Radio

Mogadishu, Somalia – Thousands of reel-to-reel tapes sit in an air-conditioned room in the archive of Somalia’s public radio, Radio Mogadishu, stacked on steel shelves and lined up like old manuscripts beneath a thick layer of dust.

Each reel contains a small fragment of Somalia’s 20th-century history, from news bulletins to speeches, music and voices that were once beamed out across the nation’s airwaves, some dating back to the early 1950s.

Abdiqadir Geedi Robleh, an archivist at Radio Mogadishu, threads a reel onto an old tape machine, connects it to a computer, and records the contents of each tape. A tape with a love song by Mohamed Mooge Liban, a prominent singer fills the room, and Robleh is transported, he says, to his youth.

He is working with a small team to digitise and methodically order approximately 400,000 hours of broadcasts, officials here say, before the magnetic tape deteriorates beyond recovery, taking with it a crucial record of the country’s past.

“This is the world’s largest store of Somali language music, culture, dramas and everything else, and at the moment it is locked away from the public in a kind of prison,” Robleh tells Al Jazeera. “We’re working to preserve it but also open it up in future to the public.”

Founded in 1951 during the Italian colonial era, Radio Mogadishu would grow into Somalia’s largest and most important public broadcaster. It initially broadcast in Italian and Somali before introducing foreign language services, including everything from Swahili and Oromo to English and Arabic.

In its heyday, it was among the most influential and distinctive voices in East African media, reaching audiences as far afield as Tanzania, Ethiopia, and the Middle East with a style of radical pan-African broadcasting reminiscent of Radio Cairo in the Nasser years.

With the exception of a brief hiatus in the 1990s, when it fell under the control of a warlord, it has served not only as a key source of news for Somalis and audiences across the region, but also as a vital repository of the country’s collective memory.

The effort to preserve its archives has gathered new momentum this year.

In early June, Somalia’s information ministry and the UNESCO regional office for Eastern Africa – the UN’s heritage agency – brought archivists from across the country to a workshop in Mogadishu, aimed at eventually registering its contents with UNESCO’s Memory of the World programme, which catalogues archives of important historical value.

“Protecting this knowledge isn’t just relevant for Somalia, but it is relevant for everyone,” said Guilherme Canela, a senior UNESCO official who is overseeing the project.

An expert assessment carried out in April counted roughly 45,000 tapes and reels, representing an estimated 400,000 hours of material recorded since the station’s founding. More than 85 percent remain playable, but around one in 10 has deteriorated with age, and more than 5 percent has been destroyed or severely damaged, according to UNESCO.

Radio Mogadishu’s collection was recognised both for its size and because so much of what it holds exists nowhere else.

Some were damaged in an electrical fire in 2018, Robleh says, while others were lost during fighting in 1992, when US forces battled Somali militias in the streets of Mogadishu.

During the worst of the civil war, police colonel Abshir Hashi Ali risked his life to prevent the contents of the archives from being looted. When fighting engulfed Mogadishu following the 1990 collapse of the government, he said he ran back “with the aim of conveying to Somalis the wealth that is stored here”.

Abdi Jeite, the station’s director, says the digitisation drive began as early as 2012, but has been held back for years by a lack of resources. By his estimate, only approximately 10 percent of the archive has so far been converted.

“We’ve got some new tools, and more training for our archivists, but there is still a lot of support needed,” he says.

To understand why the archive matters so much, it helps to understand what radio once meant in Somali life.

“Radio Mogadishu was arguably the preeminent media institution in post-independence Somalia,” Iman Mohamed, an assistant professor at the University of Minnesota and historian of Somalia, tells Al Jazeera.

“In a society that prizes orality above the written word, radio was uniquely effective at creating a common public sphere through which ordinary people could feel bonded to one another and to a shared sense of nationhood,” Mohamed adds.

Though Somali audiences could also access BBC Somali, Radio Hargeisa, and opposition stations when the government began to deteriorate in the latter part of the 20th century, it was Radio Mogadishu that dominated the “soundscape of urban Somalia”, Mohamed said.

That dominance made Radio Mogadishu a national factory of talent. “If you were a musician, poet, playwright or producer, Radio Mogadishu was the platform you wanted to appear on,” Robleh, the archivist, said. “It made Somalia’s stars.”

Robleh, the archivist, added that many BBC Somali journalists who went on to have distinguished careers first cut their teeth at Radio Mogadishu, which became an important pipeline for Somali-language talent to the BBC.

Hassan Dahir, a former journalist at the station, was one of many Somali children who grew up dreaming of working there. For years, he recalled, Radio Mogadishu was virtually the only source of news for millions, “the eyes and ears of the community”, he told Al Jazeera.

“Its reach was so extensive that even nomadic herders followed events as far afield as the Vietnam War and the American Civil Rights Movement,” Dahir said.

Under Siad Barre, the military officer who seized power in a 1969 coup and ran Somalia for two decades under a self-styled socialist, revolutionary government, the station became an instrument of state ideology, mixing news, drama and religious programming with nationalist and anti-colonial content.

The station beamed pan-African songs Oh Africa, still asleep by Halimo Khalif Magool, which spurred the continent’s inhabitants to awaken and take charge of their own destinies. Mahamud Abdullahi Sangub’s Reject the Color of Imperialism was another popular song of the era in this same tradition of politically charged music, with lyrics like: “Africans listen to each other, reject the colour of imperialism, reject it, reject it, reject it!”

Many of those songs have been covered, sampled or repurposed since, and younger Somalis often encounter them with no idea who performed the originals, or the politics that shaped them, say Mohamed.

Its news coverage focused on anti-colonial wars in places such as Mozambique against Portugal, the struggle against apartheid in Rhodesia and South Africa and the Civil Rights Movement in the US. It covered everything from colonial battles in Guinea-Bissau to the arrest of African American political activist and author Angela Davis.

“We were telling the stories of people resisting their oppressors”, said Dahir.

The station was a “mouthpiece of the government”, cautions Mohamed, but took on a crucial role of inculcating “a patriotic and revolutionary ideological orientation in the Somali people”.

One of the most important projects the radio supported was the Somali mass literacy campaign, when the government sent students to rural Somalia in 1972 to teach the newly developed Somali script. The campaign led to a dramatic increase in literacy across the country.

It also became deeply entangled with Somalia’s regional foreign policy, as the government spent much of the 20th century at loggerheads with Ethiopia before eventually invading in 1977.

That rivalry led Radio Mogadishu to dedicate airtime to Ethiopia’s marginalised ethnic communities, as well as armed rebel movements, particularly those from Eritrea. Among its most notable initiatives were broadcasts in Oromo and Sidama.

Dahir, the former Radio Mogadishu journalist who covered Ethiopia, told Al Jazeera that these were the first-ever radio programmes in either language, both of which had been suppressed for many years in Ethiopia under policies that privileged Amharic, the language of the country’s elite.

The station itself has taken on a far smaller role in Somali life since.

The collapse of the central government in 1991 broke the state’s grip on broadcasting, opening space for private radio, television and online outlets, which have proven popular with the Somali public.

It has lost most of its foreign-language programming, and with it, much of its revolutionary edge. The Somali state also continues to be constrained by limited resources as it rebuilds after decades of conflict.

In November 2021, the al-Qaida-affiliated armed group al-Shabab, which has waged a long rebellion against Somalia’s government, assassinated the station’s then-director, Abdiaziz Mohamud Guled, in a suicide bombing in Mogadishu.

Iman Mohamed, the historian, says that with the civil war in the country, now in its third decade, preserving the archive for posterity has become more urgent.

“The destruction of archives during the civil war has left an enormous gap in Somalia’s documentary record, which means that anyone researching the country’s history is almost entirely reliant on foreign archives or oral history,” Mohamed said.

“That is especially problematic for young people,” she adds. “Recovering what we can matters for the youth who will never have known the world that Radio Mogadishu broadcast in its heyday.”

