BBC Radio One live

BBC Radio 1 is the BBC's national station for new music and young listeners. It reaches around seven million people a week, according to RAJAR figures from May 2026, and for most of its history it has been the place where British pop careers are made. It went on air at 7am on 30 September 1967, created to win back the audience that pirate stations had drawn away from the BBC. Tony Blackburn opened it with "Flowers in the Rain" by The Move, and several of the pirate DJs were hired for the launch. Nearly six decades on it still plays the current chart alongside new releases, dance, hip-hop and alternative music, and it carries Newsbeat bulletins aimed at the same audience. The breakfast show has been presented by Greg James since August 2018. Vick Hope presents drivetime, and Jack Saunders presents The Official Chart on Friday afternoons. BBC Introducing, the Live Lounge — whose YouTube channel has more than seven million subscribers — and the annual Big Weekend festival are among its best-known strands. Radio 1 has two digital sister stations, Radio 1 Dance and Radio 1 Anthems, plus 1Xtra for hip-hop, R&B and grime. It broadcasts on 97–99 FM across the UK, on DAB, on digital television and on BBC Sounds. The stream on this page is the BBC's international feed.