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Continuing its commitment to reflect the most significant live music cultural events, the ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ today confirmed its coverage of this year's Reading and Leeds Festival.

From Friday 27 to Sunday 29 August, the ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ will bring audiences closer to the festival through the best music including headliner sets, artist interviews, exclusive acoustics and special performances across programming on ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ Three, ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ Red Button, ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ Radio 1 and ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ Online.

Andy Parfitt, ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ's Controller of Popular Music, says: "These twin festivals have established themselves as the highpoint in the younger music fans calendar - this year the line up is very strong and I'm proud that the ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ will be reflecting this on radio, TV and on-line."

³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ Three's coverage, based at the Reading site, is presented by Edith Bowman and Reggie Yates from their festival treehouse.

Kicking off on Friday evening at 9pm, the coverage combines live performances from the Main Stage and the Radio 1/NME stage, festival highlights, interviews and special acoustics across the weekend. Friday's coverage includes Mumford and Sons, Biffy Clyro, LCD Soundsystem, Saturday sees performances from Arcade Fire, Dizzee Rascal, The Libertines, and Pendulum and, on Sunday, audiences can enjoy artists including Blink 182 and The Klaxons.

In addition to the weekend programming, there are also special highlights programmes on Monday 30 August (³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ Three, 7pm) and Friday 3 September (³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ Two, time TBC).

³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ Red Button will be offering up to three streams of music throughout the weekend. Audiences can watch extended sets from more than 30 artists performing on the Main Stage and the NME/Radio 1 Stage.

The ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ Introducing Stage, which returns to the festival for the third year showcasing the best in under-the-radar talent, will also be included in the Red Button coverage. Following the festival, audiences can enjoy further highlights on the Red Button from Monday 30 August (6am).

Radio 1 is set to bring listeners highlights from the festival across the weekend. Greg James comes live from the Reading site on Friday 1-4pm, bringing listeners all the best bits from the first day of the festival – including an exclusive performance from The Young Guns.

On Saturday and Sunday, Huw Stephens steps into Jo Whiley's slot and comes live from Reading for the remainder of the festival, featuring a chat with Arcade Fire and performances from Everything Everything and The Drums.

³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ Online is set to offer a comprehensive Reading and Leeds website, bringing audiences closer to the action with extended video highlights from over 50 of the most exciting artists and incredible stage photography. This will be complemented by a highly useable and attractive mobile site, providing unique coverage of two of the worlds greatest rock festivals.

In addition, there'll be a host of exciting social media activity around Reading Festival. Throughout the weekend, a number of Radio 1 DJs have to perform challenges set by the audience at home, with all the best bits captured on camera - showing their Reading experience in a way they have never had to before.

Audiences are encouraged to join in on the activity and express their views using the dedicated ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ Reading and Leeds Festival Twitter hash-tag #R1RL.

Full broadcast details are as follows (all TV timings are subject to change):

Friday 27 August
³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ Three: 9-10pm/10.30pm-12midnight
³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ Red Button: 7pm-2am (Sky/Virgin Media – 2 Streams/Freeview – 1 Stream)
Radio 1: Greg James, 1-4pm

Saturday 28 August
³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ Three: 8pm-12midnight
³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ Red Button: 7pm-2am (Sky/Virgin Media – 3 Streams/Freeview – 1 Stream)
Radio 1: Huw Stephens, 1-4pm

Sunday 29 August
³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ Three: 10.45pm-12midnight
³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ Red Button: 7pm-2am (Sky/Virgin Media – 3 Streams/Freeview – 1 Stream)
Radio 1: Huw Stephens, 1-4pm

Monday 30 August
³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ Three: 7-8pm
³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ Red Button: 6–4am, Saturday 4 September (Sky/Virgin Media/Freeview)

Friday 3 September
³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ Two: time TBC

SG