BBC Radio 4 - news archive

This is an archive of news about BBC Radio 4. Some links may no longer work, due to the transient nature of the internet.

Election 2.0: ‘The internet is not national, it’s not local, it’s everywhere’ says Google’s DJ Collins
From Journalism.co.uk. Posted March 3 2010, 2.25pm
As reported elsewhere on Journalism.co.uk, last night we supported City University London’s ‘Will 2010 be the first new media election?’ event, hosted by the Media Society and also supported by the Media Trust. Listen to Evan Davis talking to Journalism.co. (more)

Dropped Today presenter Ed Stourton nominated for broadcaster prize
From Media Guardian. Posted February 25 2010, 11.01am
Radio 4 presenter could win two radio prizes at this year's Broadcasting Press Guild awardsFormer Today presenter Ed Stourton, who was controversially sacked from the flagship BBC Radio 4 programme, has been nominated for one of two radio prizes at this year's Broadcasting Press Guild awards. (more)

IBA installs new FM transmitters in West Bank
From Media Network Weblog. Posted February 23 2010, 12.47pm
The Israel Broadcasting Authority has installed four radio transmitters in West Bank settlements, which have had difficulty picking up IBA broadcasts. (more)

Radio 5 Live Sports Extra will survive BBC review, says Van Klaveren
From Media Guardian. Posted January 27 2010, 4.44pm
Additional sports channel unlikely to be hit by coming BBC cuts in digital services, according to Radio 5 Live controllerAdrian Van Klaveren, the BBC Radio 5 Live controller, said today that he expects his digital station 5 Live Sports Extra to survi... (more)

#FollowJourn: @kjmarsh/BBC CoJo editor
From Journalism.co.uk. Posted January 19 2010, 9.55am
Who? Editor of BBC College of Journalism; former Radio 4 Today programme editor. What? Joined the BBC as a trainee in 1978; has edited PM, The World at One and BBC Radio 4 Today. Where? Marsh blogs at Storycurve and the BBC College of Journalism. Contact? Follow him on @kjmarsh. (more)

Festive guests for BBC Radio 4
From Radio Today. Posted December 10 2009, 8.48pm
Six guest editors will take the helm of the Today programme on BBC Radio 4 between Christmas and New Year.The guests are Martin Rees, David Hockney, Tony Adams, PD James, Robert Wyatt and Shirley Williams. (more)

Mellow Morrissey pick his Desert Island Discs
From Media Guardian. Posted November 29 2009, 5.10pm
Former frontman of the Smiths proves that heaven knows he's happier nowFor all his talk of suicide and sadness, the famously miserable Morrissey sounded strangely contented on Desert Island Discs today. (more)

It may be divisive but Thought for the Day offers welcome reflection
From Media Guardian. Posted November 17 2009, 3.31pm
Introducing secular voices in Today's religious slot would have halted the worthwhile change of pace if currently offersNothing, it seems, divides BBC Radio 4 listeners quite like Thought for the Day. (more)

‘Twitter mobs’ on the BBC Radio 4 Moral Maze
From Journalism.co.uk. Posted November 4 2009, 11.46am
Two weeks ago, John Mair raised the issue of mob action on this very blog in the wake of the Jan Moir episode, provoking criticism and further comment. Yesterday, he responded to some of the response, and picked up on subsequent national media analysis on Twitter’s impact on democracy. (more)

BBC radio to air England Chamions Trophy games
From Media Guardian. Posted September 29 2009, 11.16am
Commentator reveals Test Match Special will feature semi-finals and final of tournament in South AfricaThe BBC has acquired the radio commentary rights to the closing stages of the Champions Trophy cricket tournament in South Africa, according to the... (more)

Announcer who swore on R4 to leave after 45 years
From Media Guardian. Posted September 15 2009, 1.22pm
Peter Jefferson, whose voice was familiar to millions, departing a month after uttering the F-word during the pipsVeteran BBC Radio 4 continuity announcer Peter Jefferson is to leave the corporation a month after he turned the airwaves blue during the pips at the top of the hour. (more)

Tennant to appear in R4 Steinbeck play
From Media Guardian. Posted September 9 2009, 5.08am
Doctor Who star to feature as George Milton in adaptation of John Steinbeck novelDavid Tennant is to star in a BBC Radio 4 dramatisation of John Steinbeck's Of Mice and Men. (more)

