BBC Radio 3

BBC Radio 3 is a radio station operated by the BBC within the United Kingdom. Radio 3 devotes most of its schedule to classical music.

History

It was launched as The BBC Third Programme in 1946. Its name was changed to Radio 3 on 30 September 1967 when, with the launch of BBC Radio 1, the three other national radio channels were also given numbers. (The allocation of "2" and "4" to the Light and Home seems arbitrary, but the allocation of "3" to the Third has an obvious logic.) At this time it incorporated a service on the Third Programme's wavelength which had previously been known successively as Network Three, the Third Network and the Music Programme, which tended to play less challenging music than the Third Programme and did not include the Third Programme's speech output. Radio 3 also absorbed the adult education material previously carried on the frequency under the name "Study Session", and the Saturday afternoon sports coverage which was known as "Sports Service", although this was moved to Radio 2 in April 1970.

The Third Programme, however, retained its separate identity until April 1970, when it was absorbed into Radio 3. Following the shake up of AM radio frequencies in 1978 it moved to an inferior medium wave frequency, and left MW altogether in 1992, but retained its FM frequency. Ball-by-ball cricket commentaries, which were formerly on Radio 3 medium wave, are now broadcast on Radio 4 long wave and digital radio station BBC Five Live Sports Extra.

Programming

The station has for its entire life mainly broadcast classical music, opera, "highbrow" drama, including most BBC Radio Shakespeare productions, and jazz. The station plays a central role in classical music in the UK, broadcasting concerts, promoting young musicians, and commissioning compositions. The Proms are promoted, and broadcast, by Radio 3.

Radio 3 is renowned for its quality and quantity of chamber music output, tending to play pieces in their entirety rather than small parts of pieces. A number of broadcasts are experimental; for instance one play in the late seventies consisted mainly of sound effects, recorded binaurally, to be listened to wearing headphones.

One of the longest-lasting programmes is the Composer of the Week, or COTW, series which now airs at 1200 GMT/BST, with a repeat of the preceding week's programme at midnight. This consists of five weekdays' worth of one-hour themed shows about the music of a composer. Often, especially when the composer is well enough known already as not to need introduction, the five days themselves have a theme; for example, a week about Mozart might focus on Mozart the Keyboard Player. This show has also served, especially on composers' centenaries of birth or death, to attempt to heighten interest in their music, with weeks devoted to Edmund Rubbra, Medtner and Havergal Brian, among others.

In an attempt to broaden its appeal the station has, in recent years, tackled a wide range of new music (including electronic music and experimental music on programmes such as Mixing It) and world music (World Routes, Late Junction and Andy Kershaw's programme). The proportion of jazz programming has also increased in recent years, to the consternation of some.

Radio 3 was the first channel to broadcast in stereo and in quadraphonic (matrix HJ), a format which enjoyed only a brief success. To improve the quality of outside broadcasts over telephone lines the BBC designed a NICAM style digitisation technique called pulse code modulation running at a sample rate of 14,000 per second per channel. It later designed digital recording machines (transportable) sampling at the same rate. It is now available world wide on the Internet and is broadcast digitally throughout the UK.

The Radio 3 debate

The calm and informed style adopted by the majority of the station's presenters is to many of its listeners a welcome contrast to the frenetic delivery found elsewhere on the airwaves. Since 1992 the station has had a commercial rival, Classic FM. The newer station broadcasts a lighter range of music, interspersed with chat and adverts. Occasionally, the rival station's presence has led some commentators to question Radio 3's existence, lest it interfere with the workings of the market.

Despite early fears that it might seriously damage Radio 3, they seem to co-exist quite harmoniously, and Radio 3 has largely retained its audience. It has broadcast for 24 hours a day since the late nineties, using an automated computer system which requires little or no direct human control. However, many feel that the network has lost some of its gravitas, as the station has modified its approach, with more "presenter-led" programming stripped during the week, like commercial stations, and a certain diminution of its core activities, most notably an increase in jazz and other non-classical programming. A campaign group, Friends of Radio 3 (FoR3), has emerged to argue against BBC policies regarding the network.

The RAJAR figures released in August 2005 seem to suggest that the re-branding of Radio 3 has not been a success. The number of listeners has not increased (it has slightly decreased), which suggests that even if people with different musical tastes are tuning into the station (as the BBC claims), the more traditional classical listeners must be deserting at the same rate.

Online developments

Recently, Radio 3 has been performing a trial where it would offer MP3 files of performances recently transmitted for download as part of The Beethoven Experience. It has been successful, and may lead to further performances being distributed in this manner.^*

See also: List of BBC radio stations

References

Humphrey Carpenter, The Envy of the World: Fifty Years of the BBC Third Programme and Radio 3 1946–1996, Weidenfeld and Nicholson 1996

External links

BBC national radio stations | Classical music in the United Kingdom