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BBC Radio 4 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the
BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC
Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board exam. ...
...
that replaced the
BBC Home Service in 1967.
It broadcasts a wide variety of
spoken-word programmes, including news, drama, comedy, science and history from the BBC's headquarters at
Broadcasting House,
London
London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...
. The station controller is
Mohit Bakaya
Mohit Bakaya is the controller of BBC Radio 4
BBC Radio 4 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC that replaced the BBC Home Service in 1967. It broadcasts a wide variety of spoken-word programmes, including news, d ...
.
Broadcasting throughout the United Kingdom, the
Isle of Man
)
, anthem = "O Land of Our Birth"
, image = Isle of Man by Sentinel-2.jpg
, image_map = Europe-Isle_of_Man.svg
, mapsize =
, map_alt = Location of the Isle of Man in Europe
, map_caption = Location of the Isle of Man (green)
in Europe ...
and the
Channel Islands
The Channel Islands ( nrf, Îles d'la Manche; french: îles Anglo-Normandes or ''îles de la Manche'') are an archipelago in the English Channel, off the French coast of Normandy. They include two Crown Dependencies: the Bailiwick of Jersey, ...
on
FM,
LW and
DAB, and on
BBC Sounds, it can be received in the eastern counties of
Ireland
Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...
, northern
France
France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan area ...
and
Northern Europe. It is available on
Freeview Freeview may refer to:
* Freeview (Australia), the marketing name for the digital terrestrial television platform in Australia
* Freeview (New Zealand), a digital satellite and digital terrestrial television platform in New Zealand
*Freeview (UK), ...
,
Sky
The sky is an unobstructed view upward from the surface of the Earth. It includes the atmosphere and outer space. It may also be considered a place between the ground and outer space, thus distinct from outer space.
In the field of astronomy, ...
, and
Virgin Media
Virgin Media is a British telecommunications company which provides telephone, television and internet services in the United Kingdom. Its headquarters are at Green Park in Reading, England. It is owned by Virgin Media O2, a 50:50 joint ventu ...
. Radio 4 currently reaches over 10 million listeners, making it the UK's second most-popular radio station after
Radio 2.
BBC Radio 4 broadcasts news programmes such as ''
Today
Today (archaically to-day) may refer to:
* Day of the present, the time that is perceived directly, often called ''now''
* Current era, present
* The current calendar date
Arts, entertainment, and media Films
* ''Today'' (1930 film), a 1930 ...
'' and ''
The World at One
''The World at One'', or ''WATO'' ("what-oh") for short, is BBC Radio 4's long-running lunchtime news and current affairs programme, produced by BBC News, which is currently broadcast from 13:00 to 13:45 from Monday to Friday. The programme de ...
'', heralded on air by the
Greenwich Time Signal
The Greenwich Time Signal (GTS), popularly known as the pips, is a series of six short tones (or "pips") broadcast at one-second intervals by many BBC Radio stations. The pips were introduced in 1924 and have been generated by the BBC since 199 ...
pips or the chimes of
Big Ben. The pips are only accurate on FM, LW, and MW; there is a delay on digital radio of three to five seconds and online up to twenty-three seconds. Radio 4 broadcasts the
Shipping Forecast
The Shipping Forecast is a BBC Radio broadcast of weather reports and forecasts for the seas around the coasts of the British Isles. It is produced by the Met Office and broadcast by BBC Radio 4 on behalf of the Maritime and Coastguard Agency. ...
which, in August 2017, was 150 years old.
According to
RAJAR
Radio Joint Audience Research Limited (RAJAR) was established in 1992 to operate a single audience measurement system for the radio industry in the United Kingdom. RAJAR is jointly owned by the BBC and RadioCentre. RAJAR's predecessor was call ...
, the station broadcasts to a weekly audience of 9.8 million with a listening share of 10.9% as of September 2022.
Overview
BBC Radio 4 is the second-most-popular
British
British may refer to:
Peoples, culture, and language
* British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies.