Dave Gorman to host Absolute Radio Sunday show
From Media Guardian. Posted September 8 2009, 12.14pm
Comic, writer and presenter Dave Gorman joining Absolute Radio, same station as Avalon stablemate Frank SkinnerThe comic, writer and presenter Dave Gorman is to front a Sunday morning show on Absolute Radio, joining his Avalon stablemate Frank Skinner on the station. (more)

#FollowJourn: @jamescridland / radio futurologist
From Journalism.co.uk. Posted August 24 2009, 7.30am
#FollowJourn: James Cridland Who? ‘Radio futurologist’ and director of MediaUK.com. What? Currently working for BBC Future Media & Technology’s Audio & Music team but will leave in early September. Full biog here. Where? @jamescridland /  james.cridland.net / mediauk. (more)

#FollowJourn: @jamescridland / radio futurologist
From Journalism.co.uk. Posted August 24 2009, 7.30am
#FollowJourn: James Cridland Who? ‘Radio futurologist’ and director of MediaUK.com. What? Currently working for BBC Future Media & Technology’s Audio & Music team but will leave in early September. Full biog here. Where? @jamescridland /  james.cridland.net / mediauk. (more)

Tusa to host Radio 4 series about 1989
From Media Guardian. Posted August 24 2009, 5.04am
Fall of Berlin Wall, Madchester and end of Thatcher era to feature in 1989: Day by DaySir John Tusa is to return to BBC Radio 4 for a sequel to the station's acclaimed daily archive series, 1968: Day by Day, fast-forwarding in history to the momentous events of 1989. (more)

Forget internet dating, this is online matchmaking
From Media Guardian. Posted August 23 2009, 10.05pm
British Asians are looking for love on matrimonial websites, but can you really find your life partner online?Jayasree Sen Gupta wanted to get married. In her mid-30s but living on her own in Leeds, she rarely met suitable men. (more)

Bank on King to pull no punches. But his critics may hit harder
From The Times. Posted August 19 2009, 11.00pm
In financial circles, it was the pause of the year. Sir John Gieve — asked on BBC Radio 4 this week whether Mervyn King, his former boss at the Bank of England, was too powerful and too much of a dictator — allowed several... (more)

BBC 'pays £100,000' to settle dismissal claim with radio host
From Media Guardian. Posted August 12 2009, 2.53pm
The BBC has reportedly paid about £100,000 to former Radio 4 presenter Richard Evans after his contract was terminatedThe BBC has reportedly paid about £100,000 to a former BBC Radio 4 and BBC Radio 5 Live presenter to settle an unfair dismissal claim. (more)

Revenge of the man from Auntie
From The Independent. Posted July 14 2009, 11.00pm
Ben Bradshaw used to be talked of as "the next Jeremy Vine" – an award-winning young reporter who covered the fall of the Berlin Wall and presented The World This Weekend on BBC Radio 4 with an assured poise. (more)

BBC Trust considering non-religious Thought for the Day
From Media Guardian. Posted July 13 2009, 8.35am
Today's Thought for the Day slot could be opened up to secular and humanist views, says BBC Radio 4 controller Mark DamazerThe BBC Trust has launched an investigation into BBC Radio 4's religious Thought for the Day slot and the possibility of opening it up to secular and humanist points of view. (more)

'Congrats to Uncle C' – how his wife's Facebook page exposed new MI6 head
From Media Guardian. Posted July 5 2009, 8.21pm
• Page removed as Miliband plays down security lapse• Children, pets and swimwear revealedIt was just the usual sort of stuff that gets posted on Facebook: embarrassing family photographs, humdrum details of home life and a few congratula... (more)

Matt Lucas to front radio comedy series
From Media Guardian. Posted July 1 2009, 1.20pm
And The Winner Is will be Matt Lucas's first radio comedy since Little Britain was on Radio 4Matt Lucas is to front his first radio comedy series since Little Britain, with a new show for Radio 2. (more)

Humphrys dodges MP's salary question
From Media Guardian. Posted June 4 2009, 10.20am
Today presenter John Humphrys tells committee chairman Edward Leigh it's up to the BBC whether to reveal his salaryJohn Humphrys, the BBC Radio 4 Today programme presenter, this morning declined to reveal his salary during an interview about the corp... (more)

BBC launches "radio visualisation" trial
From Biz Asia. Posted June 3 2009, 2.04pm
The BBC is set to enhance the radio experience for its listeners by allowing them watch to some of their favourite radio shows being broadcast. (more)