PETE Tong has hit back at a rival DJ as they are embroiled in a row over a music collaboration gone wrong.

American DJ John Summit took to X in a rant where he claimed that the Radio 1 star had ‘promised’ to release his music together, but then decided to work with Dutch DJ Franky Rizardo instead and “jacked” John’s remix.

Fans of Pete and Franky were excited when the DJs revealed they were releasing a new remix of Everything But The Girl’s Missing earlier this year, but ran into controversy when John made the public claims that he was meant to be involved too.

John wrote online: “hey @petetong thanks for promising to release my missing remix with u (while doing nothing in terms of production)

“Then jacking my remix to release with franky rizardo release class act you are. to think i actually looked up to u too.”

John then went on to claim that there was ‘proof’ and said: “Also i ended up doing the whole orchestral version myself which im premiering this weekend, thanks for the zero help”.

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Pete hit back in a video, as he claimed discussions of working with John were simply that and never came to fruition, and that the project with Franky was an ‘independent’ one.

In a video, Pete said: “I’m disappointed. I don’t like being accused of things that aren’t true. If you’ve got a problem, pick up the phone – that’s certainly what I would preach.”

Going on to say that he had tried to call and text John with no avail, Pete claimed: “I think we acted correctly, we laid out the scenario to his team, for one reason or another, it wasn’t to be.

“They never got back to us, we carried on making the other version with Franky. And that’s it.”

Pete later explained: “We had positive conversations on text about doing a new version of his remix and at the same time I was talking to Franky.

“It’s quite normal when releasing a song to have different versions of the same song.

“I started the conversation with both of them, I got into it with John because he was particularly interested in the orchestra because he wanted to perform the song with an orchestra himself.”

Pete then said his management took over communication and told John they were also working on a version with Franky.

He claimed how his team then failed to hear back from John and chased him “multiple times” but never heard back.

Pete did hear back from Franky, he says, and they continued to work on their planned track.

Following John’s very public claims, Franky announced he was withdrawing from the release – saying it “no longer feels right”.

IT nurtured some of our broadcasting greats, from Terry Wogan and Tony Blackburn to Chris Moyles and Zoe Ball.

But now staff at BBC Radio 1 fear the station is crumbling beyond recognition.

This week it was announced that long-standing duo Melvin Odoom and Rickie Haywood-Williams will be departing, while DJs Dean McCullough, Nat O’Leary, James Cusack and Swarzy are also on their way out.

Meanwhile, social media stars GK Barry and Charley Marlowe are set to come in as part of a shake-up.

And lesser-known DJs Mylo & Rosie, as well as Emil Franchi, have landed bigger slots.

Insiders say tensions at the flagship youth station reached fever pitch after the comings and goings were announced on Wednesday, with some staffers claiming they only learnt of the changes when the BBC press office made them public.

“To say the handling of this feels like an absolute mess is an understatement,” one told The Sun.

“Some producers had no idea their talent was leaving. One of Melvin and Rickie’s team wasn’t told about the changes until they saw the email.

“They’d been on the station for seven years. So to see them suddenly off out of the back door was really upsetting. The atmosphere was chaotic and some staff were absolutely shellshocked.”

The changes have been met with hostility from listeners, many of whom took to social media to vent their anger.

One Radio 1 listener wrote on Instagram: “This is so disappointing.

“Both GK Barry and Charley Marlowe are incredibly talented at their craft but it’s so discouraging to see BBC Radio 1 providing these opportunities to host to already established presenters when there are so many people looking to break into the industry.”

Another was not happy with “clearing out DJs for social media ‘stars’,” while a third added: “Why is R1 on a self-sabotage mission by bringing in a load of social media ‘stars’ and godawful local radio DJs?”

An emotional staffer told us that a meeting, which was said to have included long-standing radio producers, was called to discuss the changes after the announcements were made.

They explained: “There is a weekly meeting on a Wednesday at Radio 1, but this week they called a second meeting where people were invited to speak up.

“A fair few people put their hands up to raise concerns.

“The main bone of contention was why Radio 1 appeared keen to say goodbye to established broadcasters and replace them with YouTubers and TikTokers.

“Much of the blame is being laid at the door of the big boss, Aled Haydn Jones. Some of the staff are so unhappy.”

Aled was a DJ on Radio 1 between 2009 and 2015 before he succeeded Ben Cooper as head of the station in 2020.

Insiders say he prides himself on championing new talent and is behind the raft of influencers joining the line-up, including GK, who came fifth in 2024’s I’m A Celeb.

Her arrival, alongside social media sensation Charley, has allegedly more than ruffled feathers.

“These influencers are lovely but they’re not radio geeks like most of the DJs who work at Radio 1,” one staffer explained.

“Working at Radio 1 is the dream job for any budding broadcaster who has put in the hard yards on student radio or local stations.

“It was held up as the pinnacle by so many people.

“But now it’s being eroded by this desperation to bring in ‘new’ talent that they think will bring in a new audience.

“The producers who work on these shows are so upset at what is happening.

“A couple have already decided to walk away. And it won’t be long before others start jumping ship.”

Another staffer added: “Aled seems to think social media is going to save Radio 1, but where’s the proof?

“Audience figures are down and they think the way to save it is by plugging the gap with people who are popular on the internet.

“That’s all well and good, but will their millions of followers start tuning into Radio 1 just to listen to them? It’s doubtful.

“Their fans already have access to their content at the touch of a button and that is a daily habit.

“Making them carve out a new habit of listening to them every day is incredibly difficult.”

Launched in 1967, Radio 1 was born out of the need to compete with the rise of pirate radio stations which had become hugely popular.

Legendary broadcaster Tony Blackburn was the first DJ to broadcast on the new station.

It grew into a juggernaut of the airwaves, commanding audiences of ten million for some shows and making huge stars out of presenters including Chris Evans, Simon Mayo and Sara Cox.

But as listening habits change, audiences across the BBC and commercial stations are decreasing.

Figures at the start of this year confirmed that the weekly audience reach across BBC radio stations is in steady decline.

In the final quarter of 2025, Radio 1’s weekly audience reach dropped by six per cent compared to the same period last year.

But bosses were keen to stress that their target market of 15 to 29-year-olds was consuming Radio 1 in different ways.

In that same final quarter, the station boasted more than 329million views on social media and Radio 1’s YouTube videos have had more than 6.1billion views.

But one BBC employee said: “It’s not just young people that listen to Radio 1.

“There is a decent percentage of listeners that are older.

“They have stuck with the station since they were young and they tune in to listen to DJs they have known and loved for years. Putting some influencers in their places, regardless of how well known they are, won’t translate as well.

“Many people working at Radio 1 think Aled is making a mistake if he carries on in this vein.”

The remaining jewel in the Radio 1 crown is Breakfast Show host Greg James.

Greg, 40, took over the coveted role from Nick Grimshaw in 2018 and pulls in more than four million listeners, making it the No1 Breakfast Show for young people across the country. But a well-placed insider revealed that BBC Radio 2 — the nation’s biggest station — was keen to bring him on board.

“Greg had meetings with Radio 2 and they were testing the water in a bid to poach him,” a source claimed.

“When Scott Mills left Radio 2’s Breakfast Show and Sara Cox took over, there was a lot of talk at Broadcasting House about whether Greg would make the move. But he’s definitely staying on board at Radio 1 for now.

“To lose Greg would have been horrendous because he is such a figurehead at Radio 1.

“Thankfully, he’s remaining in place.”

The Sun understands some staffers are now considering jumping ship with the departing talent.

And the blame is being solely laid at Aled’s door.

“Aled has been massacring the schedules and the method isn’t working,” one staffer said.

“The feeling is that he is ruining Radio 1 and it is heartbreaking.

