Virgin Radio UK is a national

Hot Adult Contemporary Adult contemporary music (AC) is a form of radio-played popular music, ranging from 1960s vocal and 1970s soft rock music to predominantly ballad-heavy music of the present day, with varying degrees of easy listening, pop, soul, R&B, quiet ...

radio station in the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...

that launched on 30 March 2016, owned by

Wireless Group Wireless Group Limited is a radio and digital broadcasting network with headquarters in Belfast, Northern Ireland and with radio operations in the Republic of Ireland and the United Kingdom. It currently operates five stations in Ireland and ...

which is itself a subsidiary of News Corp. It is the second incarnation of Virgin Radio in the UK: the original station launched in 1993 before being rebranded as

Absolute Radio Absolute Radio is a British National radio station owned and operated by Bauer as part of the Absolute Radio Network. It broadcasts nationally across the UK via Digital audio broadcasting and on 1215 kHz MW. History 1993–1997: Virg ...

in 2008. As of September 2022, the station has a weekly audience of 1.3 million listeners according to RAJAR.

History

The station launched at 11:00 on 30 March 2016 on a

Virgin Trains Virgin Trains (legal name West Coast Trains Limited) was a train operating company in the United Kingdom owned by Virgin Rail Group, a joint venture between Virgin Group and Stagecoach, which operated the InterCity West Coast franchise from 9 ...

service from

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 ...

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

Edith Bowman Edith Eleanor Smith (born January 1974) is a Scottish radio DJ and television presenter. She hosted '' Colin and Edith'', weekday afternoons, weekend breakfast, and ''The Radio 1 Review'' on BBC Radio 1 until 2014 and has presented a variety of ...

and

Matt Richardson Matthew Jeffrey Richardson (born 28 May 1991) is an English comedian and broadcaster, known as a co-presenter on the ITV2 spin-off show '' The Xtra Factor'' with Caroline Flack in 2013. In 2016, Richardson became the drive time presenter on the ...

and the first song played was a live cover version of

David Bowie David Robert Jones (8 January 194710 January 2016), known professionally as David Bowie ( ), was an English singer-songwriter and actor. A leading figure in the music industry, he is regarded as one of the most influential musicians of the ...

's song "

Changes Changes may refer to: Books * ''Changes'', the 12th novel in Jim Butcher's ''The Dresden Files'' Series * ''Changes'', a novel by Danielle Steel * ''Changes'', a trilogy of novels on which the BBC TV series was based, written by Peter Dickinson ...

" by Gavin James. At launch, Virgin Radio UK broadcast to about 75% of the UK population 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 ...

DAB ensemble, and also broadcasts via online

streaming Streaming media is multimedia that is delivered and consumed in a continuous manner from a source, with little or no intermediate storage in network elements. ''Streaming'' refers to the delivery method of content, rather than the content it ...

to computers, mobile device applications and internet radios. It cannot be received outside of the UK. The broadcasts are presented live from 04:00 to 01:00, and then music is played back-to-back overnight with pre-recorded announcements from rotating presenters from the day. On 3 September 2018, Chris Evans announced that from January 2019 he would be moving to Virgin Radio after 13 years of broadcasting 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. ...

. He launched his new breakfast show on 21 January 2019. On 7 January 2019, Virgin Radio joined the Sky and Freesat satellite platforms. In January 2021

Graham Norton Graham William Walker (born 4 April 1963), better known by his stage name Graham Norton, is an Irish actor, author, comedian, commentator, and presenter. Well known for his work in the UK, he is a five-time BAFTA TV Award winner for his comedy ...

started a weekend show after 10 years at Radio 2. As with Chris Evans' show, it is distinguished by not having advertisements due to being wholly sponsored.

Sister stations

Wireless launched two new Virgin-branded

DAB+ DAB, dab, dabs, or dabbing may refer to: Dictionaries * ''Dictionary of American Biography'', published under the auspices of the American Council of Learned Societies * ''Dictionary of Australian Biography'', published since 1949 Places * Dąb, ...

spin-off stations on 21 December 2018. Virgin Radio Anthems plays guitar-based classics from the 1980s and 1990s. Virgin Radio Chilled features acoustic singer-songwriters and is designed to unwind and relax. Both stations broadcast ''

The Chris Evans Breakfast Show ''The Chris Evans Breakfast Show'' (currently referred to on-air due to sponsorship reasons as ''The Chris Evans Breakfast Show with Sky'') is the name given to two versions of a radio programme hosted by broadcaster Chris Evans in the United ...

