BBC Radio 1 Anthems is a British online-only radio stream, owned and operated by the

BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...

and run as a spin-off from

BBC Radio 1 BBC Radio 1 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. It specialises in modern popular music and Contemporary hit radio, current chart hits throughout the day. The station provides alternative genres at night, including ...

. The station launched on 8 November 2024 and plays a wide range of music and acts supported by the main Radio 1 network in the 2000s and 2010s. It broadcasts exclusively on

BBC Sounds BBC Sounds is an Over-the-top media service, over-the-top audio streaming media, streaming and download service from the BBC that includes live radio broadcasts, Streaming media, audio on demand, and podcasts. The service is available on a wide ...

and will be fully launched on

DAB+ Digital Audio Broadcasting (DAB) is a digital radio international standard, standard for broadcasting digital audio radio services in many countries around the world, defined, supported, marketed and promoted by the WorldDAB organisation. T ...

in 2025. It is a commercial competitor to ''Capital Anthems'', a

Capital Capital and its variations may refer to: Common uses * Capital city, a municipality of primary status ** Capital region, a metropolitan region containing the capital ** List of national capitals * Capital letter, an upper-case letter Econom ...

spin-off launched on September 12, 2024.

History and launch

From as early as 2019, the ''Radio 1 Anthems'' brand began appearing on the main Radio 1 network. This allowed the station to offer a variety of playlist-style shows on

, which was launched in 2018 and identified as a strategic priority by the BBC to expand the platform's audience. The station rebranded its ''Radio 1's Greatest Hits'' show (Friday to Sunday, 10-11 am) as Radio 1 Anthems in July 2019. This brought it inline with existing anthems show, ''

Radio 1's Dance Anthems ''Radio 1's Dance Anthems'' is a radio show broadcast on BBC Radio 1 from 4pm to 7pm on Saturdays, and on BBC Radio 1 Dance, Radio 1 Dance from 3pm to 6pm Monday to Friday and 4pm to 7pm on Sundays. The show, which is currently presented by Cha ...

'', which had been part of the Friday and Saturday evening schedule in its current inception since 2012. Other playlist shows like ''Radio 1's Workout Mix '' were rebranded as ''Workout Anthems'', the Friday edition of ''Radio 1's Dance Anthems'' was rebranded as '' Party Anthems'', while ''Chillout Anthems'' launched in September 2019. In November 2019, reports showed that the BBC was considering launching 'spin-off stations' of their popular music stations in order to gain more listeners. The first of these, Radio 1 Dance, launched on 9 October 2020 with

Annie Mac Annie Macmanus (born 18 July 1978), known professionally as Annie Mac, is an Irish DJ, broadcaster and writer. She hosted a variety of shows on BBC Radio 1, including BBC Switch and ''Future Sounds''. She also DJed in various locations, includ ...

, Danny Howard and

Pete Tong Peter Michael Tong (born 30 July 1960) is an English DJ who works for BBC Radio 1. He is the host of programmes such as '' Essential Mix'' and '' Essential Selection'' on the radio service, which can be heard through Internet radio streams, for ...

hosting a 4-hour dance simulcast. Following this, the BBC launched Radio 1 Relax on BBC Sounds in April 2021. Radio 1 Relax closed on 24 July 2024. Additional ''Radio 1 Anthems'' playlists including ''Pop Anthems'', ''Festival Anthems'', ''

Ibiza Ibiza (; ; ; #Names and pronunciation, see below) or Iviza is a Spanish island in the Mediterranean Sea off the eastern coast of the Iberian Peninsula. It is 150 kilometres (93 miles) from the city of Valencia. It is the third largest of th ...

Anthems'', ''R&B Anthems'' and ''Rap Anthems'' launched on the network between 2020 and 2022. In February 2024, the corporation announced plans to launch three new spin-offs, pending public consultation and regulatory approval: one from Radio 1 for “music from the 2000s and 2010s, catering to the appetite from young audiences for recent nostalgia”; one from Radio 2, with “a distinctive take on pop nostalgia’ from the 50s, 60s and 70s”; and one from Radio 3 for “calming classical music”. In addition, Radio 1 Dance would launch on

with expanded programming. Following regulatory approval from

Ofcom The Office of Communications, commonly known as Ofcom, is the government-approved regulatory and competition authority for the broadcasting, internet, telecommunications and mail, postal industries of the United Kingdom. Ofcom has wide-rang ...

