f British and Irish radio: Radio and audio in the twenty-first century in the United Kingdom and Ireland¹

This editorial serves as an introduction to the Special Issue titled ‘British and Irish Radio: Radio and Audio in the Twenty-First Century in the United Kingdom and Ireland’. This thematic collection brings together radio and audio research captured during the COVID-19 pandemic 2020–21. The editorial begins by giving some geographic definitions and explains how the contributions are relevant globally, dealing with issues such as the importance of sound radio as a medium; the impact of new transmission, broadcasting and internet technologies; and how podcasting has established itself as a medium in its own right. This editorial also shares data from the 2021 government review of British radio and audio, and then points to the contributions which provide an account of contemporary Irish radio sectors and listenership and how legacy technologies, such as longwave, are still valued, especially by diasporic audiences. The focus then turns to the articles dealing with small-scale community radio and its management, programming and audiences during the pandemic. The articles in this Special Issue highlight twenty-first-century radio and audio in the United Kingdom and Ireland; however, the cases discussed will provide international scholars and readers with valuable examples and inform future research elsewhere.