BBC Radio 4 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC that replaced the

BBC Home Service The BBC Home Service was a national and regional radio station that broadcast from 1939 until 1967, when it was replaced by BBC Radio 4. History 1922–1939: Interwar period Between the early 1920s and the outbreak of World War II, the BBC ...

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 Broadcasting House is the headquarters of the BBC, in Portland Place and Langham Place, London. The first radio broadcast from the building was made on 15 March 1932, and the building was officially opened two months later, on 15 May. The main ...

, London. The station controller is Mohit Bakaya. Broadcasting throughout the United Kingdom, the Isle of Man and the Channel Islands on FM, LW and

DAB DAB, dab, dabs, or dabbing may refer to: Dictionaries * ''Dictionary of American Biography'', published under the auspices of the American Council of Learned Societies * ''Dictionary of Australian Biography'', published since 1949 Places * Dąb, ...

, and on

BBC Sounds BBC Sounds is a Closed platform, walled garden streaming media and audio download service from the BBC that includes live radio broadcasts, audio on demand, and podcasts. The service is available on a wide range of devices, including mobile pho ...

, it can be received in the eastern counties of Ireland, northern France and

Northern Europe The northern region of Europe has several definitions. A restrictive definition may describe Northern Europe as being roughly north of the southern coast of the Baltic Sea, which is about 54th parallel north, 54°N, or may be based on other g ...

. 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), a ...

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. 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'' and '' The World at One'', heralded on air by the Greenwich Time Signal pips or the chimes of

Big Ben Big Ben is the nickname for the Great Bell of the Great Clock of Westminster, at the north end of the Palace of Westminster in London, England, and the name is frequently extended to refer also to the clock and the clock tower. The officia ...

. 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 which, in August 2017, was 150 years old. According to RAJAR, 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 domestic radio station 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. It also won a

Peabody Award The George Foster Peabody Awards (or simply Peabody Awards or the Peabodys) program, named for the American businessman and philanthropist George Peabody, honor the most powerful, enlightening, and invigorating stories in television, radio, and ...

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 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 replaced Gwyneth Williams, who had been the station controller since 2010. Music is broadcast as in documentaries relating to various forms of both popular and classical music, and the long-running music-based '' Desert Island Discs''. Following the creation of

BBC Radio 5 Live BBC Radio 5 Live is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC that broadcasts mainly news, sport, discussion, interviews and phone-ins. It is the principal BBC radio station covering sport in the United Kingdom, broadcast ...

in 1994, the station has become the home of ball-by-ball commentaries of most Test cricket matches played by England. The coverage is broadcast on long wave. 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, 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 to about 20 degrees west; MW in some areas;

; Digital TV including

, Freesat,

and Virgin Media, 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's system of letters of last resort. In the event of a suspected catastrophic attack on Britain,

submarine A submarine (or sub) is a watercraft capable of independent operation underwater. It differs from a submersible, which has more limited underwater capability. The term is also sometimes used historically or colloquially to refer to remotely op ...

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 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 daytime ...

with a network of

VHF Very high frequency (VHF) is the ITU designation for the range of radio frequency electromagnetic waves (radio waves) from 30 to 300 megahertz (MHz), with corresponding wavelengths of ten meters to one meter. Frequencies immediately below 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 nat ...

. 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 perso ...

aimed at avoiding interference (all ITU Region 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 BBC Local Radio (also referred to as Local BBC Radio) is the BBC's local and regional radio division for England and the Channel Islands, consisting of forty stations. History The popularity of pirate radio was to challenge a change within ...

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's studios in Norwich 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 1 ...

. 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

in the southwest so these news bulletins and its weekday morning regional programme, ''

Morning Sou'West ''Morning Sou’West'' was a regional programme broadcast in south west England as an opt-out from BBC Radio 4. It was broadcast on weekday mornings between 6:30am and 8:35am, rejoining Today for Yesterday in Parliament when Parliament was sitting ...

'', 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, schools programming, children's programmes and the ''

Study on 4 Study or studies may refer to: General * Education **Higher education * Clinical trial * Experiment * Observational study * Research * Study skills, abilities and approaches applied to learning Other * Study (art), a drawing or series of drawi ...

