For several months after launch, the station was not able to play commercial records as no agreement had been reached over so-called needle time, which led to London listeners becoming acquainted with broadcast library music from outside the UK (including the Canadian Talent Library) and music from film soundtracks.

Listeners were invited to choose a Christmas carol or hymn while a Salvation Army brass band stood by in the studio to play their request live.

Immediately after closedown at 7 pm, test transmissions began in preparation for the launch of its replacement, Greater London Radio (GLR).

Bannister came from Capital London, while Dann came from Radio 1, via BBC TV's Whistle Test, and developed an album-oriented music policy.

Specialist speech programmes in the evening were aimed at London's communities: Asian, Afro-Caribbean, Jewish, Gay, and Irish.

Weekends featured extensive sports coverage, centring on football and London's numerous clubs such as Arsenal, Tottenham, and West Ham United.

In 1989, GLR set up a youth-based radio training facility at Vauxhall College, SW8, which was followed by a second course based at White City, W12.

GLR had the ability to directly access Scotland Yard's network of traffic cameras across London's busiest streets.

This enabled its reporters, most commonly "Bob at the Yard", to give accurate traffic and travel news to its listeners.

The threat was lifted after the BBC deemed it sufficiently patronised to remain on-air; however, criticism of the station grew from its Radio London days, causing David Mellor, then Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport to remark: "The BBC must think hard whether it is occupying radio frequencies without making much use of them."

[7] One of its noted DJs on-air at the time was Gary Crowley,[8] who had a weekend show which regularly showcased new and unsigned bands.

In 1999, following a consultation exercise on local broadcasting in the South East, the BBC decided to rebrand GLR and substantially change the programming.

[10] Although the campaign was unsuccessful in saving GLR and the rebranding went ahead the next year, it demonstrated the existence of a loyal audience for its format.

[citation needed] Leading the relaunch was Station Director David Robey, who hired such personalities as Lisa I'Anson, Vanessa Feltz, Tom Watt, and various black presenters including Eddie Nestor and Dotun Adebayo.

Newly updated jingles were added with its new slogan "On TV, On Radio, Online", voiced by BBC London News host Emily Maitlis.

Then there was Drivetime with Eddie Nestor and Kath Melandri, with news updates, sport, travel and debates with the public.

Specialist programmes for the Black community emerged at the weekends along with sports coverage and alternative music shows in the evening.

In 2003, a campaign called Londumb Live was briefly launched as a response to the axing of a number of specialist shows including Coldcut and Ross Allen.

It also aired on DAB Digital Radio (from July 2000) and on Sky channel 0152 (from 2005) in the London area, but it can be accessed within the UK and Ireland by manual tuning.

Additional coverage for football was made possible through a combination of its DAB platform, on Sky channel 0152, and via a BBC Essex transmitter on 765 kHz medium wave (for West Ham commentaries).

[20] In 2022, presenter Salma El-Wardany took over the Breakfast Show,[21] after Vanessa Feltz left the station after almost twenty years.

[22] Following the departure of Salma El-Wardany, 5 Live Broadcaster Aaron Paul launched a new breakfast show on January 6th 2025.