Frequency Finder UK - History of radio transmission

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Radios 1 to 4 and the start of Local Radio

On 30th September 1967, The Light Programme was split into Radios 1 and 2, the Home Service became Radio 4 and the Third Programme, Network 3 and Music Programme were united under the Radio 3 banner. Radio 1's transmitter network was developed from the Light Programme's medium wave fillers on 1214 kHz (247 metres), while Radio 2 retained long wave and FM, with new medium wave transmitters opened on 1484 kHz in Scotland to replace those lost to Radio 1.

In 1967, the BBC launched a local radio experiment, opening Radio Leicester on 8th November, Radio Sheffield on the 15th and Radio Merseyside on the 22nd. Radios Brighton, Durham, Leeds, Nottingham and Stoke followed in 1968. Initially, the stations only broadcast local programmes for a few hours a day and were broadcast on FM only at low power. Local radio was deemed a success and the BBC opened another 12 stations in 1970 and 71, all in England, with plans for another 20. However, the government curtailed further expansion until the early 1980s. To circumvent the 20 station limit, the BBC closed down Radio Durham in 1972 so that it could open Radio Carlisle the following year. In 1972, medium wave transmitters were opened for all of the BBCs local radio stations, using a mixture of frequencies taken from Radios 3 and 4, the international low power channel, 1484 kHz, and frequencies allocated to other countries. The UK can broadcast at up to 2 kW per site on frequencies other than those allocated to it, but these frequencies are subject to greater incoming interference. However, most BBC local radio stations did not broadcast local evening programmes until the end of the 1980s, relaying Radio 2 after hours. In 1973, most of the FM frequencies allocated to local radio were changed and some stations received power boosts.

Legal commercial radio started in the UK in 1973 with the launch of LBC in London on 6th October 1973 and Capital Radio on the 16th. Radio Clyde followed on 31st December, with Piccadilly Radio, Metro Radio, Swansea Sound, Radio Hallam, Radio City and BRMB launching in 1974. By the end of 1976, there were 20 independent local radio stations in the UK. However, the government suspended the launch of further stations until the beginning of the 1980s. All commercial stations launched on both medium wave and FM, though Capital and LBC broadcast on temporary frequencies for their first 18 months, using 557 and 719 kHz, respectively. This was because the high power transmitter at Saffron Green was not ready when they launched, so they broadcast at low power from Lots Road in Central London, requiring the use of lower frequencies to get the required coverage.

The Splits and AM re-shuffles

When the Open University started in 1971, it needed radio airtime. To minimise disruption to regular programmes, it was given airtime on Radio 3 and Radio 4 FM, whilst their regular programmes continued on AM, though most of the Radio 3 airtime was outside regular broadcast hours. The FM/AM splitting was quickly extended through the early seventies. Radio 4 transferred its schools programmes to FM only in 1973, whilst Radio 3's adult education programmes and test cricket became AM only. Radio 2 also spilt, with Radio 1 borrowing its FM network late at night from 1971 and sports programmes confined to long wave from 1973, with FM carrying Radio 1 on Saturday and Bank Holiday afternoons and Radio 2's regular programmes for evening and Sunday afternoon sport.

To make way for local radio on medium wave, Radios 3 and 4 sacrificed some of their frequencies on 2nd September 1972. Radio 3's relay frequency of 1546 kHz was lost, with some transmitters transferring to the main 647 kHz frequency and others re-allocated to BBC local radio. Radio 4's English frequencies were reduced from 6 to 3: 1457 and 1151 kHz were transferred to local radio, though the latter was retained for a year, and 1088 kHz was allocated to the World Service to enable two different programmes to be broadcast to Europe at night. The Radio 4 transmitters were re-grouped on 692, 908 and 1052 kHz and English regional programmes ended. However, regional news and weather was retained on FM only, with regional breakfast programmes for East Anglia and the South West, which didn't have local radio. Radio 4 South West was later given a separate medium wave network. Regional opt-ots in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland continued as before. Using fewer frequencies degraded night-time reception, so Radio 4 was given a handful of new medium wave relays in 1975. At the start of 1975, Radio 4's Northern Ireland transmitters were taken over by Radio Ulster and Radio 3's Belfast AM relay handed over to Radio 4 on a new frequency.

