Evening Extra
Evening Extra is the BBC's main 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. As of April 2020 the programme is presented by journalists Tara Mills and Declan Harvey.
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. His co-presenter Tara Mills 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 Conor Bradford, Joel Taggart, Chris Buckler, 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.
Spin Off
In December 2020 it was announced Mills and Harvey would 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.
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.