article

BBC Radio 4 is a British domestic radio station which broadcasts a wide variety of chiefly spoken-word programmes including news, drama, comedy, science and history. It is broadcast on 92 - 95 MHz FM (95.8 MHz in central Scotland, 96 MHz in Greater Belfast , and 103-104.5 MHz in parts of Wales) and 198 kHz longwave (Medium wave in some areas; e.g. 720 kHz in London and Northern Ireland); and via DAB, satellite (FM is broadcast on Sky channel 0104 and LW is broadcast on Sky channel 0143), selected Cable television providers, Freeview channel 704 and the Internet. It superseded the BBC Home Service, in 1967.

Radio 4 is the second most popular British domestic radio station after Radio 2, and was awarded "UK Radio Station of the Year" at the 2004 Sony Radio Academy Awards for the second year running. * With a budget of £69 million (2004/5), it is the BBC's most expensive national radio network and is considered by some to be the corporation's flagship channel. There is no UK commercial network comparable. Music and sport are the only fields that fall outside the station's remit. There are occasional concerts and ball-by-ball commentaries of most test matches played by England cricket are broadcast on long wave. Because the long-wave service can be received clearly at sea in the vicinity of the British Isles, Radio 4 also carries regular weather forecasts for shipping and gale warnings.

History

See the main article BBC Home Service
The BBC Home Service was the original name for Radio 4 and was on the air from 1939 until 30 September 1967 it had regional variations and was broadcast on medium wave with a network of VHF FM transmitters being added from 1955. Radio 4 began on 30 September 1967, when the BBC renamed its domestic radio stations.

Programmes and schedules

The Radio 4 Website Schedule Page shows the running order for the day. Radio 4 splits from the World Service at 0529, with a brief introduction from the early shift continuity announcer. The 5-minute "Radio 4 UK Theme" (composed by Fritz Spiegl) used to follow but it was dropped in April 2006 after 33 years *, despite some public opposition and a campaign to save it. After the continuity link is a news bulletin and the shipping forecast, weather reports from coastal stations for 0400GMT and inshore waters forecasts. On weekdays, the Today programme runs from 0600 to 0900. On, or after the hour, a news bulletin is broadcast - this is sometimes a 2-minute summary, a longer piece as part of a current affairs programme, or at 6pm and midnight a 30-minute broadcast (15-minute weekends). At 1200, FM has a 4-minute bulletin whilst Longwave has the headlines and then the Shipping Forecast; for the same reason, longwave leaves the PM Programme on weekdays at 1754. There is a news programme or bulletin (depending on the day) at 2200, then the Midnight News at 0000, followed by (on weekdays) a repeat of Book of the Week. The tune "Sailing By" is then played until 0048, when the Late Shipping Forecast is broadcast. Radio 4 ends with the national anthem, "God Save The Queen" and the World Service takes over from 0100 until 0529.

Many Radio 4 programmes are pre-recorded, whilst others are live. Continuity is managed from Broadcasting House whilst 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, PM, etc.) are based at the BBC News Centre at Television Centre in White City. They were moved there in 1998 when the News Centre was opened to house both radio and TV news. News is due to return to Broadcasting House in 2008.

The Greenwich Time Signal (known as "the pips") is broadcast hourly, sometimes as part of a programme.

On DAB, the channel has a secondary channel which makes the longwave Yesterday in Parliament and the Daily Service and their rival programmes on FM available.

Current programmes

Many programmes are from Radio 4's Listen Again page, although RealNetworks' RealPlayer is required (the BBC has arranged for this to be free to UK listeners by following links from the BBC website).

The BBC Radio 4 website groups programmes into various genres:

News and current affairs

Arts and drama

Religion and ethics

Comedy and quizzes

Serious quizzes:

Panel games:

Sketch shows:
Sitcoms:

Comedy dramas:

Conversations

Factual

Science

Miscellaneous

Former programmes

Many programmes from the Radio 4 archives can now be heard on BBC 7.

Radio 4 announcers and newsreaders

Announcers link programmes, read adverts for programmes and read the Shipping Forecast. Newsreaders read hourly summaries and longer bulletins.

Senior Announcers

Newsreaders / Continuity Announcers

Newsreaders (non-Today programme) / Continuity Announcers

Newsreaders (non-Today programme)

Continuity Announcers

Former staff

See also

External links

BBC national radio stations | Podcasters

BBC Radio 4 | BBC Radio 4

 

This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the "BBC Radio 4".

Home Page • arts • business • computers • games • health • hospitals • home • kids & teens • news • physicians • recreation• reference • regional • science • shopping • society • sports • world