talkRADIO streams opinion-driven talk and debate live from the UK today, with hosts including Julia Hartley-Brewer, Mike Graham, Ian Collins, and Jeremy Kyle covering the day's biggest stories with a distinct point of view rather than straight news delivery. Press play on Radio Shuffle and it streams instantly, free, with no account or app download required.
Spun off from talkSPORT to give opinion its own channel
talkRADIO launched on DAB on March 21, 2016, as a dedicated spin-off from talkSPORT, built specifically to house talk and current affairs programming separately from its sister station's sports coverage. Its original weekday lineup included Paul Ross, Julia Hartley-Brewer, Sam Delaney, Jon Holmes, Jonny Gould, and Iain Lee, according to a history of the station's launch. Just months later, in September 2016, the station's parent company Wireless came under the ownership of Rupert Murdoch's News UK, folding talkRADIO into the same media family as The Sun and The Times.
A brief detour into television simulcast
Between April 2022 and April 2024, talkRADIO temporarily became a simulcast of TalkTV, News UK's short-lived television venture, before reverting back to its own standalone radio identity. That period aside, the station has kept a consistent format built around opinionated hosts working through the day's political and cultural stories rather than a rotating cast reading wire copy.
Julia Hartley-Brewer's long run at the center of it
Julia Hartley-Brewer has been one of the station's defining voices since it launched in 2016, first hosting the mid-morning show before moving to breakfast in 2018 and eventually returning to mid-mornings after five years fronting the station's flagship early slot. That kind of on-air continuity, alongside long-serving hosts like Mike Graham, has given talkRADIO a recognizable identity distinct from the BBC's news and current affairs output.
Listen free on Radio Shuffle
talkRADIO streams around the clock, and Radio Shuffle carries the feed live with nothing to install and no subscription required. Press play for opinion-led talk radio from the station News UK built to argue about the news, not just report it.