“It feels like the craft of making radio isn’t being respected and the people behind the scenes who craft this magic for the audience aren’t being treated with the respect they deserve. Radio 1 used to be the best station to work at, with the most talented pool of people and the most incredible presenters.

“It’s like a shadow of what it once was.”

A BBC spokesman said: “Radio 1 is proud to be the number one station for young audiences and has a strong track record of supporting and developing young and emerging radio talent, with a huge majority of presenters having come through the station’s own initiatives and opportunities.

“Alongside Radio 1’s commitment to nurturing new voices, there will always be a home for DJs with specialist music knowledge and talent from a diverse range of backgrounds who we know resonate with our young audience.”

Vernon Kay said he’s “loved working” on BBC Radio 2 as he jokingly started thinking about his exit from the broadcaster, after an on-air blunder led to him uttering a rude word by mistake

Vernon Kay said he’s “loved working” on BBC Radio 2 after an awkward mishap led to a warning from his colleague. His gaffe could be heard on yesterday’s broadcast of his mid-morning BBC Radio 2 show (July 14), as he revealed the contents of a message regarding a particular brand of footwear.

As he read it out, “Crocs” came out sounding uncomfortably close to a very different word, which would be inappropriate to utter on the airwaves, and the result was an immediate on-air .

Reading the message aloud, Vernon said: “Hey, Vern. I wear Crocs with socks. And they’re proper, not proper c***s…Crocs”, in a gaffe that sent the studio into fits of laughter.

He continued: “Oh, clip that. Clip that. I want that on my…not my highlights, my lowlights”. Barely able to contain his laughter, Vernon pressed on: “I hope you have got proper…Crocs, cos if you’ve not got proper Crocs, then you’re gonna be in trouble.”

His co-star, BBC Radio 2’s travel news presenter Ellie Brennan, mischievously cautioned: “You are gonna be in trouble.” Vernon then quipped: “I hope my Crocs work cos at our age, you never know.” As the hilarity ensued, his colleague chimed in with “especially with socks on”.

Vernon cheekily fired back: “No, keep your socks on; it’s safer.” As the pair struggled to get the show back on track, he jested: “I’ve loved working here. Thanks very much. Had a great time.”

The radio mishap also follows fresh attention on Vernon’s personal life after Tess Daly was photographed at the Wimbledon final wearing her wedding rings, despite the pair recently confirming their separation.

Their split was made public in May, with the TV stars clarifying that there’s no bad blood between them.

Back in September 2003, Vernon and Tess married at St Mary’s Catholic Church in Horwich. They’ve since had two daughters — Phoebe and Amber — and confirmed via Instagram that they’ve decided to split, saying the separation is amicable.

The statement read: “After much consideration, and with a deep sense of care and respect for one another, we have made the decision to separate amicably.”

It continued: “This has not been an easy choice, but it comes from a place of mutual understanding and a shared desire for what is best for both of us.

“We remain great friends and most importantly, fully committed to our roles as loving and supportive parents, which will always be our priority.

“There are no other parties involved in this decision. We kindly ask for privacy during this time as we navigate this transition together.” The pair signed off by saying they wouldn’t be saying anything else publicly.

But on Sunday (July 12), Tess was spotted arriving at the All England Lawn Tennis Club for Wimbledon, where she was her still wearing her rings despite the sad news.

Riverside-based radio station, 99.1 KGGI, has lost its last local on-air host.

Longtime radio personalities Evelyn Erives, Nick Nack and Garrison King were all cut from the Inland Empire station last week as part of iHeartMedia’s latest round of national layoffs. In an internal memo, the media giant said it would restructure its radio programming to better “leverage” the company’s technology.

iHeartMedia declined to comment on how many people lost their jobs, but dozens of on-air and other staff positions have reportedly been cut across the country.

The memo — attributed to Chief Programming Officer Tom Poleman and Ann Marie Licata, the chief executive of the company’s multiplatform group — framed the changes as a way to “move faster and operate with greater precision across markets,” and to “position us not just to adapt to the future, but to lead it.”

The cuts are part of a broader push to reduce costs. In May, iHeartMedia launched a new savings program, set to begin in the second half of 2026, aimed at trimming an additional $50 million on top of the $100 million in savings the company had already announced.

iHeartMedia is the nation’s largest radio operator, with more than 850 stations across 160 markets and a sizable presence in Burbank. Its Los Angeles–area stations include KFI-AM 640, KLAC-AM 570, KOST-FM 103.5 and KIIS-FM 102.7.

As the media landscape continues to evolve, the company has leaned harder into podcasting, home to hallmark shows like “Stuff You Should Know,” “Questlove Supreme” and “Las Culturistas.”

Last year, iHeartMedia introduced its “Guaranteed Human” campaign, an ongoing pledge that no iHeartMedia station or podcast will feature an AI-generated personality or AI-generated music.

How that promise squares with the layoffs is unclear. With stations like Riverside’s 99.1 now stripped of their local hosts, the company has said nothing about who — or what — will replace them.

All times BST. Matches and coverage times are subject to late changes. The BBC is not responsible for any changes that may be made. Full radio coverage times to follow when available.

Monday, 29 June

Men’s and women’s singles first round

10:30-19:00 – Live coverage – BBC Two, BBC iPlayer, BBC Sport website and app

14:00-18:00 – Live coverage – BBC One, BBC iPlayer, BBC Sport website and app

19:00-22:00 – Live coverage – BBC One, BBC iPlayer, BBC Sport website and app

23:00-00:05 – Today at Wimbledon – BBC Two, BBC iPlayer, BBC Sport website and app

Tuesday, 30 June

Men’s and women’s singles first round

11:00-19:00 – Live coverage – BBC Two, BBC iPlayer, BBC Sport website and app

14:00-18:00 – Live coverage – BBC One, BBC iPlayer, BBC Sport website and app

19:00-22:00 – Live coverage – BBC One, BBC iPlayer, BBC Sport website and app

23:00-00:05 – Today at Wimbledon – BBC Two, BBC iPlayer, BBC Sport website and app

Wednesday, 1 July

Men’s and women’s singles second round, men’s doubles first round

11:15-13:00 – Live coverage – BBC One, BBC iPlayer, BBC Sport website and app

13:00-19:00 – Live coverage – BBC Two, BBC iPlayer, BBC Sport website and app

14:00-18:00 – Live coverage – BBC One, BBC iPlayer, BBC Sport website and app

19:00-22:00 – Live coverage – BBC One, BBC iPlayer, BBC Sport website and app

23:30-00:30 – Today at Wimbledon – BBC Two, BBC iPlayer, BBC Sport website and app

Thursday, 2 July

Men’s and women’s singles second round, men’s and women’s doubles first round

11:00-19:00 – Live coverage – BBC Two, BBC iPlayer, BBC Sport website and app

14:00-18:00 – Live coverage – BBC One, BBC iPlayer, BBC Sport website and app

19:00-22:00 – Live coverage – BBC One, BBC iPlayer, BBC Sport website and app

23:00-00:00 – Today at Wimbledon – BBC Two, BBC iPlayer, BBC Sport website and app

Friday, 3 July

Men’s and women’s singles third round, men’s doubles second round, women’s doubles first round, mixed doubles first round

11:00-19:00 – Live coverage – BBC Two, BBC iPlayer, BBC Sport website and app

14:00-18:00 – Live coverage – BBC One, BBC iPlayer, BBC Sport website and app

19:00-22:00 – Live coverage – BBC One, BBC iPlayer, BBC Sport website and app

23:00-00:00 – Today at Wimbledon – BBC Two, BBC iPlayer, BBC Sport website and app

Saturday, 4 July

Men’s and women’s singles third round, men’s and women’s doubles second round, mixed doubles first round, boys’ and girls’ singles first round

