Radio in the United Kingdom

For the wider media in the United Kingdom, see Media of the United Kingdom.

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Radio enjoys a huge following in the United Kingdom. There are around 600 licensed radio stations in the country. For a more comprehensive list see List of radio stations in the United Kingdom.

## BBC Radio

[edit]

Main article: BBC Radio

The most prominent stations are the national networks operated by the BBC. Five of them are available on analogue radio (FM and AM) whilst the rest are available on DAB, along with the other five (at 12B, the BBC National multiplex).

* BBC Radio 1 broadcasts contemporary pop and rock music, including live sessions, for a youth audience, with specialist genres and programmes in the evening (FM 97.1 - 99.8 MHz)
* BBC Radio 1Xtra broadcasts hip hop, R&B and drum and bass, featuring simulcasts on Radio 1 weeknights and Saturday nights.
* BBC Radio 2 is the UK's most listened-to radio station, playing classic and contemporary music for an older audience, as well as specialist music programmes in the evening (FM 88.1 - 90.2 MHz)
* BBC Radio 3 is a classical music station, broadcasting concerts and operas. At night, it transmits a wide range of jazz, world music and radio dramas (FM 90.2 - 92.6 MHz)
* BBC Radio 4 is a current affairs and speech station, with news, debate, documentaries, comedy shows and radio dramas. It broadcasts the daily radio soap The Archers, as well as flagship news programmes Today and The World at One (FM 92.5 - 94.6 MHz, FM 103.6 – 104.9 MHz and AM 198 kHz)
* BBC Radio 4 Extra broadcasts archive comedy, archive drama, archive discussion programmes, archive documentaries and programmes which extend or complement programmes on its sister station. For example, it was the first place where episodes of The Archers spin off Ambridge Extra were broadcast.
* BBC Radio 5 Live broadcasts live news and sports commentary with phone-in debates and studio guests (AM 693 kHz, 909 kHz, and 990 kHz)
* BBC Radio 5 Sports Extra is a companion to 5 Live for additional sports events coverage.
* BBC Radio 6 Music transmits predominantly alternative music, with many live sessions.
* BBC Asian Network is aimed at the large British Asian community, playing music whilst also broadcasting news and current affairs (AM 828 kHz, 837 kHz, 1449 kHz, 1458 kHz)
* BBC World Service broadcasts international news and current affairs.

The BBC also provides 40 local radio services for England and the Channel Islands, as well as stations from Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. All are available on FM and DAB and some are also available on AM.

## Commercial radio

[edit]

Also available nationally on analogue radio are two national commercial channels, namely Classic FM (FM 99.9 MHz—101.9 MHz); and talkSPORT (AM 1053 kHz or 1089 kHz in most areas). These stations are also available at 11D or 12A on DAB (on the Digital One multiplex). As with the BBC, digital radio has brought about many changes, including the rollout of local stations such as Radio X, Kiss and Kerrang Radio to other areas of the United Kingdom.

Commercial radio licences are awarded by Ofcom, a government body which advertises a licence for an area and holds a so-called "beauty contest" to determine which station will be granted permission to broadcast in that area. Stations submit detailed application documents containing their proposed format and the outcome of research to determine the demand for their particular style of broadcast. Original 106 was the last radio station to be granted a licence by Ofcom.[clarification needed]

Most local commercial stations in the United Kingdom broadcast to a city or group of towns within a radius of 20–50 miles, with a second tier of "regional" stations covering larger areas such as North West England. The predominant format is pop music, but many other tastes are also catered for, particularly in London and the larger cities, and on digital radio.

Rather than operating as independent entities, many local radio stations are owned by large radio groups which generally broadcast the same station on frequencies which used to carry local individual stations with their own station name. They broadcast as a single network with local inserts for news, weather, travel and commercials. The largest operator of radio is Global Radio which bought the former media group, GCap Media. It owns Classic FM and the Capital radio network. Other owners are Bauer Radio and News Broadcasting, which mainly own stations that broadcast in highly populated city areas.

Many of these stations, including all the BBC stations, are also available via digital television services.

## Community radio

[edit]

Community radio stations broadcast to a small area, normally within a 3-mile (5 km) radius, and are required by the Act to be not-for-profit organisations, owned by local people, on which the broadcasters are mostly volunteers. They are recognised under the Communications Act 2003 as a distinct third tier of radio in the United Kingdom. The community radio movement in the United Kingdom was founded in the mid-1970s, broadcasting through Restricted Service Licences, the internet and cable television.

