Europe's Biggest Dance Show Explained

Show Name:Europe's Biggest Dance Show
Format:Dance
Country:Various countries
Language:primarily English
Syndicates:Various broadcasters
Producer:Dan Morris
Last Aired:present
Num Episodes:6 editions
Audio Format:Stereophonic sound

Europe's Biggest Dance Show is an annual multinational dance music simulcast hosted by BBC Radio 1 in the United Kingdom, in collaboration with several European radio stations, all of which are owned by public broadcasters which are members of the European Broadcasting Union. The show reaches several millions of listeners all over Europe.

Background

The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) announced on 27 September 2019 that it would join radio stations from seven other countries, and a potential audience of 18 million listeners, in hosting a one-off dance music simulcast on 11 October.[1]

The first simulcast began at 19:00 BST and ended at 02:00 BST on 12 October, with Annie Mac introducing for BBC Radio 1 in London. Seven radio stations across Europe joined the simulcast: 1LIVE,, Mouv', NPO 3FM, RTÉ 2FM, SR P3 and Studio Brussel. Each radio station contributed an hour of dance music from their respective countries, except in the case of 1LIVE and Fritz, who contributed 30 minutes each from Cologne and Berlin respectively. Some stations chose to feature at least one live DJ set as part of their contribution.[2]

Each radio station sent their feeds to Broadcasting House in London, where they were mixed by BBC senior technical producer Dan Morris before being sent back to the radio stations for broadcast.

Despite the simulcast being billed as a one-off event, two subsequent editions of the simulcast were presented in May and October 2020 respectively, before it became an annual event, with new editions presented in the following years and more radio stations joining the simulcast.[3] [4] Since the 2021 edition, each participating radio station, including 1LIVE and Fritz, has contributed 30 minutes of dance music from their respective countries instead of an hour.[5]

Participating broadcasters

The following table lists the countries, broadcasters and radio stations that have participated in Europe's Biggest Dance Show as of 2023.

Table key
Inactivecountries which participated in the past but did not participate in further editions as of 2023
CountryBroadcaster(s)Station(s)CityDebut yearLatest participationAppearances
AustriaORFFM4Vienna
BelgiumVRTStudio BrusselBrussels
EstoniaERRRaadio 2Tallinn
FinlandYleYleXHelsinki
FranceRadio FranceMouv'Paris
GermanyWDR (ARD)1LIVECologne
RBB (ARD)Berlin
IrelandRTÉRTÉ 2FMDublin
NetherlandsNPONPO 3FMAmsterdam
NorwayNRKNRK mP3Oslo
SpainCatalunya RàdioBarcelona
SwedenSRSR P3Stockholm
UkraineSuspilneKyiv
United KingdomBBCBBC Radio 1London

Editions

The following table lists the editions of Europe's Biggest Dance Show. Countries in bold are countries that made their debut in the simulcast in their respective years.

YearDate(s)ParticipantsParticipating countriesRef.
201911–12 October8[6]
20208–9 May8
23–24 October9
202129 October9[7]
202214 October11[8]
202322 September11[9]

Notes and References

  1. Web site: 27 September 2019. BBC Radio 1 to host biggest dance show ever. 15 October 2022. BBC. en.
  2. Web site: Mago . Mike . 11 October 2019 . 3FM doet mee aan Europe's Biggest Dance Show . 16 October 2022 . . nl.
  3. Web site: 17 April 2020. BBC Radio 1 to host return of Europe’s Biggest Dance Show. 15 October 2022. BBC. en.
  4. Web site: Martin. Roy. 16 October 2020. Europe’s Biggest Dance Show returns at Radio 1. 15 October 2022. RadioToday. en-GB.
  5. Web site: 2021-10-25 . Das war: 1LIVE Europe's Biggest Dance Show mit Felix Jaehn . 2022-10-16 . . de.
  6. Web site: Hofstadt . Jens F. . 2019-10-06 . Acht Radiostationen präsentieren "Europe's Biggest Dance Show" . 2022-10-16 . RADIOSZENE . de-DE.
  7. Web site: 8 October 2021. BBC Radio 1 to host return of Europe’s Biggest Dance Show. 15 October 2022. BBC. en.
  8. Web site: 5 October 2022 . Ukraine joins Europe’s Biggest Dance Show for the first time as it returns to BBC Radio 1 . 15 October 2022 . . en.
  9. Web site: Europe’s Biggest Dance Show returns to BBC Radio 1 for 2023. BBC. 14 September 2023. 14 September 2023.