This is a timeline of the development of radio in London.

1970s 1970 6 October – BBC Radio London launches, becoming the first legal radio station broadcasting to London.

1971 No events.

1972 No events.

1973 8 October – LBC becomes the first legal Independent Local Radio station in the United Kingdom when it begins broadcasting at just before 6am, providing talk radio to the London area. 16 October – Capital Radio begins broadcasting a music-based general entertainment service to the London area.

1974 22 November – The first regular programme for the black community Black Londoners is broadcast on BBC Radio London., Black in Britain. The programme was initially launched as a trial run of six programmes before becoming a weekly fixture in the schedules.

1975 Capital Radio and LBC change MW frequencies. This gives Capital a boost as its MW service had suffered from co-channel interference from Dutch station Radio Veronica.

1976 12 September – The first edition of London Sounds Eastern is broadcast on BBC Radio London. December – Capital Radio launches the Flying Eye, a traffic spotting light aircraft which reported on traffic congestion on the streets of Central London.

1977 No events.

1978 No events.

1979 15 November – BBC Radio 4 begins broadcasting on MW in London. Listeners struggle to get buzz-free and crackle-free reception on long wave due to large steel-framed buildings. This issue does not affect MW broadcasts so the transmitter is brought into service to provide a satisfactory signal for the station's long wave output for listeners in central London.

1980s

1980 No events.

1981 11 February – BBC Radio London begins broadcasting in stereo and the station relaunches, adopting an easy listening format ranging from softer contemporary pop to light classical music. The launch of stereo broadcasting sees the station simulcast BBC Radio 1 on weeknight evenings between the end of programmes and 10pm, the start time of the MW-only station's weeknight 'borrow' of BBC Radio 2's FM frequencies.

1982 September – Listeners in London are able to tune into the BBC World Service for the first time following the switching on of the Orfordness transmitting station. It is switched on to provide reception across Northern Europe of the English language service.

1983 No events.

1984 BBC Radio London is relaunched with the tagline The Heart and Soul of London, with more soul music being played during the day.

1985 London Sounds Eastern ends after nine years on air. 4 February – After broadcasting off and on since 1969, Radio Jackie's time as a pirate station ends. It returns 18 years later as a legal station, broadcasting to the same area of south west London that it had served as a pirate. October – The first broadcasts of Kiss as a pirate station take place, initially broadcasting at the weekend across south London but is soon broadcasting across London on 94 FM.

1986 4 May – As part of an experiment in split broadcasting, Capital runs a Sunday service called CFM, broadcasting a more contemporary mix of music than normally broadcast by the station. Kiss expands its broadcasting hours when it adds a Friday schedule.

1987 Capital Radio’s new programming controller Richard Park oversees an overhaul of Capital's output from a full-service station to a music-intensive CHR format, which proves highly successful. The revamp is underlined by a new on-air imaging package, known as 'Music Power'. 31 October – London is the first area of the UK to be able to receive BBC Radio 1 all day on VHF/FM.

1988 2 July – At 7am, Tony Blackburn launches Capital Gold on Capital Radio's MW frequency. The station initially broadcasts only at the weekend. Other launch presenters include David Hamilton, Paul Burnett, Pete Tong, Clive Warren, Paul Gambaccini, and Kenny Everett. 7 October – At 7pm, BBC Radio London stops broadcasting after 18 years on air and straight away, test transmissions for its replacement, Greater London Radio (GLR), begin. 25 October – At 6:30am, BBC GLR launches. Put together by new Managing Editor Matthew Bannister and Programme Director Trevor Dann, the station is aimed at 25- to 45-year-olds and is on air daily from 6.30am until 12midnight. Early promotions use the phrase "rock 'n' rolling news" with a music mix that was best described as Adult album alternative and travel news every 20 minutes. A number of specialist speech programmes launch, many of them broadcasting as a MW opt-out. They are aimed at London's communities with weekly programmes for the Asian, Afro-Caribbean, Jewish, Gay and Irish communities. 1 November – Capital Gold begins full-time broadcasting, and Capital's FM service is renamed as 95.8 Capital FM. 31 December – Kiss ends its time as a pirate station, doing so in order to be able to apply to broadcast legally. It fails in its first attempt but is successful second time round.

1989 2 October – LBC ends and is replaced on FM by news and comment station LBC Crown FM and on MW by phone-in station London Talkback. 5 November – Sunrise Radio begins broadcasting to west London's Asian community on MW. 13 November – London Greek Radio and WNK begin broadcasting. They share a frequency and alternate every four hours. December – A second batch of London-wide incremental licenses are awarded and this time Kiss is successful.

1990s 1990 4 March – Jazz FM launches on 102.2 FM, playing mainly soul and jazz music. 18 March – Radio Thamesmead begins broadcasting to the Thamesmead area of London. 31 March – Choice FM begins broadcasting to the Brixton area of London. 25 June Airport Information Radio begins broadcasting, providing a travel news service to Heathrow and Gatwick airports. Spectrum Radio begins broadcasting. The station provides airtime to various ethnic communities across London. 9 July – Melody Radio launches as an easy listening music service on 104.9 FM. 1 September – Kiss 100 starts broadcasting as a legal, licensed station.