The original plan, published in the BBC's Broadcasting in the Seventies report in July 1969, was to put all of the educational programmes on Radio 4 FM, with Radio 4 AM in England allocated Radio 3's 647 kHz frequency in addition to the three frequencies it ended up with so that near universal night-time coverage could be obtained, noting that Radio 4's night-time coverage had been diminished by the opening up of East German transmitters on 692 and 908 kHz in the 1960s. Radio 3 would then have broadcast either on FM only, like siilar stations elsewhere in Europe, or with a reduced coverage network on 1088 kHz, possibly confined to daytime only so that the World Service could use the frequency in the evenings. However, protests from vociforous Radio 3 listeners put an end to that plan. Plans to improve Radio 1's daytime coverage were stopped by the Government allocating 1151 kHz to local radio.

In 1978, a new international frequency plan was implemented for the AM bands in Europe. Unlike previous changes, the UK's medium wave allocations were only shifted by 1 or 2 kHz to multiples of 9 kHz to get rid of night-time whistles caused by inter-carrier interference. However, power allocations for all countries were increased. This would increase night-time interference, but would also let the UK increase its transmission power. The UK was also given a second long wave frequency of 227 kHz (now 225), though this has never been used due to incoming interference from Poland. There were a number of problems with the BBC's AM networks. Radio 1 reception was very poor in many places. Night-time reception of Radios 3 and 4 had been reduced when the number of frequencies were cut and Radio 4 had lost both AM and FM frequencies in much of Wales to new regional stations, with a regional station in Scotland ready to start. In addition, the World Service shared Radio 4 Scotland's frequency during the day to transmit to Europe, but had to switch to other frequencies at night.

To resolve all of these problems, the BBC re-organised all of its AM frequencies, effective from 23th November 1978. Overnight, 11 high power, 4 medium power and 14 low power transmitters were opened, while 1 high power, 1 medium power and 12 low power transmitters were closed, while many of the continuing transmitters changed frequency. Long wave was allocated to Radio 4, with 2 extra long wave transmitters in Scotland, medium wave transmitters in the North East and Cumbria to fill the gap where the long wave transmitters interfered and higher power for the medium wave service in Northern Ireland. Medium wave fillers for London and the South West were added later. This gave Radio 4 full UK coverage during the day and 91% population coverage at night. The regional Radio 4 frequencies in Scotland were given to Radio Scotland. Of the remaining frequencies, the lowest, 648 kHz, was given to the World Service for maximum daytime penetration into Europe. As an exclusive allocation, this frequency could also be used at night. This left 5 medium wave frequencies for Radios 1, 2 and 3. The best network, on 693 and 909 kHz (the latter frequency no longer used by East Germany), was given to Radio 2 and is essentially the current Radio 5 Live network. Radio 1 was given 1053 and 1089 kHz and Radio 3 was given the old Radio 1 network on 1215 kHz.

Coverage of Radios 1 and 4 was much improved by the changes, though Radio 4 listeners without long wave had to replace their radios. Radio 2 reception during the day was improved in some parts of the country, with only a few places losing out. However, night-time reception was diminished, though Radio 2 was available on most BBC local radio stations in the evenings until the end of the 1980s, by which time Radio 1 had stopped borrowing its FM network for part of the evening. Only Radio 3 suffered a major drop in reception quality. However, it had the smallest audience, most of whom used FM where possible. Splitting of the Radio 3 network was cut so that the main service was on FM full-time. The early evening adult education service on medium wave was moved to Radio 4 FM at the weekends, leaving only the test cricket broadcast exclusively on AM. A handful of minor improvements were made to the Radio 1, 2 and 3 networks in the early 80s.

