BBC Radio 3
Broadcast area	UK - National
First air date	30 September 1967
Frequency	FM: 90 MHz - 93 MHz DAB: 12B Freeview: 703 Virgin Media: 903 UPC Ireland: 909 Live Stream Real/WM
Format	Classical
Owner	BBC
Website	www.bbc.co.uk/radio3

BBC Radio 3 is a radio station operated by the BBC within the United Kingdom. Radio 3 devotes most of its schedule to classical music. Image File history File links No higher resolution available. ... Image File history File links Flag_of_the_United_Kingdom. ... is the 273rd day of the year (274th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... 1967 (MCMLXVII) was a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar (the link is to a full 1967 calendar). ... FreQuency is a music video game developed by Harmonix and published by SCEI. It was released in November 2001. ... The abbreviations FM, Fm, and fm may refer to: Electrical engineering Frequency modulation (FM) and its most common applications: FM broadcasting, used primarily to broadcast music and speech at VHF frequencies FM synthesis, a sound-generation technique popularized by early digital synthesizers Science Femtometre (fm), an SI measure of length... MegaHertz (MHz) is the name given to one million (106) Hertz, a measure of frequency. ... Digital Audio Broadcasting (DAB), also known as Eureka 147, is a technology for broadcasting of audio using digital radio transmission. ... Freeview is the operator of free digital terrestrial television in the United Kingdom, using the DVB-T standard. ... Virgin Media Inc. ... UPC Ireland N.V. is Liberty Global Europes operation in Ireland. ... A radio format or programming format describes the overall content broadcast on a radio station. ... Classical music is a broad, somewhat imprecise term, referring to music produced in, or rooted in the traditions of, European art, ecclesiastical and concert music, encompassing a broad period from roughly 1000 to the present day. ... The British Broadcasting Corporation, which is usually known as the BBC, is the largest broadcasting corporation in the world in terms of audience numbers, employing 26,000 staff in the United Kingdom alone and with a budget of more than GB£4 billion. ... A website (alternatively, Web site or web site) is a collection of Web pages, images, videos and other digital assets that is hosted on one or several Web server(s), usually accessible via the Internet, cell phone or a LAN. A Web page is a document, typically written in HTML... The British Broadcasting Corporation, which is usually known as the BBC, is the largest broadcasting corporation in the world in terms of audience numbers, employing 26,000 staff in the United Kingdom alone and with a budget of more than GB£4 billion. ... Classical music is a broad, somewhat imprecise term, referring to music produced in, or rooted in the traditions of, European art, ecclesiastical and concert music, encompassing a broad period from roughly 1000 to the present day. ...

History

It was launched as The BBC Third Programme on 29 September 1946.[1] Its name was changed to Radio 3 on 30 September 1967 when, with the launch of BBC Radio 1, the three other national radio channels were also given numbers. (The allocation of "2" and "4" to the Light and Home seems arbitrary, but the allocation of "3" to the Third has an obvious logic.) At this time it incorporated a service on the Third Programme's wavelength which had previously been known successively as Network Three, the Third Network and the Music Programme, which tended to play less challenging music than the Third Programme and did not include the Third Programme's speech output. Radio 3 also absorbed the adult education material previously carried on the frequency under the name "Study Session", and the Saturday afternoon sports coverage which was known as "Sports Service", although this was moved to Radio 2 in April 1970. The BBC Third Programme was the third national radio network broadcast by the BBC, has since become Radio 3, but was originally known (at least within the BBC) as C. The other two were the Home Service (mainly speech based) and the Light Programme, dedicated to light music, usually cover... is the 272nd day of the year (273rd in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1946 (MCMXLVI) was a common year starting on Tuesday (link will display full 1946 calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... is the 273rd day of the year (274th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... 1967 (MCMLXVII) was a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar (the link is to a full 1967 calendar). ... This page redirects from Radio 1. See Radio 1 (disambiguation). ...

The Third Programme, however, retained its separate identity until April 1970, when it was absorbed into Radio 3. Following the shake up of AM radio frequencies in 1978 it moved to an inferior medium wave frequency, and left MW altogether in 1992, but retained its FM frequency. Ball-by-ball cricket commentaries, which were formerly on Radio 3 medium wave, are now broadcast on Radio 4 long wave and digital radio station BBC Five Live Sports Extra. Amplitude modulation (AM) is a technique used in electronic communication, most commonly for transmitting information via a radio carrier wave. ... Year 1978 (MCMLXXVIII) was a common year starting on Sunday (link displays the 1978 Gregorian calendar). ... Bowler Shaun Pollock bowls to batsman Michael Hussey. ... BBC Five Live Sports Extra is an additional radio service provided by the British Broadcasting Corporation via digital radio and the digital satellite and digital terrestrial television services in the UK. It is not available via normal analogue radio. ...

