Timeline of BBC Radio 4

A timeline of notable events relating to BBC Radio 4, a British national radio station which began broadcasting in September 1967.

1960s

*1967
**30 September – Radio 4 launches at 6:35am, replacing the BBC Home Service. The first programme to be broadcast is ''Farming Today''.
**22 December – Panel game '' Just a Minute'' is first aired with Nicholas Parsons as chairman (initially as a temporary stand-in). He would go on to present the programme until 2019.
**''Your Hundred Best Tunes,'' ''Choral Evensong,'' and ''Listen with Mother'' broadcast on Radio 4 for the first time.

*1968
**No events.

*1969
**10 July – The BBC publishes a report called "Broadcasting in the Seventies" proposing the reorganisation of programmes on the national networks and replacing regional broadcasting on BBC Radio 4 with BBC Local Radio.

1970s

*1970
**1 April – ''Choral Evensong'' is broadcast on Radio 4 for the final time – it transfers to BBC Radio 3 from the following week.
**3 April – For the first time, both airings of ''Any Questions'' are broadcast on Radio 4. Previously, the station had only broadcast the Saturday repeat as the Friday night debut broadcast had been on BBC Radio 2.
**5 April – ''Your Hundred Best Tunes'' moves from BBC Radio 4 to BBC Radio 2.
**6 April
***The first editions of '' PM'' and ''The World Tonight'' are broadcast.
***The first ''Thought for the Day'' is broadcast, replacing ''Ten to Eight''.
***The first edition of ''Start the Week'' is broadcast with Richard Baker as presenter.
**10 April – The first broadcast of a new news and current affairs programme ''Analysis''.
**5 October – The consumer affairs programme ''You and Yours'' debuts.

*1971
** 4 November – Radio 4 (and Radio 2) begin broadcasting in stereo in South East England. Stereo was rolled out to the rest of the country over subsequent years.

*1972
** 2 April – First edition of the comedy panel game ''I'm Sorry I Haven't a Clue'' is aired.

*1973
** 9 April – The first edition of ''Kaleidoscope'' is broadcast.
** 29 June – Programmes For Schools are broadcast on all Radio 4 frequencies for the final time. From next term they are aired only on VHF/FM.
** 2 July – ''Woman's Hour'' is transferred from BBC Radio 2 to BBC Radio 4
**23 December – ''I'm Sorry, I'll Read That Again'' airs its last episode.

*1974
**'' Stop the Week'' is broadcast for the first time.

*1975
** 9 June – Proceedings in the Parliament of the United Kingdom are broadcast on radio for the first time and BBC Radio 4 broadcasts the first two hours of that day's proceedings.

*1976
**4 January – First broadcast of the panel game '' Quote... Unquote''.
**27 August – First broadcast of the sketch comedy show ''The Burkiss Way''.
**First broadcast of ''Poetry Please''.

*1977
**30 April – The first edition of '' Sport on Four'' is broadcast.
**2 May – BBC Radio 4 launches a new breakfast programme '' Up to the Hour''. Consequently, ''The Today Programme'' is reduced from a continuous two-hour programme to two 25-minute slots.
**22 August – The BBC Radio comedy ''The Men from the Ministry'' airs its final episode after fifteen years on air.
**2 October – The first edition of ''Money Box'' is broadcast.

*1978
**3 April – Permanent radio broadcasts of proceedings in the House of Commons begin. Radio 4 marks the first day with an afternoon of live coverage. The station goes on to broadcast Prime Minister's Questions for the next year.
**3 July – Changes are made to the station's weekday breakfast schedule. After just over a year on air, '' Up to the Hour'' is cancelled. Consequently, ''Today'' once again becomes a continuous two-hour programme. Also, a new weekday 6am ''News Briefing'' is introduced.
**23 November
***Radio 4's AM service moves from medium wave to 1500m (200 kHz) long wave as part of a plan to improve national AM reception, and to conform with the Geneva Frequency Plan of 1975. However long wave reception is not universal so in some parts of the UK where long wave reception is poor, filler transmitters on MW are used.
***The shipping forecast transfers from BBC Radio 2 to BBC Radio 4 so that the forecast can continue to be broadcast on long wave.
***The Radio 4 UK Theme is used for the first time to coincide with the network becoming a fully national service for the first time and to mark this the station is officially known as ''Radio 4 UK''.
**22 December – Industrial action at the BBC by the ABS union, which started the previous day, extends to radio when the radio unions join their television counterparts by going on strike, forcing the BBC to merge its four national radio networks into one national radio station from 4pm and called it the BBC All Network Radio Service. The strike is settled shortly before 10pm on Friday 22 December 1978, with the unions and BBC management reaching an agreement at the British government's industrial disputes arbitration service ACAS.