An Access Radio pilot scheme, launched in 2002, gave fifteen stations, including Resonance FM and ALL FM, trial licences, and this has blossomed into a lively sector, overseen unofficially by the Community Media Association.[1]

The broadcasters predominantly serve an easily defined racial community such as Asian Star Radio in Slough, or a geographically defined community such as Coast FM, Speysound Radio & The Bay Radio.[citation needed] They can also serve religious groups, such as Christian radio station Branch FM in Yorkshire. As well as this, they can also be linked with universities and student unions who run the stations under a community licence, for example Smoke Radio in London, Demon FM in Leicester, and Spark FM in Sunderland.

## Hospital radio

[edit]

* Hospital radio
* List of hospital radio stations in the UK

## Student radio

[edit]

* Student radio

## Radio publications

[edit]

* Practical Wireless[2]
* Radio Times
* Radio Today (website)
* RadCom

## Statistics

[edit]

According to RAJAR figures, the top ten stations or networks by listeners nationwide are:[3]

* BBC Radio 2 \- 13.3 million
* Heart (network) \- 9.7 million
* BBC Radio 4 \- 9.6 million
* BBC Radio 1 \- 8.1 million
* Capital (network) \- 7.5 million
* Greatest Hits Radio \- 7.4 million
* Hits Radio (network) \- 7.2 million
* Smooth Radio (network) \- 6.6 million
* BBC Radio 5 Live \- 6 million
* Absolute Radio (network) \- 5.6 million

## See also

[edit]

* British Wireless for the Blind Fund
* Broadcasting Act 1990
* Communications Act 2003
* Digital radio in the United Kingdom
* Independent Local Radio
* Independent National Radio
* List of radio stations in the United Kingdom
* Pirate radio in the United Kingdom
* Radio Academy
* Student Radio Association
* Timeline of digital audio broadcasting in the UK
* Timeline of independent radio in the United Kingdom

## References

[edit]

1. ^ "A comparison of new British community radio stations with established Australian community radio stations". Community Broadcasting Association of Australia. 1 August 2006. Archived from the original on 26 July 2020. Retrieved 26 July 2020.
2. ^ "Practical Wireless". Warners Group Publications Plc. 5 February 2018. Archived from the original on 5 March 2022. Retrieved 5 March 2022.
3. ^ "RAJAR". www.rajar.co.uk. Archived from the original on 2022-10-25. Retrieved 2022-07-06.

* v
* t
* e

Student radio in the United Kingdom

Radio in the United Kingdom

Stations|

* Air3 Radio
* Bailrigg FM
* Blast 1386AM
* Blast Radio
* BurnFM.com
* Burst Radio
* Cam FM
* CSR 97.4FM
* Demon FM
* Forge Radio
* FreshAir
* Fresh FM (Petroc)
* Fuse FM
* Hub Radio
* Imperial College Radio
* Insanity Radio 103.2FM
* Leeds Student Radio
* Livewire
* Nerve Radio
* OSCAR Radio
* Oxide Radio
* Pulse! Radio
* Pure FM
* Purple Radio
* Queen's Radio
* Radio LaB 97.1FM
* RamAir
* Rare FM
* RAW 1251AM
* RED Radio
* Siren FM
* Source Radio
* Spark Sunderland
* Stag Radio
* Subcity Radio
* Surge Radio
* UKC Radio
* University Radio Bath
* University Radio Essex
* University Radio Nottingham
* University Radio York
* Xpression FM

Organisations|

* Student Radio Association
* Radio Academy
* Student Broadcast Network
* The Student Radio Awards

Category

* v
* t
* e

Media in the United Kingdom

UK national newspapers, magazines, and other periodicals

| Newspapers
(history, circulation)|

| Broadsheet|

* Financial Times
* The Daily Telegraph
* The Sunday Telegraph
* The Sunday Times

|

Compact|

* The i Paper
* The Times
* The Guardian
* The Observer

Middle-market|

* Daily Express
* Daily Mail
* The Mail on Sunday

Tabloid|

* Daily Mirror
* Sunday Mirror
* Morning Star
* The Sunday People
* Daily Star
* Daily Star Sunday
* The Sun
* Sunday Sport
* Weekend Sport
* Midweek Sport