The dawn of radio
National and Regional
The war years
Home, Light and Third
The birth of FM
The pirates
Radios 1-4 & Local Radio
Splits & AM re-shuffles
Improving FM
Commercial radio expands
Going digital

R1 transmission history
Classic Radio 1 Schedules
Virgin Radio launch
Eduational Radio

Improving FM

At the beginning of the 1980s, local radio expansion resumed with both the BBC and the commercial sector opening stations. 9 BBC and 26 Commercial stations started between 1980 and 1984, though fewer stations opened in the late 1980s. Near universal coverage for both BBC and commercial local radio was achieved in the early 1990s. Regional programmes on Radio 4 FM ended at the beginning of 1983 when Radios Devon and Cornwall opened.

By the start of the 1980s, FM was standard on portable radios and was an option for cars, though it didn't become standard until the end of that decade. However, there were two major problems with FM radio in the UK which meant that it didn't catch on as quickly as in other countries. These were poor reception and lack of spectrum. The FM radio system was originally designed for use in mono with roof aerials, so horizontal polarisation was selected to give directional reception. However, vertical polarisation is more suited to the vertical aerials used for car and portable radios. It also maintains a higher signal strength near the ground. From the 1970s, all independent and some BBC local radio stations had implemented mixed horizontal and vertical polarisation, which gave much better reception. Therefore, through the 1980s, the BBC converted its network FM transmitters to mixed polarisation, doubling the power in most cases. The number of low and medium power relay transmitters was also increased, with new FM transmitters opening up until the end of the 1990s. With these changes to the transmitter network and better receivers, virtually all areas now receive good mono reception in cars and on portables, though stereo reception can still be patchy without a roof aerial.

Until the early 1980s, the FM broadcast band in the UK extended only from 88.1 to 97.6 MHz, providing room for only three national networks and some local radio. Consequently, Radio 1 was only on FM for 23 hours a week, displacing Radio 2 and there was not enough space for both BBC and Independent local radio to broadcast on FM in all towns and cities. Furthermore, Radio 4 was not available on FM in most of Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, where the BBC's regional stations had taken over its frequencies, and education programmes displaced the regular Radio 4 and regional programmes for around 20 hours a week. Radio Wales was not on FM at all.

To resolve these problems, it was decided to extend the FM band in the UK to 87.6 to 107.9 MHz. This was done in stages, with the first chunk of spectrum from 102.4 to 104.5 (and later 104.9) allocated to BBC and commercial local radio. This spectrum was brought into use in 1983 with new commercial stations and the BBC expanding some of its city stations into county stations, with name changes where appropriate. During 1986 and the first half of 1987, more than half of the local radio transmitters changed frequency as both the upper and lower local radio sub-bands were divided into separate BBC and commercial halves. This re-plan enabled most of the older commercial stations to increase their transmitter powers. Prior to this, the whole FM band in Ireland (the North and the Republic) was replanned to extend the UK's sub-bands to the Republic, enabling both countries to operate more transmitters. Before the changes, there was only space for two national networks (below 97.6) in the Republic.

The next piece of FM spectrum, 97.7 to 102.3 MHz was not due to be released for broadcasting until the beginning of 1990, though a few transmitters started up before this. This was allocated to the BBC for Radio 1 and to a new national commericial station, with 102-102.3 added to the upper local radio sub-band. The Radio 1 FM network was phased in over the late 1980s and early 1990s. At the same time, Radio 4 FM coverage was extended to the rest of Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. The commercial network, originally intended as a talk-based service was delayed due to changes in radio regulation. Classic FM eventually started in 1992. The top end of the FM band was finally released for broadcasting in 1995. This was originally intended to be used to provide extra transmitters for the five national networks, but has been allocated to local and regional commercial radio instead. The lower part of the FM band, 87.6-88.0, was released for broadcasting in 1987, but not used until the 1990s when it was allocated to temporary low power stations. By the beginning of the 1990s, FM had become the dominant medium for radio listening in the UK.

