Timeline of BBC Radio 3

A timeline of notable events relating to BBC Radio 3, a British national radio station which began broadcasting in September 1967.

1960s

• 1967
  • 30 September – BBC Radio 3 launches at 8 am, replacing the BBC Third Programme.

• 1968
  • No events.

• 1969
  • No events.

1970s

• 1970
  • 4 April – BBC Radio's sports coverage transfers from Radio 3 to BBC Radio 2 although cricket commentary continues to be broadcast on Radio 3. Also transferring away from Radio 3 is other factual programming, moving mostly to BBC Radio 4. Consequently, the station now focuses on classical music, the performing arts and adult education.
  • 8 April – Choral Evensong is broadcast on Radio 3 for the first time. It had previously been aired on Radio 4. Initially it is only broadcast once a month but following the receipt of 2,500 letters of complaint, weekly transmissions resume on 1 July.[1]

• 1971
  • August – Pied Piper, a programme aimed at primary school children, is broadcast for the first time.

• 1972
  • 1 January – Stephen Hearst replaces Howard Newby as Controller.
  • 19 July – Homeward Bound, a new 20-minute teatime programme, is launched.[2]
  • 21 July – The station extends its broadcasting hours by 25 minutes, closing down at midnight instead of 11.35pm.

• 1973
  • 1 January – Homeward Bound is doubled in length and now broadcasts in two 20-minute segments with a five-minute break for the teatime news bulletin.

• 1974
  • From this year, cricket commentary is broadcast only on MW, thereby allowing Radio 3's usual music schedule to continue on VHF.

• 1975
  • 29 September – Radio 3's weeknight teatime adult education slot Study on 3 is renamed Lifelines.

• 1976
  • May – The final edition of Pied Piper is broadcast due to the death of the programme's presenter David Munroe.

• 1977
  • No events.

• 1978
  • 29 September – Adult education slot Lifelines is broadcast for the final time, bringing to an end Radio 3's non-Open University adult educational output.
  • 2 October – For the first time, Radio 3 broadcasts a music programme on weeknights at 6.30pm when it launches At Home. However, the programme is only broadcast on MW as the station continues to broadcast Open University programmes on VHF.
  • 23 November – Radio 3 moves from 464m (647 kHz) to 247m (1215 kHz) medium wave as part of a plan to improve national AM reception, and to conform with the Geneva Frequency Plan of 1975.[3]
  • 22 December – Industrial action at the BBC by the ABS union, which started the previous day, extends to radio when the radio unions join their television counterparts by going on strike, forcing the BBC to merge its four national radio networks into one national radio station from 4.00pm and called it the BBC All Network Radio Service. The strike is settled shortly before 10.00pm on Friday 22 December 1978, with the unions and BBC management reaching an agreement at the British government's industrial disputes arbitration service ACAS.[4][5][6][7]

• 1979
  • Ian McIntyre replaces Stephen Hearst as Controller.

1980s

• 1980
  • 2 January – Radio 3 launches a new, extended teatime programme Mainly for Pleasure. The two-hour long programme replaces the much shorter Homeward Bound.[8]
  • 3 May – Financial cutbacks at Radio 3 result in the station closing down 45 minutes earlier, at 11.15pm instead of midnight.
  • 15 October – Open University programmes are broadcast on weekday teatimes for the final time. Consequently, from the following day, Mainly for Pleasure, and the full Radio 3 schedule, is heard in full on VHF all the year round for the first time.

• 1981
  • February – The new Open University year sees OU transmissions on Radio 3 moved to late at night and early in the morning and are broadcast prior to, and after the end of, the stations' daily output. The programmes continue to be broadcast only on VHF.
  • 24 September – John Lade presents Record Review for the final time. His last broadcast is the programme's 1,000th edition.[9] Paul Vaughan takes over the programme the following week.

• 1982
  • No events.

• 1983
  • No events.

• 1984
  • 13 October – Radio 3's broadcast hours are extended. The station regains the 45 minutes of late night broadcasting time that it lost in 1980, closing down at midnight instead of just after 11.15pm, and weekend broadcasts begin an hour earlier, at 6.55am rather than 7.55am. Consequently, the station is now on air from 6.55am until midnight seven days a week.

• 1985
  • No events.

• 1986
  • No events.

• 1987
  • John Drummond replaces Ian McIntyre as Controller.
  • 9 February – The 9am and 5pm news bulletins are replaced by a ten-minute bulletin from the BBC World Service. The bulletins are titled World Service News.