11:00-21:00 – Live coverage – BBC Two, BBC iPlayer, BBC Sport website and app

12:20-17:15 – Live coverage – BBC One, BBC iPlayer, BBC Sport website and app

17:30-21:00 – Live coverage – BBC One, BBC iPlayer, BBC Sport website and app

00:30-01:30 – Today at Wimbledon – BBC Two, BBC iPlayer, BBC Sport website and app

Sunday, 5 July

Men’s and women’s singles fourth round, men’s doubles third round, women’s doubles second round, mixed doubles second round, boys’ and girls’ singles first round

11:00-19:00 – Live coverage – BBC Two, BBC iPlayer, BBC Sport website and app

12:35-17:35 – Live coverage – BBC One, BBC iPlayer, BBC Sport website and app

23:40-00:40 – Today at Wimbledon – BBC Two, BBC iPlayer, BBC Sport website and app

Monday, 6 July

Men’s and women’s singles fourth round, men’s and women’s doubles third round, mixed doubles quarter-finals, girls’ singles second round, boys’ and girls’ doubles first round

11:00-19:00 – Live coverage – BBC Two, BBC iPlayer, BBC Sport website and app

14:00-18:00 – Live coverage – BBC One, BBC iPlayer, BBC Sport website and app

19:00-22:00 – Live coverage – BBC One, BBC iPlayer, BBC Sport website and app

23:00-00:00 – Today at Wimbledon – BBC Two, BBC iPlayer, BBC Sport website and app

Tuesday, 7 July

Men’s and women’s singles quarter-finals, men’s doubles quarter-finals, women’s doubles third round, mixed doubles semi-finals, boys’ singles second round, girls’ doubles first round

12:30-19:00 – Live coverage – BBC Two, BBC iPlayer, BBC Sport website and app

14:00-18:00 – Live coverage – BBC One, BBC iPlayer, BBC Sport website and app

19:00-22:00 – Live coverage – BBC One, BBC iPlayer, BBC Sport website and app

23:30-00:30 – Today at Wimbledon – BBC Two, BBC iPlayer, BBC Sport website and app

Wednesday, 8 July

Men’s and women’s singles quarter-finals, men’s and women’s doubles quarter-finals, quad singles quarter-finals, men’s and women’s wheelchair doubles quarter-finals, boys’ and girls’ singles third round, boys’ and girls’ doubles second round

12:15-13:00 – Live coverage – BBC One, BBC iPlayer, BBC Sport website and app

13:00-19:00 – Live coverage – BBC Two, BBC iPlayer, BBC Sport website and app

13:45-18:00 – Live coverage – BBC One, BBC iPlayer, BBC Sport website and app

19:00-21:00 – Live coverage – BBC One, BBC iPlayer, BBC Sport website and app

23:00-00:00 – Today at Wimbledon – BBC Two, BBC iPlayer, BBC Sport website and app

Thursday, 9 July

Women’s singles semi-finals, men’s doubles semi-finals, women’s doubles quarter-finals, mixed doubles final, men’s and women’s wheelchair singles quarter-finals, men’s, women’s and quad wheelchair doubles semi-finals, boys’ and girls’ singles quarter-finals, boys’ and girls’ doubles quarter-finals

12:30-19:00 – Live coverage – BBC Two, BBC iPlayer, BBC Sport website and app

14:00-18:00 – Live coverage – BBC One, BBC iPlayer, BBC Sport website and app

19:00-21:00 – Live coverage – BBC One, BBC iPlayer, BBC Sport website and app

23:30-00:30 – Today at Wimbledon – BBC Two, BBC iPlayer, BBC Sport website and app

Friday, 10 July

Men’s singles semi-finals, women’s doubles semi-finals, men’s, women’s and quad wheelchair singles semi-finals, boys’ and girls’ singles semi-finals, boys’ and girls’ doubles semi-finals

12:30-19:30 – Live coverage – BBC Two, BBC iPlayer, BBC Sport website and app

14:00-18:00 – Live coverage – BBC One, BBC iPlayer, BBC Sport website and app

19:30-21:00 – Live coverage – BBC One, BBC iPlayer, BBC Sport website and app

23:00-00:00 – Today at Wimbledon – BBC Two, BBC iPlayer, BBC Sport website and app

Saturday, 11 July

Women’s singles final, men’s doubles final, women’s wheelchair singles final, men and quad wheelchair doubles finals, girls’ singles final, girls’ doubles final, boys’ doubles final

11:30-13:15 – Live coverage – BBC Two, BBC iPlayer, BBC Sport website and app

12:15-19:00 – Live coverage – BBC One, BBC iPlayer, BBC Sport website and app

23:00-00:00 – Today at Wimbledon – BBC Two, BBC iPlayer, BBC Sport website and app

Sunday, 12 July

Men’s singles final, women’s doubles final, men and quad wheelchair singles final, women’s wheelchair doubles final, boys’ singles final

11:30-13:00 – Live coverage – BBC Two, BBC iPlayer, BBC Sport website and app

13:00-20:00 – Live coverage – BBC One, BBC iPlayer, BBC Sport website and app

01:50-02:50 – Today at Wimbledon – BBC Two, BBC iPlayer, BBC Sport website and app

AFTER years of writing about politics, technology and the chaos of the modern world, Matt Bellamy wanted something different for Muse’s tenth album.

“The theme was to get back into mystery a little bit,” he says. “The mysteries of the universe, mysteries of spirituality and returning to the rawness of the unknown.”

Inspired by the 1977 Wow! Signal — an unexplained radio signal from space once seen as possible evidence of alien intelligence — and a turbulent period in his personal life, the record finds Bellamy searching for meaning on both a cosmic and personal level.

“I’ve turned completely apolitical,” he admits. “It’s weird when you go through things in your personal life — the news just becomes an annoying noise.

“When your life’s going great, you get drawn into the news and what’s going on in the world.

“But when you’re actually going through something yourself, the news and politics just become a headache.

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Muse’s Matt Bellamy & wife split as rocker snapped with mystery woman

“I’m a little bit gloriously out of touch. I’ve normally been so in touch, my finger’s always been on the pulse, and a lot of the albums I’ve made talk about the rise of populism. But this album and my life for the last year-and-a-half has been different.”

Bellamy has split from US model Elle Evans, his wife of six years, who he quietly separated from in October 2025.

“I’ve been through a separation involving two young kids,” he says carefully.

“I can’t really talk about the reasons behind it, but it was not your normal run-of-the-mill situation. I became a full-time single parent for a period of eight months.

“She’s doing a lot better now and she’s getting better, but it was an unusual situation to go through. It made writing the album so much easier.

“It’s hard to talk about what’s behind the album because I don’t throw people under the bus. And I don’t want my kids to grow up reading stuff.”

Bellamy, 48, is in London for band rehearsals and when we meet, he’s just back from the gym in a bid to shape up for the tour.

“I’m not that old,” he laughs. “But I met Mick Jagger at a party and I went straight in on the fitness. I was, like, ‘What is your secret?!’ He said when he was in his 30s, he started working out a few weeks before a tour.

“By the time he got to his 40s, he was working out for the same length as the tour.

“If it was a three-month tour, he’d work out for three months before. And by the time he got to his 50s, he was just working out all the time, all year round.”

The 1977 Wow! Signal fascinates Bellamy because it remains unexplained and happened around the time the band members were born.

“The Wow! Signal is probably, to this day, still the most interesting signal that’s ever been seen in space,” he explains.

“It happened in 1977, which is basically within 12 months of all the band being born.

“Chris [Wolstenholme] and I were born in 1978 and Dom [Howard] in 1977, so I just thought it was funny that this little Wow! Signal appeared around the time we came into this world.

“I think this album was really me letting go a little bit and engaging with the unknown.

“What is this thing inside me, or all of us, that wants to not be alone? I don’t mean with a partner or friends. I mean this thing in the universe. At the moment, we appear to be so alone, and we have this drive, which you see through religion and science.

“Behind all of it, we just don’t want to be alone.”