Jenni Murray: the white chihuahua, her love of Crocs, and a long-lost Barnsley accent
From Journalism.co.uk. Posted May 14 2009, 1.12pm
The alternative highlights from Jenni Murray’s visit to Brighton yesterday evening: (see the story on the Journalism.co. (more)

Has Radio 4 news gone off the boil?
From Media Guardian. Posted May 12 2009, 9.30am
BBC Radio 4 took none of the big news golds at last night's Sony awards – but its audience share is setting recordsIt has been quite a year for news – Barack Obama, the recession, the travails of Gordon Brown – so why did BBC Radio ... (more)

Rajar: BBC Radio 4 nears the 10 million listener mark
From Press Gazette. Posted May 7 2009, 6.58am
BBC Radio 4 has recorded its highest weekly audience in six years - narrowly missing out on returning above the 10 million listener mark for the first time since March 2003. (more)

Moyles turns up pressure on Wogan for breakfast crown
From Media Guardian. Posted May 7 2009, 5.27am
Radio 1 DJ adds 400,000 listeners, while Radio 4 hits record share thanks to Barack Obama and economic coverageBBC Radio 1 DJ Chris Moyles has come within a whisker of overtaking his Radio 2 rival Terry Wogan as the nation's favourite breakfast show,... (more)

Paul Gambaccini: BBC Radio 1 fails to recognise its ‘incredible responsibility’ by keeping Moyles in a job
From Journalism.co.uk. Posted April 30 2009, 1.47pm
Former BBC Radio 1 broadcaster, Paul Gambaccini, has once again emphasised the ethical implications of public broadcasting to an audience at Coventry University. (more)

Bad Science: Ben Goldacre on scientists and the media
From Journalism.co.uk. Posted April 27 2009, 12.18pm
Ben Goldacre links to his interview for the Today Programme on BBC Radio 4 - ‘talking about dumbing down science’. He joins Kathy Sykes, who has just written a piece in New Scientist on the topic, to discuss scientists and their participation in the media. (more)

Radio 4 spoof phone-in moves to BBC2
From Media Guardian. Posted April 2 2009, 8.42am
Paul Whitehouse and Charlie Higson to star alongside Rhys Thomas as host Gary BellamySpoof BBC Radio 4 phone-in series Down the Line, created by former Fast Show comedians Paul Whitehouse and Charlie Higson, is to move to BBC2. (more)

MediaWeek: Sun to launch online-only radio station
From Journalism.co.uk. Posted March 19 2009, 10.14am
Former TalkSport host Jon Gaunt will launch new online-only radio station on TheSun.co.uk. The new audio service will make use of new multimedia studios at News International’s Wapping headquarters. (more)

BBC Radio 4 to broadcast documentary about UK radio advertising
From Media Network Weblog. Posted March 6 2009, 12.39pm
The BBC Radio 4 programme Archive on 4 on Saturday 14 March will be about Radio Sales. Brian Hayes examines some of the best and worst of independent radio - the adverts. He looks back over the last 80 years of advertising on radio in the UK, the rise and fall of the jingle, how [... (more)

Geoffrey Smith
From Media Guardian. Posted March 2 2009, 12.01am
Popular panellist on Gardeners' Question Time with a deep love of his native YorkshireGeoffrey Smith, who has died aged 80, was a populist gardening expert whose genial outings on radio and television were backed by formidable knowledge and experience. (more)

JamesCridland: BBC Radio 4 reaching out
From Journalism.co.uk. Posted February 25 2009, 10.33am
James Cridland takes a look at BBC Radio 4’s blogging efforts. “[...] the clever and charming Mark Damazer, controller of the radio station, has caught the blogging bug,” he writes. (more)

Gardeners' Question Time repotted to new production company
From Media Guardian. Posted February 11 2009, 8.13am
Questions about non-flowering wisteria and the perils of the dreaded vine weevil may never be the same again after the contract to make BBC Radio 4's Gardeners' Question Time was awarded to a different production company for the first time in 15 years. (more)

Sandel to deliver Radio 4's Reith Lectures
From Media Guardian. Posted February 5 2009, 11.27am
This year's Reith Lectures on BBC Radio 4 will be delivered by political philosopher and Harvard University professor, Michael Sandel, MediaGuardian.co.uk can reveal. (more)