• 1988
  • 15 January – The final World Service News bulletins are broadcast.
  • 16 January –
    • Record Review is relaunched as Saturday Review. Instead of a one-hour programme, the expanded programme, which now incorporates Record Review, is broadcast throughout the morning, between 9.30am and 1pm.
    • The weekend morning news bulletins are rescheduled and instead of three on the air bulletins, the station now broadcasts two bulletins, at 7.30am and 8.30am.
    • A new 15-minute preview programme, The Week on 3, is broadcast for the first time.
  • 18 January – This Week's Composer is renamed Composer of the Week.[10]

• 1989
  • No events.

1990s

• 1990
  • 24 September – Radio 3's Night School opens. It airs a repeat of the schools programmes broadcast the previous morning on BBC Radio 5. This allows schools to record an FM-quality transmission of the programmes which, following their transfer from Radio 4 to Radio 5, resulting in the morning broadcast now being heard on the inferior MW waveband. Night School is broadcast on FM only.
  • 1 October –
    • Radio 3 stays on air for an extra 30 minutes on weeknights, ending broadcasting at 12.35am. The station continues to close at midnight at the weekend.
    • Experimental music programme Mixing It is launched, initially broadcasting once a fortnight.

• 1991
  • No events.

• 1992
  • February – Nicholas Kenyon replaces John Drummond as Controller.
  • 29 February – Radio 3 stops broadcasting on MW. Its frequency is to be used by a new national commercial station.
  • 20 May – Ball-by-ball cricket commentary moves to Radio 3's FM frequencies for the summer following the switching-off of the station's MW frequency.
  • 13 July – In a bid to counter-act the forthcoming launch of Classic FM, Radio 3 makes major changes to its programmes, including the launch of new weekday breakfast and drivetime programmes. On Air replaces Morning Concert and In Tune replaces Mainly for Pleasure.
  • 17 July – A new three-hour Sunday morning show of popular classics launches, introduced by Brian Kay.

• 1993
  • Verity Sharp joins.
  • May – The broadcasting arrangements for Test Match Special are changed for the 1993 cricket season. The morning play is on BBC Radio 5, switching to BBC Radio 3 for the afternoon session.
  • 23 August – Cricket is broadcast on Radio 3 for the final time.
  • 26 September – Radio 3 launches a new Sunday breakfast programme Sacred and Profane, presented by Penny Gore.[11]

• 1994
  • 19 September – BBC School Radio moves to Radio 3 and is transmitted for one hour at 14:00.

• 1995
  • 15 April – Weekly discussion programme Private Passions is broadcast for the first time.
  • 27 September – Radio 3 begins to broadcast digitally following the commencement by the BBC of regular Digital Audio Broadcasting, from the Crystal Palace transmitting station.[12]
  • 9 October –
    • Radio 3 begins broadcasting an hour earlier on weekdays – at 6am – when breakfast show On Air is extended from two hours to three hours.[13]
    • Paul Gambaccini joins to present a new morning programme called Morning Collection. Consequently, This Week's Composer moves to the later time of 12noon.

• 1996
  • 4 May – Radio 3 commences 24-hour transmission.[14]
  • June – Schools programmes are broadcast during the day for the final time although they continue to be broadcast overnight until 2003.
  • 27 September – Paul Gambaccini leaves. He is replaced as presenter of Morning Collection by Catriona Young.
  • 29 September – Open University programmes are broadcast on Radio 3 for the final time.

• 1997
  • No events.

• 1998
  • Roger Wright replaces Nicholas Kenyon as station Controller.
  • 29 March – Sunday breakfast programme Sacred and Profane is broadcast for the final time.[15]
  • 4 April – Breakfast programme On Air extends to weekends.[16]
  • 12 September – Record Review is renamed CD Review.[17]

• 1999
  • 11 September – Breakfast programme On Air is renamed Morning on 3.[18]
  • 13 September – Late Junction is broadcast for the first time.[19]

2000s

• 2000
  • July – Radio 3 hires Andy Kershaw to host a world music programme, as Andy himself joins the station.[20] two months after BBC Radio 1 axed his world music show.[21]
  • Rob Cowan joins.

• 2001
  • No events.

• 2002
  • No events.

• 2003
  • No events.

• 2004
  • No events.

