Capital Buzz is moving its music coverage beyond digital platforms with its first live event at indigo at The O2.

Global’s digital first entertainment brand for Gen Z will stage Capital Buzz Live on Tuesday 1 December, bringing five emerging artists together for an evening of live performances.

Arthur Hill, flowerovlove, Chloe Qisha, Mulaa Joans and Bash Croft are confirmed to perform, with a mixture of original songs and exclusive covers planned.

The event will be hosted by Capital Buzz presenters Sam Prance and Tia Owomoyela alongside Scroll Deep host Benedict Townsend, with backstage content also being produced throughout the evening.

The concert follows the launch of Capital Buzz Artist of the Month, which supports emerging musicians through promotion across Global’s radio, online and outdoor platforms.

Mulaa Joans was selected as the brand’s September artist and will now perform at the event alongside Arthur Hill, who recently announced his Arthway Round The World tour.

The line-up also includes flowerovlove, who has supported Niall Horan on tour, Chloe Qisha, who released her debut single in July 2024, and actor and singer Bash Croft, who launched his music career last year.

Jack Morlen, Director of Artist & Entertainment Relations at Global, said the event was a new development for the brand.

He said: “It’s a huge milestone, bringing what we’ve built digitally to life and uniting these artists and their passionate fanbases for a night celebrating new music and emerging talent.”

The three hosts added: “We can’t wait to see this incredible line-up take over indigo at The O2.”

Mi-Soul has appointed John Quinn as its new chairperson, replacing Sir Robin Miller.

John has been involved with the station since it launched on DAB in 2015, serving as a Non Executive Director before taking on his new position.

The appointment follows a career in commercial radio advertising spanning several decades, including senior roles with Kiss FM, Atlantic 252, Virgin Radio, UBC Media Group and GTN.

Mi-Soul Managing Director Gordon Mac MBE said: “I have known and worked with John since the mid 1980s, where he was responsible for National sales at Kiss FM.”

During the mid 1990s, John ran the advertising sales operations for Atlantic 252 and Virgin Radio before joining UBC Media Group as Chief Operating Officer.

Following the sale of UBC Commercial to GTN in 2009, John was appointed Chief Operating Officer at GTN, remaining in the position until his retirement earlier this year.

Gordon also praised John’s contribution to the development of network radio advertising in the UK, describing him as “instrumental in driving network radio forward as a formidable advertising sector in the UK”.

He welcomed the appointment and said he was delighted John would now be able to help Mi-Soul develop further.

Ashley McBryde is joining Absolute Radio Country to host a new weekly Saturday afternoon show recorded in Nashville.

The Grammy winner will present Ashley McBryde’s Radioland every Saturday from 4pm to 7pm, starting on 24 October, sharing country music alongside stories from her career and the artists who have influenced her.

The three hour programme, presumably named after her 2018 single, will feature songs from Ashley’s own catalogue, music she has enjoyed throughout her life and stories about the people behind the recordings.

Ashley said: “I’ve always been fascinated by the stories behind the songs and the people who write ’em.”

She added: “I’m looking forward to sharing those with y’all, talking about the artists who’ve shaped the way I make music, and telling a few stories of my own.”

The appointment comes ahead of Ashley’s headline appearance at next year’s C2C: Country to Country festival in the UK.

Absolute Radio Country will also provide coverage from the C2C weekend, including interviews and highlights from the event.

Ricky Marshall, Head of Content for Absolute Radio Country, welcomed Ashley to the station, saying: “With Ashley set to headline C2C in the UK next year, and Absolute Radio Country bringing listeners the best of C2C Manchester, this is the perfect moment to bring Radioland to our listeners.”

Presenter Graham Torrington is to host evenings on digital radio station Broadland.

Graham Torrington’s Evening Retreat will air from 7pm to 10pm, Sunday to Thursday, with three hours of music designed to help listeners unwind at the end of the day.

The programme marks Graham’s return to a station with the same name where he previously presented Late Night Love, which was also heard on commercial radio stations across the UK for many years.

Rather than concentrating entirely on slower songs, the programme will feature a mixture of music intended to provide a relaxed evening listen for audiences across Norfolk and North Suffolk.

Graham said: “I’m absolutely delighted to be coming back to Broadland. I know there are listeners who will remember Late Night Love and the evenings we spent together all those years ago, so it feels very special to be returning.”

He added: “The Evening Retreat is about giving people somewhere to escape to at the end of the day.”

Broadland Managing Director Bob Norman said the programme would draw on Graham’s previous connection with the station, adding that “this isn’t simply about recreating something from the past.”