''/''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 programming returned to Radio 4 in 1994 when Radio 5 was closed to make way for the launch of

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, Radio 4 News FM, 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'', 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, Briti ...

'' and '' Yesterday in Parliament''. Longwave very occasionally opts out at other times, such as to broadcast special services, the most recent being when Pope Benedict XVI 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'', magazine programme '' Woman's Hour'', consumer affairs programme '' You and Yours'', and (often) the music, film, books, arts and culture programme '' Front Row''. Continuity is managed from

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 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, 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

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'' 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'', ''

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''. 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

. A selection of programmes is also available as podcasts or downloadable audio files. Many comedy and drama programmes from the Radio 4 archives are broadcast on

BBC Radio 4 Extra BBC Radio 4 Extra (formerly BBC Radio 7) is a British digital radio station from the BBC, broadcasting archived repeats of comedy, drama and documentary programmes nationally, 24 hours a day. It is the sister station of BBC Radio 4 and the p ...

. Due to the capacity limitations of DAB and increasing sport broadcasts on BBC Radio 5 Live Sports Extra, 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 (except the 05:20 broadcast, which is covered by BBC Weather) * Read the

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 ...

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 Thomas John Sandars (born February 1976, Marylebone, St. Marylebone, London) is a continuity announcer for BBC Radio 4 and a newsreader for the BBC World Service. Education From 1989 to 1994, Sandars was educated at The Oratory School,

* 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 *

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 Susan Scott Rae (born 2 June 1956)Jonathan Rhys-Evan"The Accent's on Success" ''Glasgow Herald'', 18 April 1984 is a Scottish newsreader and continuity announcer on BBC Radio 4, BBC Radio 3 and BBC Radio 4 Extra. Rae was born and raised in Dund ...

Neil Nunes Neil Nunes (born 12 December 1980) (pronounced ) is a British-Jamaican continuity announcer and newsreader on BBC Radio 4 in the United Kingdom, and on the BBC World Service. Early life Nunes was born in Kingston, Jamaica, and brought up in th ...

Former

* Alice Arnold (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 (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 Astley Jones is a newsreader and continuity announcer on BBC Radio 4. After beginning his career as a PE teacher, he took up work as a BBC Sports correspondent. He has followed a freelance career since 1975, working on Radios 2, 3, 4 and World ...

(left 2006) *

Laurie Macmillan Laurie Macmillan (10 May 1947 – 8 October 2001) was a BBC Radio 4 newsreader and continuity announcer born in Aberdeen on the east coast of Scotland. Educated at Haberdashers' Monmouth School for Girls, Monmouthshire and then at Newcastle Univ ...

(died 2001) *

Rory Morrison Rory David Morrison (5 August 1964 – 11 June 2013) was a newsreader and continuity announcer for BBC Radio 4. Early life and education Morrison was born in London in 1964, the eldest of Anne and Bob Morrison's three children. He was brou ...

(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 Nov ...

(left 2019; now with Scala Radio) *

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 Iain Purdon is a retired broadcaster. Biography Iain Purdon was born in Edinburgh. After school education in the South of England he returned to Scotland and joined the city hospital radio service while at the University of Edinburgh. He went ...

(retired from BBC World Service in 2016) *

Vaughan Savidge Vaughan Edward Savidge (born 6 June 1956) is a former British freelance newsreader for BBC Radio 3, continuity announcer for BBC Radio 4, and formerly a newsreader the World Service. He also performed spoof news items on ''Armando Iannucci's Char ...

(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 (left 2022) * Moira Stuart (left 1981 to move to TV; now with 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 modern English, sycophant denotes an "insincere flatterer" and is used to refer to someone practising sycophancy (i.e., insincere flattery to gain advantage). The word has its origin in the legal system of Classical Athens. Most legal cases o ...

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 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 and of little interest to non-white listeners.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Bbc Radio 4 4 News and talk radio stations in the United Kingdom Radio stations established in 1967 1967 establishments in the United Kingdom Radio stations in the United Kingdom Longwave radio stations Peabody Award winners Podcasting companies