A month in Ambridge
From Media Guardian. Posted February 4 2009, 12.01am
You don't imagine Freud and his ilk to be much read in Ambridge - you wouldn't want to alarm the heifers - but, in the case of Shula and the vicar, one does feel the need for a dose of ill-informed psychoanalytical speculation. (more)

Woolworths Rises From The Dead As Online-Only Store; Will It Do Downloads?
From paidContent:UK. Posted February 2 2009, 12.21pm
The Barclay brothers' Shop Direct retail group is resurrecting the Woolworths name as an online-only store, so far focusing on childrenswear - but we are also expecting some kind of digital content component… Woolies' collapse in November took... (more)

Rajars: BBC Radio 4 Today programme's audience soars due to credit crunch
From Media Guardian. Posted January 29 2009, 6.54am
Last autumn's economic turmoil is being credited with giving BBC Radio 4's Today programme its best audience figures in seven years, since 9/11 and its aftermath.The Today programme had an average weekly audience of 6. (more)

BBC R4: The Investigation
From Journalism.co.uk. Posted January 15 2009, 4.24pm
In tonight’s (Thursday 15 January 2009 20:00) radio broadcast of The Investigation, BBC Radio 4 Simon Cox submits the UN’s Human Rights Council to closer scrutiny. (more)

Most Britons 'still oppose euro'
From BBC News. Posted January 1 2009, 1.00pm
A BBC Radio 4 poll finds that 71% of people would vote against Britain joining the European single currency in a referendum. (more)

Sir Ian McKellen to revisit role of Walter for BBC Radio 4 play
From Media Guardian. Posted December 18 2008, 7.04am
Sir Ian McKellen is to return to the role of Walter, which he played in a Film Four production more than 25 years ago, in a new play for BBC Radio 4. (more)

Radio 4's James Naughtie joins UK radio hall of fame
From Press Gazette. Posted December 8 2008, 1.54pm
Veteran BBC Radio 4 journalist and Today presenter James Naughtie has been inducted into the UK radio hall of fame. (more)

Wind-powered radio stations operating in Southern Sudan
From Media Network Weblog. Posted December 6 2008, 10.54am
In Southern Sudan electricity is virtually non-existent after 22 years of civil war. Internews has built four radio stations in the civil-war-torn south, and powers them with sustainable, renewable energy. (more)

Ba is not blah blah
From Financial Times. Posted November 27 2008, 2.00am
Management blog (Adam Jones): BBC Radio 4 broadcast an ostensibly light-hearted programme that made me grimace yesterday. It was about punctuality and time... (more)

Humph's diaries reveal he tired of 'Clue' 30 years ago
From The Independent. Posted October 25 2008, 11.00pm
Although he was a world-class jazz trumpeter, witty writer and talented cartoonist, it is as the much-loved chair of the BBC Radio 4 comedy quiz I'm Sorry I Haven't a Clue that Humphrey Lyttelton will be remembered. (more)

Radio 4 documents war boy
From Radio Today. Posted October 12 2008, 6.20pm
The boy who came to symbolise our lasting image of the Iraq War is to be the subject of a BBC Radio 4 documentary this Christmas, created by Made in Manchester Productions. (more)

Andrew Caspari to step down as Radio 4 specialist factual commissioning editor
From Media Guardian. Posted October 6 2008, 5.02am
The BBC Radio 4 specialist factual commissioning editor, Andrew Caspari, is to leave the station after a decade in the post. (more)

BBC Radio 4 launches new weekly media show on 1 October
From Media Network Weblog. Posted September 27 2008, 5.51pm
A reminder that BBC Radio 4 launches its new weekly media show on Wednesday 1 October at 1130 UTC. Its brief is to cover what is happening in newspapers, television, radio, and the Web. (more)

Afternoon Readings cut on Radio 4
From Radio Today. Posted September 26 2008, 4.02am
The daily Afternoon Readings show on BBC Radio 4 is being cut in half to just two days a week to make way for an Archive Hour repeat and Gardeners' Question Time. (more)

Reminder: Radio 4’s The Media Show starts next Wednesday
From Journalism.co.uk. Posted September 24 2008, 2.53pm
Just a quick reminder for next week, since we last reported on it in July. The new media show, erm, called The Media Show, will start on BBC Radio 4 from October 1. It will look at the media world across print, TV, online and telecommunications. It will go out live each Wednesday at 1.30pm. (more)

