BBC Radio 4
BBC Radio 4 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. The station replaced the BBC Home Service on 30 September 1967 and broadcasts a wide variety of spoken-word programmes from the BBC's headquarters at Broadcasting House, London. Since 2019, the station controller has been Mohit Bakaya. He replaced Gwyneth Williams, who had been the station controller since 2010.
Logo used since 2022 | |
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Broadcast area | United Kingdom and internationally via BBC Sounds |
Frequencies | FM: 92.5โ96.1 MHz, 103.5โ104.9 MHz LW: 198 kHz DAB: 12B Freesat: 704 Freeview: 704 Sky (UK only): 0104 Virgin Media: 904 Virgin Media Ireland: 910 |
RDS | BBC R4 |
Programming | |
Language(s) | English |
Format | News, talk, comedy and drama |
Ownership | |
Owner | BBC |
Sister stations | BBC Radio 4 Extra |
History | |
First air date | 30 September 1967 |
Former call signs | 2LO London BBC National Programme BBC Regional Programme BBC Home Service |
Former names | BBC Radio 4 UK (1978โ1984) |
Former frequencies | 603 MW 720 MW 756 MW 774 MW 1449 MW 1485 MW |
Technical information | |
Licensing authority | Ofcom |
Links | |
Website | Radio 4 on BBC Sounds |
BBC Radio |
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Nationwide |
Digital-only |
Broadcasting throughout the United Kingdom, the Isle of Man and the Channel Islands on FM, LW and DAB, and on BBC Sounds, it can be received in the eastern counties of Ireland, northern France and Northern Europe. It is available on Freeview, Sky, and Virgin Media. Radio 4 currently reaches over 10 million listeners, making it the UK's second most-popular radio station after Radio 2.
BBC Radio 4 broadcasts news programmes such as Today and The World at One, heralded on air by the Greenwich Time Signal pips or the chimes of Big Ben. The pips are only accurate on FM, and LW; there is a delay on digital radio of three to five seconds and online up to twenty-three seconds. Radio 4 broadcasts the Shipping Forecast which, in August 2017, was 150 years old.
According to RAJAR, the station broadcasts to a weekly audience of 9.1 million with a listening share of 11% as of December 2023.