Launched on 14 February 2021, Boom Radio broadcasts nationally on the Sound Digital DAB multiplex and is also available online.

Named after the generation it planned to cater for, Boom Radio would initially be available in London, Birmingham, Bristol, Portsmouth and Glasgow, as well as broadcasting online, and offer a mix of music, conversation and presenter personality.

[3] On 2 December 2020 the station announced a round of executive appointments to its commercial team, drawing on people with experience at large media companies such as Global and Sky.

[5] Other programmes planned for Boom Radio included a show with Esther Rantzen and her daughter, Rebecca Wilcox, Still Busy Living, described as the station's own version of Desert Island Discs,[1][6] and programming covering topics such as gardening and book reviews.

The announcement was made on air by presenter David Hamilton and on social media with a letter to its listeners: "The response has been so strong that we've brought forward all our plans to grow.

"[11] The Nottingham Post subsequently reported that positive audience figures from the station's first two weeks on air, as well as feedback from listeners, had prompted Boom's investors to finance the national launch.

[12] On 19 October 2021, it was announced that David Elms, Head of Media at KPMG, had joined the board of Boom Radio as non-executive chairman.

[17] Boom subsequently announced it would rerun O'Grady's Christmas 2022 show on Easter Sunday, at the time he was scheduled to be on air, and following requests by listeners for them to do so.

[20] On 4 December 2023, it was announced that Chris Tarrant would present his first Christmas show for Boom Radio on Boxing Day afternoon.

It was also confirmed that Jo Brand had been hired to present a series of programmes in which she would interview prominent television personalities, including Michael Grade.

Riley has described this approach as "taking advantage of what's been happening in lockdown to completely rethink how you run a radio station".

[29] The launch of Boom Radio came at a time when BBC Radio 2, a station favoured by the boomer generation, began to cut down on the number of older songs it was playing in an attempt to attract a younger audience, and in particular a demographic it described as "Mood Mums", women in their 30s and 40s with busy lives and children.

[2] On 2 December 2023, it was announced that Boom Radio would play the uncensored version of The Pogues' Christmas hit "Fairytale of New York" after 91% of listeners who contributed to a poll said they would not be offended by it.

The decision came after a number of radio stations began playing an edited version that leaves out some expletives in the lyrics.

[48] Figures for the third quarter of 2023, released on 26 October, showed another increase, from 641,000 weekly listeners to 662,000, giving the station its biggest audience so far.

[50] On 15 July 2024, Boom Radio was reprimanded by Ofcom for playing the uncensored version of "You Oughta Know" by Alanis Morissette, which contains the word "fuck", during the afternoon school run after receiving two complaints.

Boom also commented that Ofcom had not pursued three similar instances of uncensored tracks being played on air that occurred during 2021.

The programming included shows presented by Johnnie Walker, John Peters (who recreated the last Big L Fab 40 countdown as broadcast on Wonderful Radio London in 1967), Roger Day, Dave Lee Travis, and Keith Skues (with a three hour show with interviews with Colin Berry, Tony Blackburn, Paul Burnett and Roger Gale).

Keith Skues also featured on the station through the day reading 1964 press coverage of the Radio Caroline launch.

[60] On 6 May, Boom marked 60 years of Motown with special programmes presented by Jenni Murray and Len Groat.