The former Radio City Tower in Liverpool is to become a Yellow Submarine themed Beatles visitor attraction in 2028.

St Johns Beacon will offer visitors a panoramic 360 degree view of Liverpool, including landmarks associated with The Beatles, as part of a major redevelopment announced by Apple Corps.

The tower, which previously housed Radio City, will operate as a standalone attraction, although visitors will also be able to combine the experience with a visit to The Beatles Story.

The plans will see The Beatles Story move from its current home at Albert Dock to the former St Johns Market inside St Johns Shopping Centre, directly opposite Liverpool Lime Street station.

The new 100,000 square foot venue will be more than four times the size of the existing attraction, with Apple Corps taking over its operation in 2027 ahead of the move in 2028.

Visitors will be able to explore reconstructed locations from the band’s history, including The Cavern, Abbey Road, Shea Stadium and Savile Row, using immersive technology, original artefacts and sets from Sam Mendes’ forthcoming four Beatles films.

Paul McCartney welcomed the plans, saying: “I love Liverpool. It’s part of who I am, it’s part of who The Beatles are.”

He added: “It couldn’t have happened without Liverpool and I can’t wait for people to be able to step into our story and share the experience.”

Ringo Starr also welcomed the development, saying: “Liverpool was, and still is, music city.”

Every ticket sold for The Beatles Story will contribute to the Apple Corps Liverpool Trust, which is being established to provide financial support and opportunities for emerging Liverpool artists and local cultural projects.

The development is being delivered through a partnership involving Apple Corps, Liverpool City Council and Liverpool City Region Combined Authority, with support from central government.

The BBC is to close the broadcast linear service of Radio 4 Extra as part of wider cuts across the corporation.

Changes announced today will also see BBC Three and BBC Scotland end their linear television services, as the corporation works towards making £500 million in savings by 2028.

Programmes currently broadcast on Radio 4 Extra will continue to be available through BBC Sounds, while The Daily Service will be carried on both BBC Sounds and local radio.

The changes were announced to BBC staff this morning, with Director-General Matt Brittin explaining that sustained financial pressures were forcing the corporation to make difficult decisions about its services.

In a note to staff, Matt said: “We need to make every pound work harder for audiences as we respond to the immediate cost pressures and reinvent the BBC for a changing world. We all know that means tough choices.”

The station, which started life as BBC 7, focused on comedy, drama, and entertainment from the extensive BBC spoken-word archive, while also airing extended or companion versions of Radio 4 programmes and some original content.⁠

It launched on 15 December 2002 when comedian Paul Merton opened the station at 8pm with a programme simulcast on Radio 4. The name deliberately omitted “Radio” to emphasise its availability on the internet and digital TV as well as radio. Early programming mixed archive comedy and drama with children’s radio content, aiming both to showcase the BBC Sound Archive and to encourage digital listening.⁠

In 2008 it was renamed BBC Radio 7. On 2 April 2011, following a 2010 proposal and BBC Trust approval, it relaunched as BBC Radio 4 Extra. The change aligned it more closely with Radio 4: children’s programming was dropped, and the schedule added more archive material plus extensions/spin-offs of popular Radio 4 shows (such as longer versions of The Now Show or The News Quiz).

Since then it has grown into one of the UK’s most successful digital-only stations, with weekly audiences reaching around 2 million in the mid-2010s, thanks to the enduring appeal of the BBC’s comedy and drama archive.

The move away from linear broadcasting was previously outlined by the BBC in May 2022, when then Director-General Tim Davie identified Radio 4 Extra among the services expected to move away from traditional broadcasting in future years.

Addressing the closures, Matt Brittin added: “While this follows media speculation, I recognise the confirmation of this news will be hard for audiences and colleagues.”

Further savings are also being planned across BBC News, with its new director Rachel Jupp expected to outline proposals early next year.

Other BBC divisions will confirm their savings plans in the coming months, following earlier announcements affecting BBC Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland, Local, News and Speech and Sounds.

Sean Goldsmith is taking over the weekday breakfast show at Mansfield Radio from Monday 2 November, broadcasting between 7am and 10am.

The appointment follows the station’s recent rebrand and brings a presenter with more than 30 years of broadcasting experience to its morning schedule, including over 20 years working on breakfast programmes.

Sean started his broadcasting career on breakfast radio in Coventry before going on to work at stations including Peak FM, Hallam FM, Viking FM and the Bauer City 2 Network.

Speaking about his new role, Sean said: “I’m absolutely delighted to be joining Mansfield Radio and taking on the breakfast show.”

