Virgin Radio UK live

Virgin Radio UK is News UK's national rock and pop station, built around big-name presenters and a playlist of guitar-led classics and current tracks. It reached around 1.9 million listeners a week in April 2026, according to RAJAR. The brand has an unusually complicated history. The original Virgin Radio launched in 1993 as one of Britain's first national commercial stations, broadcasting on AM, and passed through several owners — including Chris Evans's Ginger Media — before it was renamed Absolute Radio in 2008 and the Virgin name disappeared from British radio. It came back on 30 March 2016 as a new digital station with no connection to the old licence. The most prominent link between the two eras is Chris Evans, who joined the relaunched station as its breakfast presenter in January 2019, after thirteen years at BBC Radio 2. The rest of the schedule includes Emma B, Ben Jones, Geoff Lloyd, Goldierocks and Huey Morgan, who joined in January 2026. The brand runs a family of spin-offs: Virgin Radio Chilled, launched in December 2018; Virgin Radio Legends, renamed from Virgin Radio Anthems in March 2025; Virgin Radio 80s, renamed from 80s Plus in September 2025; and Virgin Radio 90s, launched in March 2026. Virgin Radio UK is on DAB+ on the Sound Digital multiplex, which covers around 83% of the UK population, and on Sky, Freesat and online.