2005 in British radio

This is a list of events in British radio during 2005.

January

 * 17 January – 268 radio stations, including national stations Classic FM and Virgin Radio, join together to broadcast UK Radio Aid, a twelve-hour event to raise money for the victims of the 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake and tsunami.

February

 * 6 February – Les Ross returns to BBC Radio WM to present a weekly Sunday morning show. He had last worked at the station in the early 1970s.

March

 * 6 March – JK and Joel take over as presenters of The Official Chart on BBC Radio 1.

April

 * No events

May

 * 23 May – As BBC staff stage a one-day strike over announced job cuts, Terry Wogan crosses the picket line to present his show. Reportedly, he gives them a smile and wishes them all well. He explains on air that the reason for doing so is that he is contracted to host Wake up to Wogan and hence not directly employed by the BBC, and so cannot legally strike with their employees.

June

 * 5–10 June – BBC Radio 3 clears its airwaves for almost an entire week to broadcast the music of a single composer – Ludwig van Beethoven. This is followed up at the end of the year with ten days of non-stop Johann Sebastian Bach which is broadcast in the run-up to Christmas.
 * 7 June – London's 102.2 Jazz FM is relaunched as 102.2 Smooth FM.
 * 21 June – Emap buys Scottish Radio Holdings.

July

 * 7 July – 7 July 2005 London bombings: Four terrorist suicide bombings strike London's public transport system during the morning rush hour (killing 56), receiving extensive media coverage. The BBC sticks with initial reports of a power surge on the London Underground until actual events can be corroborated.
 * 23 July – Les Ross takes over the Saturday breakfast show on BBC WM.
 * 25 July – London's 102.2 Smooth FM signs a three-year deal with Chelsea F.C. to provide exclusive match coverage of the club's games until the end of the 2007–08 season.

August

 * 29 August – 106 Century FM is rebranded as Heart 106.

September

 * September – A year after BBC Radio 2 stopped broadcasting a weekly edition of Pick of the Pops, the programme returns as a Sunday afternoon show.
 * 8–12 September – BBC Radio 5 Live devotes its daytime schedule to broadcast extensive live coverage of the deciding Ashes cricket match. Normally, the station provides reports into its regular programmes.
 * 12 September
 * Radio Luxembourg returns to the airwaves after more than 12 years, now broadcasting via Digital Radio Mondiale (DRM). During August of that year, the parent operating company of Radio Luxembourg conducted digital test broadcasts to the UK on 7145 kHz using DRM, as well as for a time at 7295 kHz DRM.
 * BBC Radio Norfolk switches on the West Runton transmitter, providing FM quality broadcasts of the station for North Norfolk, doing so as part of the station's 25th birthday celebrations. A month or so later, stereo FM broadcasts for West Norfolk begin on 104.4 MHz FM after more than 20 years of broadcasting in mono due to an off-air re-broadcast system which was unable to reproduce a clear noise free stereo signal.

October

 * 13 October – BBC Radio 1 hosts the first John Peel Day, a year after John presented his final show for the station which was two weeks before his death.
 * c. 18 October – Pirate radio stations broadcasting to the Handsworth and Lozells districts of Birmingham, most notably Hot 92, discuss an alleged rape, a contributory factor in the 2005 Birmingham riots.
 * 31 October – Actress Mary Wimbush dies, aged 81, at The Mailbox studios of BBC Birmingham shortly after completing work on a recording session for The Archers.

November

 * 3 November – BBC Coventry & Warwickshire returns as a stand-alone station.
 * 25 November – The UK's first Islamic radio station, Islam Radio, is established in Bradford, West Yorkshire.

December

 * No events

Unknown

 * After being acquired by the CN Group, Kix 96 and its other sister stations in the south Midlands are rebranded as Touch FM.