That search drew Bellamy back to one of his formative influences.

“I grew up watching Contact, the Jodie Foster film from the 90s,” he says. “I used to read Carl Sagan’s books and that film really stayed with me.”

It has also led him into the world of AI.

He adds: “I’ve spent time in the tech world, in California’s Silicon Valley and the Bay Area, and I had some involvement in that world.

“I went to a private talk where Sam Altman (CEO of OpenAI) was talking off the record about his thoughts on AI.

“I saw (Meta CEO Mark) Zuckerberg talking about it, too, and I was interested in what they were saying.

“When you really hear them, they know they’re ushering in an intelligence which is beyond us. They start to see it as, ‘Well, we’re just kind of messengers bringing in this thing that is going to be more intelligent than us’.”

Bellamy says he enjoys asking AI philosophical questions — and that is where Hexagons began.

“That’s actually my favourite thing to do with AI, and where I got the idea for Hexagons,” he says. “And again, I think that is part of the same human condition.

“Whether it be religion, looking for aliens in space or trying to bring in artificial intelligence, it’s kind of all the same thing.”

Epic, organ-led Be With You was the first song that made the album’s direction clear.

“You can look at it as a love song, or you can look at it as a religious song, almost,” he says.

“I’m not a religious person, but I decided to play the song on a church organ.

“I went to the biggest church organ in Los Angeles, so the song was recorded in this church-like setting.

“I liked the idea that it could be perceived as searching for alien life, or searching for alien intelligence of some kind, or God. That was the first song that felt right, lyrically and musically.

“There are a lot of personal elements in the album that are quite unusual for me.”

Bellamy says the album came from a difficult period, but that made the music flow.

“This was actually the easiest album for me to write and make for 15-plus years,” he says.

“Space Debris is probably the biggest reveal of what I went through, especially lyrically at the end,” he says.

“It’s the rawest moment of explaining what really happened over the last year. I like using space analogies — space debris, things breaking up and falling apart in gravity — to describe the chaos and feeling in your life.

“It also fits the theme of connecting this search into outer space for a higher power with the chaos and feeling in your own life.

“I hope the fans don’t ask me to play that one live.”

If Space Debris is the album’s rawest confession, Bellamy says it also opened the door to bigger questions running through the record.

“What I went through threw me off into the unknown,” he explains.

“When things go wrong in your life, that’s when you’re most likely to seek meaning or search for answers.

“In my case, it was a blend between religious thought, alien intelligence and AI.

“I don’t know what it is, but you’re searching for this higher power to guide you, or to give you answers.

“Music became my catharsis. It became my way to understand my situation.

“Making this album gave me flashbacks to these periods where music was my everything.

“It wasn’t something I had to do to pay the bills. It wasn’t something I had to do for the record label. It was something that I had to do for myself.

“That’s why I think this album is probably, since the 2000s anyway, the most raw, emotionally raw and honest album I’ve done.”

Bellamy says despite the personal nature of the album, Chris and Dom were central to every song.

“I’ve always been in charge of the lyrics, and I’m the leader in terms of the concepts,” he says.

“But musically, this is the most equal album we’ve had for a long time.”

The Wow! Signal includes some of the best tracks Muse have made in years.

Cryogen has already been compared to early Muse, while Shimmering Scars shows off the vulnerability in Bellamy’s voice.

“Cryogen is deliberately Muse from 2001,” he says.

With Shimmering Scars, he explains: “I felt like I needed to do five or six takes, so we could edit the best bits in.

“But producer Dan Lancaster was, like, ‘Nah, let it be raw, let it be weird.’

“To me, it sounded a bit off — not quite what I wanted it to be. But he was, like, ‘No, that’s the whole point. That sounds a little bit raw’.

“This is the first album where we said, ‘Let’s give Dan a go at producing it’. The last two albums were self-produced, so it was nice to hand the reins to someone else.

“He did a great job keeping us towards that more raw, vulnerable state in the performances.”

Bellamy believes AI is pushing younger listeners back towards authenticity.

“My stepson with Kate [Hudson], Ryder, is 22 and he’s just graduated from NYU,” he says. “Then Bing is 14, and I’ve got the two little ones as well.

“Having a boy who’s 22 and a boy who’s 14 means I get a real sense of what’s going on in their generation.

“I think that generation is turning away from pop, hip-hop and dance a little bit. They’re seeking raw, chaotic-sounding music.

“I think the reason why is because that generation is drowned by AI. AI is dominating everything they do, from schoolwork to music and the arts.

“I could be wrong but from what I sense from them, they’re gravitating towards what they know to be real.”

Recent single Nightshift Superstar was the band wanting to go French disco.

“I love Daft Punk, Justice and ABBA,” Bellamy says. “I went to see ABBA’s show and I loved it. They’re some of the best songs ever written. So after that and seeing Justice in Paris, I was, like, ‘How do we do that? Let’s just go there’.

“The song has a late-70s feel but with a more cutting-edge tone associated with modern dance music.

“But the good thing about it is that it really is us playing.”

One surprise on The Wow! Signal is Hush — a collaboration with pop star Ellie Goulding.

“Ellie was in the studio next-door, working with Marshmello on something,” says the singer.

“We have known each other for years and always wanted to try and do something together.

“Muse fans will read online that we’ve done a song with Ellie Goulding and think it’s going to be a pop song.

“But it’s got one of the biggest, heaviest riffs we’ve done in a long time. To me, it sounds a bit like New Born or something from 2001.

“The verses get a little bit poppy, I guess, but the main riff is pretty hard rock, so I thought it was quite fun to get Ellie’s voice over that kind of heaviness.

“I think it’ll be a nice surprise.”

Bellamy says the song came together by chance.

“This was an experiment,” he says. “It’s the only song on the album that really involves multiple writers.

“Ellie popped her head in towards the end of the day, at about 11pm, and went, ‘Hey, what are you guys up to?’ We played the song and she said, ‘Oh, can I sing on it?’ We tweaked the lyrics and turned it into a duet.

“It came completely by chance. It wasn’t planned to be a collaboration.”

Bellamy says the reaction from Muse fans to the new songs has “been the best we’ve had for at least 15 years” and he’s looking forward to getting back on the road following their special Brixton Academy show in April to launch the album.

The show marked Muse’s first appearance at the venue in 25 years, just before the release of Origin of Symmetry.

“I didn’t realise it had been so long,” Bellamy says.

“I remember the last time we played there, it was around the second album and I was so nervous because it was the biggest show Muse had ever done.

“We got to debut Be With You for the first time, and we had a great time.”

Visually, Bellamy says the full Wow! Signal world will come to life properly when Muse return to Europe in November.

“The American tour starts with what I’d call a medium-level production,” he says.

“But when we come to Europe, including London and Manchester in November, that’s when we’re going to ramp it up to a really sophisticated production.

“I think there’ll be a lot of geometry, a lot of hexagons, shapes and lasers, and strange, interesting visuals.

“Hopefully we’ll build the spaceship you see on the album cover in the arena.”

• The album The Wow! Signal is out today.

The Wow! Signal

GREG James has confirmed his Radio 1 show return and revealed that he’s ‘exhausted’ as he shared an update on his dad’s recent open heart surgeries.

The radio star, 40, was missing from the Radio 1 Breakfast, which airs weekdays from 7am to 10:30am, on Wednesday and Thursday (18 June 2026).

Greg took to his Instagram story this morning to reveal the heart-breaking reason why – and admitted that he’s “in no fit state” because his father Alan Milward has undergone heart surgery.

Then this afternoon, he decided to give his 1.3m followers on the social media platform an update.

Sharing a selfie from a sauna, Greg wrote: “Hello from the sauna! I felt daft updating on all of this but because it was such a loud part of the comic relief challenge, I feel like it’s nice to be honest about it all.