** Britishness, the British identity and common culture
* British English, ...
domestic
radio station
Radio broadcasting is transmission of audio (sound), sometimes with related metadata, by radio waves to radio receivers belonging to a public audience. In terrestrial radio broadcasting the radio waves are broadcast by a land-based radi ...
by total hours, after
Radio 2. It recorded its highest audience, of 11 million listeners, in May 2011, and was "UK Radio Station of the Year" at the 2003, 2004 and 2008
Sony Radio Academy Awards
The Radio Academy Awards, started in 1983, were the most prestigious awards in the British radio industry. For most of their existence, they were run by ZAFER Associates, but in latter years were brought under the control of The Radio Academy ...
. It also won a
Peabody Award in 2002 for ''File on 4: Export Controls''. Costing £71.4 million (2005/6), it is the BBC's most expensive national radio network and is considered by many to be its flagship. There is no comparable British commercial network:
Channel 4
Channel 4 is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network operated by the state-owned Channel Four Television Corporation. It began its transmission on 2 November 1982 and was established to provide a fourth television service ...
abandoned plans to launch its own speech-based digital radio station in October 2008 as part of a £100m cost cutting review.
In 2019,
Mohit Bakaya
Mohit Bakaya is the controller of BBC Radio 4
BBC Radio 4 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC that replaced the BBC Home Service in 1967. It broadcasts a wide variety of spoken-word programmes, including news, d ...
replaced
Gwyneth Williams
Gwyneth Williams (born 14 July 1953) is a former controller of BBC Radio 4. She grew up in South Africa and attended St Hugh's College, Oxford.
Earlier career
Williams joined the BBC World Service in 1976 as a trainee, having briefly worked as r ...
, who had been the station controller since 2010.
Music is broadcast as in documentaries relating to various forms of both
popular
Popularity or social status is the quality of being well liked, admired or well known to a particular group.
Popular may also refer to:
In sociology
* Popular culture
* Popular fiction
* Popular music
* Popular science
* Populace, the total ...
and classical music, and the long-running music-based ''
Desert Island Discs
''Desert Island Discs'' is a radio programme broadcast on BBC Radio 4. It was first broadcast on the BBC Forces Programme on 29 January 1942.
Each week a guest, called a "castaway" during the programme, is asked to choose eight recordings (usua ...
''. Following the creation of
BBC Radio 5 Live in 1994, the station has become the home of
ball-by-ball commentaries of most
Test cricket
Test cricket is a form of first-class cricket played at international level between teams representing full member countries of the International Cricket Council (ICC). A match consists of four innings (two per team) and is scheduled to last f ...
matches played by England. The coverage is broadcast on
long wave
In radio, longwave, long wave or long-wave, and commonly abbreviated LW, refers to parts of the radio spectrum with wavelengths longer than what was originally called the medium-wave broadcasting band. The term is historic, dating from the e ...
. Consequently, for around 70 days a year, listeners have to rely on FM broadcasts or DAB for mainstream Radio 4 broadcasts – the number relying solely on long wave is now a small minority. The cricket broadcasts take precedence over on-the-hour news bulletins, but not the
Shipping Forecast
The Shipping Forecast is a BBC Radio broadcast of weather reports and forecasts for the seas around the coasts of the British Isles. It is produced by the Met Office and broadcast by BBC Radio 4 on behalf of the Maritime and Coastguard Agency. ...
, carried since Radio 4's move to long wave in 1978 because long wave can be received clearly at sea.
The station has a strong reputation for news, drama, and comedy. Following the ''Six O'Clock News'' from Monday to Friday, the station normally broadcasts a thirty-minute comedy programme.
The station is available on
FM in most of Great Britain, parts of Ireland and the north of France;
LW throughout the UK and in parts of Northern Europe, and the Atlantic north of the
Azores
)
, motto =( en, "Rather die free than subjected in peace")
, anthem= ( en, "Anthem of the Azores")
, image_map=Locator_map_of_Azores_in_EU.svg
, map_alt=Location of the Azores within the European Union
, map_caption=Location of the Azores wi ...
to about 20 degrees west;
MW in some areas;
DAB; Digital TV including
Freeview Freeview may refer to:
* Freeview (Australia), the marketing name for the digital terrestrial television platform in Australia
* Freeview (New Zealand), a digital satellite and digital terrestrial television platform in New Zealand
*Freeview (UK), ...
,
Freesat
Freesat is a British free-to-air satellite television service, first formed as a joint venture between the BBC and ITV plc and now owned by Digital UK. The service was formed as a memorandum in 2007 and has been marketed since 6 May 2008. Free ...
