BBC Radio 4

BBC Radio 4 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. It launched on 30 September 1967 as a replacement for the BBC Home Service and broadcasts a wide variety of spoken-word programmes from the BBC's headquarters at Broadcasting House in London.

Since 2019, the station controller has been Mohit Bakaya. He replaced Gwyneth Williams, who had been the station controller since 2010. Radio 4 is broadcast throughout the United Kingdom, the Isle of Man and the Channel Islands on FM, DAB and BBC Sounds, it can also be received in the eastern counties of Ireland, northern France and Northern Europe. It is available internationally via the BBC.com website and app. It currently reaches over 9.2 million listeners, making it the UK's second most-popular radio station after BBC Radio 2. Radio 4 was previously broadcast on long wave on 198 kHz, from 23 November 1978 until 27 June 2026. BBC Radio 4 broadcasts news programmes such as Today, The World at One, PM, and The Westminster Hour heralded on air by the Greenwich Time Signal pips or the chimes of Big Ben, which are broadcast live. Radio 4 also broadcasts the Shipping Forecast, which is over 150 years old. According to RAJAR, the station (inc.4 Extra) broadcasts to an audience of 9.54 million with a listening share of 16% as of March 2026.