BBC Radio 5 Live (PatrZDZ's vision)

**BBC Radio News** (broadcast under the **BBC News** brand) is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC that broadcasts mainly news, discussion, interviews and phone-ins. The station broadcasts from the BBC's headquarters at Broadcasting House, London and is jointly run by the BBC News department.

BBC Radio News was launched in March 1994, taking over the FM frequencies which BBC Radio 4 had been using since 1955. It is transmitted via analogue radio on FM between 92.0 MHz and 104.9 MHz and digitally via digital radio, television and on the BBC Sounds service.

## History

The success of Radio 4 News FM during the first Gulf War (1991) led the BBC to propose the launch of a rolling-news service. Initially the plan was to broadcast a rolling news service on BBC Radio 4's long wave frequency; but this met with considerable opposition, both internally and externally, so the BBC decided to broadcast the new service on Radio 4's FM frequencies. BBC Radio News began its 24-hour service at 5 am on Monday 28 March 1994. The first voice on air, Jane Garvey, later went on to co-present the breakfast and drive-time shows with Peter Allen. The Times described the launch as "slipp[ing] smoothly and confidently into a routine of informative banter" and The Scotsman as "professionalism at its slickest".

The news of the first day was dominated by the fatal stabbing at Hall Garth School near Middlesbrough, the first of many major incidents which the network covered live as they unfolded.

The tone of the channel, engaging and more relaxed than contemporary BBC output, was the key to the channel's success and set the model for other BBC News services later in the decade. The first audiences were some 4 million, with a record audience of 6.25 million. Among the key editorial staff involved in the design of programme formats and recruitment of staff for the new station were Sara Nathan, later editor of Channel 4 News, and Tim Luckhurst, later editor of The Scotsman newspaper and professor of Journalism at the University of Kent.

In 2000, the station was rebranded with a new logo which would remain with the station for another seven years. In addition, on 2 February 2002 a companion station, BBC Radio 5 Live Sports Extra, was launched as a digital-only service to complement the range of sport and to avoid clashes; previously BBC Local Radio stations and the long-wave frequency of BBC Radio 4 were used. Throughout this period, Five Live gained several awards including five Sony Awards in 2005; the single gold award was for its coverage of the 2004 Asian tsunami in the News Story Award category alongside another four silver awards and six nominations. In August 2007, BBC Radio News was given a new logo in line with the rest of the BBC Radio network, and a new background design featuring diagonal parallel lines.

## Broadcast

BBC Radio News is broadcast on the FM band between 92.0 and 95.0 MHz in England and from some transmitters in Wales, and between 103.0-104.5 MHz in Wales; these frequencies had been utilised by BBC Radio 4, which now broadcasts only on Longwave. It is also broadcast on the frequencies of BBC Radio Wales overnight, usually from 10:30 pm until it commences morning broadcasts, usually from 6 am. In addition to the FM output, the station also broadcasts digitally in mono on DAB Digital Radio, and on television through satellite services such as Sky, cable services such as Virgin Media, DTT services such as Freeview, Freesat and through IPTV. The station also broadcasts programmes live through BBC Sounds, which allows replaying programmes up to a month after the original broadcast. The service is also available on the Radioplayer internet site partially run by the BBC.

For many years, the station operated from four floors within the News Centre at BBC Television Centre, because of the close connections between the station and BBC News. However, as part of the corporation's plan to sell off Television Centre, the decision was made in 2008 to move BBC Radio News to Broadcasting House. The move itself began in May 2012 and took two months.

## List of programmes broadcast on BBC Radio News

* Morning Reports, presented by the station's overnight newsreader
* Wake Up to Money, presented by Adam Parsons and Sean Farrington (broadcast during the last 15 minutes of Morning Reports)
* The Breakfast Programme with Rick Edwards and Rachel Burden (Monday – Friday) and Chris Warburton and Sarah Brett (Saturday – Sunday)
* The Magazine with Victoria Derbyshire
* Midday with Shelagh Fogarty
* Mayo on Five with Simon Mayo
* Nationwide with Rick Edwards and Jane Garvey
* News Extra, presented by the station's evening newsreader
* Evenings with Henry Bonsu
* News Talk with Michael Buchanan (Monday), Faisal Islam (Tuesday), Adam Fleming (Wednesday) and Richard Galpin (Thursday)
* Paper Talk with Jay Rayner and Amol Rajan (Friday)
* Night Extra, presented by the station's evening newsreader
* The Financial World Tonight with Louise Cooper (broadcast during Night Extra)
* After Hours with Colin Murray (Monday – Thursday) and Dotun Adebayo (Friday – Sunday)
* Up All Night with Richard Dallyn (Monday – Thursday) and Hayley Hassall (Friday – Sunday)
* Dirty Tackle with Nigel Botherway (Saturday)
* Hot Pursuits (Sunday)
* Weekend with Sam Walker and Eleanor Oldroyd (Saturday)
* Pienaar on Sunday with John Pienaar (Sunday)
* Special Assignment (Saturday)
* Crime Desk with Dominic Casciani (Saturday)
* Midday Edition, presented by the station's afternoon newsreader (Saturday – Sunday)
* Coren on Five with Giles Coren (Saturday)
* Nationwide with Greg McKenzie (Saturday and Sunday)
* The Big Byte with Lara Lewington (Sunday)
* Top Gear with Chris Harris (Sunday)
* Blue Skies with Christa Larwood (Sunday)
* Portillo on Five with Michael Portillo (Sunday)
* Black to the Future with Nancy Kacungira (Sunday)
* Saturday Edition with Hayley Hassall (Saturday)
* Asian Perspective with Nihal Arthanayake (Saturday)
* Out This Week with Ben Hunte (Saturday)
* The Treatment with Stuart Maconie (Saturday)
* The Acid Test with Chris Smith (Sunday)
* The Ultimate Preview with Hayley Hassall (Sunday)

## Programming

BBC Radio News's remit includes broadcasting rolling news and transmitting news as it breaks. Each hour follows the same basic “wheel”: starting with news (usually five minutes); a minute of sport; headlines and travel at quarter past (and quarter to); one minute of news on the half-hour, followed by five minutes of sport. The format is flexible enough to accommodate live coverage of major political statements or statements from the House of Commons when required.

The BBC's policy for major breaking news events revolves around a priority list. With UK news, the correspondent first records a "generic minute" summary (for use by all stations and channels); the subsequent priority is to report on BBC Radio News, then BBC News 24, and then any other programmes that are on air. For foreign news, first a "generic minute" is recorded, then reports are to World Service radio, then the reporter talks to any other programmes that are on air.