1949 in British radio

	… 1939; 1940; 1941; 1942; 1943; 1944; 1945; ; 1946; 1947; 1948; 1949; 1950; 1951; 1952; ; 1953; 1954; 1955; 1956; 1957; 1958; 1959 …;
	In British television 1946 1947 1948 1949 1950 1951 1952 In British music 1946 1947 1948 1949 1950 1951 1952
	Art; Archaeology; Architecture; Literature; Music; Philosophy; Science; +...

This is a list of events from British radio in 1949.

Events

9 January – The death today in London of comedian Tommy Handley is announced after the Sunday evening repeat of his popular series It's That Man Again by the Director General of the BBC, Sir William Haley, who insists on making the announcement himself; ITMA is immediately cancelled^[1] and succeeded by Ray's a Laugh with Ted Ray,^[2] while Take It from Here takes over its repeat slot.^[3]

2 February – Parody travelogue "Balham - Gateway to the South", written by Frank Muir and Denis Norden, is first broadcast as a comedy sketch narrated by Peter Sellers in the second edition of Third Division on the BBC Third Programme.^[4]

26 March – The Boat Race 1949 is memorable for a blooper in which BBC commentator John Snagge, on a launch whose engine has failed,^[5] announces "I can't see who's in the lead, but it's either Oxford or Cambridge."^[6]
28 March – Astronomer Fred Hoyle coins the term Big Bang during a BBC Third Programme broadcast.^[7]^[8]^[9]

5 September – Wagnerian tenor Walter Widdop makes his last appearance at the BBC Proms, singing an aria from Lohengrin, only one day before his sudden death.

7 February – Les Ross, né Meakin, midlands DJ
12 March – David Mellor, politician and radio presenter
2 April – Paul Gambaccini, American-born music presenter
11 April – David Stafford, writer and broadcaster (died 2023)
20 April – Paul Heiney, broadcaster
29 May – Michael Berkeley, composer and music broadcaster
7 August – Matthew Parris, South African-born political writer and broadcaster, previously MP
2 September – Moira Stuart, broadcast presenter
25 November – Isabel Hilton, Scottish-born journalist and broadcaster
12 December – Bill Nighy, actor
Philip Dodd, creative arts academic and broadcaster

9 January – Tommy Handley, comedian (born 1892)
10 June – Sir Frederick Ogilvie, broadcasting executive and university administrator (born 1893)
9 July – Peter Waring, comedian and fraudster, suicide (born 1916)

^ Took, Barry (1981). Laughter in the Air. London: Robson Books; BBC. ISBN 978-0-86051-149-6.
^ Street, Sean (2002). A Concise History of British Radio, 1922–2002. Tiverton: Kelly. p. 103. ISBN 9781903053140.
^ "Take It From Here". British Comedy. Retrieved 27 October 2020.
^ Norden, Denis; Dowd, Vincent (5 August 2016). "Denis Norden Recalls Comedy Pioneer Early Years". BBC News. Archived from the original on 28 August 2022. Retrieved 30 August 2024.
^ Miall, Leonard (28 March 1996). "Obituary: John Snagge". The Independent. London. Retrieved 7 March 2015.
^ Elmes, Simon (2013). Hello Again: Nine Decades of Radio Voices. London: Arrow. p. 82. ISBN 9780099559788.
^ "'Big bang' astronomer dies". BBC News. 22 August 2001. Archived from the original on 8 December 2008. Retrieved 7 December 2008.
^ Croswell, Ken (1995). "Chapter 9". The Alchemy of the Heavens. Anchor Books. ISBN 0-385-47213-7.
^ Mitton, Simon (2005). Fred Hoyle: a Life in Science. Aurum Press. p. 127. ISBN 1-85410-961-8.
^ "Music While You Work". www.bbc.com. Retrieved 1 November 2024.