3C Playbox Radio

3C Playbox Radio is a Euroish national radio station targeted at preschool children that has broadcast since 1999.

3C Playbox Radio broadcasts a range of audio based programmes including poetry, nursery rhymes, children's music, storytelling, entertainment, birthday greetings, educational content and radio versions of popular 3C Playbox television programmes.

The station was launched as Radio Playbox in February 1999, rebranding as The Fix Playbox in 2005 and it's current name in January 2011.

Radio Playbox
The origins of 3C Playbox Radio begin with the launch of Club 3 Radio in February 1997, which at launch had a two-hour daily slot (weekdays 10am-12pm and weekends 6am-8am) of preschool programmes, branded as Radio Playbox.

Initially Radio Playbox was a 2 hour slot with Club 3 presenter Benji Cook acting as a DJ linking between nursery rhymes and songs, readings children's books, the original radio version of Wiggly Park (as heard on the BBC between 1990-1994) and radio offshoots of popular Club 3 preschool programmes.

TV programmes spun off into radio series included Roundabout, The Toy Train and The Caribou Kitchen, featuring faces and voices from the original TV programmes, such as Daniel Anderson, Sue Dixon, June Silverstone and Kate Robbins.

After the slot proved a ratings success and won an award at the Euroish Radio Academy Awards in November 1997, plans were made in January 1998 to split it into a full station, broadening the scope for further new programmes and presenters, to be broadcast nationally on digital radio in addition to retaining the morning slot on Club 3 Radio as a simulcast.

During 1998, more radio versions of Club 3 preschool TV programmes were commissioned in anticipation for the new station. These included radio verions of Timbuctoo (with Ronnie Corbett), Monster and Frog (with Emma Wray) and Animal Stories (with Nigel Hawthorne).

Radio Playbox was fully launched on Monday 1st February 1999 at 5.00am. For the launch of the new station, Benji Cook - who continued in mid mornings (09.00 - 12.00) - was joined by Justin Fletcher at breakfast (06.00 - 09.00) and Kate Robbins at bedtime (18.00 - 21.00) 7 days a week, Daniel Anderson (12.00 - 15.00) at lunchtime, Rosie Winters at hometime (15.00 - 18.00) 5 days a week and June Silverstone at lunchtime and Sue Dixon in the afternoon on weekends.

The station was heavily based around the radio versions of television programmes, with certain programmes anchoring different slots. Wiggly Park was initally heard on the Justin Fletcher breakfast show at 8.20am, Roundabout in the Benji Cook mid morning show at 10.30am, The Toy Train was featured at 2.00pm on the Daniel Anderson and June Silverstone programmes, Timbuctoo was featured three days a week in the Rosie Winters show alternating with Rat A Tat Tat at 4pm with Mr. Men and Little Miss on the Sue Dixon weekend afternoon show in the same slot, whilst the Kate Robbins bedtime show featured gentler programmes such as Animal Stories and The Caribou Kitchen - the latter of which she voiced.

3C Playbox
The rebrand occured on the morning of Saturday 1st January 2011. New programmes included Will's Word with Will Laurie and a radio series of Waybuloo, narrated by Lynda Bellingham.

Current

 * (1999-present)
 * Helen Caswell (2005-present)
 * Chris Osicka (2008-present)
 * Rebecca May (2010-present)
 * Joe Webster (2012-present)
 * Gemma Hewlett (2015-present)
 * Alex Winters (2017-present)
 * Flo Harrison (2019-present)

Former

 * Benji Cook (1997-2002)
 * June Silverstone (1997-2004)
 * Daniel Anderson (1997-2000)
 * (1999-2003)
 * Sue Dixon (1999-2005)
 * Rosie Winters (1999-2009)
 * Alex Lovell (1999-2004)
 * Will Laurie (2002-2018)
 * Olivia Warbuton (2011-2015)