Media Monkey: Whiff of bad language on Radio 4
From Media Guardian. Posted September 11 2008, 9.14am
Media Monkey: Yesterday's Thinking Aloud may have set a proud new record - most uses of the word 'shit' in a BBC Radio 4 programme, ever... (more)

Former EastEnders star Jack Ryder to join Radio 4's The Archers
From Media Guardian. Posted September 9 2008, 1.26pm
Jack Ryder is to join the BBC Radio 4 soap The Archers in a move likely to prove controversial with some of the show's fans. (more)

Prague 1968 - Truth Shall Prevail - from the Media Network audio archive
From Media Network Weblog. Posted August 20 2008, 4.24pm
Jonathan Marks writes in the Critical Distance Weblog: I’m thinking of Prague at the moment, partly because there are all kinds of archive programmes on BBC Radio 4 looking back at the night of 20th August 1968 when the Russians invaded what was then Czechoslovakia. (more)

One World Media Awards: BBC Radio 4 and the Guardian triumph
From Media Guardian. Posted June 13 2008, 10.30am
Radio 4 and the Guardian both win two gongs at a ceremony to celebrate excellence in media coverage of international development issues. (more)

Former 5 Live presenter Julian Worricker joins Radio 4's You and Yours
From Media Guardian. Posted May 28 2008, 2.20pm
Former BBC Radio 5 Live presenter Julian Worricker is to join BBC Radio 4 consumer affairs show You and Yours, replacing veteran presenter John Waite. By John Plunkett. (more)

Radio 4 silences The Message after 10 years
From Media Guardian. Posted May 8 2008, 5.23am
Jenni Murray's long-running BBC Radio 4 discussion show The Message has been axed to make way for a new weekly programme about the media. (more)

Relocation Relocation at TLRC
From Radio Today. Posted April 28 2008, 6.22pm
The Local Radio Company has gained Ofcom approval to relocate four radio stations with close neighbours, and allow eight stations to share weekday daytime output. Stations moving out of town are Vale FM, Arrow FM, Mix 96 and 3TR FM. (more)

Anderson goes full time on Radio 4's Loose Ends
From Media Guardian. Posted April 7 2008, 4.46am
Clive Anderson is to be the permanent replacement for the late Ned Sherrin on the long-running BBC Radio 4 entertainment magazine show Loose Ends. (more)

TV via cellphones launched in Tehran
From Media Network Weblog. Posted March 15 2008, 11.38am
Cell phones bring TV services to Iranian mobile users, utilising the latest technology in Digital Video Broadcasting-Handheld (DVB-H). Mobile TV via cellular networks allows viewers to enjoy personalized, interactive TV, with content specifically adapted to the mobile medium. (more)

Sikh outrage at BBC Radio 4 investigation
From Biz Asia. Posted March 5 2008, 7.59pm
Members of the Sikh community are in fury over a BBC Radio 4 programme which linked Sikhs with Al Qaeda. (more)

Ross phone-in 'healed' aide, court told
From Media Guardian. Posted February 19 2008, 2.08pm
A former top adviser to the Archbishop of Westminster said he felt 'healed' when he heard his ex-girlfriend on a BBC Radio 4 phone-in accusing him of not supporting her over an abortion, a libel trial heard today. (more)

Radio 4 presenter denies rape
From Media Guardian. Posted February 7 2008, 2.55pm
A BBC Radio 4 presenter accused of raping a man he met at a New Year party has said he would never have harmed him. (more)

BBC Radio 4 Host Denies Drugging, Raping Man
From radio.about.com. Posted February 6 2008, 12.00am
If it's true as the testimony claims, a vile incident indeed for a BBC Radio 4 host. According to guardian.co.uk: "A BBC Radio 4 presenter accused of drugging and raping... (more)

Radio 4 presenter described as 'revolting'
From Media Guardian. Posted February 5 2008, 4.22pm
A BBC Radio 4 presenter accused of drugging and raping a man he met at a party has been described in court as 'revolting' and a 'bully' by his alleged victim. (more)

Radio 4 host stands trial for rape
From Digital Spy. Posted February 5 2008, 10.47am
The trial of a BBC Radio 4 presenter accused of raping a student begins at the Old Bailey. (more)

BBC presenter drugged and raped man, Old Bailey jury told
From Media Guardian. Posted February 5 2008, 12.11am
A BBC Radio 4 presenter drugged and raped a man he met at a New Year's Eve party after inviting him home to see his art collection, a court was told yesterday... (more)