Station debuts

 * 21 February – Chill
 * 7 June – 102.2 Smooth Radio
 * 3 October – KMFM Ashford
 * 1 November – Aston FM
 * 25 November – Islam Radio
 * 5 December – 102.6 & 106.8 Durham FM

Programme debuts

 * 7 January – Ed Reardon's Week on BBC Radio 4 (2005–Present)
 * 4 August – The Ape That Got Lucky on BBC Radio 4 (4–25 August 2005)
 * 15 September – Another Case of Milton Jones on BBC Radio 4 (2005–2010)
 * 3 October – The Dream Ticket with Nemone on BBC 6 Music (2005–2006)

1940s

 * Sunday Half Hour (1940–2018)
 * Desert Island Discs (1942–Present)
 * Woman's Hour (1946–Present)
 * A Book at Bedtime (1949–Present)

1950s

 * The Archers (1950–Present)
 * The Today Programme (1957–Present)
 * Your Hundred Best Tunes (1959–2007)

1960s

 * Farming Today (1960–Present)
 * In Touch (1961–Present)
 * The World at One (1965–Present)
 * The Official Chart (1967–Present)
 * Just a Minute (1967–Present)
 * The Living World (1968–Present)
 * The Organist Entertains (1969–2018)

1970s

 * PM (1970–Present)
 * Start the Week (1970–Present)
 * You and Yours (1970–Present)
 * I'm Sorry I Haven't a Clue (1972–Present)
 * Good Morning Scotland (1973–Present)
 * Newsbeat (1973–Present)
 * File on 4 (1977–Present)
 * Money Box (1977–Present)
 * The News Quiz (1977–Present)
 * Feedback (1979–Present)
 * The Food Programme (1979–Present)
 * Science in Action (1979–Present)

1980s

 * Steve Wright in the Afternoon (1981–1993, 1999–2022)
 * In Business (1983–Present)
 * Sounds of the 60s (1983–Present)
 * Loose Ends (1986–Present)

1990s

 * The Moral Maze (1990–Present)
 * Essential Selection (1991–Present)
 * No Commitments (1992–2007)
 * Wake Up to Wogan (1993–2009)
 * Essential Mix (1993–Present)
 * Up All Night (1994–Present)
 * Wake Up to Money (1994–Present)
 * Private Passions (1995–Present)
 * Parkinson's Sunday Supplement (1996–2007)
 * The David Jacobs Collection (1996–2013)
 * Drivetime with Johnnie Walker (1998–2006)
 * Sunday Night at 10 (1998–2013)
 * In Our Time (1998–Present)
 * Material World (1998–Present)
 * Scott Mills (1998–2022)
 * The Now Show (1998–Present)
 * It's Been a Bad Week (1999–2006)
 * Jonathan Ross (1999–2010)

2000s

 * Dead Ringers (2000–2007, 2014–Present)
 * BBC Radio 2 Folk Awards (2000–Present)
 * Sounds of the 70s (2000–2008, 2009–Present)
 * Big John @ Breakfast (2000–Present)
 * Parsons and Naylor's Pull-Out Sections (2001–2007)
 * Jammin' (2001–2008)
 * Go4It (2001–2009)
 * The Jo Whiley Show (2001–2011)
 * Kermode and Mayo's Film Review (2001–2022)
 * The Big Toe Radio Show (2002–2011)
 * A Kist o Wurds (2002–Present)
 * The Day the Music Died (2003–2007)
 * Fighting Talk (2003–Present)
 * Jeremy Vine (2003–Present)
 * Mitch Benn's Crimes Against Music (2004–2006)
 * Trevor's World of Sport (2004–2007)
 * The Chris Moyles Show (2004–2012)
 * Annie Mac (2004–2021)
 * Elaine Paige on Sunday (2004–Present)

Ending this year

 * 18 May – Puzzle Panel (1998–2005)
 * 29 September – Jane Gazzo's Dream Ticket (2004–2005)
 * October – Westway (1997–2005)
 * 18 October – Think the Unthinkable (2001–2005)
 * 9 November – Whispers (2003–2005)

Deaths

 * 2 January – Cyril Fletcher, 91, comic monologuist
 * 6 March – Tommy Vance, 63, disc jockey
 * 19 March – John Ebdon, 81, radio broadcaster, Graecophile, author and director of the London Planetarium
 * 7 November – Harry Thompson, 45, comedy producer, lung cancer
 * 19 November – John Timpson, 77, news presenter (Today (BBC Radio 4))
 * 20 November – Jonathan James-Moore, 59, former BBC Radio head of light entertainment, cancer
 * 21 December – Hallam Tennyson, 85, radio producer (great-grandson of Alfred, Lord Tennyson), suspected murder