This is a list of notable events in the timeline of digital radio in the United Kingdom.
1990s 1990 The BBC begins experimental transmissions of the DAB Eureka 147 standard from the Crystal Palace transmitting station.
1995 27 September – The BBC begins regular Digital Audio Broadcasting from five transmitters around London including Crystal Palace, Reigate Hill, Alexandra Palace, Guildford and Bluebell Hill using an innovative technique to automatically synchronise all of the transmitters - all previous networks had used manual timing compensation.The launch date was coordinated with the launch of the Swedish DAB service in Stockholm.
1996 The Broadcasting Act of 1996 allows the introduction of national, regional and local commercial ensembles in the United Kingdom.
1997 The first in-car DAB radios go on sale, at a cost of around £800.
1998 24 March – The Radio Authority advertises the first national commercial DAB multiplex. The Authority stipulates that the three analogue Independent National Radio stations will have a guaranteed berth on the multiplex. The licence is awarded to the sole applicant, GWR Group and NTL Broadcast, to operate as Digital One. 1 October – Sky Digital launches and the new service carries a range of audio channels, including a number of radio stations. However rival digital television platform OnDigital does not carry any radio services when it launches a few weeks later.
1999 10 May – The Radio Authority licenses the first local DAB multiplex. It for the Birmingham ensemble and is licensed to CE Digital. Each local multiplex operator has to carry the area's BBC Local Radio station. However, the same guarantee is not given for the area's analogue commercial stations. The Birmingham ensemble licence award is followed by awards for licences in Manchester, Greater London, Glasgow and South Yorkshire. 15 November – Britain's first national commercial DAB digital radio multiplex, Digital One, goes on air to England, and parts of Scotland and Wales. The stations carried at launch include the three national commercial AM/FM services – Classic FM, Virgin Radio (now Absolute) and Talk Radio UK (now Talksport) – along with two new digital-first stations – fresh pop service Core and adult classic rock station Planet Rock, both then under the ownership of Classic FM's then parent (and Digital One shareholder) GWR Group. Digital One would extend its station lineup and transmission area over subsequent years, and became available to Northern Ireland from 2013 (following the completion of digital television switchover in the UK and Republic of Ireland the prior autumn).
2000s 2000 2 May – Oneword begins broadcasting on Digital One. 26 June – The Groove begins broadcasting. 1 August – ITN News Radio launches on the Digital One multiplex. 16 October – PrimeTime Radio begins broadcasting on Digital One. It provides a music service aimed at the over 50s. The first hi-fi DAB tuners go on sale, at a cost of around £2,000. 14 November – BBC Parliament's audio feed on the BBC's national multiplex is closed down.
2001 Digital News Network launches to provide rolling news for the regional DAB multiplexes then licensed in England and Wales.
2002 2 February – BBC Radio 5 Live Sports Extra is launched. It is the first of five digital only radio stations that the BBC will launch in 2002. 11 March – BBC 6 Music is launched. 16 August – BBC Radio 1Xtra launches. 28 October – BBC Asian Network launches on DAB as a national station. 30 October – Digital terrestrial television service Freeview launches. The BBC stations carried are its five digital stations plus BBC Radio 5 Live and the BBC World Service. Five commercial stations - Smash Hits, Kerrang! and Kiss, oneword and 102.2 Jazz FM - also appear on Freeview on this day. Previous DTT operator ITV Digital had never carried radio stations. 15 December – BBC 7 is launched. Unknown – Smash Hits Radio begins broadcasting. The cost of digital radios falls below £100 for the first time following the launch of Pure Digital's Evoke series of radios.
2003 1 January – A station named The Hits, carrying the audio of the Box Plus Network television channel of the same name, appears on DAB in London. 14 February – BBC Radio 1, Radio 2, Radio 3 and Radio 4 FM start broadcasting on Freeview. They broadcast on multiplex A as there is not enough room for them on multiplex B, on which the other BBC stations are carried. 1 April – The Hits on DAB switches away from the TV audio and becomes a dedicated radio stream, playing contemporary pop hits. 1 July – The rolling news service on Digital One, provided by ITN, stops broadcasting. 6 December – Bloomberg stops broadcasting on Digital One.
2004 April – The Hits is removed from Emap's local DAB multiplexes in favour of Kerrang! Radio. 1 May – KMFM Extra begins broadcasting across Kent.
2005 Chill begins broadcasting.
2006 2 June – Primetime Radio closes after six years on air. 10 July – Yorkshire Radio begins broadcasting. August – Digital News Network is absorbed into LBC by the then sole owner Chrysalis and LBC is now heard on the MXR regional multiplexes. The service is reduced and moved from its Birmingham home and into Chrysalis London. Regional news bulletins on DAB continue until the end of 2008. December – Ofcom begins advertising local DAB multiplexes as many areas of the UK still did not have a local multiplex, with the first to cover Hertfordshire, Bedfordshire and Buckinghamshire. These are the first new multiplexes to be offered since Ofcom took over as regulator of radio in the UK at the end of 2003 and ten further areas were advertised during 2007. However these multiplexes did not launch until the early 2010s. 25 December – theJazz begins broadcasting on Digital One.Xmas Day launch for GCap Jazz . Published by Radio Today on November 28, 2006. Accessed December 18, 2009.GCap Media inc Regulatory Announcement. Published by the London Stock Exchange on November 28, 2006. Accessed December 18, 2009
2007 January – The Channel 4 Radio brand is launched by Channel 4.Channel 4 to challenge the BBC in digital radio , DTG News, 7 June 2006 27 March – Country music station 3C closes after eight years on air.