,
Sky
The sky is an unobstructed view upward from the surface of the Earth. It includes the atmosphere and outer space. It may also be considered a place between the ground and outer space, thus distinct from outer space.
In the field of astronomy, ...
and
Virgin Media
Virgin Media is a British telecommunications company which provides telephone, television and internet services in the United Kingdom. Its headquarters are at Green Park in Reading, England. It is owned by Virgin Media O2, a 50:50 joint ventu ...
, and on the Internet. Freesat, Sky and Virgin have a separate channel for Radio 4 LW output in mono, in addition to the FM output.
The longwave signal is part of the
Royal Navy
The Royal Navy (RN) is the United Kingdom's naval warfare force. Although warships were used by English and Scottish kings from the early medieval period, the first major maritime engagements were fought in the Hundred Years' War against ...
's system of
letters of last resort
The letters of last resort are four identically-worded handwritten letters from the prime minister of the United Kingdom to the commanding officers of the four British ballistic missile submarines. They contain orders on what action to take if ...
. In the event of a suspected catastrophic attack on Britain,
submarine captains, in addition to other checks, check for a broadcast signal from Radio 4 on 198 longwave to verify the annihilation of organised society in Great Britain.
History
The BBC Home Service was the predecessor of Radio 4 and broadcast between 1939 and 1967. It had
regional variations
In geography, regions, otherwise referred to as zones, lands or territories, are areas that are broadly divided by physical characteristics (physical geography), human impact characteristics (human geography), and the interaction of humanity and t ...
and was broadcast on
medium wave with a network of
VHF FM transmitters being added from 1955. Radio 4 replaced it on 30 September 1967, when the BBC restructured and renamed its domestic radio stations,
in response to the challenge of
offshore radio
Offshore radio is radio broadcasting from ships or fixed maritime structures. Offshore broadcasters are usually unlicensed but transmissions are legal in international waters. This is in contrast to unlicensed broadcasting on land or within a na ...
. It moved to long wave in November 1978, taking over the 200 kHz frequency (1,500 metres) previously held by
Radio 2 - later moved to 198 kHz as a result of
international agreements
A treaty is a formal, legally binding written agreement between actors in international law. It is usually made by and between sovereign states, but can include international organizations, individuals, business entities, and other legal pers ...
aimed at avoiding interference (all
ITU Region
The International Telecommunication Union (ITU), in its International Radio Regulations, divides the world into three ITU regions for the purposes of managing the global radio spectrum. Each region has its own set of frequency allocations, the ma ...
1 MW/LW broadcast frequencies are divisible by 9). At this point, Radio 4 became available across all of the UK for the first time and the station officially became known as Radio 4 UK, a title that remained until 29 September 1984.
For a time during the 1970s Radio 4 carried regional news bulletins Monday to Saturday. These were broadcast twice at breakfast, at lunchtime and at 17:55. There were also programme variations for the parts of England not served by
BBC Local Radio stations. These included ''
Roundabout East Anglia
''Roundabout East Anglia'' was a BBC radio programme providing news and current affairs coverage for the East Anglia region of England during the 1970s. It was broadcast on the area's VHF frequency of BBC Radio 4 as a regional opt-out from the ...
'', a VHF opt-out of the ''Today'' programme broadcast from
BBC East
BBC East is one of BBC's English Regions covering Norfolk, Suffolk, Cambridgeshire, northern Buckinghamshire, and the majority of Northamptonshire, Bedfordshire, Hertfordshire and Essex. It is headquartered in The Forum, Norwich since 2003. It wa ...
's studios in
Norwich
Norwich () is a cathedral city and district of Norfolk, England, of which it is the county town. Norwich is by the River Wensum, about north-east of London, north of Ipswich and east of Peterborough. As the seat of the See of Norwich, with ...
each weekday from 6.45 a.m. to 8.45 a.m.
''Roundabout East Anglia'' came to an end in August 1980, ahead of the launch of
BBC Radio Norfolk
BBC Radio Norfolk is the BBC's local radio station serving the county of Norfolk.
It broadcasts on FM, AM, DAB, digital TV and via BBC Sounds from studios at The Forum in Norwich.
According to RAJAR, the station has a weekly audience of ...
.
