disco Lunch'' and ''Late Night Love Songs'' among its weekday programming. **21 March – Smooth Radio announces a deal to begin airing a syndicated show from the United States presented by singer

Donny Osmond Donald Clark "Donny" Osmond (born December 9, 1957) is an American singer, dancer, actor, television host, and former teen idol. He first gained fame performing with four of his elder brothers as the Osmonds, earning several top ten hits and gol ...

from 8 April, replacing Graham Torrington's ''Late Night Love''. Torrington will leave the station, while other changes include ''Drivetime's''

Carlos Carlos may refer to: Places ;Canada * Carlos, Alberta, a locality ;United States * Carlos, Indiana, an unincorporated community * Carlos, Maryland, a place in Allegany County * Carlos, Minnesota, a small city * Carlos, West Virginia ;Elsewhere ...

and afternoon presenter

swapping shows. **8 April – Forces broadcaster

BFBS The British Forces Broadcasting Service (BFBS) provides radio and television programmes for His Majesty's Armed Forces, and their dependents worldwide. Editorial control is independent of the Ministry of Defence and the armed forces themselve ...

simulcasts a two-hour show with Smooth Radio allowing family and friends of serving troops to connect with their loved ones. **14 May – " Jealous of the Angels", a song recorded by US country singer

Jenn Bostic Jenn Bostic (born January 3, 1986 as Jennifer Christiana Bostic) is an American country music and Christian music singer-songwriter, based in Nashville, Tennessee. In 2012, her song " Jealous of the Angels" was released. Her album, ''Jealous'' ...

and inspired by her father, is first played by broadcaster

on his ''

Simon Bates at Breakfast ''Simon Bates at Breakfast'' was the flagship show on Smooth Radio in the United Kingdom from January 2011 to March 2014. It was presented by Simon Bates, who took on the role of the station's breakfast show presenter on 4 January 2011, having le ...

'' show on Smooth Radio as part of the ''

Our Tune ''Our Tune'' is a long-standing feature/segment on British radio presented by broadcaster Simon Bates. Having begun by at least 1979 it was originally part of his mid-morning show on BBC Radio 1, where it aired daily throughout the 1980s and ear ...

'' strand. The song is quickly among the station's Top 10 Most Played for the week, and goes on to receive over two million views on

YouTube YouTube is a global online video platform, online video sharing and social media, social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by ...

. **27 May – Smooth Radio's

presents a special programme ahead of the

Thames Diamond Jubilee Pageant The Thames Diamond Jubilee Pageant was a parade on 3 June 2012 of 670 boats on the Tideway of the River Thames in London as part of the celebrations of the Diamond Jubilee of Elizabeth II. The Queen, Prince Philip and other members of th ...

, previewing

Elizabeth II Elizabeth II (Elizabeth Alexandra Mary; 21 April 1926 – 8 September 2022) was Queen of the United Kingdom and other Commonwealth realms from 6 February 1952 until her death in 2022. She was queen regnant of 32 sovereign states during ...

's journey along the

Thames The River Thames ( ), known alternatively in parts as the River Isis, is a river that flows through southern England including London. At , it is the longest river entirely in England and the second-longest in the United Kingdom, after the R ...

on the

Spirit of Chartwell MV ''Spirit of Chartwell'' is a hotel barge owned and operated by Portuguese holiday company Douro Azul for luxury cruises along the Douro river, Porto, Portugal. Previously owned and operated by the Magna Carta Steamship Company for luxury cru ...

. Given special access to the vessel chosen as the

royal barge A royal barge is a ceremonial barge that is used by a monarch for processions and transport on a body of water. Royal barges are currently used in monarchies such as the United Kingdom, Sweden and Thailand. Traditionally the use of royal barges w ...

he chats to the boat's owner, Philip Morrell as well as composer

Debbie Wiseman Debbie Wiseman, OBE (born 10 May 1963) is a British composer for film and television, known also as a conductor and a radio and television presenter. Biography Wiseman was born in London. She studied at Trinity College of Music Junior Depar ...

who was commissioned to write the music for the event. **11 June –

takes Smooth Radio Breakfast Show to the

Falkland Islands The Falkland Islands (; es, Islas Malvinas, link=no ) is an archipelago in the South Atlantic Ocean on the Patagonian Shelf. The principal islands are about east of South America's southern Patagonian coast and about from Cape Dubouzet ...

for a week of programmes to mark the 30th anniversary of the

Falklands War The Falklands War ( es, link=no, Guerra de las Malvinas) was a ten-week undeclared war between Argentina and the United Kingdom in 1982 over two British dependent territories in the South Atlantic: the Falkland Islands and its territorial de ...

