BBC Radio Wales
BBC Radio Wales is a Welsh national radio station owned and operated by BBC Cymru Wales, a division of the BBC. It began broadcasting on 13 November 1978, replacing the Welsh opt-out service of BBC Radio 4.
For the Welsh language equivalent, see BBC Radio Cymru.
- DAB: 12D MuxCo Mid & West Wales
- DAB: 10D/12D MuxCo North Wales
- DAB: 12D Now Digital SE Wales
- DAB: 12A Bauer Swansea
- DAB: 10D MuxCo Wrexham, Chester & Liverpool
- FM 90.2–92.3 MHz, 93.9–96.1 MHz and 103.9 MHz
MW: 882 kHz,
Freesat: 714 (UK-wide) - Freeview: 719 (Wales only)
- Sky: 0117 (UK-wide)
- Virgin Media: 931 (UK-wide)
BBCWALES
English
13 November 1978
AM: 657 kHz (until June 2021)
As of August 2022, the station's managing editor is Carolyn Hitt, who is also editor of BBC Wales Sport.[1]
Radio Wales is broadcast in English, whilst sister network Radio Cymru broadcasts in Welsh. According to RAJAR, BBC Radio Wales has a weekly audience of 316,000 listeners and a listening share of 5.3%, as of December 2023.[2]
Notable current presenters include:
Past presenters include:
Transmission[edit]
BBC Radio Wales is broadcast across Wales on FM and DAB. It is also available on Freeview in Wales and throughout the UK on Freesat, Sky, Virgin Media and the BBC Sounds service.
As Radio Wales was created from an opt-out of BBC Radio 4, it inherited the medium wave transmitters previously used by Radio 4 across Wales — the main service coming from the Washford transmitter in Somerset on 882 kHz. This transmitter was originally built to cover southern Wales and most of the West Country, and has a far greater coverage than its intended transmission area. It can be heard across the Bristol area, in much of Devon and northern Cornwall, as well as eastern and south-eastern counties of Ireland.
Initially, Radio Wales was not broadcast on FM as Radio 4's former FM transmitters in Wales were used for BBC Radio Cymru. In 1983, Radio Wales gained some FM coverage with the creation of opt-out service, BBC Radio Gwent. After the breakfast programme, Radio Gwent simulcast most of Radio Wales' output. When the station closed in 1991, the FM frequencies were retained to broadcast Radio Wales.
From 1999 onwards, the BBC was able to start creating an FM network for Radio Wales, including a 120 kW ERP transmitter near Aberystwyth. On 6 December 2011, Radio Wales added the 40 kW ERP Wenvoe transmitter to its network on 103.9 MHz FM, replacing a low-power FM transmitter on the Wenallt Hill. This FM output covers South Wales and the West of England, including the city of Bristol.
On 24 October 2018, the station increased its FM coverage in North East and Mid Wales by taking over 32 transmitters previously used by BBC Radio 3. The changeover allowed an estimated 400,000 listeners to receive Radio Wales on FM, extending its reach to a potential 91% of households in Wales.[6]
Regional opt-outs have been established for sports coverage on FM; specifically live football commentaries involving Cardiff City in the south-east, Swansea City in the south-west and Wrexham in the north.
Race discrimination case[edit]
In 2001, presenter Lionel Kelleway won a case for racial discrimination against BBC Radio Wales, when they dropped his Landmark series, which won Sony Awards in 1991 and 1992,[7] after around ten years, because of his English accent.[7][8]