BBC Radio 3
BBC Radio 3 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. It replaced the BBC Third Programme in 1967 and broadcasts classical music and opera, with jazz, world music, drama, culture and the arts also featuring.[1] The station describes itself as "the world's most significant commissioner of new music",[2][3] Through its New Generation Artists scheme promotes young musicians of all nationalities.[4] The station broadcasts the BBC Proms concerts, live and in full, each summer in addition to performances by the BBC Orchestras and Singers. There are regular productions of both classic plays and newly commissioned drama.
For other stations known as Radio 3, see Radio 3.United Kingdom and Internationally via Satellite and BBC Sounds
- FM: 90.2–92.6 MHz
- DAB: 12B (BBC National DAB)
- Freeview: 703
- Freesat: 703
- Sky (UK only): 0103
- Virgin Media: 903
- Virgin Media Ireland: 909
- Astra 2E (28.2°E)
- Intelsat 901 (27.5°W)
BBC R3
English
30 September 1967
648 MW (1967–1978)
1215 MW (1978–1992)
Radio 3 won the Sony Radio Academy UK Station of the Year Gold Award for 2009[5] and was nominated again in 2011.[6]
According to RAJAR, the station broadcasts to a weekly audience of 1.7 million with a listening share of 1.3% as of December 2023.[7]
Notable programmes[edit]
Breakfast[edit]
BBC Radio 3's Breakfast programme originally launched in 1992 as On Air and took on its current name in 2007. It airs every day and is on air on weekdays from 6.30am until 9am (9.30am, since April 2024), with a 7am start at the weekend. Short news bulletins are broadcast on the hour. The programme is presented by Petroc Trelawny, Hannah French and Kate Molleson during the week and by Martin Handley and Elizabeth Alker at the weekend.[57]
News broadcasts[edit]
BBC Radio 3's remit focuses mainly on music and the arts, and news is a minor part of its output, though the station does provide concise news bulletins every half hour from 06:30 to 08:00 throughout the Breakfast programme and also at 13:00, 17:00 and 18:00 to give listeners the chance to switch to a more news-oriented station should they want more details about a particular news item.[78][79] Following the Delivering Quality First proposals, it was suggested that Radio 3 share bulletins with Radio 4, so that the same bulletins would be broadcast on both channels.[47] During weekdays the 1 pm, 5 pm and 6 pm news bulletins are read by a member of the Radio 4 presentation team.
From 30 March until 12 July 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Radio 3 bespoke bulletins were replaced by network news bulletins from BBC Radio 2. These were broadcast at 08:00, 13:00 and 18:00 on weekdays, and at 08:00 and 13:00 on weekends. This format came back into effect from 24 December 2020 until 4 April 2021. Since then, normal service resumed with the exception of the 8.30am and 5pm bulletins, which were dropped entirely.
Much of Radio 3's orchestral output is sourced from the BBC's Orchestras and Singers. These groups are:
In addition to the BBC's own orchestras it also has broadcast commitments to the BBC Big Band, which is externally managed, and also broadcasts some works of the Ulster Orchestra, which it part funds.[80]
Controller Nicholas Kenyon summed up the perennial problem of Radio 3 as "the tension between highbrow culture and popular appeal …the cost of what we do and the number of people who make use of it":[9]: 364 elitism versus populism (or 'dumbing down') and the question of cost per listener. This argument has included members of the BBC, listeners and several different protest groups.
In 1969, two hundred members of the BBC staff protested to the director general at changes which would 'emasculate' Radio 3, while managing director of radio Ian Trethowan described the station in a memorandum as "a private playground for elitists to indulge in cerebral masturbation".[9]: 255 Later, former Radio 3 controller John Drummond complained that the senior ranks of the BBC took no interest in what he was doing.[87]
In 1995/6 listeners and press critics protested against the introduction into a slot formerly used for Composer of the Week of a programme presented by Paul Gambaccini, a former Radio 1 and Classic FM presenter. This was seen as part of a wider move towards popularisation, to compete with Classic FM and to increase ratings.[9]: 357–358 Gambaccini is quoted as saying: "I had a specific mission to invite [Radio 4's] Today listeners to stay with the BBC rather than go to Classic FM."[88]
Several groups were formed to protest against any changes to the station. These have included:
In March 2019, more than 500 signatories including Jarvis Cocker, Shabaka Hutchings, and Norma Waterson called on the BBC "to think again about changes to its schedules", as a result of proposed cuts to specialist music programming on the station.[93]