The Essential Mix is a weekly radio show on BBC Radio 1 currently broadcast between 0:00 and 2:00 a.m. UK time on Saturday morning. Originally broadcast on 30 October 1993, the Essential Mix features contemporary DJs and music producers of electronic dance music. The show has been presented since its inception by Pete Tong and features an uninterrupted two-hour mix from a different artist each week, overlaid with occasional continuity announcements delivered by Tong. With a broadcast run in excess of 25 years, the Essential Mix is one of the longest-running programmes in the current BBC Radio 1 schedule. It is one of very few Radio 1 shows which is not broadcast live. Background The Essential Mix is a weekly radio show broadcast on BBC Radio 1 and features many styles of electronic dance music. It was created by Eddie Gordon, the producer of the show from the first broadcast in 1993 to 2001. In 1993, after months of receiving weekly mix shows on tape-cassette, featuring New York DJs Tony Humphries WRKS 98.7 Kiss FM and Frankie Knuckles WQHT HOT 97 FM, and recorded and mailed by U.S. Billboards Dance Editor Brian Chin, Gordon advised BBC Radio 1 that a weekly dance-mix show with DJs of different genres of music would offer more variety and a chance to promote the UK dance music scene with both notable and upcoming DJs. Gordon further encouraged the DJs he scheduled to use their musical knowledge; a high number of listeners were recording the show on cassette to listen to later, so a straight out "4 to the floor" mix was not necessarily required, allowing the DJs to include more eclectic music or offer something different from their normal selections. DJ Paul Oakenfold, after sitting with Gordon to blueprint his December 1994 Essential Mix, he produced the Goa Mix, which won a Silver Award in the Specialist Music Programme category at the 1998 Sony Radio Awards and in 2000 was voted the Best Ever Essential Mix by the BBC Radio 1 listeners. Then DJ David Holmes in June 1997 created another two hours in the history of the Essential Mix; his set included Nancy Wilson and Jimi Hendrix. In May 1998, DJ Ashley Beedle, known for his house music style, completed a two-hour reggae mix. The show has been hosted since its inception in 1993 by DJ Pete Tong, who was also the first