He added: “Mansfield and the surrounding area have a real sense of community, and I’m looking forward to getting to know listeners, hearing their stories, playing great music and bringing a bit of fun to their mornings.”

Programme Director Ian “Watko” Watkins welcomed the appointment, saying Sean’s experience across several radio brands would be an asset to the station.

Ian said: “Sean knows what makes great breakfast radio, and we’re confident he’ll bring plenty of personality, energy and creativity to the show.”

The move comes just weeks after Mansfield 103.2 changed its name to Mansfield Radio, with station bosses describing the appointment as another stage in its development.

The station says further announcements are planned, although details of those changes have yet to be revealed.

BBC Sounds is adding weekly exclusive bonus episodes to Game’s Gone, giving Steve Bracknall a separate space for football conversations.

The new strand, Touchline Shouts, launches on Tuesday 20 October, with fresh episodes released every Tuesday exclusively on BBC Sounds.

Unlike the main Game’s Gone: The Steve Bracknall Podcast, which features discussions from the Royal Oak FC dressing room, the additional episodes will be recorded remotely with just Steve and a guest.

Guests will come from across football, including familiar Royal Oak FC characters and figures from the wider game. The format will give Steve more room to explore subjects and questions that would not fit into the existing dressing room conversations.

Steve said: “These bonus episodes make total sense. I spend half my time in the Royal Oak talking about football anyway so we may as well get mic’d up and upload them to BBC Sounds.”

He added that conversations could range from Ally McCoist discussing the Old Firm derby to Firestick Dean talking about his buffering problems.

Stevie Middleton, Commissioning Executive for Podcasts at BBC Sounds, said: “Steve’s been having these conversations in the pub for years. Now we’re recording them. Imagine Desert Island Discs but about football and with no music.”

The series could also feature appearances from Royal Oak regulars Carpet Dave, Housey and recently retired veteran defender Parksey.

Touchline Shouts will offer a different format from the existing podcast, focusing on individual conversations about football and the people involved in the game, without the usual studio or dressing room setting.

Radio stations can now monitor up to 32 audio inputs for unexpected silence using a free desktop application.

Dead Air Watchdog for Windows, macOS and Linux has been released by Graziano Melzi, a radio and broadcast engineer based in Italy.

The software checks audio from a computer’s sound card alongside Icecast and Shoutcast streams, with individual silence thresholds and alert times for each input.

When the audio level stays below the configured threshold, the application sends an email and Telegram message, followed by another notification when sound returns. Brief interruptions are logged as micro silences without triggering alerts, helping engineers adjust their monitoring settings.

For studios and newsrooms, a full screen wall display provides an overview of all monitored inputs, showing green when everything is working normally and flashing red when dead air is detected.

The application also maintains a log of interruptions, while measuring audio levels without recording or storing any sound.

Graziano said: “Dead air is a problem every station has, big or small. I wanted a monitor any station could run for free.”

The software is available without charge or registration, with downloads hosted on GitHub alongside checksums. Its source code is publicly available under an MIT licence.

Dead Air Watchdog is one of 12 free tools available through OnAir Garage, a website created for radio and broadcast engineers.

Graziano says the tools have been developed through vibe coding using Claude Code, with work on the project continuing.

Further information and downloads are available on the website.

Lumo is sponsoring hourly weather bulletins on Pride Radio, bringing the rail operator into the station’s regular output throughout the day.

The agreement builds on Lumo’s existing support for the North East community radio station, which included a £1,000 donation towards its live broadcast from Newcastle Pride earlier this year.

The operator also unveiled a redesigned Pride train in 2026 featuring the logos of Pride Radio, OUT North East, Edinburgh Pride and Glasgow’s Pride, reflecting the organisations it supports along its routes.

Ben Lloyd, Commercial Manager at Pride Radio, said: “I can’t wait to hear Lumo shine on our weather bulletins every hour. It’s the perfect way for their customers to check whether it’s shorts weather or time for a big coat before they head off to catch their train.”

Richard Salkeld, Director of Communications and Partnerships at Lumo, said: “While we can’t promise sunshine every day, we can promise that we will always continue to champion inclusivity and the LGBTQ+ community.”

Richard also confirmed that Lumo intends to continue supporting LGBTQ+ organisations throughout 2027, following its involvement in Pride events during 2026.

Lumo operates a fully electric East Coast service linking Glasgow and Edinburgh with Newcastle and London King’s Cross, while its West Coast route, launched in the spring, connects communities including Stirling, Preston, Carlisle and London.