. **25 June –

is sold to

Global Radio Global Media & Entertainment Limited, trading as Global, is a British media company formed in 2007. It is the owner of the largest commercial radio company in Europe having expanded through a number of historical acquisitions, including Chrysa ...

for an undisclosed amount, thought to be around £50m. However, no structural changes will be made to either organisations until the deal has been investigated by Ofcom. **27 August – ***Astrologer

Russell Grant Russell John Dammerall Grant (born 5 February 1951) is a British astrologer and media personality. He has written several books on astrology, provides syndicated newspaper horoscopes and operates premium rate astrology phone lines. In March 20 ...

joins the station to present a one-off programme playing some of his favourite tracks from the 1960s. ***The digital station

counts down its ''Top 70 of the 70s'' chart after inviting listeners to vote for their favourite hit from the decade. The chart, presented by several presenters from the main Smooth Radio station, features

ABBA ABBA ( , , formerly named Björn & Benny, Agnetha & Anni-Frid or Björn & Benny, Agnetha & Frida) are a Swedish supergroup formed in Stockholm in 1972 by Agnetha Fältskog, Björn Ulvaeus, Benny Andersson, and Anni-Frid Lyngstad. The group's ...

's ''

Dancing Queen "Dancing Queen" is a Europop and disco song by the Swedish group ABBA, released as the lead single from their fourth studio album, ''Arrival'' (1976). It was written by Benny Andersson, Björn Ulvaeus and Stig Anderson. Andersson and Ulvaeus al ...

'' as its number one. **5 September –

announces he will leave Smooth Radio in mid-December to focus on his company, Wise Buddah Productions. **12 September – The radio industry news website ''

Radio Today Radio Today is a 24 hours radio station in Bangladesh that started airing in May 2006. It is currently available in Dhaka, Chittagong, Cox's Bazar, Khulna, Bogra, Sylhet, Mymensingh, Barishal, Kushtia, Comilla Comilla (; bn, কুমি ...

'' reports that

has started to present a separate breakfast show for Smooth Radio's sister station,

. The content is " voice tracked" from the main breakfast show. **30 October – Smooth Radio confirms that Smooth Christmas will return, airing on the Digital One multiplex in the lead up to the festive season, giving the brand three stations on the platform. **December –

leaves. **14 December – Real and Smooth have secured exclusive broadcast rights to the "Christmas Hit Factory Live" concert, a show featuring artists and groups who achieved success with the Stock Aitken and Waterman and

PWL Pete Waterman Entertainment (PWE) is the production company one-time pop and dance record label owned by British pop mogul Pete Waterman. The label, originally PWL (Pete Waterman Limited), is most famous for being the home of hit record prod ...

record labels. The event is held on 21 December and is aired on New Year's Eve. **17 December –

takes over Smooth Radio's weekday Mid Morning show from

. David Prever succeeds her as presenter of the weekend Mid Morning slot. *2013 **14 January – Smooth Radio overhauls its schedule. Changes include the introduction of a new movie programme on Saturdays and documentary slot on Sunday afternoons.

Daryl Denham Daryl Denham is a British disc jockey, radio presenter and songwriter. Early career Denham's career started at school, where he was active in producing pop music productions in school concerts, organizing pop quizzes and writing and performing p ...

becomes weekend breakfast presenter as

takes over

's afternoon show. In turn, Carlos succeeds

Andy Peebles Robert Andrew Peebles (born 1948) is a British radio DJ, television presenter, and cricket commentator. Born in London, Peebles attended Bishop's Stortford College. He began as a nightclub DJ in the late 1960s. Peebles was resident DJ at the C ...

as weekday evening presenter, with the latter becoming a weekend presenter. **22 March – In a rare move for a radio station, and to celebrate the 40th anniversary of the release of

Pink Floyd Pink Floyd are an English rock band formed in London in 1965. Gaining an early following as one of the first British psychedelic music, psychedelic groups, they were distinguished by their extended compositions, sonic experimentation, philo ...

