area united kingdom ; available worldwide through the internet slogan online on digital radio and on 88 to 91 fm on air tagline more 2 it advertising slogan frequency fm 88.1 mhz 90.2 mhz dab 12b freeview 702 freesat 702 sky 0102 virgin media 902 virgin media ireland 908 first air date 30 september 1967 format hot ac indie music infotainment language s english audience share 17.2 % june 2016 1 owner bbc sister stations bbc radio 6 music webcast web stream http progressive streams worldwide stream shoutcast 128 kbps mp3 hls streams worldwide stream 48 kbps aac worldwide stream 96 kbps aac uk only stream 128 kbps aac uk only stream 320 kbps aac hds streams worldwide stream 48 kbps aac website www.bbc.co.uk radio2 song list bbc radio 2 is one of the bbc s national radio stations and the most popular station in the united kingdom . 1 much of its daytime playlist based programming is best described as adult contemporary or aor although the station is also noted for its specialist broadcasting of other musical genres . radio 2 broadcasts throughout the uk on fm between 88.1 and 90.2 mhz from studios in western house adjacent to broadcasting house in central london . programmes are relayed on digital radio via dab sky cable tv iptv freeview freesat and the internet . contents 1 history 1.1 1967 1986 1.2 frances line 1986 1996 1.3 james moir the nation s favourite 1996 onwards 2 current position 3 presenters 3.1 stand in presenters 3.2 guest presenters 3.3 additional staff 4 former presenters 5 notable programmes or features 6 controllers 7 controversies 8 references 9 external links history edit 1967 1986 edit the station was launched at 05 30 2 on 30 september 1967 and evolved from the light programme with some of the light programme s music shows transferring to the newly launched bbc radio 1 . the first show had started at 05 30 am on the light programme but continued with breakfast special from paul hollingdale as radio 1 split . in early years much programming and music was common to both stations particularly on the shared fm frequency . radio 1 was targeted at the audience of pirate radio stations whereas radio 2 settled down as a middle of the road station playing laid back pop rock folk and country jazz and big band music easy listening light classics and oldies with significant amounts of comedy and sport . notable broadcasters on radio 2 in the 70s and 80s were ray moore on early breakfast terry wogan on breakfast replaced by ken bruce and later derek jameson ; jimmy young and his lunchtime news and current affairs show ; diddy david hamilton on mid afternoons john dunn at what became known as drivetime . radio 2 became the first national 24 hour radio station in the uk in 1979 . frances line 1986 1996 edit the station s policy remained stable with only minor changes until april 1986 when frances line head of music repositioned the station . she would become controller in 1990 . an ageing radio 1 audience which had grown up with the station was sticking with it into their 40s and beyond ; line repositioned radio 2 to appeal exclusively to the over fifties and introduced older presenters and based the playlist around nostalgia easy listening and light music . as a result david hamilton quit the station at the end of 1986 claiming the music policy had become geriatric ; terry wogan s replacement derek jameson also appealed to an older down market demographic . although popular with its target audience the policy alienated many younger listeners who had listened to both radio 1 and radio 2 and the station s audience fell . it took another hit when sports coverage moved to radio 5 in august 1990 . another blow was struck by the rise of album rock commercial stations particularly virgin radio and gold spinoffs from independent local radio stations playing classic pop and rock . with the station s audience in decline a change of emphasis was needed . james moir the nation s favourite 1996 onwards edit line was replaced by james moir in 1996 . moir repositioned radio 2 with a largely aor contemporary playlist by day aimed at a more mature audience than radio 1 which post britpop was again starting to focus on a young audience but still embracing new music and more specialist broadcasting by recognised genre experts in the evenings . unlike the early 1990s repositioning of radio 1 in which the bbc lost many well known names many former radio 1 presenters stayed with the bbc and moved across to radio 2 . radio 2 is now termed the nation s favourite a title the bbc formerly used for bbc radio 1 . it is the most listened to station in the uk its schedule filled with broadcasters such as steve wright chris evans simon mayo ken bruce jeremy vine mark radcliffe janice long jo whiley paul gambaccini johnnie walker and bob harris . as well as having most listeners nationally it ranks first in many regions above local radio stations . bbc radio 2 played to 27 % of the available audience in 2006 . 3 in february 2007 radio 2 recruited jeff smith director of uk and international programming at napster and a former head of music at radio 1 as its new head of music . smith joined the network on 26 march . 4 the licence fee funding of radio 2 alongside radio 1 is often criticised by the commercial sector . in the first quarter of 2011 radio 2 was part of an efficiency review conducted by john myers . 5 his role according to andrew harrison the chief executive of radiocentre was to identify both areas of best practice and possible savings . 