This is a list of events in British radio during 2009.
Events
January
5 January –
Chiltern Radio, Hereward FM, Radio Broadland, Q103, Northants 96, SGR Colchester, SGR Ipswich, and Horizon Radio are all rebranded as Heart after earlier being acquired by Global Radio. 105.7 Smooth Radio have signed former BRMB presenter Tammy Gooding to present the drivetime show. She takes up the role from today, and replaces Nigel Williams who has moved to 102.2 Smooth Radio in London. 24 January – Jonathan Ross returns to his Saturday morning show on BBC Radio 2 after finishing his 12-week suspension following his role in the Russell Brand Show prank telephone calls row. 27 January – Bob Shennan is appointed as Controller of BBC Radio 2 following the resignation of Lesley Douglas. He takes up the position in February.
February
2 February – Joanne Malin joins BBC WM to present her mid-morning show.
March
1 March – The final edition of chart show Fresh 40 is broadcast. 13 March – BBC Radio 2 confirms plans to overhaul its weekend schedule from April. This will include Paul O'Grady, Alan Carr and Emma Forbes joining the network to present shows, while the Saturday afternoon comedy hour will move to Thursday evenings. The changes will also see Johnnie Walker present Sounds of the 70s on Sunday afternoon. 23 March – Fox FM, GWR FM Bath, GWR Bristol, GWR FM Wiltshire, Champion 103, 2CR, Essex FM, Gemini FM, Severn Sound, Ocean FM, Lantern FM, Coast 96.3, Plymouth Sound, Orchard FM, South Hams Radio, Wirral's Buzz and 2-Ten FM are all rebranded as Heart. 30 March – BBC Southern Counties Radio closes resulting in the return of BBC Surrey and BBC Sussex as stand-alone separate stations. Century 105 is re-branded as Real Radio North West.
April
1 April – Ownership of Touch FM (Banbury) is transferred to Banbury Broadcasting Company Ltd. The station was subsequently renamed Banbury Sound on 1 June. 3 April – Les Ross presents his final weekday afternoon show on BBC Radio WM as he prepares to retire from radio. 4 April – BBC Radio Swindon, which had opted out of BBC Radio Wiltshire, is closed. The two stations are merged as BBC Wiltshire. 16 April – Huddersfield station Pennine FM stops broadcasting after going into administration. April – The third broadcast of Pirate BBC Essex takes place over the Easter holiday weekend. The broadcast began five days after the release of the comedy movie The Boat that Rocked which was set on a 1960s pirate radio station.
May
May – Orion Media purchases BRMB, Mercia, Wyvern, Beacon in the West Midlands and Heart 106 in the East Midlands from Global Radio for a sale price worth £37.5 million. 7 May – Pennine FM is bought by Pennine Media Ltd and returns to the air as Pennine FM, Huddersfield's More Music Station 22 May – The BBC says that Jonathan Ross's Radio 2 show will no longer be broadcast live following complaints about a joke he made on an edition of the programme which some listeners interpreted as being anti-gay. 24 May – Children's magazine show Go4It is broadcast on BBC Radio 4 for the final time. The reason given is that it does not attract enough young listeners and that less than 1 in 20 of the show's audience is aged between 4 and 14, with the average age of the listeners being between 52 and 55. Consequently, there are now no children's programmes on BBC analogue radio. 30 May – Mo Dutta leaves Radio 2.