2008 11 January – Birdsong Radio launches on the Digital One platform following the closure of Oneword. The station features recording of birdsong, a device first employed in 1992 as a test transmission for Classic FM. Another of the original Digital One stations, Core Radio, stops broadcasting. 12 January – The Forces Station BFBS begins a trial period of broadcasting nationwide across the UK on DAB from midnight. The trial ran until 23:59 on 31 March 2008, and audience research carried out during this time concluded that it was successful. BFBS subsequently returned to DAB Digital Radio on a permanent basis. 31 March – Following its decision to exit digital broadcasting, GCap closes theJazz and Capital Life. To compensate, for the next few months, two hours of jazz music are broadcast each night on Classic FM. 4 April – Virgin Radio Groove closes after eight years on air. 6 May – Freesat launches and carries all the BBC's national and regional digital radio stations as well as BBC London 94.9 from day one. 11 October – The closure of Channel 4 Radio is announced.
2009 1 June – Birdsong Radio, a digital radio station broadcast from 2008 as a filler on the Digital One platform following the closure of Oneword, goes off air with the launch of Amazing Radio. 21 September – Premier Christian Radio launches on Digital One. 4 December – Absolute 80s launches.
2010s 2010 24 May – Absolute 80s launches on Digital One, broadcasting in mono. 21 June – Absolute Radio 90s launches. 12 July – NME Radio stops broadcasting on Digital One.ukdigitalradio: News – NME Radio Stops Broadcasting on DAB Digital Radio 16 July – Absolute Radio Extra begins broadcasting. It is a part time station broadcasting on Saturday afternoons as an alternative to football commentary. 10 December – Absolute Radio 00s begins broadcasting.
2011 1 November – GMG Radio launches a dedicated station playing nothing but Christmas music, under the brand "Smooth Christmas". The station had no news or advertisements but did promote Smooth Radio and broadcast until 27 December 2011. 22 November – Absolute Radio 60s launches, followed one week later by the launch of Absolute Radio 70s. 23 December – GMG Radio confirms plans to launch a station dedicated to music from the 1970s on trial basis and four days later Smooth 70s replaces Smooth Christmas on the Digital One platform.
2012 15 May – Amazing Radio leaves the DAB multiplex after a contractual dispute with Digital One owners Arqiva, but continues to broadcast online. 25 June – KMFM Extra closes and is replaced on DAB by the new-countywide KMFM. 27 July-12 August – The 2012 Summer Olympics take place and BBC Radio 5 Live operates a temporary station – 5 Live Olympics Extra – to provide additional coverage of the Games. 25 September – It is announced that the MXR multiplexes will close between July and September 2013 after the shareholders Global Radio &and Arqiva decided not to renew the licences. Digital Radio UK stated that the released frequencies of the closed regional multiplexes will be reused for local DAB coverage roll-out. 30 October – Smooth Radio confirms that Smooth Christmas will return, airing on the Digital One multiplex in the lead up to the festive season, giving the brand three stations on the platform. It launches two days later. 27 December – Kiss 100 launches on the Digital One national DAB multiplex.
2013 3 January – It is reported that Gaydar Radio owner QSoft Consulting will leave the radio business and hand its DAB licences to Manchester community station Gaydio. 10 January – Radio Today reports that test transmissions for DAB+ are under way in the Brighton area. 6 February – Bauer Media buys the digital station Planet Rock for a sum estimated to be between £1m and £2m. 25 March – NME Radio closes after five years on air. 27 April – Country music station Chris Country launches. 7 May – Kisstory and KissFresh begin broadcasting and sister station Q Radio closes down after five years on air. 26 July – Digital radio is switched on in Northern Ireland allowing a further 1.4 million listeners to hear stations such as Smooth 70s, Absolute Radio 90s and Jazz FM. 30 July – Yorkshire Radio closes after seven years on air. August – Smash Hits Radio closes after eleven years on air. 27 August – The MXR regional digital radio multiplex for the West Midlands is switched off after 12 years on air. 6 October – Smooth 70s stops broadcasting to make way for the launch on Digital One by Capital Xtra.
2014 1 January – Jazz FM stops broadcasting on the Digital One multiplex, but continues to be available on DAB in London, online and through satellite television. Its Digital One slot is temporarily taken over by the return of Birdsong Radio, with plans for a permanent replacement in February. May – The BBC broadcasts a pop-up digital radio service BBC Radio 2 Eurovision to extend the BBC's coverage of the Eurovision Song Contest. Returned in 2015 to provide coverage of the 2015 contest. 15 November – Smooth Christmas returns to DAB in preparation for the launch of a new station with the Smooth brand. 12 December – Kisstory and KissFresh start broadcasting on DAB for the first time when the appear on the Greater London I DAB multiplex. The stations had launched in May 2013 on Freeview 27 December – Launch of Smooth Extra on DAB.
2015 5 January – Magic launches nationally on Digital One, while all Magic Network AM stations in the north of England are rebranded as Bauer City 2. Absolute Radio changes from broadcasting in stereo to mono to make way for Magic on DAB. January – Kisstory launches on many more local multiplexes across the UK.