All regional news bulletins broadcast from BBC regional news bases around England ended in August 1980, apart from in the southwest as until January 1983 there was no
BBC Local Radio in the southwest so these news bulletins and its weekday morning regional programme, ''
Morning Sou'West'', continued to be broadcast from the BBC studios in Plymouth on VHF and on the Radio 4 medium wave Plymouth relay until 31 December 1982.
The launch of
Radio 5 on 27 August 1990 saw the removal of
Open University
The Open University (OU) is a British public research university and the largest university in the United Kingdom by number of students. The majority of the OU's undergraduate students are based in the United Kingdom and principally study off- ...
, schools programming, children's programmes and the ''
Study on 4''/''Options'' adult education slot from Radio 4's FM frequencies. Consequently, the full Radio 4 schedule became available on FM for the first time. However, adult educational and
Open University
The Open University (OU) is a British public research university and the largest university in the United Kingdom by number of students. The majority of the OU's undergraduate students are based in the United Kingdom and principally study off- ...
programming returned to Radio 4 in 1994 when Radio 5 was closed to make way for the launch of
BBC Radio 5 Live and were broadcast on Sunday evenings on longwave only.
Between 17 January 1991 and 2 March 1991 FM broadcasts were replaced by a continuous news service devoted to the
Gulf War
The Gulf War was a 1990–1991 armed campaign waged by a Coalition of the Gulf War, 35-country military coalition in response to the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait. Spearheaded by the United States, the coalition's efforts against Ba'athist Iraq, ...
,
Radio 4 News FM
Radio 4 News FM was the national BBC station devoted to rolling news service that was on air during the Gulf War from 16 January until 2 March 1991. It was broadcast on Radio 4's FM frequencies, whilst regular scheduled service continued on ...
, with the main Radio 4 service transferring to long wave.
In September 1991 the main Radio 4 service transferred from long wave to FM coverage had now extended to cover almost all of the UK - Radio 4 did not become available on FM in much of Scotland and Wales until the early 1990s. Opt-outs were transferred to longwave: currently ''
Test Match Special
''Test Match Special'' (also known as ''TMS'') is a British sports radio programme, originally, as its name implies, dealing exclusively with Test cricket matches, but currently covering any professional cricket. It broadcasts on BBC Radio 4 LW ...
'', extra shipping forecasts, ''
The Daily Service
''The Daily Service'' is a short Christian service broadcast every weekday morning between 09:45 and 10:00 on BBC Radio 4's long wave and DAB frequencies. It was also broadcast on Radio 4's FM frequencies until 13 September 1991.
In 1926, Britis ...
'' and ''
Yesterday in Parliament
Today in Parliament is a British radio programme that covers the daily proceedings of the Palace of Westminster (Houses of Parliament), on BBC Radio 4. When re-broadcast at around 8.30am the next day on longwave (198 LW) and medium wave, it is ...
''. Longwave very occasionally opts out at other times, such as to broadcast special services, the most recent being when
Pope Benedict XVI
Pope Benedict XVI ( la, Benedictus XVI; it, Benedetto XVI; german: link=no, Benedikt XVI.; born Joseph Aloisius Ratzinger, , on 16 April 1927) is a retired prelate of the Catholic church who served as the head of the Church and the soverei ...
visited Britain in 2010.
Programmes and schedules
Daily schedule
An online schedule page lists the running order of programmes.
Production
Many programmes are pre-recorded. Programmes transmitted live include ''
Today
Today (archaically to-day) may refer to:
* Day of the present, the time that is perceived directly, often called ''now''
* Current era, present
* The current calendar date
Arts, entertainment, and media Films
* ''Today'' (1930 film), a 1930 ...
'', magazine programme ''
Woman's Hour
''Woman's Hour'' is a radio magazine programme broadcast in the United Kingdom on the BBC Light Programme, BBC Radio 2, and later BBC Radio 4. It has been on the air since 1946.
History
Created by Norman Collins and originally presented by ...
'', consumer affairs programme ''
You and Yours
''You and Yours'' is a British radio consumer affairs programme, broadcast on BBC Radio 4 and produced by BBC News.
History
''You and Yours'' began broadcasting in October 1970, when its first presenter was Joan York. In the 1980s it briefly ra ...
'', and (often) the music, film, books, arts and culture programme ''
Front Row''.