1991 During 1991, GLR is given three years to prove itself or face closure. The threat is lifted after the BBC deemed it sufficiently patronised to remain on-air. 18 November – Live presentation on Airport Information Radio ends in favour of a pre-recorded service, Airport Information Radio, This is ILR (Page No Longer Available, Retrieved from the Internet Archive). after the station was bought by Allied Radio plc.

1992 11 February – Airport Information Radio closes after less than two years on air.Two Radio Stations. Evening Standard. 11 February 1992, p.12.

1993 BBC GLR is forced to introduce all-speech programmes at breakfast and drivetime. September – The Radio Authority announces that it will not be renewing LBC's licence. The new licensee is to be London News Radio, a consortium led by former LBC staff and backed by Guinness Mahon.LBC To Appeal Over Licence Decision, AM/FM News, September 1993 November – BBC GLR stops broadcasting on MW. Unknown – London station WNK closes. WNK's closure allows London Greek Radio, with whom it had shared a frequency, to begin full-time broadcasts. Unknown – Sunrise Radio starts to broadcast across London when it begins transmission on the MW frequency previously occupied by BBC GLR.

1994 1 September – Country 1035 begins broadcasting a country music service on MW to London. 5 October – News Direct 97.3FM and London News Talk 1152AM begin broadcasting. They replace LBC Newstalk and London Talkback Radio. The change occurs following last year's decision by the Radio Authority not renew LBC's licence, instead giving it to London News Radio, a consortium led by former LBC staff and backed by Guinness Mahon.LBC To Appeal Over Licence Decision, AM/FM News, September 1993. 8 October – Virgin Radio is awarded one of the new London-wide FM licences. The other three newly licensed stations are Heart 106.2, Premier Christian Radio and Viva 963.

1995 10 April – Virgin Radio starts broadcasting on FM in London. The station is a full simulcast of the national service apart from a 45 minute weekday early evening programme, presented initially by Rowland Rivron. Spring – The rolling news format on London News Direct 97.3 gives way to a more traditional schedule of news sequences and magazine programmes and the station name is shortened to News 97.3 in the summer. 10 June – Premier Christian Radio becomes the UK’s first Christian radio station when it launches on AM. 3 July – Viva 963 becomes the UK’s first female-orientated radio station when it starts broadcasting on AM. 17 August – London Turkish Radio begins broadcasting. 5 September – Heart 106.2 launches, broadcasting a 'Hot AC' music format. 27 September – The BBC begins regular Digital Audio Broadcasting, from the Crystal Palace transmitting station.

1996 May – Viva 963 is sold to Mohammed Al Fayed, owner of Harrods and chairman of Fulham Football Club, who renames the station as Liberty Radio.Viva sex appeal, The Independent newspaper, 19 November 1996 London News Radio buys London Radio Services which operates the two London news licenses – London News 97.3FM and London News Talk 1152AM and News 97.3 reverts to a rolling news format, initially with no name (the station was branded as 97.3FM). 1 July – The LBC name returns to London's airwaves following a rebrand of London News Radio's MW station News Talk 1152. July – The Radio Authority receives 25 bids for the final FM citywide London licence. XFM is chosen as the winner. October – Capital’s flagship news programme The Way It Is ends. 14 November – LBC relaunches its rolling news service as News Direct 97.3. Melody Radio changes frequencies, moving from 104.9 to 105.4.

1997 1 September – XFM London begins broadcasting an indie music service across London. It becomes the final London-wide station on FM. Capital leaves its Euston Tower studios and moves to new headquarters in Leicester Square. Radio Thamesmead, (broadcasting as RTM), changes its name to Millennium 106.8.

1998 18 May – Active FM begins broadcasting to the Havering area of east London. December – Melody Radio is renamed Magic 105.4 FM.

1999 January – Controversial changes are made to Kiss 100 following Emap's decision to align the station with the rest of its operations. The on-air changes lead to criticisms from presenters and listeners who feel that the station is losing its musical direction. 8 February – FLR 107.3 begins broadcasting to the Lewisham area of south London. 2 September – London’s first DAB multiplex, CE Digital, launches.

2000s 2000 25 March – BBC Radio London replaces GLR. Promising even more speech and less music, the station launches with new on-air personalities and new shows, including a speech-heavy breakfast show and a mid-morning phone-in and debate. Only drivetime and the specialist shows would remain, albeit refreshed. 3 May – Choice 107.1 begins broadcasting to north London. 26 June – London’s second DAB multiplex, Switch London, launches. July – BBC London Live 94.9 starts broadcasting via DAB. News Direct 97.3 is renamed with the ITN brand and is now called ITN News Direct 97.3FM. 4 December – FLR 107.3 changes its name to Fusion 107.3FM.

2001 1 March – 107.8 Radio Jackie begins broadcasting to the Kingston-upon-Thames area. 1 October – BBC London Live changes its name to BBC London 94.9.

2002 25 February – London’s third DAB multiplex, DRG London, launches. 12 November – The Radio Authority announces that London station Liberty Radio has lost its licence to Club Asia, which had previously been broadcasting for several hours each day on Spectrum Radio. This had been the first time in several years that the incumbent broadcaster's licence had not been renewed. The station had repeatedly only obtained a 0.1% share of listening. Late 2002 – London Radio Services is sold to Chrysalis Radio. The new owner drops the ITN prefix and the station returns to its previous name of News Direct 97.3.

2003