*1979
**1 April – The first edition of '' Feedback'' is broadcast.
**30 September – First broadcast of ''The Food Programme''.

1980s

*1980
** Summer – Due to the continued expansion of BBC Local Radio, regional opt-out programming ends, apart from in the south west as this is now the only part of England still without any BBC local station.

*1981
** No events.

*1982
**10 September – After 32 years on air, ''Listen with Mother'' is broadcast for the final time. It is replaced three days later by a shorter five minute lunchtime programme called ''Listening Corner'' which is transmitted on FM only whilst long wave listeners receive the lunchtime shipping forecast.
**31 December – The last regional opt-out programming ends when the final edition of '' Morning Sou'West'' is broadcast ahead of the forthcoming launch of BBC Radio Devon and BBC Radio Cornwall.

*1983
**1 February – ''In Business'' is broadcast for the first time.

*1984
**5 April – Radio 4 begins what is described in '' Radio Times'' as "a new three-hour sequence – a six-month broadcast experiment in which you are invited to participate." The programme is called ''Rollercoaster'' and is presented by Richard Baker. The "Grand Finale of Radio 4's rollicking rolling experiment" takes place on 27 September and was not repeated.
**27 July – David Jacobs chairs ''Any Questions?'' for the final time.
**14 September – John Timpson chairs ''Any Questions?'' for the first time.
**29 September
***The post-midnight Shipping Forecast starts being broadcast 18 minutes later than before, moving to a start-time of 12.33 am.
***Radio 4 starts broadcasting 30 minutes earlier at the weekend when it launches a 20-minute ''Prelude'', described as “a musical start to your weekend listening”. Consequently, the station is now on air every day from just before 6am until 12:30am.
***The ''Radio 4 UK'' branding is dropped and the station is now officially simply known as Radio 4.

*1985
**28 June – The final weeknight ''Study on 4'' broadcast takes place.
**29 June – ''Study on 4'' is renamed ''Options'' and from this date all of BBC Radio's adult educational programming is now broadcast on weekend afternoons. The programmes continue to be broadcast only on VHF/FM. This means that Radio 4's output on weeknights between 11pm and 11:30pm – ie all of ''The World Tonight'' and '' The Financial World Tonight'' – are now also broadcast on VHF/FM.
**25 July–8 August – During the 1985 school summer holidays, Radio 4 broadcasts an all-morning children's programme called '' Pirate Radio 4'' on Thursday mornings. Three editions of the programme are aired. It is broadcast on VHF/FM only with the usual Radio 4 schedule continuing on long wave. The programme returns the following summer for three more editions.

*1986
**5 January – Michael Parkinson takes over as host of ''Desert Island Discs'' following the death last year of Roy Plomley.
**24 December – John Timpson presents ''The Today programme'' for the final time.
**28 December – ''Apna Hi Ghar Samajhiye'' (Make Yourself at Home) is broadcast for the final time. The programme, aimed at the Asian community, had been broadcast on Radio 4 and the BBC Home Service every Sunday morning since 1965.

*1987
**3 January – ''The Today programme'' is extended to six days a week when it launches a Saturday edition and John Humphrys joins the programme's presenting team as John Timpson's replacement.
**17 July – John Timpson chairs ''Any Questions?'' for the final time.
**4 September – Jonathan Dimbleby chairs ''Any Questions?'' for the first time.
**27 October – BBC Radio 4 launches a new twice-weekly soap opera called '' Citizens''.