Online|

* 5Pillars

Magazines and
other periodicals|

* List of magazines in the United Kingdom
* List of magazines by circulation

Radio in the UK

| National
stations|

| BBC|

BBC Radio 1
BBC Radio 1Xtra
BBC Radio 2
BBC Radio 3
BBC Radio 4
BBC Radio 4 Extra
BBC Radio 5 Live
BBC Radio 5 Sports Extra
BBC Radio 6 Music
BBC Asian Network
BBC World Service
BBC National DAB (multiplex)

|

Independent
/ commercial|

Absolute Radio Network
BFBS Radio
Capital
Capital Xtra
Classic FM
Digital One (multiplex)
Gold
Greatest Hits Radio
Heart
Hits Radio
Jazz FM
Kiss Network
LBC
LBC News
Magic
Magic Classical
Premier Christian Radio
RNIB Connect Radio
Sound Digital (multiplex)
Smooth Radio
talkSPORT
TalkRadio
Times Radio
UCB UK
Virgin Radio UK
Radio X

Regional
and local
stations|

| BBC|

List of BBC Local Radio stations
BBC Radio Scotland
BBC Radio nan Gàidheal
BBC Radio Ulster
BBC Radio Foyle
BBC Radio Wales
BBC Radio Cymru

Cymru 2

|

Independent
/ commercial|

* List of community radio stations
* List of local commercial radio stations
* List of semi-national / regional analogue and digital radio stations

Other
stations|

* List of hospital radio stations
* Pirate radio
* Restricted Service Licence (RSL)
* List of RSL stations
* List of student radio stations

Other|

* Broadcasting House
* FM broadcasting
* Radio Academy
* Radio Academy Awards
* Radio Independents Group
* RAJAR
* Most listened to programmes

Television in the UK

| Principal
channels
(list)|

| BBC/UKTV|

BBC One
BBC Two
BBC Three
BBC Four
BBC News
BBC Parliament
BBC Alba
BBC Scotland
CBBC
CBeebies
U&Alibi
U&Dave
U&Drama
U&Eden
U&Gold
U&W
U&Yesterday

|

ITV|

ITV1/STV/UTV
ITV2
ITV3
ITV4
ITV Quiz

Channel 4/S4C|

Channel 4
S4C

E4 Extra
Film4
More4
4seven

Paramount|

5Star
5USA
5Select
5Action
Comedy Central
Comedy Central Extra
MTV
MTV Music
MTV 80s
MTV 90s
Club MTV
Nickelodeon
Nicktoons
Nick Jr.

Sky UK|

Challenge
Sky Arts
Sky Atlantic
Sky Cinema
Sky Comedy
Sky Crime
Sky Documentaries
Sky History
Sky History 2
Sky Kids
Sky Max
Sky Mix
Sky Nature
Sky News
Sky Replay
Sky Sci-Fi
Sky Showcase
Sky Sports Box Office
Sky Sports F1
Sky Sports News
Sky Sports Racing
Sky Sports
Sky Witness

Warner Bros. Discovery|

Animal Planet
Boomerang
Cartoon Network
Cartoonito
CNN International
Discovery Channel
Discovery History
Discovery Science
Discovery Turbo
DMAX
Food Network
HGTV
Investigation Discovery
Quest
Quest Red
Really
TLC
TNT Sports

Narrative Entertainment UK Limited|

Great! Action
Great! Movies
Great! Romance
Great! Real
Great! TV
Pop
Tiny Pop

Services
and
platforms|

| Current|

* Amazon Prime Video
* BBC iPlayer
* cable
* Channel 4
* digital
* digital terrestrial
* List of channels
* Disney+
* EE TV
* 5
* Freely
* Freesat
* Freesat+
* Freeview
* high-definition
* List of channels
* ITV
* ITVX
* STV Player
* local television
* Now
* Netflix
* Paramount+
* Pop Player
* Restricted Service Licence
* satellite
* List of channels
* Sky Group
* Sky Q
* Sky Glass
* Sky Stream
* TalkTalk TV
* TVPlayer
* U
* Virgin Media
* FilmFlex
* TiVo
* YouView

|

Defunct|

* analogue
* analogue terrestrial
* BBC Store
* Film4oD
* Real Digital
* Sky Group
* Freesat from Sky
* On Demand
* Sky+
* Sky+ HD
* TalkTalk TV Store
* Top Up TV
* Virgin Media
* V+

