BBC Radio 4 Extra

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British digital radio stationTemplate:SHORTDESC:British digital radio station

Radio station in LondonTemplate:SHORTDESC:Radio station in London<templatestyles src="Module:Infobox/styles.css"></templatestyles>

* Freesat: 708
* Freeview: 708
* Sky (UK only): 0126
* Virgin Media: 910
* Drama
</noinclude> | * 15 December 2002; 21 years ago (2002-12-15) (as BBC 7)
 Former names This template is from Wikipedia

**BBC Radio 4 Extra** (formerly **BBC Radio 7**) is a British digital radio station from the BBC, broadcasting archived repeats of comedy, drama and documentary programmes nationally, 24 hours a day. It is the sister station of BBC Radio 4 and the principal broadcaster of the BBC's spoken-word archive, and as a result the majority of its programming originates from that archive. It also broadcasts extended and companion programmes to those broadcast on Radio 4, and provides a "catch-up" service for certain programmes.

The station launched in December 2002 as **BBC 7**, broadcasting a mix of archive comedy, drama and current children's radio. The station was renamed **BBC Radio 7** in 2008, then relaunched as BBC Radio 4 Extra in April 2011. For the first quarter of 2013, Radio 4 Extra had a weekly audience of 1.642 million people and had a market share of 0.95%; in the last quarter of 2016 the numbers were 2.184 million listeners and 1.2% of market share.

According to RAJAR, the station broadcasts to a weekly audience of 1.5 million with a listening share of 1.1% as of June 2023.

### BBC 7

The station was initially launched as BBC 7 on 15 December 2002 by comedian Paul Merton. The first programme was broadcast at 8 pm and was simulcast with Radio 4. The station, referred to by the codename 'Network Z' while in development, was so named to reflect the station's presence on the internet and on digital television in addition to radio. The station broadcast mostly archived comedy and drama, in that the programme was either three or more years old or had been broadcast twice on their original station.

The station also broadcast a themed section for Children's programmes. This section carried a variety of programmes, including *The Little Toe Radio Show* (later renamed *CBeebies Radio*), aimed at younger children and consisting of short serials, stories and rhymes, and *The Big Toe Radio Show* and *Arthur Storey and the Department of Historical Correction* with phone-ins, quizzes and stories for the 8+ age group. The segment also hosted the only news programme on the network presented by the *Newsround* team.

The station won the Sony Radio Academy Award for station sound in 2003, was nominated for the Promo Award in 2004, and in 2005 received a silver for the Short-Form award, plus nominations in the speech and digital terrestrial station-of-the-year sections. Because of the station's archive nature the station was scheduled, produced and researched by 17 people, excluding presenters.

The station was renamed on 4 October 2008 as BBC Radio 7 in an effort to bring it in line with other BBC Radio brands. It also coincided with the introduction of a new network logo for the station.

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By adding some inviting new programmes and variations of some old favourites, we will encourage more listeners to find and enjoy what this imaginative digital station has to offer.
Gwyneth Williams, controller of Radio 4 and Radio 4 Extra

During this later period, Radio 7 saw growth in its audience, with a growth rate of 9.5% annually in 2010, going from 931,000 listeners in the first quarter of that year to 949,000 a quarter later, making it the second most listened to BBC digital radio station at the time. However, despite this growth, the audience of children between 4 and 14 was reported to be only at 25,000 and in February 2011 the BBC Trust approved a reduction in hours dedicated to children from 1,400 to 350.

### BBC Radio 4 Extra

 File:BBC Radio 4 Extra.svg
The BBC announced their intention to relaunch the station on 2 March 2010 and following a public consultation, the proposal was approved by the corporation's governing body the BBC Trust in February 2011. As a result, the station relaunched as BBC Radio 4 Extra on Saturday 2 April 2011. The relaunched station contained much of the same mix of programming with some new additions that reflected the new alignment with Radio 4, many of which were extended, archive or spin offs of flagship Radio 4 programmes.

On 26 May 2022, as part of planned cuts and streamlining with a greater focus on digital, the BBC announced plans to discontinue Radio 4 Extra as a broadcast station. It will be supplanted by BBC Sounds.

## References

1. ↑ Williams, Gwyneth (16 May 2013). "Latest RAJARs for Radio 4 & 4 Extra". *Radio 4 Blog*. BBC. Retrieved 24 May 2013.
2. ↑ "RAJAR". RAJAR. Retrieved 19 April 2017.
3. ↑ "RAJAR".
4. ↑ Plunkett, John (8 August 2007). "New logos for BBC Radio - cool or balls?". *The Guardian*. London. Retrieved 25 May 2013.
5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 Kalemkerian, Mary (25 March 2011). "BBC Radio 7 Newsletter". BBC. Retrieved 25 May 2013.
6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 "BBC 7 adds the magic word and becomes BBC Radio 7". BBC. 4 October 2008. Retrieved 25 May 2013.
7. ↑ "Sony Radio Academy Awards 2003". *The Guardian*. London. 9 May 2003. Retrieved 4 January 2018.
8. ↑ Cite error: Invalid `<ref>` tag; no text was provided for refs named `about`
9. ↑ Plunkett, John (4 February 2010). "Jazz FM, 6Music and Radio 7 are bright spots amid digital radio's gloom". *The Guardian*. London. Retrieved 25 May 2013.
10. ↑ Busfield, Steve (5 August 2010). "BBC 6 Music's audience rises again". *The Guardian*. London. Retrieved 25 May 2013.
11. ↑ 11.0 11.1 "Service Review: BBC Radio 3, BBC Radio 4 & BBC Radio 7". BBC Trust. 8 February 2011. Retrieved 25 May 2013.
12. ↑ Dowell, Ben (17 March 2009). "Radio 4 ditches last remaining children's series". *The Guardian*. London. Retrieved 25 May 2013.
13. ↑ Plunkett, John (2 March 2010). "BBC confirms plans to axe 6 Music and Asian Network". *The Guardian*. London. Retrieved 25 May 2013.
14. ↑ Plunkett, John (8 February 2011). "Call for investigation into BBC Radio 7 rebranding". *The Guardian*. London. Retrieved 25 May 2013.
15. ↑ "BBC to move CBBC and BBC Four online". *BBC News*. 26 May 2022. Retrieved 26 May 2022.
16. ↑ Lodderhose, Diana (26 May 2022). "BBC To Close CBBC & BBC Four As Linear Channels; 1,000 Jobs At Risk As Public Broadcaster Begins Its "Digital First" Push". *Deadline*. Retrieved 26 May 2022.
17. ↑ "Plan to deliver a digital first BBC". *www.bbc.co.uk*. Retrieved 26 May 2022.

## External links

* BBC Radio 4 Extra at BBC Online

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