Programming

The station has for its entire life mainly broadcast classical music, opera, "highbrow" drama, including most BBC Radio Shakespeare productions, and jazz. The station plays a central role in classical music in the UK, broadcasting concerts, promoting young musicians, and commissioning compositions. The Proms are promoted, and broadcast, by Radio 3. The station is renowned for its quality and quantity of chamber music output. The Teatro alla Scala in Milan, Italy. ... This does not cite any references or sources. ... Wikipedia does not yet have an article with this exact name. ... This article needs additional references or sources for verification. ... A Promenade concert in the Royal Albert Hall, 2004. ... Chamber music is a form of classical music, written for a small group of instruments which traditionally could be accommodated in a palace chamber. ...

A Radio 3 motto was "As long as it takes", and the station usually plays pieces in their entirety rather than in "bleeding chunks" (as a famous conductor used to say).^{[citation needed]} The few exceptions are in programmes discussing and comparing pieces or performances, or some few programmes with a less-serious tone: this policy is one of the key differences between Radio 3 and its main commercial rival, Classic FM. Another notable difference is that Radio 3 always gives full details of each piece, before and after it is played.

In 2007, Radio 3 reduced its live transmission of concerts (one big exception being The Proms), with the uncertainty of duration which that brings. Many evening concert broadcasts are now single-take recordings of live performances made earlier. These are often of a public concert, but some are specially commissioned studio recordings of the BBC's musical groups. A Promenade concert in the Royal Albert Hall, 2004. ...

One of the longest-lasting programmes is the Composer of the Week, or COTW, series which now airs at 1200 GMT/BST, with a repeat at 20:45. This consists of five weekdays' worth of one-hour themed shows about the music of a composer. Often, especially when the composer is well enough known already as not to need introduction, the five days themselves have a theme; for example, a week about Mozart might focus on Mozart the Keyboard Player. This show has also served, especially on composers' centenaries of birth or death, to attempt to heighten interest in their music, with weeks devoted to Edmund Rubbra, Medtner, and Havergal Brian, among others. Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (IPA: , baptized Johannes Chrysostomus Wolfgangus Theophilus Mozart) (January 27, 1756 – December 5, 1791) was a prolific and influential composer of the Classical era. ... Edmund Rubbra (23 May 1901–14 February 1986) was a British composer. ... Nicolai Karlovich Medtner Nikolai Karlovich Medtner (Николай Карлович Метнер) (January 5, 1880 – November 13, 1951) was a Russian composer and pianist. ... William (Havergal) Brian (January 29, 1876 – November 28, 1972), was a British composer. ...

Another long-running programme is Private Passions, the weekly interview conducted by Michael Berkeley with notable people, centreing on their wide-ranging musical passions. Private Passions is a weekly music discussion programme which has been running for over 10 years on BBC Radio 3, presented by the composer Michael Berkeley. ... Michael Berkeley (born 1948) is a British composer. ...

In recent years, as Radio 2 has come to focus on pop music, Radio 3 has taken over the lead in some categories, such as folk and jazz. Also, the station has taken on a wide range of new music (including electronic music and experimental music on programmes such as Mixing It) and world music (World Routes, Late Junction and Andy Kershaw's programme). Traditional listeners have levelled much criticism at the introduction of 'World Music', especially where this term means not traditional non-European music (such as gamelan from Indonesia, gagaku, shomyo or nagauta from Japan or traditional Indian music) but music which is can be seen as non-European pop (or pop music played by non-Europeans. Critics say that such non-classical music has come to dominate late-evening slots (Late Junction, etc) and has caused much disgruntlement and a diminution in audiences It has been suggested that Electronica be merged into this article or section. ... For experimental rock music, see experimental rock. ... Mixing It is a radio programme showcasing experimental music. ... World music is, most generally, all the music in the world. ... Late Junction is a Music programme on the BBC Radio 3 station. ... Andy Kershaw Andy Kershaw (born Rochdale, Greater Manchester, 1959) is a British broadcaster, known predominantly as a champion of world music. ...

An arguably more successful excursion from the late-Baroque to contemporary repertiore has been 'The Early Music Show'. The programme typically takes a theme, such as madrigals, music of the court of Frederick II of Prussia or English viol music, and gives examples of the history, music and lives of composers relevant to the subject. Precisely what 'Early' means is unclear (probably deliberately), since although JS Bach (1685-1750) appeared to make an end to the show's spectrum, there has also been music of the French Revolution, which occurred well into the mainstream period of classical music.

Radio 3 has led the way in many fields. A number of broadcasts are experimental; for instance one play in the late seventies consisted mainly of sound effects, recorded binaurally, to be listened to wearing headphones. Radio 3 was the first channel to broadcast in stereo and in quadraphonic (matrix HJ), a format which enjoyed only a brief success. To improve the quality of outside broadcasts over telephone lines the BBC designed a NICAM style digitisation technique called pulse code modulation running at a sample rate of 14,000 per second per channel. It later designed digital recording machines (transportable) sampling at the same rate. Dummy head being used for binaural recording; the second microphone is obscured. ... Label for 2. ... 4 channels quadraphonic label Quadraphonic sound uses four channels in which speakers are positioned at all four corners of the listening space, reproducing signals that are independent of each other. ... NICAM (known also as NICAM 728, after the 728 kbit/s bitstream it is sent over), Near Instantaneous Companded Audio Multiplex, is a format for digital sound on analogue television transmissions. ... Pulse-code modulation (PCM) is a modulation technique. ...