Studios|

| Current|

* 3 Mills Studios
* BBC Cymru Wales New Broadcasting House
* BBC Elstree Centre
* BBC Pacific Quay
* The Bottle Yard Studios
* Broadcasting House
* Broadcasting House, Belfast
* Broadcasting House, Bristol
* Dock10
* Elstree Studios (Shenley Road)
* Gas Street Studios
* The Leeds Studios
* The Maidstone Studios
* Mailbox Birmingham
* MediaCityUK
* Old Granada Studios
* Riverside Studios
* Roath Lock
* The Sharp Project
* Sky Campus
* Space Studios Manchester
* Television Centre, London

|

Defunct|

* Broadcasting House, Cardiff
* Dickenson Road Studios
* Fountain Studios
* The Hospital Club
* Lime Grove Studios
* Limehouse Studios
* The London Studios
* MGM-British Studios
* New Broadcasting House, Manchester
* Pebble Mill Studios
* Teddington Studios
* Television Centre, Newcastle upon Tyne
* Television Centre, Southampton
* Upper Boat Studios

Other|

* Television in Northern Ireland
* in Scotland
* in Wales
* Defunct channels
* Edinburgh International Television Festival
* History
* List of years
* Viewing statistics
* Most-watched broadcasts

Companies and organisations

| Major
companies|

* Banijay UK Productions
* Bauer Media Audio UK
* BBC
* Bloomsbury Publishing
* BT Group
* Channel Four Television Corporation
* Daily Mail and General Trust
* Dentsu International
* Economist Group
* EMI Music Publishing
* Future plc
* Global Media & Entertainment
* Guardian Media Group
* Haymarket Media Group
* Informa
* ITN
* ITV plc
* National World
* News Broadcasting
* News UK
* Newsquest
* Pearson plc
* Press Holdings
* Reach plc
* RELX
* Reuters
* Sky
* STV Group
* Syco
* TalkTalk Group
* Paramount Networks UK & Australia
* Virgin Media O2
* The Walt Disney Company (UK) Ltd.
* Warner Bros. Discovery EMEA

|

Resources|

* Arqiva
* List of largest UK book publishers

Government and
regulatory bodies|

* Advertising Standards Authority
* BBC Board (formerly: BBC Trust
* Board of Governors of the BBC)
* British Board of Film Classification
* British Film Institute
* Culture, Media, and Sport Select Committee
* Department for Culture, Media and Sport
* Independent Press Standards Organisation
* Ofcom
* Press Recognition Panel
* S4C Authority

Industry and
trades bodies|

* British Academy of Film and Television Arts
* British Phonographic Industry
* Broadcasting, Entertainment, Cinematograph and Theatre Union
* Clearcast
* Digital TV Group
* Equity
* Everyone TV
* Federation Against Copyright Theft
* Independent Publishers Guild
* National Union of Journalists
* The Publishers Association
* Royal Television Society
* United Kingdom Independent Broadcasting

Other|

* BBC Academy
* National Film and Television School
* National Science and Media Museum

Regional and student media

| Regional media|

* Media in England
* Birmingham
* London
* Manchester
* Media in Scotland
* Aberdeen
* Dundee
* Glasgow
* Media in Wales
* Cardiff

|

Student media|

* Student television
* Student press

* Category

* v
* t
* e

Radio in Europe

Sovereign states|

* Albania
* Andorra
* Armenia
* Austria
* Azerbaijan
* Belarus
* Belgium
* Bosnia and Herzegovina
* Bulgaria
* Croatia
* Cyprus
* Czech Republic
* Denmark
* Estonia
* Finland
* France
* Georgia
* Germany
* Greece
* Hungary
* Iceland
* Ireland
*   * Italy
* Kazakhstan
* Latvia
* Liechtenstein
* Lithuania
* Luxembourg
* Malta
* Moldova
* Monaco
* Montenegro
* Netherlands
* North Macedonia
* Norway
* Poland
* Portugal
* Romania
* Russia
* San Marino
* Serbia
* Slovakia
* Slovenia
* Spain
* Sweden
* Switzerland
* Turkey
* Ukraine
* United Kingdom

States with limited
recognition|

* Abkhazia
* Kosovo
* Northern Cyprus
* South Ossetia
* Transnistria

* v
* t
* e

Broadcasting

Medium|

* Radio
* Radio program
* Cable
* Digital
* Satellite
* Mobile computing
* Mobile television
* Teletext
* Television
* Television show
* Analog
* Cable
* Digital
* Digital terrestrial television
* Satellite
* Internet television and radio (Webcast
* Streaming media
* Web television
* Peer-to-peer television
* BitTorrent television and movies)

Broadcasting
niche|

* Campus radio
* Commercial broadcasting
* Community radio
* Multichannel television
* Pay television
* Pay-per-view
* News broadcasting
* Pirate radio / Pirate television
* Public broadcasting
* List
* Religious broadcasting
* Talk radio