Radio 4 presenter in court on rape charge
From Media Guardian. Posted February 4 2008, 6.34pm
A BBC Radio 4 presenter drugged and raped a man he met at a New Year party, a court heard today. (more)

Vegas joins Radio 4's Ragged drama
From Media Guardian. Posted December 12 2007, 7.00am
Johnny Vegas is to star in a BBC Radio 4 adaptation of The Ragged Trousered Philanthropists. (more)

Channel 4 speech radio launch delayed
From Media Guardian. Posted December 10 2007, 3.50pm
Channel 4's speech radio rival to BBC Radio 4 may not launch for another 15 months after it applied to Ofcom to postpone its start date. (more)

X Files star Gillian Anderson to appear in Radio 4 play
From Media Guardian. Posted November 29 2007, 3.38pm
X Files actor Gillian Anderson will make her radio drama debut in a BBC Radio 4 adaptation of 84 Charing Cross Road. (more)

Russia will broadcast four radio channels in DRM format
From Media Network Weblog. Posted November 8 2007, 12.56pm
The commission headed by Russia’s First Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev approved the “Conception for the Development of Television and Radio Broadcasting in Russia (2008-2015)” yesterday. It will now be forwarded to the government in the coming days. (more)

Radio 4 Broadcaster Dies at 64
From Merry Media. Posted October 30 2007, 2.30pm
Tributes have been paid to psychiatrist and broadcaster Anthony Clare who has died at the age of 64. Professor Clare was best known for the BBC Radio 4 programme In The Psychiatrist's Chair.. (more)

Zimbabwe?s state-run radio stations now on Internet
From Media Network Weblog. Posted October 30 2007, 2.01pm
Zimbabwe’s state-run radio stations are now streaming live on the Internet, just months after state television also launched on JumpTV – a Dubai-based distributor of live international television and sports programmes over the Internet. (more)

Radio 4 writer Tavener dies
From Radio Today. Posted October 23 2007, 6.23pm
Mark Tavener, the writer responsible for the BBC Radio 4 series Absolute Power and High Table, Lower Orders, has died of cancer. Absolute Power went on to become a TV series starring Stephen Fry. Radio 4 commissioning editor Caroline Raphael said today he would be "much missed". (more)

Book about Radio 4 published
From Radio Today. Posted October 3 2007, 11.49pm
Despite a below-inflation licence fee settlement, the BBC's flagship speech station BBC Radio 4 is safer now than ever before, according to the former BBC director of radio Matthew Bannister. (more)

BBC launches broadcasting award in memory of Radio 4 presenter
From Press Gazette. Posted October 3 2007, 11.00pm
A broadcasting award will be launched this week in honour of BBC Radio 4 World at One presenter Nick Clarke who died of cancer last year. (more)

Broadcaster Ned Sherrin Dies
From Merry Media. Posted October 1 2007, 11.11pm
Broadcaster Ned Sherrin has died from throat cancer at the age of 76. Sherrin devised That Was The Week That Was for the BBC in the sixties and presented Loose Ends on BBC Radio 4 for two decades.. (more)

China bans unauthorized channels of four TV, radio stations
From Media Network Weblog. Posted August 13 2007, 8.16am
China banned unauthorized channels opened by four radio and TV stations, Beijing News reported today. The State Administration of Radio, Film and Television (SARFT) ordered the four radio and TV stations to stop operation of these unauthorized channels with a deadline on August 10, the paper said. (more)

Comic legends join Radio 4
From Radio Today. Posted July 16 2007, 2.59pm
Harry Enfield and Andrew Sachs head the line-up for a new BBC Radio 4 adaptation of Douglas Adams' novel Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency. Harry will play the title role in the 6-part series to be broadcast later this year. (more)

Harry Enfield Takes Lead Role in Radio 4 Drama
From Merry Media. Posted July 13 2007, 8.27pm
Harry Enfield will play the lead role in Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency which will broadcast on BBC Radio 4 this October. Also starring Billy Floyd, Andrew Sachs, Jim Carter and Olivia Colman.. (more)

Sir Tom Stoppard Celebrated on BBC Radio
From Merry Media. Posted June 14 2007, 1.48pm
Sir Tom Stoppard is celebrated across BBC Radio with a season of his work on BBC Radio 3, BBC Radio 4 and BBC 7. This includes the radio debut of his most recent play, Rock 'N' Roll, which has been specially adapted by Stoppard with a new final scene.. (more)

