Regarded by many as the BBC’s premier radio station, BBC Radio 4 is in fact the second most popular domestic station after Radio 2 and the most expensive to produce. It concentrates on spoken word programmes, largely news, dramas, comedy and documentaries.
Output is nationally on FM, MW, and LW across a range of frequencies, on DAB and via the internet. It’s also available through various television providers and so can be accessed on most devices.
When Test cricket is played by England, it’s broadcast live on Radio 4 on LW. During these times, regular programmes are only available through other channels.
One quirk of using different devices is that the hourly ‘pips’, by which some people set their watches and clocks, are only truly accurate on FM, LW and MW. They’re 3-5 seconds delayed on digital and even longer through the internet.
Here’s a summary of how you can listen to BBC Radio 4:
- AM radio: LW on 198 kHz and MW on 603, 720, 756, 774, 1449 and 1485 kHz so try each in turn to see which gives the best reception.
- FM radio: Broadcast on 92.5-96.1 and 103.5-104.9 MHz.
- DAB radio: Tune to Band 12B or just scroll through the channels and select by name.
- Sky: Channel 0104 for FM and 0143 for LW.
- Freeview: Channel 704 for FM only
- Freesat: Channel 704 for FM or 710 for LW.
- Virgin Media: Channel 904 for FM or 911 for LW. Channel 910 for FM in Ireland.
- Online: Using radio apps such as Radioplayer or TuneIn.
Repeats from the Radio 4 archive plus extended and companion programmes are broadcast on Radio 4 Extra. This is available on DAB on Band 12B and via TV providers.