*1988
**1 February – Radio 4's long-wave frequency is adjusted from to .
**1 April – Sue Lawley replaces Michael Parkinson as host of ''Desert Island Discs''.

*1989
**26 May – Radio 4 airs the 10,000th episode of ''The Archers''.

1990s

*1990
**23 June – Ahead of the transfer of all of BBC radio's educational programmes to the forthcoming BBC Radio 5, the last edition of ''Options'', the BBC's weekend afternoon strand of adult educational programmes which had been transmitted as a weekend afternoon opt-out from the main schedule on FM, is broadcast.
**29 June – Programmes For Schools are broadcast on Radio 4 for the final time.
**20 August – ''The Moral Maze'' is broadcast for the first time.
**24 August – '' Listening Corner'', the weekday lunchtime programme for small children, is broadcast for the final time.
**26 August – Open University programmes are broadcast on Radio 4 for the final time until they return to Radio 4 1994 when Radio 5 is replaced by BBC Radio 5 Live.
**27 August – The launch of Radio 5 sees the full Radio 4 schedule broadcast on FM for the first time.

*1991
**17 January–2 March – Radio 4 News FM, the first rolling BBC radio news service is on air during the first Gulf War. It broadcasts on the station's FM frequencies, with the regular scheduled service continuing on long wave.
**25 July – The final episode of soap opera '' Citizens'' is broadcast.
**13 September – ''The Daily Service'' is broadcast on FM for the final time.
**16 September
***The main BBC Radio 4 service moves from long wave to FM as FM coverage has now been extended to cover almost all of the UK. Radio 4 didn't become available on FM in much of Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland until the start of the 1990s. Opt-outs are transferred to long wave.
***A new 30-minute religious slot at 10am on weekdays is launched, but is broadcast as an opt-out and therefore is only available on long wave. The first fifteen minutes is used to broadcast ''The Daily Service'' and this is followed by the launch of a 12-month series featuring readings from The Bible.
***''Woman’s Hour'' moves from early afternoons to a mid-morning slot.

*1992
**Late March–7 April – For the first time, Radio 4 long wave opts out of the main Radio 4 schedule to provide additional news coverage. It does so to provide live coverage of the latest developments in the general election campaign. Previously, additional news coverage had been broadcast on FM.
**25 July – BBC Radio 4 stops the week for the final time, after having done so since 1974.
** 15 October – The BBC announces plans to launch a continuous news service on BBC Radio 4’s long wave frequency. The date of 5th April 1994 is set as the launch date. The plan would result in Radio 4 broadcasting exclusively on FM.

*1993
**There is widespread opposition to the BBC's plans to launch a rolling news service on Radio 4’s long wave frequency and the proposals are dropped. A new news and sport service BBC Radio 5 Live launches the following year.
**18 December – BBC 2 broadcasts the Arena special "Radio Night", an ambitious simulcast with BBC Radio 4.

*1994
**21 February – A new weekday afternoon magazine show starts, called '' Anderson Country''. The programme proves divisive amongst the station’s listenership over the different tone of the programme when compared with the rest of Radio 4. It is replaced after a year by ''The Afternoon Shift''.
**24 March – ''The Financial World Tonight'' is broadcast on Radio 4 for the final time, ahead of its move to the new news and sport station BBC Radio 5 Live.
**3 April – The closure of BBC Radio 5 sees children’s programmes return to Radio 4. However, instead of daily programmes, just one weekly 30-minute programme is broadcast, aired on Sunday evenings.
**8 April – Following the closure of BBC Radio 5, ''Test Match Special'' is broadcast on BBC Radio 4’s long wave frequency for the first time.
** 10 April – Radio 5's closure sees adult education and Open University programmes return to Radio 4. They are broadcast on long wave only as a two-hour block on Sunday evenings. Open University programmes are broadcast between February and September with language courses aired from October until January.

*1995
**27 September – Radio 4 begins to broadcast digitally following the commencement by the BBC
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