The Official Big Top 40
The Official Big Top 40 from Global is a radio chart show broadcast every Sunday from 4 to 7pm on Global's Capital and Heart networks, presented by Will Manning. It started on 14 June 2009. "When Love Takes Over" by David Guetta and Kelly Rowland became the show's first number 1. There are 363 number one songs as of 14 April 2024 with the current being "Forget About Us" by Perrie
Genre
180 minutes (4:00 pm – 7:00 pm)
United Kingdom
English
Global's London studios
Will Manning
Dev Griffin (cover)
Pandora Christie (cover)
Luke Prior
14 June 2009 –
present
Format[edit]
The Official Big Top 40 from Global begins with a recap of the previous week's Top 10 songs, followed by a countdown of the 40 biggest songs from the last seven days. A recap is broadcast after every 10 songs, apart from the top 10 which they recap after every 9 songs. Interviews with the artists making that particular week's chart, competitions, calls with listeners and advertisements make up the remaining airtime. The number 1 song is announced just before 7pm.
The chart is compiled based on iTunes Music downloads, Apple Music Streaming, and radio airplay from the stations that broadcast the show.[1] It is the only UK chart which includes radio airplay, much like the Billboard Hot 100 in the US. The algorithm differs to that of the Official UK Singles Chart, which includes physical sales, as well as downloads and streaming from all sources–but does not take radio airplay into account.
Will Manning is the programme's current host. He started on the show in January 2019.[2] The show is produced by Luke Prior and broadcast from Global's studios in Leicester Square, London.
That week's chart gets published on its website after the show for fans to read.
History[edit]
It launched as The Big Top 40 Show on 14 June 2009. Between 2010 and 2018, the programme was sponsored by Vodafone, becoming The Vodafone Freebees Big Top 40 (later The Vodafone Big Top 40 and The Official Vodafone Big Top 40). For the first time, listeners could change the chart during the show by downloading tracks on iTunes.[3] Songs 40 to 11 are played before the new Top 10 is finalised at 6:10pm, with iTunes sales during the show taken into account. This made it the first real-time chart show broadcast on UK radio.
In September 2018, Bauer announced that their Hits Radio Network would stop carrying the show after the expiration of its contract at the end of 2018. Global, which produced the show, made the decision to withdraw the programme from syndication to the wider commercial radio network.[4] The final show across the commercial radio network aired on 30 December 2018. The relaunched show, The Official Big Top 40, started in January 2019 and is widely available on Capital and Heart.[4]
In March 2022, the show gained a new sponsor and was renamed The Sky VIP Official Big Top 40. In March 2024, it was reverted to its original 2019 name with "from Global" left unchanged from the logo
When Capital broadcast their Summertime Ball and Jingle Bell Ball events, Heart's Dev Griffin or Pandora fill in for Will Manning for that week's chart due to said events taking place in June and December each year.
Previous presenters
Records and statistics[edit]
The current Number 1 belongs to Forget About Us by Perrie (2 weeks)
The song holding the record for most weeks at Number 1 is "Despacito (remix)" by Luis Fonsi, Daddy Yankee and Justin Bieber with 11 non-consecutive weeks.[5]
The longest running song on the Big Top 40 is "Blinding Lights" by The Weeknd (149 non-consecutive weeks).
The song that has spent the most consecutive weeks at Number 1 is "These Days" by Rudimental, Jess Glynne, Macklemore and Dan Caplen with nine consecutive weeks (4 February - 1 April 2018).[6]
The artist with the most Number 1 songs is Ed Sheeran with 20 singles as of 2023.[7]
The group with the most Number 1 songs is Little Mix with 8 songs as of 2021.[8]