's ''

The Dark Side of the Moon ''The Dark Side of the Moon'' is the eighth studio album by the English rock band Pink Floyd, released on 1 March 1973 by Harvest Records. The album was primarily developed during live performances, and the band premiered an early version of ...

plays the album in its entirety. **21 May – The Competition Commission publishes its final report into Global's acquisition of GMG Radio, requiring Global to sell radio stations in seven locations. **8 August – Smooth Radio hires

CBBC CBBC (initialised as Children's BBC and also known as the CBBC Channel) is a British free-to-air Public service broadcasting in the United Kingdom, public broadcast children's television channel owned and operated by the BBC. It is also the bran ...

presenter

Andi Peters Andi Eleazu Peters (born 29 July 1970) is a British television presenter, producer, journalist and voice actor, currently employed by ITV and known for presenting Children's BBC, roles on breakfast TV shows ''Live & Kicking'', ''GMTV'', '' Good ...

to present a Sunday lunchtime show, as he joins the station. **1 October – Smooth Radio is moved to Global Radio's Leicester Square headquarters in London and given a makeover. **3 October – Global Radio announces that Smooth 70s will close less than a week after Smooth programming moved to its London headquarters. **6 October – Actress

Tina Hobley Tina Ellen Hobley (born 20 May 1971) is an English actress and radio presenter, best known for her long-running role as Chrissie Williams in the BBC One medical drama series ''Holby City''. Hobley left Holby City in November 2013 after 12 years. ...

begins presenting a Sunday Morning show on Smooth Radio, as she joins the station. *2014 **8 January – Smooth Radio announces that weekend breakfast presenter

has left the station with immediate effect. His shows will be taken over by

on Saturdays and Eamonn Kelly on Sundays. **4 February – The ''

'' website reports that

Ofcom The Office of Communications, commonly known as Ofcom, is the government-approved regulatory and competition authority for the broadcasting, telecommunications and postal industries of the United Kingdom. Ofcom has wide-ranging powers acros ...

have given

permission to remove Smooth Radio from the

platform, and replace it with a new national station. Under the agreement, Smooth will continue to air on its regional FM frequencies, but with a greater local output. **24 February – Plans are announced for Smooth Radio's relaunch, which will begin from 3 March. The changes will see the departure of several presenters, including

and

, while Andrew Castle,

Kate Garraway Kathryn Mary Draper Garraway (born 4 May 1967) is an English broadcaster and journalist. In the 1990s, Garraway was a journalist for ITV News Central and later a co-presenter of ITV News Meridian. From 2000 to 2010, she co-presented GMTV. Cu ...

and

Myleene Klass Myleene Angela Klass (born 6 April 1978) is a British musician, singer, presenter, model and businesswoman. She was a member of the pop group Hear'Say, and later released two solo classical crossover albums in 2003 and 2007. More recently, Klass ...

will join the lineup. Castle will be the station's new breakfast presenter in London, while Garraway will take over Parsons' mid-morning show. Klass will present a weekend show. **24 March – ***Smooth Radio returns to airing local output on its regional frequencies, with local programming for Breakfast and Drivetime, and a raft of new presenters joining the network. ***Smooth Radio replaces

Gold Gold is a chemical element with the symbol Au (from la, aurum) and atomic number 79. This makes it one of the higher atomic number elements that occur naturally. It is a bright, slightly orange-yellow, dense, soft, malleable, and ductile met ...

on MW across southern England. **6 April – Smooth Radio launches a multi-million ad campaign featuring

Michael Bublé Michael Steven Bublé ( ; born September 9, 1975) is a Canadian singer. A four-time Grammy Award winner, he is often credited for helping to renew public interest and appreciation for traditional pop standards and the Great American Songboo ...

. **15 November – Smooth Christmas returns to DAB in preparation for the launch of a new station with the Smooth brand. **27 December – Launch of Smooth Extra on DAB. *2015 **15 May – Smooth Berkshire and North Hampshire closes. *2016 **19 February – Smooth Bristol and Bath closes because the land which houses the transmitter is sold to developers. **1 June – A previous jingle package produced for Smooth Radio has been re-recorded for United Arab Emirates station 92 Smooth by Salford-based Ignight Jingles. *2017 **1 October – Smooth Radio hires former Magic presenter Gary Vincent to present its evening programme. He succeeds Chris Skinner from 2 October, as Chris himself leaves the station and as Gary himself joins the station. *2018 **5 March – Following Global Radio's purchase of

Lakeland Radio Smooth Lake District is an Independent Local Radio station for the Lakes, owned and operated by Global and part of the Smooth network. Overview Originally known as Lakeland Radio, the station broadcasts from transmitters at Kendal on 100.1&nbs ...

from the

CN Group CN Group Limited was formerly an independent local media business based in Carlisle, Cumbria, England, operating in print and radio. It is now owned by Newsquest and their newspapers are printed in Glasgow. The company was formerly known as t ...