“Just to say, my dad is responsive, just about conscious and being looked after amazingly.

hard time

Greg James reveals heartbreaking reason he’s missed Radio 1 show for 2 days

soak it up

Greg James appears live on BBC Breakfast in the BATH after raising £4m

“Obviously, after two open heart surgeries in three months, he’s not out of the woods by a long way, but we’re hopeful he’ll be fixed and we can all just get on with life.

“Which is what I’m gonna try and do.

“I won’t keep updating on here about it all as quite frankly, we’re all exhausted by it and it’s going to be a long road to recovery.”

He then went on to share exactly when he’ll be back on the radio – and fans don’t have long to wait.

Greg continued: “I’ve wanted to make sure my mum is OK so it’s been nice to spend loads of time with her and my big sis, but I’m back to the show tomorrow and I can’t wait.

“Thank you again for the most amazing load of messages.

“It’s genuinely very comforting.”

It comes after Greg told fans yesterday: “Hello from my mum’s garden! I wasn’t on the breakfast show today as my dad was in for another go at heart surgery (it’s been a wild few months and I didn’t want to bore you with it all). 

“But here we are. Back to square one. Waiting for news and staying distracted and keeping calm by making water features. 

“All being well, back on tomorrow morning.”

However Greg later revealed Alan’s surgery took “much longer” than they’d expected so he would be taking another day off. 

He said: “What a great day! An absolute hoot in ICU. 

“Surgery was much longer than everyone hoped. Big up my mum and my big sis. And the surgeons. And the NHS. What a gang. We’ve all gone mad. 

“Real talk, surgery went ok but he’s far from out of the woods so I’m gonna take it easy tomorrow and hopefully back on Friday. 

“Plus, I’m in no fit state to be on the radio. I mean, look at me, I’m posting photos from intensive care ffs. Thank you for your lovely messages.”

In March Greg had to cancel his show and rush home after Alan suffered a stroke during a planned heart operation.

He later opened up about his dad’s struggles during his 1,000km tandem bike ride for Red Nose Day.

Undertaking the mammoth task just a week after Alan’s stroke, Greg got emotional talking about the man he calls “Big Al”.

He said: “I feel elated. I feel a bit overwhelmed by all these people who just turned up out of nowhere. I just burst into tears as I was going up to Blaenavon. It was all a bit much.

“Just thought about… I just thought about everything. Just thought about my dad, thought about my mum. It got way too much. It’s so silly. It must have been the altitude.”

GREG James has revealed the heartbreaking reason he’s been missing from his Radio 1 show for two days saying he’s “in no fit state” to be on air. 

The 40-year-old was absent from his Radio 1 Breakfast show on Wednesday and also missed Thursday’s edition. 

Greg took to social media to tell fans he’s been supporting his family while his father Alan Milward undergoes heart surgery. 

Writing on Instagram, the presenter said: “Hello from my mum’s garden! I wasn’t on the breakfast show today as my dad was in for another go at heart surgery (it’s been a wild few months and I didn’t want to bore you with it all). 

“But here we are. Back to square one. Waiting for news and staying distracted and keeping calm by making water features. 

“All being well, back on tomorrow morning.”

ON YOUR BIKE

Greg James breaks down in tears as he finishes epic ride and raises over £4m

JAIL TRUTH

I know exactly why Lee was banged up in Dubai – & why he may end up back in jail

However Greg later revealed Alan’s surgery took “much longer” than they’d expected so he would be taking another day off. 

He said: “What a great day! An absolute hoot in ICU. 

“Surgery was much longer than everyone hoped. Big up my mum and my big sis. And the surgeons. And the NHS. What a gang. We’ve all gone mad. 

“Real talk, surgery went ok but he’s far from out of the woods so I’m gonna take it easy tomorrow and hopefully back on Friday. 

“Plus, I’m in no fit state to be on the radio. I mean, look at me, I’m posting photos from intensive care ffs. Thank you for your lovely messages.”

In March Greg had to cancel his show and rush home after Alan suffered a stroke during a planned heart operation.

He later opened up about his dad’s struggles during his 1,000km tandem bike ride for Red Nose Day.

Undertaking the mammoth task just a week after Alan’s stroke, Greg got emotional talking about the man he calls “Big Al”.

He said: “I feel elated. I feel a bit overwhelmed by all these people who just turned up out of nowhere. I just burst into tears as I was going up to Blaenavon. It was all a bit much.

“Just thought about… I just thought about everything. Just thought about my dad, thought about my mum. It got way too much. It’s so silly. It must have been the altitude.”

TINA Daheley’s BBC Radio 2 Breakfast Show replacement has been revealed just a day after she announced she’s quitting.

The newsreader has spent nearly eight years on the programme and was dubbed former host Scott Mills’ “work wife”, but now she’s moving on.

Filling her sizeable shoes is journalist Matt Carter, and he can’t wait to get going.

Writing on Instagram, he said: “Thrilled to finally be able to spill the beans and tell you I’ll be joining a stellar cast of @djsaracox, @theelliebrennan and the fantastic prod team as your newsreader on the NEW breakfast show next month! Big (and very stylish) shoes to fill – wish me luck…

“See you on the 6th!”

The news was well received by listeners and station legends.

all change

BBC Radio 2 star Tina Daheley QUITS breakfast show after seven years on air

early bird

Sara Cox confirms Radio 2 Breakfast Show start date – with Hollywood star guest

Zoe Ball said: “Fantastic news Matthew [heart].”

While OJ Borg posted: “Mate this is wicked! You were wicked when we did breakfast together.”

Tina, 45, told how the role had been “one of the greatest privileges of my life” and admitted it was “humbling” to “deliver the biggest breakfast show in Europe”.

She then made the reveal she is staying in the Radio 2 fold and on Jeremy Vine‘s 12-2pm show over summer.

In an emotional statement, she wrote: “After more than seven years of early alarm calls on Radio 2, I’m stepping away from Radio 2 breakfast.

“It’s been one of the greatest privileges of my life to wake up with you every morning, and humbling to have been trusted to deliver the news on the biggest breakfast show in Europe.”

Tina went on to reminisce about her time with the BBC and said: “My breakfast run ends on Radio 2 but it all started on 1Xtra where I landed my dream job reading the news on Trevor Nelson’s Breakfast Show.

“From there, I spent a decade broadcasting to one in four young people in the UK on Radio 1.

“After 18 years and six back to back breakfast shows (probably a record) in there somewhere, I am looking forward to a lie in”.

Tina, who began her BBC radio career on Trevor Nelson’s show, reads the early-morning news and contributes to lively discussions.

Earlier this year, she went “missing” amid an “awful week” after being struck down by illness.

Scott Mills Scandal in Brief

SCOTT Mills has been sacked from BBC Radio 2 – yet what’s happening?

She was absent at the same time as her former co-host Scott was pulled off-air.

It was revealed earlier this year that fan-favourite host Scott, 53, had been fired from his Radio 2 Breakfast Show over allegations surrounding his “personal conduct“.

Scott was dismissed after new information about a police investigation about alleged sex offences with a boy aged under 16 in 2018 came to light at the BBC.

As well as losing his role on Radio 2, Mills was also sacked from working on the BBC’s Eurovision coverage and from a new podcast spin off from Race Across The World, which he won the celebrity series of in 2024.

It was revealed shortly afterwards that Sara Cox would take over the sought after Breakfast Show slot earlier this year, with insiders saying the talented star was seen as the “heir apparent” for the job.

Bill Cody, the Grand Ole Opry and longtime WSM Radio host who woke up listeners with his velvet voice and country music lore, has died. He was 67.

The Tennessee radio station confirmed Cody’s death on social media on Tuesday, writing, “It is with heavy hearts that we share the passing of our dear friend and beloved WSM voice, Bill Cody.