Radio 4 Show Wants to Hear From You
From Merry Media. Posted June 5 2007, 11.39am
The long running BBC Radio 4 current affairs show, the Today programme, is celebrating its 50th birthday later in the year. If you were born on 28th October 1957, the same day that the first Today was broadcast, then they want to hear from you.. (more)

Radio 4 debut for indie producers
From Radio Today. Posted May 23 2007, 2.32pm
Independent radio production company Made In Manchester makes its debut on BBC Radio 4 this week, with a documentary presented by Sir David Frost. "I Got Up Out of My Seat" traces people who responded to American evangelist Billy Graham's preaching at Haringey in 1954 and tells their stories. (more)

Israel targets Hamas radio, TV in West Bank
From Media Network Weblog. Posted May 21 2007, 9.26am
The Israeli army seized equipment from four radio and television stations in the northern West Bank linked to the Islamist Hamas movement on Monday, forcing them off the air, sources said. (more)

Radio 4 Postpone Show Amid Concerns Over Kidnapping
From Merry Media. Posted April 17 2007, 3.55pm
A BBC Radio 4 programme about the execution of hostages in Iraq due to growing concerns about the missing BBC correspondent Alan Johnston, who was kidnapped in Iraq last month.. (more)

Radio 4 Programme Celebrates 60th Anniversary
From Merry Media. Posted April 4 2007, 10.14am
Gardeners' Question Time, the long-running popular BBC Radio 4 programme, marks its 60th anniversary with a special edition looking at organic gardening on Easter Sunday, 8 April.. (more)

Celebrities Take Part in Radio 4 Lent Talks
From Merry Media. Posted February 6 2007, 11.30am
This year's Lent Talks on BBC Radio 4 see six well-known figures reflect on the story of Jesus' ministry and Passion from the perspective of their own personal and professional experience.. (more)

Murray takes break from Radio 4
From Media Guardian. Posted December 21 2006, 12.00am
4.45pm: BBC Radio 4 presenter Jenni Murray will be taking a break from the station to recover from surgery for cancer. By Jemima Kiss. (more)

5 Guest Editors of the Today Programme
From Merry Media. Posted December 19 2006, 5.03pm
Five guest editors will again take the helm of the Today programme on BBC Radio 4 between Christmas and the New Year.. (more)

Guardian to bid for Saga radio?
From Breaking Radio. Posted December 11 2006, 2.21pm
The Guardian Media Group is believed to be weighing up a bid for Saga's four radio licences, valued at between £60m and £100m. (more)

Guardian Media Group considers Saga bid
From Media Guardian. Posted December 11 2006, 12.00am
11.15am: Guardian Media Group is believed to be weighing up a bid for Saga's four radio licences. By John Plunkett. (more)

Christmas specials on Radio 4
From Radio Today. Posted December 6 2006, 10.59pm
Presenters from the past and present will make up the Christmas schedule on BBC Radio 4 this year. Drama includes Sir Ian McKellen as the lead in Simon Armitage's Afternoon Play of the anonymous poem Sir Gawain And The Green Knight. (more)

BBC Radio 4 Star Eyed Christmas
From Merry Media. Posted December 6 2006, 4.05pm
A host of stars, from the past and present, will be gracing the BBC Radio 4 airwaves this Christmas - from Sir Ian McKellen as Sir Gawain and Phill Jupitus on Christmas TV and radio over the last 70 years to a complete biography of children's favourite Beatrix Potter.. (more)

Blunkett earned £5k from Radio 4 serialisation of Cabinet tapes
From Breaking Radio. Posted November 11 2006, 1.30pm
The serialisation of David Blunkett's diaries on BBC Radio 4 have earned the former home secretary up to £5,000, according to the register of MPs' interests. (more)

Uruguay: State radio available live on the Internet
From Media Network Weblog. Posted November 10 2006, 4.26pm
BBC Monitoring observes four radio services from state broadcaster SODRE (Servicio Oficial de Difusion Radiotelevision y Espectaculos) available on live streams from their new website at www.sodre.gub. (more)

All Out win BBC commissions
From Radio Today. Posted September 14 2006, 12.45pm
Multi-award winning radio indie All Out Productions has received its biggest-ever set of commissions from BBC Radio 4 – twelve programmes totalling nearly seven hours of programming. All programmes will be aired in 2007. David Cook, co-founder of All Out Productions told RadioToday.co. (more)