Commercial radio expands

In the mid 1980s, the government wanted to expand commercial radio. Privatisation of Radios 1 and 2 was rejected, so to make more spectrum available, it was decided to end the simulcasting of radio stations on both AM and FM. As a result, the AM frequencies then used by Radios 1 and 3 would be used for new independent national radio stations. However, the first stations to split, were the larger independent local radio stations, most of whom launched new oldies services on medium wave, while their existing services continued on FM, targeting a slightly younger audience. Smaller broadcasters were able to launch AM oldies stations by building networks, such as Classic Gold, which expanded from 3 to nearly 20 stations through the 1990s as broadcasters merged. Capital Gold, originally a London station, became a network in 1999. In 1989, the Independent Broadcasting Authority (IBA) licensed 20 new stations, known as 'Incrementals' in areas already served by independent local radio. Originally intended as community radio, these quickly evolved into commercial stations.

The first of the new national stations was launched on 1st September 1989; Atlantic 252 broadcast to about 2/3 of the UK on long wave from the Irish republic until the end of 2001, broadcasting Top 40 hits for most of its lifetime. The first of the new wave of official national stations was BBC Radio 5, which launched on 27th August 1990, taking over Radio 2's medium wave network. Radio 5 combined sport from Radio 2 AM and education from Radio 4 FM with a selection of World Service programmes, children's and youth shows and magazine programmes. It was re-launched in 1994 as a news, sport and current affairs network and renamed Radio Five Live.

The Radio Authority, which replaced the IBA, launched three national commercial stations in the early 1990s. The FM license, reserved for a 'music other than pop' service went to Classic FM after the original winner, an easy listening station, couldn't raise finances quickly enough. Classic launched on 7th September 1992 on 11 FM transmitters, with a further 11 added over its first year. The network was expanded in 1995/6 and again in 2002. Virgin Radio was launched in April 1993 and has swung between a rock music and adult contemporary music format. It was allocated 1215 kHz medium wave, formerly used by Radio 3 and by Radio 1 prior to that. This network suffered from poor reception, so Virgin opened 17 new low power transmitters on nearby frequencies to improve coverage. Virgin campaigned unsuccessfully for FM spectrum to be allocated to an additional national network, but was awarded an FM license for the London area, which opened in April 1995. The third national license on 1053 and 1089 kHz medium wave was reserved for a speech station and awarded to Talk Radio UK, now Talk Sport. Talk started in February 1995 with fewer high power and more low power transmitters than Radio 1 used. This change gave improved night-time reception at the expense of daytime coverage.

Local licensing by the Radio Authority initially focused on filling the gaps in the local radio network. Once the national music stations were licensed, regional FM stations were licensed to increase choice. The first five regional stations opened in 1994, using spare capacity in the Classic FM sub-band. Since the start of 1997, two or three regional stations a year have opened in the 105-107 MHz region of the spectrum. A host of small-scale commercial stations, serving smaller towns already covered by city or county stations opened over the same period.

In 2001 and 2002, the Radio Authority conducted a new community radio experiment, licensing 16 Access stations. Most of these have had their licenses extended to the end of 2004, when they will be replaced by a tier of permanent community stations, licensed by Ofcom. The community stations will use FM frequencies offering reduced coverage compared to those allocated for BBC and commercial stations. Most community broadcasters wanting wider coverage will be offered AM frequencies.

The new AM stations launched in the late 1980s and early 1990s were initially successful. However, although 5 Live and Talk Sport have maintained a strong audience, the music stations on AM have suffered a relentless decline as choice on FM has improved and AM only car radios have fallen out of use. Atlantic 252's successor, Team Talk, only survived a few months and the frequency lay empty for nearly two years before RTE Radio 1 took it over.

Going digital

In September 1995, The BBC launched the world's first digital radio service on DAB in the London area, carrying its five national networks with coverage extended to 60% of the population by mid 1998. A national commercial network, Digital One, launched with five stations in Novemmber 1999 as receivers started to become available, albeit relatively expensive. Further stations launched on Digital One in 2000, together with the first local multiplexes. 46 local radio multiplexes, mostly carrying between 8 and 11 stations each are now licensed. The BBC launched five new national digital stations in 2002, with the first sub-�100 receivers becoming available at the end of that year. Digital radio is also available via digital TV on the satellite, cable and terrestrial systems.

MDS975 includes a comprehensive set of historical transmitter listings, including frequencies, wavelengths and powers.