“A singular presence on WSM-AM Nashville for more than three decades, Bill welcomed listeners each morning on Coffee, Country & Cody with a broad smile, a conversational ease, and an unerring ability to make both artists and audiences feel at home. He joined WSM in 1994 and had Charlie Daniels as his first in-studio guest. He built more than a morning show; he created a gathering place rooted in his deep love for country music and the people behind it.”

In late May, Cody’s daughter Hannah Davis shared that the radio host had been admitted to the intensive care unit with heart and kidney failure. “After weeks of being on a roller coaster of emotions, tests, dialysis, medications, steps forwards and steps backwards, it was determined earlier this week that his only option for survival would be a double transplant, heart and kidney,” she wrote on Facebook. “We need a miracle and we know God is able.”

On Tuesday, she wrote that Cody had died peacefully surrounded by family and “was welcomed into heaven as thunder bellowed outside, and we laughed because we knew it was a band of angels rejoicing.”

With nearly 50 years on the airwaves across syndicated radio, television and film, Cody was honored with a star on the Music City Walk of Fame in the fall of 2024. His credits included the film “American Saturday Night: Live From the Grand Ole Opry,” the television show “Tennessee’s Wild Side” on PBS, “Ray Stevens’ Nashville” on RFD-TV, and GAC TV’s “Master Series.”

In 2008, the beloved Nashville host was inducted into the Country Radio Hall of Fame, and across his career, he earned multiple nominations from the Country Music Assn., the Academy of Country Music and Billboard for his contributions to broadcasting.

Born Trent Clutts on Dec. 16, 1958, in Huntsville, Ala., Cody was inspired to pursue a career in broadcasting during visits to a Kentucky radio station with his dad. His father was a Southern Baptist minister, and his Sunday morning sermons were broadcast on the radio in the afternoons. Cody couldn’t get enough of the goings-on at the station when the two would stop by to drop off cassettes.

In 1971, when the radio host was 17, he was hired as a night deejay at WVLK in Lexington, Ky., but the program director didn’t think “Trent Clutts” had the right ring for radio. Cody named himself after “Buffalo Bill,” one of the most famous showmen of the American Old West, and used the moniker for the rest of his career.

As a teenager, Cody noticed a girl named Rebecca during study hall and, according to Davis, winked at her from across the room. The wink sealed the deal and the two spent more than 50 years as a couple, welcomed three children — Luke, Hannah, and Levi, who died in 2025 — and eventually grandchildren, who called him PoPo. The family lived in Cross Plains, Tenn.

“Like so many of us at the Opry, Bill Cody lived out his dreams on the Opry stage. More times than I could count he and I would look at each other as if to say, ‘Can you believe we get to do this?’” Dan Rogers, executive producer at the Grand Ole Opry, wrote on social media.

“Even better, he made Opry audiences tuned in from around the world feel like they were here too, themselves a part of country music’s most famous show. Then, he’d get up early the next morning and — with that signature smile in his voice — tell everybody about it on his show.

“He was the best of friends to country music and to everyone who was a part of it. We’re sure going to miss him.”

ZARA McDermott looked proud as punch as she watched boyfriend Louis Tomlinson perform from the side of the stage.

The reality star stood in pride of place throughout his set at BBC Radio 1’s Big Weekend in Sunderland.

Zara, 28, kept it casual for the festival outing in a black cropped T-shirt teamed with low-rise green trousers.

The former Love Island star accessorised with a beige Miu Miu baseball cap while wearing her brunette hair loose over her shoulders.

Holding a can of Diet Coke, Zara appeared animated as she chatted and clapped from the VIP viewing area while watching Louis, 33, perform.

Their relationship was recently rocked by rumours Zara was more than just good friends with Joey Essex.

hot water

Zara McDermott’s fury over online storm after ‘innocent’ pics with Joey Essex

proud partner

Zara McDermott pays rare tribute to Louis Tomlinson after his tour troubles

The pair formed a tight-knit bond after meeting while starring together on ITV’s Cooking With The Stars.

In pictures taken after filming wrapped on the reality show, Zara and Joey were seen together, with him leaning in to kiss her on the cheek.

Zara was met with furious trolling despite multiple reports insisting the snaps were completely innocent.

Zara and Louis were first linked in March 2025 after fans noticed they had followed each other on Instagram, with many believing the pair were introduced through the singer’s sisters.

The couple have proved an unlikely match given the singer’s past views on Love Island, the ITV2 dating show that made her famous in 2018.

When Zara’s series came to an end, Louis publicly celebrated online, tweeting: “Can I just say, thank f**k Love Island is over!”

He later doubled down on his criticism of the programme, claiming the hit reality series was “not a good message for the younger people watching”.

As a radio professional who grew up aspiring to work at CBS News Radio, anchor Steve Kathan understood the weight of the words he wrote and recorded Friday on the final broadcast of “World News Roundup.”

“America’s longest running newscast signs off for the last time,” Kathan said in the small dimly lighted studio in the CBS Broadcast Center on Manhattan’s West Side. “It all began on March 13, 1938,” he said, referring to the iconic news program.

Kathan played a recording of Edward R. Morrow, the legendary CBS News journalist who delivered his first report on the debut of the program, saying “the best in radio reporting is yet to be — good night and good luck.”

“And goodbye,” Kathan added, ending the run of around 23,000 editions of the 10-minute signature broadcast, delivered from CBS’ radio network . A final news update was scheduled to run later Friday night.

CBS News Radio and its 26 employees became a victim of budget cuts across parent-company Paramount’s news division announced in March.

“A shift in radio station programming strategies, coupled with challenging economic realities, has made it impossible to continue the service,” the company said.

Privately, longtime insiders at CBS News say the division has struggled for years to find ways to financially turn around its radio business.

The unit was operating at a loss with monthly revenues recently falling as low as $67,000, according to a network executive not authorized to discuss the matter publicly. The service held on because it still had value in promoting CBS News and its journalism, reaching 20 million listeners a week.

Leadership over the years have put off the messy task of winding the radio business down due to its iconic status at the company. CBS News editor-in-chief Bari Weiss was reluctant to make the cuts as well, according to people inside the company familiar with her thinking. But with Paramount taking on substantial debt to acquire Warner Bros. Discovery, considerations of the division’s legacy are likely to matter less in ongoing efforts to reduce costs.

Kathan had heard rumblings about CBS getting out of radio going all the way back to its first ownership change in the 1980s when Larry Tisch acquired the company.

“Even though I’ve been here 39 years, the thought was someone’s going to decide to do it,” he said.

As television dominated the media landscape, CBS News Radio retained its role as what Kathan called “the background track of American history.”

As a child growing up in Connecticut, Kathan recalls watching Douglas Edwards, the “World News Roundup” evening anchor for two decades, doing TV news updates in between the soap operas his mother watched on CBS. After Kathan joined the network in 1987 as a writer and producer, he would see Edwards and other famous names from the division walking through the hallways of the broadcast center before doing his afternoon newscasts.

“Just the fact that you were working with them made you think and realize you had to up your game,” Kathan said. “You wanted the audience to trust you as much as it trusted them.”

“World News Roundup” rose to prominence during World War II, when Murrow and other CBS News correspondents delivered live reports from Europe.

Once TV supplanted radio as a source for scripted entertainment, news and information became the primary mission of CBS’ radio division that began in 1927. In 1967, the company converted its owned AM radio stations — including its Los Angeles outlet KNX — to an all-news format.

While the stations focused on local news, traffic, weather and sports, they also prominently featured CBS News Radio reports at the top of the hour and other features throughout the day.

Longtime listeners became familiar with Edwards, Dallas Townsend, Reid Collins, Richard C. Hottelet, Christopher Glenn and other CBS News veterans who brought national and world stories to listeners throughout the day, introduced by a five-note sounder that simulated a telegraph. Dan Rather and Walter Cronkite were heard daily with analysis.

The radio network developed a major star in Charles Osgood, who joined WCBS in New York as anchor. He went national in 1971 with a twice-daily segment called “The Osgood File.”