''. When Virgin Anthems launched in December 2018, the station changed its slogan to "The Chris Evans Breakfast Show and Classic Tracks". On 30 December 2019, Virgin Radio UK launched a third digital spin-off station

Virgin Radio Groove Virgin Radio Groove was a digital radio station in the UK, broadcasting on DAB and online and is a sister station to Virgin Radio UK. History The original Virgin Radio Groove operated between 2000 and 2008, playing motown, soul and disco mu ...

on DAB+. It consists of

motown Motown Records is an American record label owned by the Universal Music Group. It was founded by Berry Gordy Jr. as Tamla Records on June 7, 1958, and incorporated as Motown Record Corporation on April 14, 1960. Its name, a portmanteau of ''moto ...

soul In many religious and philosophical traditions, there is a belief that a soul is "the immaterial aspect or essence of a human being". Etymology The Modern English noun ''soul'' is derived from Old English ''sāwol, sāwel''. The earliest attes ...

and

disco Disco is a genre of dance music and a subculture that emerged in the 1970s from the United States' urban nightlife scene. Its sound is typified by four-on-the-floor beats, syncopated basslines, string sections, brass and horns, electric pia ...

music and broadcasts ''

'' at breakfast. In June 2021 a temporary station launched for the

LGBTQ+ ' is an initialism that stands for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender. In use since the 1990s, the initialism, as well as some of its common variants, functions as an umbrella term for sexuality and gender identity. The LGBT term is ...

community, Virgin Radio Pride; It featured many different programmes and documentaries presented by a wide variety of presenters. Virgin Radio Pride returned for a second run during summer 2022. On 1 September 2022, the sister station Virgin Radio 80s Plus was launched, which play the artists from the 1980s, plus the best music from the late 1970s and early 1990s. Virgin Radio 80s Plus can be heard online, on smart speakers across the UK and on DAB in Greater London and the Central Belt of Scotland. It replaces Virgin Radio Pride on DAB radio.

Notable presenters

Current presenters

* Bam * Vicki Blight * Tim Cocker * Chris Evans * Ben Jones * Maria McErlane * Stu Elmore * James Merritt * Nick Jackson *

Jayne Middlemiss Jayne Middlemiss (born 3 February 1971) is an English television and radio presenter. She began presenting music television shows such as ''The O-Zone'' and ''Top of the Pops'' in the mid-1990s, before presenting a variety of other television and ...

Eddy Temple-Morris Edward Owen Kayvan Temple-Morris (born 26 April 1965 in Cardiff) is a British DJ, record producer and TV presenter. He hosted London radio station XFM's specialist show ''The Remix'' for 15 years,Amy Voce Amy Voce is an English broadcaster, formerly of Gem 106 and currently broadcasting on Virgin Radio UK and its sister station Virgin Radio Chilled. Voce is best known for her on-air work with Sam Pinkham, presenting the ''Sam and Amy'' breakfast ...

* Steve Denyer * Sean Goldsmith * Olivia Jones * Rich Williams * Ricky Wilson (2023)

Former presenters

Jon Holmes Jon Holmes (born 24 April 1973) is a British comedian, writer, presenter and broadcaster known for his work on such programmes as ''The Now Show'', '' Listen Against'' (for BBC Radio 4), along with both music and spoken word radio. He has ap ...

Iain Lee Iain Lee (born Iain Lee Rougvie; 9 June 1973) is an English broadcaster, writer, and former television presenter and stand-up comedian who hosts the phone-in talk show '' The Late Night Alternative'' on "pay to view" Patreon. Lee's career began ...

Russell Kane Russell Kane (born Russell David Anthony Grineau; 19 August 1975) is an English writer, comedian, and actor. He has 4 times been nominated at the Edinburgh Comedy Awards, winning the Best Comedy Show award in 2010. Although known mainly for st ...

Angela Scanlon Angela Marie Scanlon (born 29 December 1983) is an Irish television presenter and broadcaster for RTÉ and the BBC. She initially broadcast on Irish television, presenting a number of programmes on RTÉ including the documentary ''Oi Ginger!'' ...

Inel Tomlinson Inel Tomlinson is an actor, TV personality and stand-up comedian from London, best known for being one half of Johnny and Inel alongside Johnny Cochrane, the UK's first black comedy double act. As part of Johnny and Inel, the duo are well know ...

Jamie East Jamie Alexander East (born 27 March 1974) is an English television presenter, broadcaster, journalist and singer-songwriter. Career He was the lead singer of the band The Beekeepers, who signed to Beggars Banquet in the late 1990s. They reforme ...

* Pete Mitchell * Scott Hughes * Debbie Mac * Chris Brooks *

Kate Lawler Kate Lawler (born 7 May 1980) is an English television personality, presenter, model and DJ. She became the first female winner of ''Big Brother UK'' after winning the third series of the reality series in 2002. Since ''Big Brother'', she has ...

Sam Pinkham Sam, SAM or variants may refer to: Places * Sam, Benin * Sam, Boulkiemdé, Burkina Faso * Sam, Bourzanga, Burkina Faso * Sam, Kongoussi, Burkina Faso * Sam, Iran * Sam, Teton County, Idaho, United States, a populated place People and fictional ...

* Christian Williams *

Gaby Roslin Gaby Roslin (born 12 July 1964) is an English television and radio presenter who rose to fame co-presenting ''The Big Breakfast'' on Channel 4 between 1992 and 1996. Roslin also presented the '' Children in Need'' charity telethons on the BBC ...

External links

* * * * *

References

{{Virgin Group Radio stations established in 2016 Virgin Radio Wireless Group 2016 establishments in the United Kingdom