Evening Extra
Evening Extra is the BBC's drive time news and current affairs radio programme in Northern Ireland. It is broadcast live on BBC Radio Ulster, BBC Radio Foyle and BBC Sounds on weekday evenings, from 4pm to 6pm.
The evening news programme was launched with this title in 1996 as part of a wider station re-launch by Anna Carragher in the light of the paramilitary ceasefires of 1994 and a need to alter the tone and range of the news output. The first presenter was Sean Rafferty.
As part of wider schedule changes in September 2019 Evening Extra was extended to fill two hours in the schedule, having previously been broadcast from 5pm - 6.30pm for many years. Evening Extra is the most listened to drive time news programme in Northern Ireland. [1]
Presenters
The programme is presented five days a week by Declan Harvey. Tara Mills also fronts the programme three days a week, while spending the other two days anchoring the main BBC NI television news programme, BBC Newsline.
Other Presenters
A selection of presenters, reporters and correspondents front the programme in the absence of Mills or Harvey. They include Joel Taggart, Julie McCullough, Sara Girvan, Enda McClafferty and Jayne McCormack.
Previous Presenters
Seamus McKee retired as a regular presenter of Evening Extra in January 2020, having fronted the programme since 2009.
Year ‘21
In December 2020 it was announced Mills and Harvey would create and front a new podcast, produced by BBC News NI, to mark one hundred years since the creation of Northern Ireland. 'Year '21' was billed as: "the fascinating story of how Northern Ireland was created, told week-by-week." The podcast was made available on BBC Sounds and other external platforms. 50 episodes, of 15 minutes each, were commissioned for between January and December 2021.
Year ‘21 was made a finalist for Best Serialised Podcast in the New York Festivals Radio Awards. It was also a finalist for Best Sound Design. It was nominated for Best Podcast at the 2021 IMRO Awards.
Studio
Evening Extra is broadcast live from Studio 4 at BBC Broadcasting House, Belfast. Studio 4 is the only full service studio to sit within the main newsroom.