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76 EVERGREEN Autumn<br />
The Radio Times cover announcing the<br />
station’s launch.<br />
show broadcast from an 80-foot<br />
mobile stage based on articulated<br />
lorries, alongside a huge outdoor<br />
screen. Numbers attending the<br />
event grew to approximately half a<br />
million. The last Roadshow took<br />
place at Heaton Park, Manchester,<br />
in 1999. The event was replaced by<br />
the Radio One Big Weekend, which<br />
travels to different locations around<br />
the country each year. The tickets<br />
for this are free making it the biggest<br />
free music festival in Europe.<br />
Matthew Bannister, who took<br />
over from Johnny Beerling in<br />
October 1993, wanted to take the<br />
station back to its roots and make it<br />
more appealing to younger listeners.<br />
Although the station began with this<br />
intention, the original young listeners<br />
were now older. In January 1995<br />
any music recorded before 1990 was<br />
banned from the daytime playlist.<br />
The development of technology<br />
has had a positive effect on the radio<br />
including the launch of the station<br />
on DAB in 2002. It is now available<br />
on many different devices enabling<br />
people to listen wherever they<br />
are, at whatever time of day — or<br />
night. Sky, Virgin and Freeview all<br />
broadcast radio stations and social<br />
media followers can also access the<br />
radio on Twitter or Facebook. Times<br />
have certainly changed!<br />
Radio One has developed<br />
immensely since its launch 50 years<br />
ago. Disc jockeys have come and<br />
gone, and the station has gone from<br />
strength to strength. From being<br />
available only at certain times in<br />
its early days, it now has 24-hour<br />
coverage in countless different ways.<br />
As well as music, the station has<br />
regular news and current affairs<br />
reports throughout the day. Radio<br />
One is based in Broadcasting House,<br />
London, although it has regional<br />
centres around the country. Today, as<br />
it celebrates 50 years of broadcasting,<br />
Radio One is among the most<br />
popular stations; even royalty tune in<br />
as Prince William admitted when he<br />
and his wife, Catherine, spoke about<br />
the Heads Together charity on the<br />
Scott Mills Afternoon Show earlier<br />
this year.<br />
Happy 50th birthday, Radio One!<br />
GERALDINE MILLER
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