EBC Radio 6

EBC Radio 6 is a Euroish radio station owned and operated by the EBC, specialising primarily in rock and alternative music.

At the time of it's launch, it was the first new music station to be launched by the EBC in 24 years. It was also the first station from the EBC to launch as an FM-only station, and replaced classical music station EBC Radio 4 on it's former FM frequency.

EBC Radio 6 has been described as "a station dedicated first and foremost to giving a platform to new and experimental artists, mixed in with classics from notable and underrated rock, dance and alternative artists." The station itself describes itself as "the cutting edge music talent of right now, and the iconic, timeless music talent of the past 60 years, plus insightful, entertaining pop culture talk and the best in intelligent, innovative comedy."

The station typically strays away from mainstream pop artists, but does broadcast the EuroTopAlbums chart on Saturdays from 4pm-7pm.

Since 2006, the EBC has held an annual festival dedicated to the station, Radio 6 Live, which is also broadcast live on the station and on Network Two. The station also covers other music events, notably Glastonbury.

History
Proposals for a sixth, and even a seventh, national public radio station came around in the mid-1980's when Radio 5 (now known as EBC 5 News) came on air.

The sixth national radio station was formally announced in 1992. It would aim to curb recent criticisms of the EBC being elitist and not serving younger listeners along with a major revamping of Radio 3 (leading to it's evolution into the youth focused 3FM) which would focus on teenagers and young adults with daytime pop music and news with comedy, factual, entertainment and alternative music at night with "personality-driven" presenters.

The new Radio 6 meanwhile was more focused on the music itself, and would be focused on promoting new artists, playing a broad range of alternative, independent and niche music styles and quality programmes discussing music, as well as playing a wide range of rock, alternative and indie. The station would replace the FM frequencies of the upmarket classical, opera and arts station Radio 4, which caused heavy controversy particularly with the older audience, although the EBC defended it by serving a wider audience.

Promotions for the new station in the summer 1994 noted that the station was aimed at "people who hate pop but love music, hate prattle (excessive on-air talk) but want to know what's what, where in the world and who is involved." The station was initally aimed at 25 to 45-year-olds with a male skew. Early promotions used the phrase "rock 'n' rolling news". Much of the daytime speech output covered musical events and nightlife, with many comedians and other artists being interviewed and fronting their own programmes. The music mix was best described as a blend of, , , and. Radio 6 went to air on at 7am on Monday 5th September 1994. Mark Collins was the station's first main breakfast presenter, followed at 10am by Janice Bridges with the mid-morning show that focused itself on music from the EBC's musical archives, Joseph Pearce at 1pm brought over his evening show from 3FM dedicated to new music, followed by the drivetime show with music writer and journalist Dave Langley at 4pm, who had previously presented a late night programme for 3FM. Liam Burton - frontman of 80s indie band The Shakers - presented the evening programme at 7pm and at 10pm was Dream Ticket presented by James Mackintosh.

Weekdays

 * 7:00am - The Paul Mellor Show
 * 10:00am - Sarah Champion
 * 1:00pm - Lisa Goodman
 * 3:00pm - Langley and Riley
 * 6:00pm - Globescope with Zane Lowe
 * 8:00pm - The Sound with Deb Grant
 * 10:00pm - Dream Ticket with Elinor Brown
 * 12:00am -
 * Monday to Thursday: Nightride with Jane Buxton
 * Friday: Nightride with DJ Glitzbomb
 * 3:00am - Music Non-Stop
 * 4:00am - Milton Oxberry

Saturdays

 * 6:00am - Frank Sherry
 * 9:00am - Tom & Harry
 * 12:00pm - The Deep Delve with Guy French
 * 2:00pm - Tara Kumar
 * 4:00pm - EuroTopCharts with Ray Cokes
 * 7:00pm - Andrew Davies
 * 10:00pm - Chris Nightingale
 * 12:00am - Nightride with DJ Glitzbomb
 * 3:00am - Music Non-Stop

Sundays

 * 6:00am - Frank Sherry
 * 9:00am - Joe Robinson
 * 12:00pm - Michael Best's Sunday Best
 * 2:00pm - Tara Kumar
 * 4:00pm - Ray Cokes on Sunday
 * 6:00pm - Music documentaries
 * 7:00pm - Andrew Davies
 * 10:00pm - Chris Nightingale
 * 12:00am - Nightride with DJ Glitzbomb
 * 3:00am - Music Non-Stop