Independent National Radio is the official term for the three national commercial radio stations currently or previously broadcasting on analogue radio in the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...

. The two stations currently or previously broadcasting on AM were allocated frequencies previously used by

BBC Radio 3 BBC Radio 3 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. It replaced the BBC Third Programme in 1967 and broadcasts classical music and opera, with jazz, world music, Radio drama, drama, High culture, culture and the arts ...

(to be used by INR2) and

BBC Radio 1 BBC Radio 1 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. It specialises in modern popular music and current chart hits throughout the day. The station provides alternative genres at night, including electronica, dance, ...

(to be used by INR3).

Background

The stations came about following the

Broadcasting Act 1990 The Broadcasting Act 1990 is a law of the British parliament, initiated in part due to a 1989 European Council Directive (89/552), also known as the Television Without Frontiers directive. The aim of the Act was to liberalise and deregulate the B ...

which allowed for the launch of independent national radio (INR) stations in the United Kingdom. The

Radio Authority Radio is the technology of signaling and communicating using radio waves. Radio waves are electromagnetic waves of frequency between 30 hertz (Hz) and 300 gigahertz (GHz). They are generated by an electronic device called a transmitt ...

was mandated to award three INR licences. The FM licence (INR1) had to be for a 'non-pop' station and one (INR3) had to be for a predominantly speech-based service. The remaining licence (INR2) was to be open to 'all-comers'. The licences were to be awarded to the highest cash bidder, providing that the applicant met criteria set down in the Broadcasting Act.

INR stations on air

* Classic FM (INR1) - 99.9 to 101.9 MHz, first air date 7 September 1992, owned by Global Radio. * Talksport (INR3) - 1053 kHz and 1089 kHz in most areas, first air date 14 February 1995 as Talk Radio UK, owned by

Wireless Group Wireless Group Limited is a radio and digital broadcasting network with headquarters in Belfast, Northern Ireland and with radio operations in the Republic of Ireland and the United Kingdom. It currently operates five stations in Ireland and ...

INR stations no longer broadcasting on analogue radio

Absolute Radio Absolute Radio is a British National radio station owned and operated by Bauer as part of the Absolute Radio Network. It broadcasts nationally across the UK via Digital audio broadcasting and on 1215 kHz MW. History 1993–1997: Virg ...

(INR2) - 1215 kHz

mediumwave Medium wave (MW) is the part of the medium frequency (MF) radio band used mainly for AM radio broadcasting. The spectrum provides about 120 channels with more limited sound quality than FM stations on the FM broadcast band. During the dayti ...

in most areas, first air date 30 April 1993 as Virgin 1215, owned by

Bauer Radio Bauer Media Audio UK is a UK-based radio division of the Bauer Media Group. History In early 2008, German magazine publisher Bauer bought the radio division of British company Emap, which had been established as East Midland Allied Press in ...

. It closed its medium wave transmitters on 20 January 2023. All three stations are also available nationally on DAB on the

Digital One Digital One is a national commercial digital radio multiplex in the United Kingdom, owned by Arqiva. , the multiplex covered more than 90% of the population from 137 transmitters. Coverage was extended to Northern Ireland in July 2013. It conta ...

multiplex as well as on digital TV and online. Plans for a fourth station, using 225 kHz

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 ...

, were mooted in 1996 but were abandoned by the

after consultation with the radio industry which found that there was no interest in launching a station on that frequency due to the costs involved, especially to cover all of the country given that the frequency would only provide partial-UK coverage. The frequency had originally been allocated to the BBC but it had never been used.

References

{{Independent National Radio Radio in the United Kingdom Broadcasting in the United Kingdom