, the station is relaunched as

Smooth Lake District Smooth Lake District is an Independent Local Radio station for the Lakes, owned and operated by Global and part of the Smooth network. Overview Originally known as Lakeland Radio, the station broadcasts from transmitters at Kendal on 100.1 ...

at 6am. **18 March – Andrew Castle presents his final show as he leaves the station, He is replaced the following week by Gary Vincent. **28 May – Smooth Radio launches ''The Smooth Late Show'', a nightly show that is presented by

Martin Collins Martin may refer to: Places * Martin City (disambiguation) * Martin County (disambiguation) * Martin Township (disambiguation) Antarctica * Martin Peninsula, Marie Byrd Land * Port Martin, Adelie Land * Point Martin, South Orkney Islands Austral ...

on weekdays and Danny Pietroni at weekends. *2019 **26 February –

announces plans to replace the regional breakfast shows on

Capital Capital may refer to: Common uses * Capital city, a municipality of primary status ** List of national capital cities * Capital letter, an upper-case letter Economics and social sciences * Capital (economics), the durable produced goods used f ...

Heart The heart is a muscular organ in most animals. This organ pumps blood through the blood vessels of the circulatory system. The pumped blood carries oxygen and nutrients to the body, while carrying metabolic waste such as carbon dioxide t ...

and

Smooth Smooth may refer to: Mathematics * Smooth function, a function that is infinitely differentiable; used in calculus and topology * Smooth manifold, a differentiable manifold for which all the transition maps are smooth functions * Smooth algebrai ...

with a single national breakfast show for each network. Capital's new breakfast show will launch in April, with the others following later in the year. The number of regional drivetime shows will also be reduced. **1 March – Launch of Smooth Country. ** August –

Nikki Bedi Nikhila Bedi (; '' née'' Moolgaoker; 9 September 1966) is a British television and radio presenter, born to an Indian father of Maharashtrian origin and an English mother. Married to Kabir Bedi from 1992 to 2005, she retained her married name ...

joins. ** 2 September – Smooth's networked Drivetime show, presented by

Angie Greaves Angie Greaves (born in London) is a British radio presenter. Radio career Greaves started her media career in 1982 as a BBC Administrator at Television Centre. In 1986 she moved to London's Capital Radio, where she began working on the radio afte ...

, launches. At the same time, the number of breakfast shows drops to seven. ** 3 September – *** Smooth Country gets its first carriage on DAB multiplexes. *** Smooth Chill launches, replacing the long-standing Chill radio station.

2020s

*2020 **3 January –

Jenni Falconer Jenni Falconer (born 12 February 1976) is a Scottish radio and television presenter. She appears on the ITV daytime show '' This Morning'' as a regular travel reporter and was a regular presenter of the National Lottery Draws on BBC One. She w ...

joins to present ''Smooth Breakfast'' for London and nationwide on Smooth Extra. ** 12 March – Smooth Extra ceases broadcasting at midnight – it is replaced by a full-time national 'Smooth UK' feed. ** 16 October – Smooth Radio switches off its mediumwave frequencies in Cardiff and Newport because the site from which they are transmitted is being redeveloped. ** 3 November – Smooth Radio switches off its mediumwave frequencies in Luton and Bedford. *2021 **17 July – Former

Sky Sports News Sky Sports News (SSN) is a British pay television, paid television sports news channel run by Sky Limited, Sky, a division of Comcast. History Since 1992, Sky Sports had broadcast sports news, initially a brief ''Football Update'' and lat ...

presenter

Kirsty Gallacher Kirsty Jane Gallacher (born 20 January 1976) is a Scottish television presenter and model. She began her career at Sky Sports News in 1998 and hosted '' Kirsty's Home Videos'', '' RI:SE'' and '' Simply the Best'' before returning to Sky Sports ...

joins to present the Saturday afternoon show. *2022 **No events. *2023 **25 January – Smooth Radio undergoes a "brand refresh", with a new logo and strapline. "Your relaxing music mix" is replaced by "Always the best music". ** 30 June – As part of

's strategy to switch of its mediumwave frequencies, Smooth Radio's AM frequencies in Dorset, Essex, Gloucestershire, Norfolk, Suffolk, Wiltshire and Plymouth are switched off.

Notes

References

{{Smooth Radio Smooth Radio Smooth Radio