BBC

===Radio===
[[File:BBC Radio weekly reach 2011-12.png|thumb|right|upright=1.364|Weekly reach of the BBC's national radio stations, on both analogue and digital (2012)<ref name="BBC Annual Report 2011-12 reach pages"/>]]
{{Main|BBC Radio|BBC Local Radio}}

The BBC has ten radio stations serving the whole of the UK, a further seven stations in the "national regions" ([[Wales]], [[Scotland]], and [[Northern Ireland]]), and 39 other local stations serving defined areas of England. Of the ten national stations, five are major stations and are available on [[FM broadcasting|FM]] or [[AM broadcasting|AM]] as well as on [[Digital radio in the United Kingdom|DAB]] and online. These are BBC Radio 1, offering new music and popular styles and being notable for its chart show; BBC Radio 2, playing [[Adult contemporary music|Adult contemporary]], country and soul music amongst many other genres; BBC Radio 3, presenting classical and jazz music together with some spoken-word programming of a cultural nature in the evenings; BBC Radio 4, focusing on current affairs, factual and other speech-based programming, including drama and comedy; and BBC Radio 5 Live, broadcasting 24-hour news, sport and talk programmes.

[[File:Current-portrait-of-the-radio-Ingrid-Bergman-142360829576.jpg|thumb|upright|left|Swedish actress [[Ingrid Bergman]] being interviewed on BBC Radio in October 1954]]

In addition to these five stations, the BBC runs a further five stations that broadcast on DAB and online only. These stations supplement and expand on the big five stations, and were launched in 2002. [[BBC Radio 1Xtra]] sisters Radio 1, and broadcasts new black music and urban tracks. [[BBC Radio 5 Sports Extra]] sisters 5 Live and offers extra sport analysis, including broadcasting sports that previously were not covered. [[BBC Radio 6 Music]] offers alternative music genres and is notable as a platform for new artists.

[[BBC Radio 7]], later renamed [[BBC Radio 4 Extra]], provided archive drama, comedy and children's programming. Following the change to Radio 4 Extra, the service has dropped a defined children's strand in favour of family-friendly drama and comedy. In addition, new programmes to complement Radio 4 programmes were introduced such as ''[[Ambridge Extra]]'', and ''Desert Island Discs revisited''. The final station is the [[BBC Asian Network]], providing music, talk and news to this section of the community. This station evolved out of Local radio stations serving certain areas, and as such this station is available on [[Medium Wave]] frequency in some areas of the Midlands.

As well as the national stations, the BBC also provides 40 [[BBC Local Radio]] stations in England and the Channel Islands, each named for and covering a particular city and its surrounding area (e.g. [[BBC Radio Bristol]]), county or region (e.g. [[BBC Three Counties Radio]]), or geographical area (e.g. [[BBC Radio Solent]] covering the central south coast). A further six stations broadcast in what the BBC terms "the national regions": Wales, Scotland, and Northern Ireland. These are [[BBC Radio Wales]] (in English), [[BBC Radio Cymru]] (in [[Welsh language|Welsh]]), [[BBC Radio Scotland]] (in English), [[BBC Radio nan Gaidheal]] (in [[Scottish Gaelic language|Scottish Gaelic]]), [[BBC Radio Ulster]], and [[BBC Radio Foyle]], the latter being an opt-out station from Radio Ulster for the north-west of Northern Ireland.

The BBC's UK national channels are also broadcast in the Channel Islands and the Isle of Man (although these [[Crown Dependencies]] are outside the UK), and in the former there are two local stations – [[BBC Guernsey]] and [[BBC Radio Jersey]]. There is no BBC local radio station, however, in the Isle of Man, partly because the island has long been served by the popular independent commercial station, [[Manx Radio]], which predates the existence of BBC Local Radio. BBC services in the dependencies are financed from [[television licence]] fees which are set at the same level as those payable in the UK, although collected locally. This is the subject of some controversy in the Isle of Man since, as well as having no BBC Local Radio service, the island also lacks a local television news service analogous to that provided by [[BBC Channel Islands News|BBC Channel Islands]].<ref>{{cite news |url= http://www.iomtoday.co.im/news/isle-of-man-news/tv-licence-fee-not-value-for-money-inquiry-hears-1-3053173 |title=TV licence fee not value for money – inquiry hears |work=IOM Today |location= Douglas |date=8 February 2011 |access-date=1 January 2013 |url-status=dead |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20121221125549/http://www.iomtoday.co.im/news/isle-of-man-news/tv-licence-fee-not-value-for-money-inquiry-hears-1-3053173 |archive-date=21 December 2012 }}</ref>

