Editing BBC Radio 4 (section)

==Overview==
BBC Radio 4 is the second-most-popular [[Radio in the United Kingdom|British]] domestic [[List of most-listened-to radio programs|radio station]] by total hours,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.rajar.co.uk/docs/2012_03/2012_Q1_Quarterly_Summary_Figures.pdf |title=Listening Figures – Quarterly Listening – All Individuals 15+ for period ending March 2012 |publisher=[[RAJAR]] |date=April 2012 |archive-date=31 May 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120531121051/http://www.rajar.co.uk/listening/quarterly_listening.php |url-status=live}}</ref> after [[BBC Radio 2|Radio 2]]. It recorded its highest audience, of 11&nbsp;million listeners, in May 2011,<ref>[https://www.theguardian.com/media/2011/may/12/radio-4-rajars-the-archers Guardian 12 May 2011] Retrieved 16 May 2011]</ref> and was "UK Radio Station of the Year" at the 2003, 2004, 2008 and 2023 [[Radio Academy Awards]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.radioawards.org/winners04/win04.htm |title=The Sony Radio Academy Awards: Winners 2004 |access-date=13 May 2004 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071006011029/http://www.radioawards.org/winners04/win04.htm |archive-date=6 October 2007 |url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.radioawards.org/winners/?category=UK_Station_of_the_Year&year=2008 |title=Sony Radio Academy Awards&nbsp;— Winners 2008 |publisher=Radioawards.org |access-date=19 March 2010 |url-status=dead |archive-date=9 January 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090109002807/http://www.radioawards.org/winners/?category=UK_Station_of_the_Year&year=2008}}</ref> It also won a [[Peabody Award]] in 2002 for ''File on 4:  Export Controls''.<ref>[http://www.peabodyawards.com/award-profile/file-on-4-export-controls 62nd Annual Peabody Awards], May 2003.</ref> Costing £71.4&nbsp;million (2005/6),<ref>{{cite web |url=http://downloads.bbc.co.uk/annualreport/pdf/2005-06/bbcannualreport_200506.pdf?page=106 |title=BBC Annual Report and Accounts 2005/2006, page 106 |access-date=19 March 2010}}</ref> it is the BBC's most expensive national radio network and is considered by many to be its flagship. There is no comparable British commercial network: [[Channel 4]] abandoned plans to launch its own speech-based digital radio station in October 2008 as part of a £100m cost-cutting review.<ref name="radio4rival">{{cite news |last=Plunkett |first=John |url=https://www.theguardian.com/media/2008/oct/10/channel4-radio |title=Channel 4 has abandoned its entire radio project, as it seeks to make £100m in savings |work=The Guardian |access-date=19 March 2010 |date=10 October 2008 | location=London}}</ref>

The station is available on [[FM broadcasting|FM]] in most of Great Britain, parts of Ireland and the north of France; [[Longwave|LW]] throughout the UK and in parts of Northern Europe, and the Atlantic north of the [[Azores]] to about 20 degrees west; [[Digital Audio Broadcasting|DAB]]; Digital TV including [[Freeview (UK)|Freeview]], [[Freesat]], [[Sky (UK & Ireland)|Sky]] and [[Virgin Media]], and on the Internet. Freesat, Sky and Virgin have a separate channel for Radio 4 LW output in mono, in addition to the FM output.

The longwave signal is part of the [[Royal Navy]]'s system of [[letters of last resort]]. In the event of a suspected catastrophic attack on Britain, [[Vanguard class submarine|submarine]] captains, in addition to other checks, check for a broadcast signal from Radio 4 on 198 kHz longwave to verify the annihilation of organised society in the United Kingdom.<ref>{{cite web |last=Rosenbaum |first=Ron |url=http://www.slate.com/id/2208219/ |title=Nuclear apocalypse and the Letter of Last Resort |work=Slate Magazine |date=9 January 2009 |access-date=19 March 2010}}</ref><ref>[https://www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk/news/greater-manchester-news/radio-silence-puts-subs-on-nuclear-1157478 "Radio silence puts subs on nuclear alert" 28 November 2003 Manchester Evening News] Retrieved 11 February 2018</ref><ref name="today facts">{{cite web |url=http://www.bbc.co.uk/pressoffice/keyfacts/stories/today_programme.shtml |author=BBC Press Office |title=The Today Programme |publisher=BBC |url-status=dead |archive-date=25 May 2006 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060525012132/http://www.bbc.co.uk/pressoffice/keyfacts/stories/today_programme.shtml |access-date=27 July 2010}}</ref>{{Not in citation|date=March 2025}}

BBC Radio 4 broadcasts a wide variety of speech-related programming, including news, drama, comedy, science and history. Music is broadcast as in documentaries relating to various forms of both [[Popular music|popular]] and classical music, and the long-running music-based ''[[Desert Island Discs]]''. Sport is also not part of the station's output, apart from during news bulletins, although between 1994 and 2023, the station's longwave frequency was used to broadcast [[Test Match Special|ball-by-ball commentaries]] of most [[Test cricket]] matches played by England. Consequently, for around 70 days a year, listeners had to rely on FM broadcasts or DAB for mainstream Radio 4 broadcasts – the number relying solely on longwave was now a small minority. The cricket broadcasts took precedence over on-the-hour news bulletins, but not the [[Shipping Forecast]], carried since Radio 4's move to longwave in 1978 because longwave can be received clearly at sea.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.metoffice.gov.uk/guide/weather/marine/shipping-forecast |title=Met Office Shipping Forecast key |publisher=Metoffice.gov.uk |date=11 February 2018 |access-date=11 February 2018}}</ref>