5 on 29 july 2013 radio 2 changed its sonic logo for the first time in 15 years replacing the heritage logo composed by us jingle company groove worx with a new seven note melody composed by british composer and producer jem godfrey . 6 this coincided with the launch of a new jingle package produced by godfrey in association with wise buddah productions marking radio 2 s second new package in as many years . radio 2 has recently been running several pop up dab services to cover special events the first being bbc radio 2 eurovision providing coverage of the eurovision song contest 2014 . 7 the station returned in 2015 for coverage of that year s contest . others include bbc radio 2 country covering the c2c country to country festival and bbc radio 2 50s a service dedicated to music programmes covering the 1950s . current position edit the station s audience is now mainly adults over the age of 35 82 % of listeners 8 although in recent years it has attracted more younger listeners . its daytime playlist features music from the 1960s to various current chart hits album and indie music . the station s appeal is broad and deep with accessible daytime programmes and specialist programmes of particular types or eras of music . in 2009 radio 2 again won the music week award for national radio station of the year an award it has won for several consecutive years . 9 weekday evenings feature specialist music including jazz folk music blues country and western reggae classic rock showtunes and biographies and documentaries on musical artists and genres . this specialist programming typically runs from 19 00 to 20 00 and from 22 00 to midnight . radio 2 hosts both the bbc concert orchestra and the bbc big band . brian matthew s sounds of the sixties remains a regular fixture on the saturday schedule as does johnnie walker s sounds of the seventies on a sunday . on 5 october 2013 these two shows were joined by sounds of the eighties which is hosted by sara cox and broadcast on friday between 2200 and midnight . 10 on sundays the schedule reverts closer to its old style with a focus on easy listening jazz and show music with presenters like clare teal and don black and long standing programmes like the sunday hour . radio 2 does not broadcast complete works of classical music the domain of radio 3 or offer in depth discussion or drama and although some book readings comedy and arts coverage still remains on the station this is the remit of radio 4 . jeremy vine s weekday lunchtime show covers current and consumer affairs informally a style pioneered by jimmy young . until radio 5 live radio 2 s medium wave frequencies carried the bbc s sports coverage . radio 5 live was positioned on radio 2 s mediumwave frequencies . like all bbc radio stations broadcasting to uk audiences radio 2 is funded by the television licence fee and does not broadcast adverts . bbc radio 2 s last closedown was at 02 02 on 27 january 1979 . sarah kennedy who later became a daily early morning presenter from 1993 until her departure in august 2010 was at the newsdesk after brian matthew finished round midnight . from 02 00 to 05 00 the following night listeners heard you and the night and the music . radio 2 has the longest period of continuous broadcasting of any national radio station in the uk . the bbc pips are broadcast at 07 00 and 08 00 on weekdays then again at 17 00 and 19 00 . bbc radio 2 moved its studios from broadcasting house to the adjacent western house in 2006 . 11 although the majority of programming comes from london some shows are broadcast from other cities around the uk including birmingham and manchester . for many years the network s overnight presenters such as janice long and alex lester were based in birmingham but made the move to london in april 2008 . presenters edit clare balding michael ball don black ken bruce desmond carrington craig charles sara cox jamie cullum russell davies chris evans vanessa feltz paul gambaccini leo green bob harris jools holland paul jones diane louise jordan alex lester janice long brian matthew simon mayo huey morgan trevor nelson graham norton nigel ogden paul o grady dermot o leary elaine paige mark radcliffe frank renton anneka rice david rodigan jonathan ross moira stuart liza tarbuck clare teal jeremy vine johnnie walker jo whiley claudia winkleman steve wright stand in presenters edit richard allinson former regular presenter 1997 2005 2009 2014 richard bacon stands in for simon mayo drivetime zo ball former regular presenter 2009 2012 stands in for ken bruce and dermot o leary o. j. borg edith bowman stands in for dermot o leary fern britton stands in for good morning sunday nicki chapman stands in for vanessa feltz gideon coe mark goodier len goodman stands in for paul o grady on the wireless janey lee grace stands in for sunday love songs and also regular contributor on steve wright in the afternoon angie greaves stands in for good morning sunday alex jones stands in for vanessa feltz and the chris evans breakfast show patrick kielty stands in for steve wright in the afternoon and simon mayo drivetime hardeep singh kohli stands in for good morning sunday steve lamacq richard madeley cerys matthews stands in for dermot o leary ana matronic stands in for jo whiley martine mccutcheon maria mcerlane also regular contributor on graham norton s show al murray paddy o connell stands in for the jeremy vine show suzi perry stands in for vanessa feltz mary portas stands in for jo whiley jodie prenger stands in for paul o grady on the wireless and also provides voiceovers for the show anita rani olly smith stands in for good morning sunday penny smith stands in for vanessa feltz