DanTDM joins Classic FM

Next Level with DanTDM starts this weekend…

Classic FM, the Global owned classical music station, has announced today that Daniel Middleton – aka DanTDM – one of the biggest content creators on YouTube with more than 29 million subscribers, is joining its presenting team.

Daniel Middleton:

“Teenage me wouldn’t be able to believe I have my own radio show! Having studied music production at university and then worked in video games for the past 15 years, being given a show that celebrates the meeting of these two worlds feels totally surreal. Classic FM is such an iconic station and I’m really grateful and excited to have been given this opportunity.”

The megastar YouTuber and gamer will front Classic FM’s exciting new video game music series – Next Level with DanTDM – which launches this Saturday 11th January at 9pm. It will be broadcast on Classic FM and Global Player, the official Classic FM app, where each programme will be available on catch-up for seven days. The series will run every Saturday from 9pm to 10pm until Easter.

Across the series, Dan will showcase the greatest gaming music, packed into each 60-minute programme. In the first episode on Saturday, he will celebrate gaming’s most legendary soundtracks including The Legend of Zelda, Final Fantasy VII, and The Elder Scrolls V, Street Fighter II and one of his favourite games, Minecraft.

Classic FM has a long history of championing and playing video game music (VGM). In 2012, VGM first entered the Classic FM Hall of Fame – the world’s biggest annual survey of classical music tastes – and, since then, the station has been a significant supporter of the genre. In 2017, Classic FM broadcast the UK’s first radio series dedicated to VGM, when it launched High Score.

Philip Noyce, Classic FM’s Managing Editor:

“This is a very exciting day for Classic FM, as we welcome the brilliant DanTDM to the presenting line-up. Watched by millions, he is a huge star in the gaming world, as well as being a fan of classical music – so it’s fantastic that he’s joining as the host of Next Level with DanTDM.

“Across three months, he will not only showcase the greatest video game music to our loyal listeners, but with Dan at the controls, we’re looking forward to welcoming VGM fans to Classic FM for the first time too. We have always championed new forms of classical music, from film scores to gaming soundtracks, so I’m pleased to announce this next chapter in our support of video game music.”

Next Level with DanTDM is broadcast on Saturdays from 9pm to 10pm on Classic FM, available on Global Player – the official Classic FM app – on your smart speaker, iOS or Android device, and on 100-102 FM, DAB+ digital radio and TV and at ClassicFM.com.

In less positive news it was also revealed today that local radio is to take another huge loss with Global to close all their regional shows on Heart, Smooth and Capital stations in England. The company state they are “adopting a new Nations Strategy”.

Radio Today report that “The move has been made possible following the introduction of the Media Act late last year, meaning the current regional breakfast shows on Smooth, plus drive shows on Capital and Heart, will end.”

The regional output will cease late next month.