Continuity is managed from
Broadcasting House with news bulletins, including the hourly summaries and longer programmes such as the ''Six O'Clock News'' and ''Midnight News'', and news programmes such as ''Today'', ''The World at One'' and ''PM'', which by early 2013 had returned to Broadcasting House after 15 years at
BBC Television Centre
Television Centre (TVC) is a building complex in White City, West London, that was the headquarters of BBC Television between 1960 and 2013. After a refurbishment, the complex reopened in 2017 with three studios in use for TV production, opera ...
in
White City White City may refer to:
Places Australia
* White City, Perth, an amusement park on the Perth foreshore
* White City railway station, a former railway station
* White City Stadium (Sydney), a tennis centre in Sydney
* White City FC, a football clu ...
. The news returning to Broadcasting House has also meant that newsreaders can provide cover for continuity, which regularly occurs at 23:00 each night and 16:00 on a Sunday. This has reduced the total number of continuity announcers required each day down from four to three.
The
Greenwich Time Signal
The Greenwich Time Signal (GTS), popularly known as the pips, is a series of six short tones (or "pips") broadcast at one-second intervals by many BBC Radio stations. The pips were introduced in 1924 and have been generated by the BBC since 199 ...
, popularly known as "the pips", is broadcast every hour to herald the news bulletin, except at midnight and 18:00, and 22:00 on Sunday, when the chimes of
Big Ben are played. There is no Greenwich Time Signal at 15:00 on Saturday or 10:00 and 11:00 on Sunday due to the Saturday Afternoon drama and the omnibus edition of ''
The Archers
''The Archers'' is a BBC radio drama on BBC Radio 4, the corporation's main spoken-word channel. Broadcast since 1951, it was famously billed as "an everyday story of country folk" and is now promoted as "a contemporary drama in a rural sett ...
'' respectively. Only pips broadcast on FM, MW and LW are accurate. On digital platforms there is a delay of between three and five seconds, and up to 23 seconds online.
Programmes
Radio 4 programmes cover a wide variety of genre including news and current affairs, history, culture, science, religion, arts, drama and light entertainment. A number of the programmes on Radio 4 take the form of a "magazine" show, featuring numerous small contributions over the course of the programme—''
Woman's Hour
''Woman's Hour'' is a radio magazine programme broadcast in the United Kingdom on the BBC Light Programme, BBC Radio 2, and later BBC Radio 4. It has been on the air since 1946.
History
Created by Norman Collins and originally presented by ...
'', ''
From Our Own Correspondent
''From Our Own Correspondent'' is a weekly BBC radio programme in which BBC foreign correspondents deliver a sequence of short talks reflecting on current events and topical themes in the countries outside the UK in which they are based. The pro ...
'', ''
You and Yours
''You and Yours'' is a British radio consumer affairs programme, broadcast on BBC Radio 4 and produced by BBC News.
History
''You and Yours'' began broadcasting in October 1970, when its first presenter was Joan York. In the 1980s it briefly ra ...
''. The rise of these magazine shows is primarily due to the work of
Tony Whitby
Tony may refer to:
People and fictional characters
* Tony (given name), including a list of people and fictional characters
* Gregory Tony (born 1978), American law enforcement officer
* Motu Tony (born 1981), New Zealand international rugby leag ...
, controller of Radio 4 from 1970 to 1975. The station hosts a number of long-running programmes, many of which have been broadcast for over 40 years.
Most programmes are available for four weeks after broadcast as streaming audio from Radio 4's ''listen again'' page and via
BBC Sounds. A selection of programmes is also available as
podcasts or
download
In computer networks, download means to ''receive'' data from a remote system, typically a server such as a web server, an FTP server, an email server, or other similar system. This contrasts with uploading, where data is ''sent to'' a remote ...
able audio files. Many comedy and drama programmes from the Radio 4 archives are broadcast on
BBC Radio 4 Extra.
Due to the capacity limitations of DAB and increasing sport broadcasts on
BBC Radio 5 Live Sports Extra
BBC Radio 5 Sports Extra (formerly BBC Radio 5 Live Sports Extra) is a national digital radio station in the United Kingdom, operated by the BBC, and specialising in extended live sports coverage. It is a sister station to BBC Radio 5 Live a ...