Something Unique for Radio 4
From Radio Today. Posted July 5 2006, 9.15am
Unique have won another three year contract to produce the weekly BBC Radio 4 Sunday strand Something Understood. The company devised the spritiually themed programme 11 years ago and have produced with Sir Mark Tully throughout that time. (more)

Spinal Tap's Shearer to star in BBC radio comedy
From The Stage. Posted June 27 2006, 10.30am
Harry Shearer, star of Spinal Tap and the voice of Mr Burns in hit television comedy The Simpsons, is to appear in new BBC Radio 4 comedy series Not Today Thank You, which starts in August. (more)

Radio 4 Launches the Memory Experience
From Merry Media. Posted May 30 2006, 11.39am
This summer the BBC launches The Memory Experience, its first cross-media science season to explore the fascinating world of memory, on radio, on television and the web. (more)

Radio 4 supports comedy shows with banner campaign
From Brand Republic. Posted April 7 2006, 2.04pm
LONDON - BBC Radio 4 is running an online ad campaign to encourage people to sample some of its comedy shows, such as 'Nebulous', which it has posted on its website. (more)

BBC Radio 4 morning changes
From Radio Today. Posted April 1 2006, 6.30am
The changes to early mornings on BBC Radio 4 begin on Monday 24 April 2006. At 5.20am, listeners will be welcomed to the network and hear the Shipping Forecast that now includes all 16 inshore waters areas, where previously only nine were covered. This is followed at 5. (more)

Radio 4's UK Theme goes online
From Media Guardian. Posted March 31 2006, 5.29pm
5.30pm: BBC Radio 4 controller Mark Damazer is holding out an olive branch to listeners upset by his axing of the UK Theme by putting the music on the station's website. By Julia Day. (more)

New comedy for BBC Radio 4
From Radio Today. Posted March 2 2006, 8.41pm
Let BBC Radio 4 put a spring in your step with a fantastic line-up of new comedy throughout April. (more)

'Today' loses another editor. But not its nerve
From The Independent. Posted February 26 2006, 12.00am
There is a neat circularity. Kevin Marsh is editor of the BBC Radio 4 Today programme when it broadcasts the Andrew Gilligan item shortly after 6am one day in May 2003. This is followed by the death of Dr David Kelly, the Hutton inquiry, the resignations of Gilligan, Gavyn Davies and Greg Dyke. (more)

High demand for BBC online
From Radio Today. Posted February 24 2006, 8.31am
Drama on BBC Radio 4 attracted more than one million on demand requests via the BBC Radio Player in January, new figures revealed today. (more)

BBC Radio 4 UK Theme to be released commercially
From Media Network Weblog. Posted February 4 2006, 12.12pm
The controversy over the plans to drop the five-minute medley of patriotic tunes that opens BBC Radio 4 each morning has taken a new turn. (more)

No more news for Hoggart
From Radio Today. Posted January 30 2006, 11.04am
After ten years in the BBC Radio 4 News Quiz hot seat, the chairman Simon Hoggart has decided to leave the programme at the end of the next series. The show has risen to new heights under Simon's chairmanship, making it one of the most popular programmes on Radio 4. (more)

Radio 4 revolt gains momentum
From Media Guardian. Posted January 25 2006, 11.17am
11.15am: BBC Radio 4 is coming under mounting pressure to hold a consultation on the axing of the UK Theme music after over 500 complaints. By Julia Day. (more)

BBC Radio 4 listeners up in arms at plans to drop station theme
From Media Network Weblog. Posted January 24 2006, 2.40pm
Tim Hatton, a web designer based in Guildford who describes himself as "an enormous fan of Radio 4" has set up a website for listeners to sign a petition against the decision of BBC Radio 4 Controller Mark Damazer to axe the station's early morning sign-on music. (more)

Radio 4 ditches UK Theme
From Media Guardian. Posted January 23 2006, 4.45pm
4.45pm: BBC Radio 4 is axing its early morning UK Theme medley of patriotic songs after 33 years to make way for a new 5.30am news bulletin. By Julia Day. (more)

Jenni Murray tells Radio 4 listeners she has breast cancer
From The Independent. Posted December 31 1969, 11.59pm
The Woman's Hour programme on BBC Radio 4 was flooded with best wishes for its presenter Jenni Murray after she announced she had breast cancer. (more)

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