BBC Radio 4

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 and 198 kHz longwave; and via DAB, satellite, Freeview channel 74 and the Internet.

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. Music and sport are the only two fields that generally fall outside the station's remit. There are occasional concerts, nevertheless, and ball-by-ball commentaries of most test matches played by the England cricket team are broadcast on long wave only. 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, when necessary, gale warnings.

History

Radio 4 came into existence on 30 September 1967, when the BBC re-launched all of its domestic radio stations under new names. It had previously been known (following the fusion in late 1939 of the pre-war National and Regional Programmes) as the BBC Home Service, in distinction from the Overseas Service of the BBC (now the BBC World Service).

Current programmes

The overwhelming majority of programmes are now available on demand from Radio 4's Listen Again page, although RealNetworks' RealPlayer is required.

The BBC Radio 4 website groups programmes into various genres:

News and current affairs

• Any Questions?
• Broadcasting House
• Farming Today
• From our own Correspondent
• PM
• Today
• The World at One
• The World Tonight

Arts and drama

• The Archers
• Front Row
• Poetry Please

Religion and ethics

• Bells on Sunday
• The Daily Service

Comedy and quizzes

• Brain of Britain
• I'm Sorry I Haven't A Clue
• Little Britain
• Just a Minute
• The News Quiz
• Dead Ringers
• The Now Show
• Round Britain Quiz
• X Marks the Spot

Factual

• Desert Island Discs
• The Food Programme
• Gardener's Question Time
• Home Truths
• Open Country
• Woman's Hour

Science

• Nature

Miscellaneous

• Shipping Forecast
• Test Match Special

Former programmes

• I'm Sorry, I'll Read That Again
• Journey Into Space
• Letter from America
• On The Hour
• Radio Active
• Space Force
• The Goon Show
• The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy
• The Mary Whitehouse Experience
• This Sceptred Isle
• Whose Line Is It Anyway?

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

See also

• List of BBC Radio 4 Programmes

External links

• BBC Radio 4
• BBC Radio 4 - live streaming
• BBC Radio 4 - Listen Again (programmes on demand)
• BBC Radio 4 - Live streaming (FM)
• BBC Radio 4 - Live streaming (AM)
• Listings for BBC Radio 4
• Broadcast dates of past Radio 4 programmes