, BBC Radio 4 DAB has to reduce its bit rate most evenings, such that after 7 p.m. its DAB output is usually in mono, even though many of its programmes are made in stereo (including its flagship drama "The Archers"), these can be heard in stereo only on FM, Digital TV on Freeview & Freesat (Ch. 704), Sky, Virgin and on line via BBC Sounds. BBC World Service, which uses BBC Radio 4 FM & DAB frequencies between 01:00 and 05:20, is in stereo, but only on Radio 4 FM & DAB and not on its own dedicated DAB channel. BBC Radio 4 Extra broadcasts in mono on DAB, but has always been in stereo on Digital TV (Freeview / Freesat Ch 708), Sky, Virgin and online.
Notable continuity announcers and newsreaders
Announcers carry out the following duties from Broadcasting House:
* Provide links (or junctions) between programmes
* Read trails for programmes
* Provide reassurance to listeners during a programme breakdown
* Read the
Shipping Forecast
The Shipping Forecast is a BBC Radio broadcast of weather reports and forecasts for the seas around the coasts of the British Isles. It is produced by the Met Office and broadcast by BBC Radio 4 on behalf of the Maritime and Coastguard Agency. ...
(except the 05:20 broadcast, which is covered by
BBC Weather
BBC Weather is the department of the BBC (British Broadcasting Corporation) responsible for both the preparation and the broadcasting of weather forecasts.
On 6 February 2018, BBC Weather changed supplier from the government Met Office to Me ...
)
* Read the
BBC Radio 3 news summaries at 13:00, 17:00 and 18:00 on weekdays
Newsreaders read hourly summaries and longer bulletins from New Broadcasting House. In 2012 the BBC announced that it would be reducing its main presentation team from 12 to ten.
BBC
*
Alan Smith
*
John Hammond
* Caroline Nicholls
*
Tom Sandars
* Jane Steel
Freelance
*
Chris Aldridge
Chris Aldridge is a continuity announcer and newsreader for BBC Radio 4.
Biography
He grew up in Horsham, West Sussex.
After one term studying medicine at London Hospital Medical College, Aldridge studied mathematics at Bedford College (Unive ...
* Andrew Crawford
* Mark Forrest
*
Jim Lee
Jim Lee (Korean 이용철; born August 11, 1964) is a Korean American comic-book artist, writer, editor, and publisher. He is currently the Publisher and Chief Creative Officer of DC Comics. In recognition of his work, Lee has received a Harvey ...
*
Andrew Peach
Andrew Peach is a radio presenter in the United Kingdom. He presents a daily news and phone-in show on BBC Radio Berkshire which was named 'Best Local Radio Show in the UK' at the 2021 Radio Academy ARIA Awards. He also presents network programme ...
*
Susan Rae
*
Neil Nunes
Former
*
Alice Arnold Alice Arnold may refer to
* Alice Arnold (broadcaster)
Alice Arnold (born 1962) is a British broadcaster and journalist. She was a newsreader and continuity announcer on BBC Radio 4 for more than twenty years until the end of December 2012. ...
(1994–2012)
*
Carolyn Brown (left 2015)
*
Harriet Cass
Harriet R M Cass (born 4 February 1952) is a freelance broadcaster, best known for her work on BBC Radio 4 as a senior announcer, with responsibility for newsreading and continuity.
Born in London NW10, at the Central Middlesex Hospital, the four ...
(left 2013)
*
Corrie Corfield
Coriona Kear Ware Corfield is a radio broadcaster and producer known especially for her newsreading and continuity announcements on BBC Radio 4.
Early life and education
She was born 1961 in Oxford. Raised near Stratford-upon-Avon, Corfield w ...
(1988–2021)
*
Peter Donaldson
Peter Ian Donaldson (23 August 1945 – 2 November 2015) was an English newsreader on BBC Radio 4.
Early life
Donaldson was born in Cairo, Egypt, and moved to Cyprus in 1952 at the time of the overthrow of King Farouk. He was a frequen ...
(1973–2012)
*
Charlotte Green
Charlotte Green (born 4 May 1956) is a British radio broadcaster and a former continuity announcer and news reader for BBC Radio 4.
After 1988 she specialised in news reading, including reading the news on Radio 4 breakfast ''Today'' programme ...
(1988–2013)
*
Peter Jefferson
Peter Jefferson (February 29, 1708 – August 17, 1757) was a planter, cartographer and politician in colonial Virginia best known for being the father of the third president of the United States, Thomas Jefferson. The "Fry-Jefferson Map", creat ...