, the BBC announced in September 2024 that the Radio 1 strand would be ''Radio 1 Anthems'' and would launch on BBC Sounds from Friday 8 November 2024. As of 10th April 2025, Ofcom has since given provisional permission for the BBC to launch Radio 1 Anthems on DAB+, as well as Radio 1 Dance and Radio 3 Unwind. This is pending the results of a public consultation, and the final decision will be announced by the 4th July 2025. Aled Haydn Jones, Head of Radio 1, said: “Radio 1 Anthems is going to be a great nostalgic trip for our young audience, and to make it happen we’re going to be giving some new opportunities to people from across the UK. Radio 1 plays a crucial role in developing new talent for the entire industry, and we can’t wait to bring this new offer for our listeners to enjoy and discover.”

Programming and Presenters

Programming on the stream will be existing on-demand content from

and

. This includes Radio 1's ''Workout Anthems'', Radio 1's ''Chillout Anthems'', Radio 1's ''Pop Anthems''(simulcast with Radio 1 on Thursdays at 3-3:30pm) Radio 1's ''Happy Anthems '', Radio 1's ''Party Anthems'' (simulcast with Radio 1), Radio 1's ''Anthems Discovery'', ''My Radio 1 Anthems '', ''Radio 1 Anthems'' (in certain cases

simulcast Simulcast (a portmanteau of "simultaneous broadcast") is the broadcasting of programs or events across more than one resolution, bitrate or medium, or more than one service on the same medium, at exactly the same time (that is, simultaneously) ...

, such as on a Friday morning from 10-11am with Radio 1) ''Radio 1's 100 Greatest Anthems'' and also the extensive Radio 1 archive of ''Anthems'' themed programming. Curiously, however, ''Radio 1's Dance Anthems'' is not broadcast on this stream. Around the time of

Radio 1's Big Weekend BBC Radio 1's Big Weekend (R1BW) (previously known as One Big Weekend, for 2012 as Radio 1's Hackney Weekend, and for 2018 as BBC Music's Biggest Weekend) is a British music festival run by BBC Radio 1. It is held once a year, in a different l ...

Liverpool Liverpool is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. It is situated on the eastern side of the River Mersey, Mersey Estuary, near the Irish Sea, north-west of London. With a population ...

in 2025, a special set of programmes entitled ''Big Weekend Anthems'', featuring the respective line ups for the three days mixed into a 30 minute themed mix for each day. Also, In March 2025, two episodes of a special programme ''Pace Setter Anthems'' (a combination of ''Workout Anthems'' and ''Pace Setter'' (a BBC Sounds exclusive show designed to aid running and workout)) were released to mark that year's Radio 1 challenge for

Comic Relief Comic Relief is a British charity, founded in 1986 by the comedy scriptwriter Richard Curtis and comedian Sir Lenny Henry in response to the 1983–1985 famine in Ethiopia. The concept of Comic Relief was to get British comedians to make t ...

, entitled ''Radio 1's Ultra Marathon Man: Jamie Laing''. On 10 Feb 2025, A special 1 hour

Valentine's Day Valentine's Day, also called Saint Valentine's Day or the Feast of Saint Valentine, is celebrated annually on February 14. It originated as a Christian feast day honoring a Christian martyrs, martyr named Saint Valentine, Valentine, and ...

themed programme entitled ''Radio 1's Love Anthems''https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/brand/p0dx43mz was broadcast and released onto Sounds. A special Valentine's episode of ''Pop Anthems'' was also released onto BBC Sounds. Presenters for the various programmes on the stream include Dean McCullough (Pop), Jess Iszatt (Chillout), Maia Beth (Happy) and Lauren Redfern (Anthems, Anthems Discovery, 100 Greatest Anthems). Previously, weekly Anthems shows that are broadcast on Radio 1 were being simulcast but these ceased in April 2025.

References

{{BBC Radio 1 BBC Radio 1 Digital-only radio stations 1 Anthems Radio stations established in 2024 2024 establishments in the United Kingdom

History and launch

Programming and Presenters

See also

References