BBC Music announces plans for Glastonbury 2019

The BBC have announced their broadcast and catch-up plans for Glastonbury Festival 2019. Viewers and listeners will be able to watch coverage on BBC iPlayer and listen on BBC Sounds, from headline shows on the Pyramid Stage to emerging artists on the BBC Music Introducing stage. 

From Thursday 26 June until Monday 1 July, BBC Sounds will be home to BBC Radio Glastonbury. Listeners can simply select BBC Radio Glastonbury on BBC Sounds to hear live programmes from Radio 1, 1Xtra, Radio 2, 5 Live and 6 Music on site at Worthy Farm, as well as live performances, iconic archive content and special Glastonbury editions of BBC Sounds music mixes, including So 90s, The Morning After Mix and Road Trip Records. Music fans can download the BBC Sounds app to listen to BBC Radio Glastonbury.

James Stirling, Head of BBC Music & BBC Music Introducing says: “BBC Music is delighted to be returning to Glastonbury this year – giving audiences such a wide range of ways to watch and listen to the best of the festival, whether they’re at home or on the move. Glastonbury 2019 on the BBC will see BBC Radio Glastonbury on BBC Sounds, over 30 hours of coverage on BBC TV and live broadcasts across Radio 1, 1Xtra, Radio 2, 6 Music and for the first time – 5 Live. There’ll also be over 100 performances from the main stages at Glastonbury available to view on BBC iPlayer – bringing all the variety of this world famous festival to audiences – whenever and wherever they want to tune in.”

Charlotte Lock, Launch Director, BBC Sounds says: “For the first time, listeners can hear Glastonbury delights 24 hours a day, all at the touch of a button on BBC Sounds. Our curated BBC Radio Glastonbury stream will be live from Thursday through to Monday, making BBC Sounds the place for music fans who want an access all areas pass.”

On air, BBC One, BBC Two and BBC Four will broadcast over 30 hours of coverage this year. BBC One will broadcast from Worthy Farm on Sunday, bringing viewers Kylie Minogue’s performance in the festival’s famous legends slot. BBC Two will be broadcasting headline sets from Stormzy, The Killers and The Cure and there will be highlights and live coverage from key sets across the weekend on BBC Four. Radio 1, Radio 1Xtra, Radio 2, Radio 5 Live and 6 Music will also be live from Worthy Farm, with broadcasts available on BBC Sounds, bringing listeners a mix of interviews with the biggest stars at Glastonbury this year, live shows, headline sets and backstage moments.

Over 100 performances from across the main stages at Glastonbury will be available on BBC iPlayer. Audiences can join the action live, or whenever they like, throughout the weekend and beyond.

The BBC’s TV and radio coverage of the festival will be brought to audiences at home by some of the BBC’s best-loved presenters. Annie Mac, Clara Amfo, DJ Target, Edith Bowman, Gemma Cairney, Huw Stephens, Jack Saunders, James Ballardie, Jo Whiley, Laura Whitmore, Lauren Laverne, Mark Radcliffe, Sir Spyro, Steve Lamacq, Yasser and Zoe Ball will be broadcasting from Worthy Farm, guiding viewers and listeners through the highlights from all six stages at the festival.

TV

BBC One, BBC Two and BBC Four will once again be broadcasting over 30 hours of Glastonbury, as the three channels come live from Worthy Farm throughout the whole festival weekend. Plus, also on BBC One, there will be a special edition of The One Show from the site on the evening of Friday 28^th June. On the Friday evening on BBC Two, the first of two programmes that evening will reflect shows and stories from day one of the festival whilst the second will bring viewers all the action from the Pyramid Stage as Stormzy performs his headline set. There will be more coverage on BBC Two on Saturday afternoon and on Saturday evening the channel will be bringing audiences the full headline set from The Killers. On Sunday, BBC One will broadcast Kylie Minogue’s show in the legendary tea-time slot and BBC Two will broadcast the full set from The Cure later that evening. BBC Four will provide extensive and discerning coverage of highlights, plus live footage from key sets across the weekend, taking viewers to The Other Stage, West Holts, The Park, The John Peel Stage and, of course, the legendary Pyramid Stage. BBC Four’s immersive, curated coverage kicks off on Friday night with a set from Tame Impala and then runs all Saturday and Sunday evening, offering highlights and whole sets from across the festival including performances from The Chemical Brothers, Janelle Monae and Christine & The Queens.

Glastonbury is commissioned for television by Jan Younghusband, Head of TV Commissioning, BBC Music. The BBC’s Glastonbury TV coverage is being produced by BBC Studios, the BBC’s commercial production arm, overseen by Mark Cooper, Head of Music Television, and Alison Howe, Executive Producer.

Great Glastonbury Headliners (W/T, 1 x 90, BBC Two)

In the lead up to the festival, BBC Two will reflect on what it means to headline Glastonbury in a special programme, Great Glastonbury Headliners. The programme will feature performance archive, some new interviews with curators Michael and Emily Eavis and contributions from some of the 60 headliners who have graced the Pyramid Stage across the 20 Glastonbury festivals that have taken place since TV cameras first arrived at Worthy Farm in 1994. Great Glastonbury Headliners is a BBC Studios production for BBC Two. It is commissioned by Jan Younghusband Head of TV Commissioning, BBC Music and produced by BBC Studios.