(left 2009)
*
Astley Jones (left 2006)
*
Laurie Macmillan (died 2001)
*
Rory Morrison (died 2013)
*
Charles Nove
Charles Alexis Nove (born 29 June 1960 in London, England) is a British radio broadcaster who currently presents the weekday breakfast show for classical music station Scala Radio.
Biography Early career
The son of Soviet historian Alexander No ...
(left 2019; now with
Scala Radio
Scala Radio is a classical music digital radio station in the United Kingdom, owned and operated by Bauer Radio since its launch in March 2019. The station broadcasts nationally on DAB via the Sound Digital multiplex and online through websites ...
)
*
Jamie Owen
Jamie Owen (born 1967) is a Welsh journalist, broadcaster, writer and former BBC Wales Today presenter. He joined the BBC in 1989, first working at BBC Radio and then presenting BBC Wales Today between 1994 and 2018. He has presented other TV an ...
*
Brian Perkins
Brian Perkins (born 11 September 1943 in Wanganui, New Zealand) is a former senior newsreader on BBC Radio 4.
Career
He first started working in 1962 in Christchurch on radio stations of the New Zealand Broadcasting Service (NZBS), and its suc ...
*
Iain Purdon (retired from BBC World Service in 2016)
*
Vaughan Savidge (left 2018)
*
Neil Sleat
Neil Sleat is a newsreader and continuity announcer on BBC Radio 4.
Career
After joining the BBC as a trainee engineer, working as a studio manager and then an announcer/newsreader on the BBC World Service, he joined Radio 4 as an announcer/n ...
(1998-2021)
*
Zeb Soanes
Zebedee Soanes (born 24 June 1976) is a British radio presenter who presents the weekday evening music show ''Smooth Classics at Seven'' on Classic FM. He was previously a newsreader and continuity announcer on BBC Radio 4 and BBC Radio 4 Extr ...
(left 2022)
*
Moira Stuart
Moira Clare Ruby Stuart, (born 2 September 1949) is a British presenter and broadcaster. She was the first female newsreader of Caribbean heritage to appear on British national television, having worked on BBC News since 1981.[Classic FM)
]
Frequencies and other means of reception
Criticisms
Criticism voiced by centre-right newspapers in recent years have a perceived left political bias across a range of issues, as well as sycophancy in interviews, particularly on the popular morning news magazine ''Today'' as part of a reported perception of a general "malaise" at the BBC. Conversely, the journalist Mehdi Hasan
Mehdi Raza Hasan (born July 1979) is a British-American political journalist, broadcaster and author of Indian descent.
Hasan has been the host of ''The Mehdi Hasan Show'' on Peacock since October 2020 and on MSNBC since February 2021.
In 2 ...
has criticised the station for an overtly "socially
Social organisms, including human(s), live collectively in interacting populations. This interaction is considered social whether they are aware of it or not, and whether the exchange is voluntary or not.
Etymology
The word "social" derives from ...
and culturally
Culture () is an umbrella term which encompasses the social behavior, institutions, and Social norm, norms found in human Society, societies, as well as the knowledge, beliefs, arts, laws, Social norm, customs, capabilities, and habits of the ...
conservative" approach.
There has been criticism of ''Today'' in particular for a lack of female broadcasters. In September 1972, Radio 4 employed the first female continuity announcers—Hylda Bamber and Barbara Edwards. For quite some time, the introduction of female newsreaders led to complaints from listeners; women discussing topics of feminist interest led to similar complaints. In addition, there has been long-running criticism by atheist and humanist groups of ''Thought for the Day'', a slot dedicated exclusively to religious discussion during Radio 4's flagship morning news programme.
Radio 4 has been criticised for being too middle class
The middle class refers to a class of people in the middle of a social hierarchy, often defined by occupation, income, education, or social status. The term has historically been associated with modernity, capitalism and political debate. Com ...
and of little interest to non-white listeners.
See also
* ABC Radio National
* CBC Radio One
CBC Radio One is the English-language news and information radio network of the publicly owned Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. It is commercial-free and offers local and national programming. It is available on AM and FM to 98 percent of C ...
- Canadian
Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...
talk radio station from CBC
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