[[File:BBC World Questions - Hungary.jpg|thumb|[[BBC World Service]], with [[Jonathan Dimbleby]] (middle) broadcasting from Budapest, Hungary in 2016]]
For a worldwide audience, the [[BBC World Service]] provides news, current affairs and information in 28 languages, including English, around the world and is available in over 150 capital cities. It is broadcast worldwide on [[shortwave]] radio, DAB and online and has an estimated weekly audience of 192&nbsp;million, and its websites have an audience of 38&nbsp;million people per week.<ref>{{cite news |title=192 Million BBC World Service Listeners |url= https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p01b4npp |access-date=25 October 2015 |publisher=BBC World Service |date=25 October 2015 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20130801210747/http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p01b4npp |archive-date=1 August 2013 |url-status=live }}</ref> Since 2005, it is also available on DAB in the UK, a step not taken before, due to the way it is funded. The service is funded by a Parliamentary Grant-in-Aid, administered by the Foreign Office; however, following the Government's spending review in 2011, this funding will cease, and it will be funded for the first time through the Licence fee.<ref name="BBC World Service Annual Review 2010">{{cite web|title=BBC World Service Annual Review 2009–2010 |url= http://downloads.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/pdf/bbc_world_service_annual_review_0910.pdf |website=Annual Review |publisher=BBC World Service |access-date=12 July 2011 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20120119094716/http://downloads.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/pdf/bbc_world_service_annual_review_0910.pdf|archive-date=19 January 2012 |url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="World Service Finance details">{{cite web |title=How BBC World Service is run |url= https://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/institutional/2009/03/000000_ws_run.shtml |publisher=BBC |access-date=12 July 2011 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20110930233941/http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/institutional/2009/03/000000_ws_run.shtml |archive-date=30 September 2011 |url-status=live}}</ref> In recent years, some services of the World Service have been reduced: the [[Thai language|Thai]] service ended in 2006,<ref>{{cite news |title=BBC Thai service ends broadcasts |url= http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/4609860.stm | first=Clare | last=Harkey | date = 13 March 2006 | access-date =8 November 2008 |work=BBC News | archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20081218021705/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/4609860.stm| archive-date= 18 December 2008 | url-status=live}}</ref> as did the Eastern European languages. Resources were diverted instead into the new [[BBC Arabic Television]].<ref>{{cite news |title=BBC Arabic TV appoints former Al Jazeera employee as news editor |url= http://www.metimes.com/articles/normal.php?StoryID=20060315-071402-4650r |work=[[Middle East Times]] |location= Sydney |date=15 March 2006 |url-status=dead |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20061030015704/http://www.metimes.com/storyview.php?StoryID=20060315-071402-4650r |archive-date=30 October 2006 |access-date=6 July 2006}}</ref>

Historically, the BBC was the only legal radio broadcaster based in the UK mainland until 1967, when [[URY|University Radio York (URY)]], then under the name ''Radio York'', was launched as the first, and now oldest, legal independent radio station in the country. However, the BBC did not enjoy a complete monopoly before this, as several Continental stations, such as [[Radio Luxembourg (English)|Radio Luxembourg]], had broadcast programmes in English to Britain since the 1930s and the Isle of Man-based [[Manx Radio]] began in 1964. Today, despite the advent of [[commercial radio]], BBC radio stations remain among the most listened-to in the country. Radio 2 has the largest audience share (up to 16.8% in 2011–12) and Radios 1 and 4 ranked second and third in terms of weekly [[Reach (advertising)|reach]].<ref>{{cite web |first=Stuart |last=Corke |url=http://mediatel.co.uk/radio/news/2012/10/25/rajar-q3-2012-national-stations/ |title=MediaTel information for all BBC and commercial radio stations |publisher=Mediatel.co.uk |date=25 October 2012 |access-date=1 January 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121221125554/http://mediatel.co.uk/radio/news/2012/10/25/rajar-q3-2012-national-stations/ |archive-date=21 December 2012 |url-status=live }}</ref>

BBC programming is also available to other services and in other countries. Since 1943, the BBC has provided radio programming to the [[British Forces Broadcasting Service]], which broadcasts in countries where British troops are stationed. BBC Radio 1 is also carried in Canada on [[Sirius XM Radio]] (online streaming only).

The BBC is a patron of The [[Radio Academy]].<ref>The Radio Academy [http://www.radioacademy.org/about/patrons/ "Patrons"]  {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100107234239/http://www.radioacademy.org/about/patrons/ |date=7 January 2010 }}</ref>