BBC Radio 1 and Radio 1Xtra

Radio 1’s Annie Mac and Jack Saunders will launch the BBC’s Glastonbury 2019 coverage live from the BBC Music Introducing Stage in Silver Hayes on Thursday 27^th June. From 8pm-11pm, Annie and Jack will be bringing listeners interviews, live DJ sets and performances from special guests. On Friday 28^th, Saturday 29^th and Sunday 30^th June, 10-4pm, Jack will be reporting back to the Radio 1 studio in London from the festival site, keeping listeners up to date on all the latest news from Worthy Farm.

On Friday 28^th June, DJ Target will kick off 1Xtra’s coverage as he hosts a warm-up party live on air, joined by special guests, ahead of Stormzy’s much anticipated headline set. Following Stormzy’s show, which will be broadcast on 1Xtra, Sir Spyro will continue the celebrations until 1am.

There will be another chance to listen to highlights from Stormzy’s headline set on Saturday 29^th June in DJ Target’s 7pm-9pm show, which will be simulcast on Radio 1 and Radio 1Xtra.

Radio 2

On Friday 28^th June, 7am-10am, The Zoe Ball Breakfast Show will come live from Glastonbury, giving listeners a taste of what it’s like to be at the UK’s biggest festival. Zoe will have live music from Sheryl Crow, plus guest appearances from Basil Brush and Bjorn Again and Zoe will be chatting to Kylie Minogue as she prepares to perform in the famous legend slot on the Pyramid Stage on Sunday afternoon.

On Saturday afternoon, Jo Whiley will be live on Radio 2 from Worthy Farm from 4pm-7pm bringing highlight moments from the festival so far. Radio 2 will return to Glastonbury later that evening from 9pm-midnight, when listeners can tune in to hear The Killers’ headline show from the Pyramid Stage.

Jo will be back on Radio 2 on Sunday afternoon with more interviews, live music and highlights from the weekend so far. Plus she’ll be bringing Kylie Minogue’s show in the legends slot to audiences at home, and introducing a special Radio 2 gig from the BBC Introducing stage.

5 Live

From 11am-midday on Sunday 30^th June, Laura Whitmore will be bringing the sights and sounds of Sunday morning at Glastonbury to Radio 5 Live listeners, chatting to festival-goers, as well as some of the musicians and artists performing.

6 Music

6 Music will be bringing music lovers hours of live coverage direct from Worthy Farm. Steve Lamacq will be broadcasting from backstage at BBC Music Introducing on Friday 28^th June, 4pm-7pm. He’ll be joined by special guests including Fontaines DC and Ivor Novello award-winning band IDLES as they prepare for their Glastonbury debut, as well as roaming around the festival site. On Saturday, Lauren Laverne will be live on air from 1pm-4pm. Mark Radcliffe will bring listeners the latest from the festival on the Sunday from 1-4pm and Steve Lamacq will be back from 8pm-midnight with a show featuring  live music from The Cure as they perform on the Pyramid Stage that evening. Plus, 6 Music will be linking-up with Matt Everitt across the weekend, who will be keeping listeners up to date with all the latest news from Pilton.

Digital

Online, BBC iPlayer will be streaming over 100 performances from across the main stages at Glastonbury, which viewers can access on their computers, tablets, mobiles and connected TVs. Performances on the Pyramid, Other, John Peel, Park and West Holts stages will be streamed live all weekend on iPlayer, with highlights available for 30 days after broadcast. Highlights from the UKs best emerging artists, performing on the BBC Music Introducing stage will also be available online. For those looking for all the biggest names in one place, look out for the Must Watch Glastonbury stream, for back to back star sets from across the stages on one continuous stream. There will also be exclusive backstage shows and pictures from the weekend on the BBC’s Glastonbury website, as well as the BBC’s famous Glastocam which is currently live, allowing viewers to follow the on-site progress as Worthy Farm prepares to welcome the biggest artists in the world. Red Button brings viewers highlights from 2019’s most talked about sets throughout the weekend. 

BBC Music Introducing

This year the BBC Music Introducing stage, situated in Silver Hayes and hosted by Huw Stephens, will be the place to find your new favourite act before everyone else hears about them. The line-up varies from 6-piece hip-hop tribe Monster Florence, soul singer Celeste, Welsh rockers Buzzard Buzzard Buzzard, RnB poet Arlo Parks to Easy Life, whose music has been described as ‘gospel-rap’ and ‘slacker-rock’. The stage will also welcome surprise guests throughout the weekend which will be announced via @bbcintroducing on Twitter. Previous surprise sets have included Blossoms and George Ezra. One track from each artist performing on the BBC Music Introducing stage will be filmed and available at bbc.co.uk/glastonbury for audiences at home. The full line-up this year on the BBC Music Introducing stage can be accessed here.

Glastonbury Festival takes place at Worthy Farm, Pilton, Somerset from Wednesday 26th to Sunday 30th June 2019.

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