BBC Radio 1 Relax was a British online-only radio stream, owned and operated by the

BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...

and ran as a spin-off from

BBC Radio 1 BBC Radio 1 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. It specialises in modern popular music and Contemporary hit radio, current chart hits throughout the day. The station provides alternative genres at night, including ...

. The station played a selection of relaxation and

well-being Well-being is what is Intrinsic value (ethics), ultimately good for a person. Also called "welfare" and "quality of life", it is a measure of how well life is going for someone. It is a central goal of many individual and societal endeavors. ...

focused shows, and broadcast exclusively on

BBC Sounds BBC Sounds is an Over-the-top media service, over-the-top audio streaming media, streaming and download service from the BBC that includes live radio broadcasts, Streaming media, audio on demand, and podcasts. The service is available on a wide ...

. The stream closed on 24 July 2024, three years after launching.

History and launch

In September 2020, the BBC announced that a new stream named Radio 1 Dance would launch on

on 9 October 2020, with a four-hour simulcast on Radio 1 and Radio 1 Dance. As part of the BBC's Annual Plan 2021/22 released in March 2021, the corporation announced plans to launch "a new stream of content to help young audiences, in particular, to manage stress and wellbeing through music and speech content". Following this, on 22 April 2021, the BBC announced that Radio 1 Relax would launch that evening, coinciding with

Earth Day Earth Day is an annual event on April 22 to demonstrate support for environmental protection. First held on April 22, 1970, it now includes a wide range of events coordinated globally through earthday.org (formerly Earth Day Network) includin ...

2021, from 17:00, with

Annie Mac Annie Macmanus (born 18 July 1978), known professionally as Annie Mac, is an Irish DJ, broadcaster and writer. She hosted a variety of shows on BBC Radio 1, including BBC Switch and ''Future Sounds''. She also DJed in various locations, includ ...

and

Nick Grimshaw Nicholas Peter Andrew Grimshaw (born 14 August 1984), nicknamed "Grimmy", is an English broadcaster and author. He became known for having hosted a variety of shows on BBC Radio 1. He is also known as a television presenter for his Channel 4 rol ...

hosting the first hour together, followed by ''Radio 1's Power Down Playlist'' at 18:00 and ''Radio 1's Chillest Show'' with

Sian Eleri Sian Eleri Evans (born 12 November 1994) is a Welsh radio DJ and television presenter. She is best known for presenting her shows on BBC Radio 1, Selector Radio and Radio Cymru. Early life Eleri is from Caernarfon. She studied broadcast journ ...

at 20:00. In 2024, the BBC announced the launch of three new digital stations on BBC Sounds and the BBC's existing

DAB+ Digital Audio Broadcasting (DAB) is a digital radio international standard, standard for broadcasting digital audio radio services in many countries around the world, defined, supported, marketed and promoted by the WorldDAB organisation. T ...

allocation. These include the expansion of sister station Radio 1 Dance which will launch on DAB+, along with new expanded stations for Radio 1, Radio 2 and Radio 3. As part of this announcement, the BBC said it will "stop curating content for its second existing music stream, Radio 1 Relax, which was launched during the pandemic". As part of ''Radio 1's Chillest Show'' on 21 July 2024,

announced that Radio 1 Relax would close on 24 July. She said "it's been a real safe space that we set up in lockdown, ..it is coming to an end this Wednesday 4 July End of an era." Eleri hosted the final show on that day alongside Jess Iszatt on the stream.

Programming

Programming on the stream was repeated wellbeing and relaxation shows from

and

. Radio 1 Relax occasionally simulcasted with Radio 1 on a bank holiday where Stuart Sandeman, Jess Iszatt and

presented the daytime shows (7 am to 6 pm). Radio 1 regularly adjusted the scheduled programming based on current series across BBC Sounds. Previous series repeated on Radio 1 Relax included ''Radio 1's Motivate Me Mix'', ''Radio 1 Relax & Chill'', ''Radio 1's Movie Mixtapes'' with Ali Plumb, * * * * * * * * * * * * ''Get Set with Radio 1'' with Adrienne Adhami, ''

1Xtra BBC Radio 1Xtra is a British digital radio in the United Kingdom, digital radio station owned and operated by the BBC. It broadcasts Black music and Urban contemporary music, urban music, including Hip hop music, hip hop and Contemporary R&B, ...

's R&B Chill Mix'' with

Nadia Jae Nadia Jae is a radio presenter on 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 ...

, ''Gameplay'' with Baby Queen (from

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 ...

) and ''Tearjerker'' with

Sigrid Sigrid is a Scandinavian given name for women from Old Norse ''Sigríðr'', composed of the elements ''sigr'' "victory" and ''fríðr'' "beautiful". Common short forms include Siri, Sigga, Sig, and Sigi. An Estonian and Finnish variant is Sii ...

(from BBC Radio 3).

References

{{BBC Radio 1

Relax Relax or RELAX may refer to: Albums * ''Relax'' (album), by Das Racist, 2011 * ''Relax'', by Blank & Jones, 2003 * ''Relax'', by Los Piratas, 2003 Songs * "Relax" (Deetah song), 1998 * "Relax" (Frankie Goes to Hollywood song), 1983 * "Relax ...

Digital-only radio stations 1 Relax Radio stations established in 2021 Radio stations disestablished in 2024 2021 establishments in the United Kingdom 2024 disestablishments in the United Kingdom Defunct radio stations in the United Kingdom

History and launch

Programming

See also

References