Specialty
channels|

* Adult television channels
* Children's television series
* Documentary channel
* Men's interest channel
* Movie television channels
* Music radio / Music television
* Quiz channel
* Shopping channel
* News broadcasting
* Business channels
* Public affairs
* Livestreamed news
* Sports broadcasting
* Women's interest channel

Production
and funding|

* Broadcast network
* Broadcast-safe
* Broadcast television systems
* Graphics
* Digital on-screen graphic
* Lower third
* News ticker
* On-screen display
* Score bug
* Television news screen layout
* Network affiliate
* Occupations
* Broadcast designer
* Broadcast license
* Director of network programming
* Outside broadcasting
* Press box
* Press pool
* Television licence
* Television studio

* v
* t
* e

Telecommunications

History|

* Beacon
* Broadcasting
* Cable protection system
* Cable TV
* Communications satellite
* Computer network
* Data compression
* audio
* DCT
* image
* video
* Digital media
* Internet video
* online video platform
* social media
* streaming
* Drums
* Edholm's law
* Electrical telegraph
* Fax
* Heliographs
* Hydraulic telegraph
* Information Age
* Information revolution
* Internet
* Mass media
* Mobile phone
* Smartphone
* Optical telecommunication
* Optical telegraphy
* Pager
* Photophone
* Prepaid mobile phone
* Radio
* Radiotelephone
* Satellite communications
* Semaphore
* Phryctoria
* Semiconductor
* device
* MOSFET
* transistor
* Smoke signals
* Telecommunications history
* Telautograph
* Telegraphy
* Teleprinter (teletype)
* Telephone
* The Telephone Cases
* Television
* digital
* streaming
* Undersea telegraph line
* Videotelephony
* Whistled language
* Wireless revolution

Pioneers|

* Nasir Ahmed
* Edwin Howard Armstrong
* Mohamed M. Atalla
* John Logie Baird
* Paul Baran
* John Bardeen
* Alexander Graham Bell
* Emile Berliner
* Tim Berners-Lee
* Francis Blake
* Jagadish Chandra Bose
* Charles Bourseul
* Walter Houser Brattain
* Vint Cerf
* Claude Chappe
* Yogen Dalal
* Donald Davies
* Daniel Davis Jr.
* Amos Dolbear
* Thomas Edison
* Philo Farnsworth
* Reginald Fessenden
* Lee de Forest
* Elisha Gray
* Oliver Heaviside
* Robert Hooke
* Erna Schneider Hoover
* Harold Hopkins
* Gardiner Greene Hubbard
* Bob Kahn
* Dawon Kahng
* Charles K. Kao
* Narinder Singh Kapany
* Hedy Lamarr
* Roberto Landell
* Innocenzo Manzetti
* Guglielmo Marconi
* Robert Metcalfe
* Antonio Meucci
* Samuel Morse
* Jun-ichi Nishizawa
* Charles Grafton Page
* Radia Perlman
* Alexander Stepanovich Popov
* Tivadar Puskás
* Johann Philipp Reis
* Claude Shannon
* Almon Brown Strowger
* Henry Sutton
* Charles Sumner Tainter
* Nikola Tesla
* Camille Tissot
* Alfred Vail
* Thomas A. Watson
* Charles Wheatstone
* Vladimir K. Zworykin
* Internet pioneers

Transmission
media|

* Coaxial cable
* Fiber-optic communication
* optical fiber
* Free-space optical communication
* Molecular communication
* Radio waves
* wireless
* Transmission line
* telecommunication circuit

Network topology
and switching|

* Bandwidth
* Links
* Network switching
* circuit
* packet
* Nodes
* terminal
* Telephone exchange

Multiplexing|

* Space-division
* Frequency-division
* Time-division
* Polarization-division
* Orbital angular-momentum
* Code-division

Concepts|

* Communication protocol
* Computer network
* Data transmission
* Store and forward
* Telecommunications equipment

Types of network|

* Cellular network
* Ethernet
* ISDN
* LAN
* Mobile
* NGN
* Public Switched Telephone
* Radio
* Television
* Telex
* UUCP
* WAN
* Wireless network

Notable networks|

* ARPANET
* BITNET
* CYCLADES
* FidoNet
* Internet
* Internet2
* JANET
* NPL network
* TANet
* Toasternet
* Usenet

Locations|

* Africa
* Americas
* North
* South
* Antarctica
* Asia
* Europe
* Oceania
* Global telecommunications regulation bodies

* Telecommunication portal
* Category
* Outline
* Commons

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