Radio 3 is now available world wide on the Internet and is broadcast on digital radio in the United Kingdom via DAB and Digital terrestrial television (Freeview). A typical DAB digital radio receiver with the Digital Radio Development Bureau DAB digital radio marketing logo In the United Kingdom, the roll-out of digital radio is proceeding since test transmissions were started by the BBC in 1990. ... Digital Audio Broadcasting (DAB), also known as Eureka 147, is a technology for broadcasting of audio using digital radio transmission. ... Digital terrestrial television in the United Kingdom is made up of over fifty primarily free-to-air television channels (including all the national analogue stations) and over twenty radio channels from Freeview, Top Up TV and Setanta Sports. ...

The Radio 3 debate

The calm and informed style adopted by the majority of the station's presenters is to many of its listeners a welcome contrast to the frenetic delivery found elsewhere on the airwaves. Since 1992 the station has had a commercial rival, Classic FM. The newer station broadcasts a lighter range of music, interspersed with chat and adverts. Occasionally, the rival station's presence has led some commentators to question Radio 3's existence, lest it interfere with the workings of the market. However, this argument would appear to apply far more to the BBC's multitude of pop stations (Radios 1, 2, 1xtra, 6 and to some degree the Asian Network) than to a station which has no direct counterpart in the commercial sector (Classic FM might at best be thought of as Radio 3 Light). Classic FM is the United Kingdoms first national commercial radio station, broadcasting classical music in a popular and accessible style. ...

Despite early fears that it might seriously damage Radio 3, they seem to co-exist quite harmoniously, and Radio 3 has largely retained its audience. It has broadcast for 24 hours a day since the late nineties, using an automated computer which requires little or no direct human control. However, many feel that the network has lost some of its gravitas, as the station has modified its approach, with more "presenter-led" programming stripped during the week, like commercial stations, and a certain diminution of its core activities, most notably an increase in jazz and other non-classical programming. A campaign group, Friends of Radio 3 (FoR3), has emerged to argue against BBC policies regarding the network.

The RAJAR figures released in August 2005 seem to suggest that the re-branding of Radio 3 has not been a success. Figures released in August 2006 indicate a further decline, which suggests that, even if people with different musical tastes are tuning into the station (as the BBC claims), the more traditional classical listeners are deserting at a greater rate. RAJAR (Radio Joint Audience Research Limited) was established in 1992 to operate a single audience measurement system for the radio industry in the United Kingdom. ...

Online developments

Recently, Radio 3 has been performing a trial where it would offer MP3 files of performances recently transmitted for download as part of The Beethoven Experience. It has been successful, and may lead to further performances being distributed in this manner.[2] MPEG-1 Audio Layer 3, more commonly referred to as MP3, is an audio encoding format. ...

Controllers of the Third Programme and Radio 3

• 1946–48 George Barnes
• 1948–52 Harman Grisewood
• 1953–58 John Morris
• 1959–71 Howard Newby
• 1972–78 Stephen Hearst
• 1979–87 Ian McIntyre
• 1987–92 John Drummond
• 1992–98 Nicholas Kenyon
• 1998–present Roger Wright

Sir George Barnes (1904-1960) was a British broadcasting executive, who was a station Controller of both BBC Radio and later BBC Television in the 1940s and 1950s. ... Percy Howard Newby (June 25, 1918 - September 6, 1997) was an English novelist and broadcasting administrator. ... Sir John Drummond CBE (11 September 1934-6 September 2006) was a British arts administratot who spent most of his career at the BBC. He was the son of a master mariner in the British India line and an Australian lieder singer. ... Nicholas Kenyon (born 1951, in Cheshire, UK) is a British music administrator, editor and writer on music. ...

References

• Humphrey Carpenter, The Envy of the World: Fifty Years of the BBC Third Programme and Radio 3 1946–1996, Weidenfeld & Nicolson 1996

See also

• List of BBC radio stations

BBC national radio stations BBC Radio 1 - popular music aimed at a young audience BBC 1Xtra - hip hop, garage, gospel and R&B BBC Radio 2 - adult-orientated popular music BBC Radio 3 - classical, jazz and world music, culture, drama BBC Radio 4 - spoken-word programmes BBC Radio Five Live...

External links

• BBC Radio 3 at bbc.co.uk
• Media UK's BBC Radio 3 site including scheduled programming
• Friends of Radio 3
• Independent messageboard about Radio 3 output