Osgood wrote two-minute reports in succinct prose delivered in his mellifluous tones. He occasionally offered commentary in verse, which earned him the title of poet-in-residence at CBS News.

Osgood’s popularity was rivaled only by ABC Radio personality Paul Harvey. CBS News even allowed him to read commercial copy to satisfy eager advertisers who wanted their product messages presented in his comforting voice. When Osgood became a host on the TV side in the 1990s on “CBS News Sunday Morning,” his sign-off remained “I’ll see you on the radio.” He filed his final “Osgood File” report in 2017.

Charles Osgood in the WCBS radio studio in New York on July 25, 1967.

(CBS Photo Archive/CBS)

CBS sold off its radio stations in 2017, but continued to produce and distribute its network programs as the business faced competition from digital media.

Dustin Gervais, technical operations manager for the network, said CBS News Radio struggled as more audio advertisers prefer digital content because of its effectiveness at targeting specific demographic groups. The shift is reflected in radio ad revenue, which dipped about 2% to $14.37 billion, according to media research firm Kagan. But the digital ad revenue portion of that pie continued to grow, topping $1.75 billion.

Charles Forelle, managing editor for CBS News, said the company plans to remain in the audio journalism business through podcasting and not straight newscasts.

“We have a whole bunch of different things in development that are less news reading and more other things,” he told The Times.

Not all of radio’s problems are related to digital.

Michael Socolow, a professor of communication and journalism at the University of Maine, notes that the industry troubles began in 1996 when deregulation loosened the limit on the number of stations a single entity can own. Buying sprees of outlets led to owners who became highly leveraged and less able to invest in programming, which put the squeeze on suppliers such as CBS News Radio.

“Radio was hollowed out by the corporations, before its utility to the American citizen ended,” Socolow said. “You can trace it to the Telecom Act of 1996.”

Some of the 26 employees at CBS News Radio who were severed from the company have found work at Worldwide News Network, a service launched by John Catsimatidis, the owner of New York’s top-rated talk station WABC. The company said the service, which begins Saturday, will deliver “hard news, breaking headlines, and fact-driven reporting to affiliates across the country.”

CBS News Radio’s biggest customer — the all-news stations owned by Audacy, including KNX — have already switched their network service to ABC News Audio.

BBC radio presenter Dave Llewellyn has died aged 57 after two decades on air – as his devastated family release a touching tribute.

The Radio Tees star – famed for his distinctive bright red hair – was hailed as the “most loving father and husband” by his daughter Amy.

Dave worked as a travel presenter in the north east region for more than 20 years – famously starting out as the “eye in the sky” in a plane.

Alongside his traffic updates, the larger-than-life DJ also co-hosted a gardening show at the weekends.

And for the past six years, he was a producer on BBC Radio Tees, most recently working on Gary Philipson’s daytime programme.

The presenter, hailed as “incredibly modest and generous” by his daughter Amy, died after a short illness.

She said: “Outside of his work he loved his family and his music.

“His true talent shone through while he was playing his keyboards, synthesisers and bass.

“He was the most loving father and husband, always going out of his way to make us happy.

“He will be sadly missed by everyone who knew him, especially our beloved dog Cupid who always saw a taste of his generosity, usually in the form of a shared sausage sandwich.”

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BBC RADIO 2 legend Bob Harris has shared a new health update with fans, after revealing that his cancer has spread. 

The radio star, who previously revealed he was forced to take a break from broadcasting as a result of his health issues, posted a new image of himself with a big grin and a thumbs up. 

Bob, 80, could be seen sitting at home in a gown and appeared in good spirits, while writing to fans: “Hiya Folks! I hope you’re all ok. Sending you all my love.” 

The star, who is resting up at home and out of hospital, was flooded with sweet messages from fans. 

One person wrote: “Sending all the love your way,” while another added: “Fab photo Looking great. Keep up the good work.” 

Bob, 80, was initially diagnosed with prostate cancer in 2007 and managed the disease with treatment before recent setbacks.

‘FRIGHTENING NEWS’

BBC Radio 2’s Bob Harris reveals his cancer has spread in health update

‘ROAD TO RECOVERY’

BBC Radio 2’s Bob Harris taking a break after surviving a heart scare

Last month, he shared how his cancer has spread from his prostate to his upper spine.

Taking to Instagram to update his fans at the time, Bob shared a photo of himself walking with a stick.

“I’m sorry it’s been so long since I last posted but the past few weeks have proved to be an extremely testing time,” he penned in the caption.

Bob went on: “When I posted last time from hospital, we were trying to find the reason for the excruciating pain I was feeling in my back.

“Several scans later, we discovered that my prostate cancer has got into my upper spine…really frightening news.

“So, I immediately began a course of radiotherapy – two weeks in hospital in total – to bring things back under control. Thankfully I’m back at home now, on the pathway to recovery and feeling stronger every day.”

He added: “I have started a programme of rehab and today I got out into this glorious weather for the first time with my son @expiredfilmclub who took the photograph.

“Just want to send so much love to Zoe and to everyone who have been in touch.

“See you soon folks! xxx.”

Bob previously suffered a heart scare that forced him off the air in 2019. 

He suffered a tear to his aorta which he described as “extremely serious” at the time.

Bob has hosted The Country Show on BBC Radio 2 for a number of years and famously hosted BBC Two music show, The Old Grey Whistle Test, in the 1970s.

KIRSTEN O’Brien hung up her headphones at BBC Berkshire after revealing a new gig.

The kids’ TV presenter will be joining the BBC Radio 2 team for a very different role.

On her last day at the station, she was surprised by fellow 90s stars Dick and Dom.

She shared BBC Berkshire’s tweet, with a selfie of her and the boys and wrote: “Bit of news! Love that the lads surprised me today, I’m sad to be leaving BBC Berkshire as I’ve had a ball, but I can’t wait to get stuck in doing the traffic reports on BBC Radio 2 from Monday!”

Kirsten hosted the 10am-2pm slot on the Berkshire-based station and on her final show, she told listeners: “It’s eight years I’ve been here.

“I started at the old place at Caversham Park, doing a bit of covering, did the news, of course, some breakfast, and then the last two years doing brilliant things on this mid-morning show.

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saying thanks

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“I’ve really, really enjoyed it. I’ve done all sorts while I’ve been here. I’ve visited everywhere from Reading Uni to the tip.

“I was thinking back about where I’ve been. My kids have grown up since when I first started, they weren’t sleeping.

“We were talking to sleep experts about helping me out. And now, of course, I just get them for stories.

“They provide endless content for me. Mark as well, whose life plays out on the radio, poor fella.

“So, I’ve always said I’ve come in here for a bit of a rest, a chat, to hear your stories as well and a bit of a laugh, and it’s been absolutely brilliant.”

Brigitte Tetta will be taking over Kirsten’s slot.

Kirsten was met with messages of support from listeners, with one writing: “Will be great to hear your voice on BBCRadio2. Always brings a bit of nostalgia from the CBBC and SMart days!”

A second added: “Heard you with Sara Cox a couple of weeks ago and you were great!”

“Congratulations Kirsten best wishes for the new adventures ahead,” echoed another.

“Wooooaahhhh, what?! I did not have this on my Bingo card for 2026! Fantastic, Kirst!! Huge congrats,” wrote a forth.

One said how they’d been impressed with her joining Trevor Nelson last week.

Another suggested there needed to be a SMart reboot.

Kirsten O’Brien became a familiar face of children’s television in the late 1990s and 2000s, where she started her career as a CBBC presenter.

She became known for her on-screen partnership with Otis the Aardvark.

In 1999, she landed the SMart gig, which saw her also take on SMarteenies and Smile.

Whilst she didn’t work with Dick and Dom (Richard McCourt and Dominic Wood), they were all part of the CBBC presenting gang and were close pals.