BBC Radio 2 extension plans to be 60 per cent speech led programming

The BBC has outlined revised plans for the BBC Radio 2 and BBC Radio 5 Live extensions and submitted the proposals to Ofcom.

The plans have been significantly redeveloped in response to the consultation feedback from the audio industry to expand their distinctiveness and reduce their potential impact on the market.

As part of the ‘Public Interest Test’ processes to launch the music extensions as radio stations and extend Radio 5 Sports Extra, the updated proposals have now been signed off by the BBC Board.

They are today passed on to Ofcom for the regulatory process to continue over the next six to seven months, as outlined in the BBC’s Charter and Agreement.

The un-named BBC Radio 2 extension would have 60 per cent speech led programming, made up of added news bulletins and documentaries.

Music would remain from the 50s, 60s and 70s, with at least 6,000 unique tracks a year, including lesser-known album tracks.

A new partnership with the BBC’s local and national radio stations will be made to tell the story of the significance of the music of their specific regions across the UK and an increased volume of archive content, with 20 per cent of the schedule drawing on the BBC’s archive of specially recorded songs, sessions and interviews.

The schedule would include:

An ‘archive show’ every weekday over three hours, surfacing the biggest stars of British music and their live performances at the BBC

A ‘legends show’ every weekday for an hour, drawing on the BBC archive to tell the stories of key artists and groups of the decades

A ‘culture show’ every weekday over three hours, dedicated to new interviews with cultural figures who will relay their memories, shedding new light on the 50s, 60s and 70s, or share their specialist knowledge for a particular aspect of the music and culture of the period

Radio 2 archive shows, revisiting the work of the legends of broadcasting and showcasing past programmes, including bringing the definitive history of pop with 100 episodes of Pick of the Pops, not heard since they were originally broadcast. The show, which will be celebrating 70 years on air in October 2025, would bring iconic tracks from the past seven decades to listeners, fronted by the likes of Tony Blackburn and Alan Freeman.

Simulcasts of Sounds of the 60s with Tony Blackburn, and Sounds of the 70s with Bob Harris, will also air.

At 5 Live, the hours for the new service will be reduced following feedback from the radio industry. The new station would broadcast from 9am till 7pm instead of the proposed 6am till 10.30pm.

This means Radio 5 Sports Extra is not on air during key hours of commercial radio in the mornings and evenings, when they reach sizable audiences outside of live sport commentary.

The updated proposal also removes the plans to simulcast wider Radio 5 Live content on Radio 5 Sports Extra that is not live sports commentary.

In the last few months, Radio 1 Anthems, Radio 3 Unwind and an expanded Radio 1 Dance have launched on BBC Sounds as music streams without the need for consultations.