BBC Radio 4 is a British domestic radio station, owned and operated by the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC), that broadcasts a wide variety of spoken-word programmes, including news, drama, comedy, science and history. It replaced the BBC Home Service in 1967. The station controller is Gwyneth Williams, and the station is part of BBC Radio and the BBC Audio & Music department. The station is broadcast from the BBC's headquarters at Broadcasting House, London.
BBC Radio 4 is the second most popular domestic radio station in the UK, and is broadcast throughout the United Kingdom on FM, LW and DAB, and can be received in the north of France and Northern Europe as well. In addition, the station is also available through Freeview, Sky, Virgin Media and on the internet. Radio 4's sister station, BBC Radio 4 Extra (formerly known as BBC 7), complements the main channel by broadcasting repeats from the Radio 4 archive, extended versions of Radio 4 programmes and supplements to series such as The Archers and Desert Island Discs.
BBC Radio 4 is notable for its consistent news bulletins and programmes such as Today and The World at One, which are heralded on air by the Greenwich Time Signal "pips" or the chimes of Big Ben.
Read more about BBC Radio 4: Outline, History, Continuity Announcers and Newsreaders, Frequencies and Other Means of Reception, Criticisms
Famous quotes by bbc radio 4:
“To err is human, but to really foul things up requires a computer.”
—Anonymous. quoted in ‘Quote Unquote,’ Feb. 22, 1982, BBC Radio 4.