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BBC Radio 3
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BBC Radio 3 is a radio station operated by the BBC within the United Kingdom. Radio 3 devotes most of its schedule to classical music.
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[edit] History
It was launched as The BBC Third Programme on 29 September 1946.[1] Its name was changed to Radio 3 on 30 September 1967 when, with the launch of BBC Radio 1, the three other national radio channels were also given numbers. (The allocation of "2" and "4" to the Light and Home seems arbitrary, but the allocation of "3" to the Third has an obvious logic.) At this time it incorporated a service on the Third Programme's wavelength which had previously been known successively as Network Three, the Third Network and the Music Programme, which tended to play less challenging music than the Third Programme and did not include the Third Programme's speech output. Radio 3 also absorbed the adult education material previously carried on the frequency under the name "Study Session", and the Saturday afternoon sports coverage which was known as "Sports Service", although this was moved to Radio 2 in April 1970.
The Third Programme, however, retained its separate identity until April 1970, when it was absorbed into Radio 3. Following the shake up of AM radio frequencies in 1978 it moved to an inferior medium wave frequency, and left MW altogether in 1992, but retained its FM frequency. Ball-by-ball cricket commentaries, which were formerly on Radio 3 medium wave, are now broadcast on Radio 4 long wave and digital radio station BBC Five Live Sports Extra.
[edit] Programming
The station has for its entire life mainly broadcast classical music, opera, "highbrow" drama, including most BBC Radio Shakespeare productions, and jazz. The station plays a central role in classical music in the UK, broadcasting concerts, promoting young musicians, and commissioning compositions. The Proms are promoted, and broadcast, by Radio 3. The station is renowned for its quality and quantity of chamber music output.
A Radio 3 motto was "As long as it takes", and the station usually plays pieces in their entirety rather than in "bleeding chunks" (as a famous conductor used to say). The few exceptions are in programmes discussing and comparing pieces or performances, or some few programmes with a less-serious tone: this policy is one of the key differences between Radio 3 and its main commercial rival, Classic FM.
One of the longest-lasting programmes is the Composer of the Week, or COTW, series which now airs at 1200 GMT/BST, with a repeat of the preceding week's programme at midnight. This consists of five weekdays' worth of one-hour themed shows about the music of a composer. Often, especially when the composer is well enough known already as not to need introduction, the five days themselves have a theme; for example, a week about Mozart might focus on Mozart the Keyboard Player. This show has also served, especially on composers' centenaries of birth or death, to attempt to heighten interest in their music, with weeks devoted to Edmund Rubbra, Medtner, and Havergal Brian, among others.
Another long-running programme is Private Passions, the weekly interview conducted by Michael Berkeley with notable people, centreing on their wide-ranging musical passions.
In recent years, as Radio 2 has come to focus on pop music, Radio 3 has taken over the lead in some categories, such as folk and jazz. Also, the station has taken on a wide range of new music (including electronic music and experimental music on programmes such as Mixing It) and world music (World Routes, Late Junction and Andy Kershaw's programme). Traditional listeners have levelled much criticism at the introduction of 'World Music', especially where this term means not traditional non-European music (such as gamelan from Indonesia, gagaku, shomyo or nagauta from Japan or traditional Indian music) but music which is can be seen as non-European pop (or pop music played by non-Europeans. Critics say that such non-classical music has come to dominate late-eveing slots (Late Junction, etc) and has caused much disgruntlement and a diminution in audiences.
Radio 3 has led the way in many fields. A number of broadcasts are experimental; for instance one play in the late seventies consisted mainly of sound effects, recorded binaurally, to be listened to wearing headphones. Radio 3 was the first channel to broadcast in stereo and in quadraphonic (matrix HJ), a format which enjoyed only a brief success. To improve the quality of outside broadcasts over telephone lines the BBC designed a NICAM style digitisation technique called pulse code modulation running at a sample rate of 14,000 per second per channel. It later designed digital recording machines (transportable) sampling at the same rate.
Radio 3 is now available world wide on the Internet and is broadcast digitally on DAB and DTB (Freeview) throughout the UK.
[edit] The Radio 3 debate
The calm and informed style adopted by the majority of the station's presenters is to many of its listeners a welcome contrast to the frenetic delivery found elsewhere on the airwaves. Since 1992 the station has had a commercial rival, Classic FM. The newer station broadcasts a lighter range of music, interspersed with chat and adverts. Occasionally, the rival station's presence has led some commentators to question Radio 3's existence, lest it interfere with the workings of the market. However, this argument would appear to apply far more to the BBC's multitude of pop stations (Radios 1, 2, 1xtra, 6 and to some degree the Asian Network) than to a station which has no direct counterpart in the commercial sector (Classic FM might at best be thought of as Radio 3 Light).
Despite early fears that it might seriously damage Radio 3, they seem to co-exist quite harmoniously, and Radio 3 has largely retained its audience. It has broadcast for 24 hours a day since the late nineties, using an automated computer which requires little or no direct human control. However, many feel that the network has lost some of its gravitas, as the station has modified its approach, with more "presenter-led" programming stripped during the week, like commercial stations, and a certain diminution of its core activities, most notably an increase in jazz and other non-classical programming. A campaign group, Friends of Radio 3 (FoR3), has emerged to argue against BBC policies regarding the network.
The RAJAR figures released in August 2005 seem to suggest that the re-branding of Radio 3 has not been a success. Figures released in August 2006 indicate a further decline, which suggests that, even if people with different musical tastes are tuning into the station (as the BBC claims), the more traditional classical listeners are deserting at a greater rate.
[edit] Online developments
Recently, Radio 3 has been performing a trial where it would offer MP3 files of performances recently transmitted for download as part of The Beethoven Experience. It has been successful, and may lead to further performances being distributed in this manner.[2]
[edit] Controllers of the Third Programme and Radio 3
- 1946-48 George Barnes
- 1948-52 Harman Grisewood
- 1953-58 John Morris
- 1959-71 Howard Newby
- 1972-78 Stephen Hearst
- 1979-87 Ian McIntyre
- 1987-92 John Drummond
- 1992-98 Nicholas Kenyon
- 1998-present Roger Wright
[edit] References
- Humphrey Carpenter, The Envy of the World: Fifty Years of the BBC Third Programme and Radio 3 1946–1996, Weidenfeld & Nicolson 1996
[edit] See also
[edit] External links
- BBC Radio 3 at bbc.co.uk
- Media UK's BBC Radio 3 site including scheduled programming
- Friends of Radio 3
- Independent messageboard about Radio 3 output
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