• 2005
  • 5–10 June – Radio 3 clears its airwaves for almost an entire week to broadcast the music of a single composer – Ludwig van Beethoven.[22] This is followed up at the end of the year with ten days of non-stop Johann Sebastian Bach which is broadcast in the run-up to Christmas.[23]

• 2006
  • 8 January - Aled Jones joins.
  • Radio 3 launches an annual Free Thinking Festival. Its aim is to create a platform for innovative thinking and debate on ideas relevant to contemporary society.

• 2007
  • 9 February – Mixing It is broadcast on Radio 3 for the final time. It is revived later in 2007 by community station Resonance FM.
  • 17 February – Radio 3 makes major changes to its schedule. These include Rob Cowan replacing Penny Gore as breakfast presenter and an extended weekday afternoon show which will run from 2pm until the start of In Tune at 5pm. The programmes previously broadcast at 4pm will be axed with one of those – Choral Evensong – moving to Sunday afternoons. The changes also see a reduction in the number of live concerts with live broadcasts replaced by pre-recorded concerts.[24]

• 2008
  • September – Following protests,[25] the live broadcast of Choral Evensong returns to Wednesdays with a recorded repeat broadcast at the same time of day - 4pm - on Sundays.

• 2009
  • No events.

2010s

• 2010
  • No events.

• 2011
  • 3 May – Radio 3 resumes the broadcasting of regular live concerts. This overturns the much criticised 2007 decision to replace almost all of its live broadcasts with pre-recorded concerts.[26]

• 2012
  • 16 May – Spending cuts approved by the BBC Trust will see Radio 3 have "25 per cent fewer live and specially recorded lunchtime concerts".[27]

• 2013
  • 27 January – Aled Jones hosts his last The Choir programme, and leaves the station to rejoin Classic FM and BBC Radio Wales.
  • 28 September – Radio 3 announces a raft of new weekend programmes. They include a new concert series Live in Concert, a new film music programme called Sound of Cinema, a chance to hear highlights of the weekday lunchtime concerts, consistent times for the station's jazz programming and a new Monday night slot for Opera on 3.[28]
  • 15 November – Sara Mohr-Pietsch presents Radio 3 Breakfast for the final time. She leaves the show to become presenter of Radio 3's Wigmore Hall lunchtime concerts and to present Sunday afternoon programme The Choir, replacing Aled Jones. She is replaced on 2 December by weekend breakfast presenter Clemency Burton-Hill.[29]

• 2014
  • 7 January – Arts discussion programme Night Waves is relaunched as Free Thinking.

• 2015
  • January – Alan Davey replaces Roger Wright as Controller.[30]
  • 5 April – Controller Alan Davey announces plans to revive Pied Piper, the 1970s series that introduced young listeners to classical music.[31]
  • 12–15 November – Radio 3 joins with commercial station Jazz FM to operate a four-day pop-up station called BBC Music Jazz.[32] The station returned a year later, running from Thursday November 10, 2016 at 10 am until Monday November 14 at 10 am.[33]

• 2016
  • 2 January – After 17 years as CD Review, the programme reverts to its original name of Record Review.

• 2017
  • 2 October – Katie Derham joins the In Tune presenting team to replace Suzy Klein who moves to morning programme Essential Classics.[34]

• 2018
  • January – Rob Cowan leaves the station to rejoin Classic FM after 17 years of broadcasting at the station. He is replaced as presenter of Essential Classics by Ian Skelly.[35]
  • 24 March – Controller Alan Davey announces a raft of new programmes, including a new world music show called Music Planet which will replace World on 3 and a new weeknight late show called After Dark.[36]
  • 24 October – FM coverage in Wales is reduced after Radio 3's frequency at more than 30 relay transmitters is reallocated to BBC Radio Wales.[37]

References

1. Humphrey Carpenter (1996). The Envy of the World: Fifty Years of the BBC Third Programme and Radio 3, 1946-1996. Weidenfeld & Nicolson. pp. 262–263. ISBN 978-0-297-81830-4.
2. BBC Genome Project - Radio 3 19 July 1972
3. "History of Radio Transmission in the UK" (PDF). Frequency Finder.
4. Walmsley, Andy (May 30, 2011). "Random radio jottings: BBC All Network Service".
5. Borgwick, Boggenstrovia Van (December 27, 2013). "Boggenstrovia's Bit: The Christmas that Nearly wasn't – The BBC Strike of December 1978 and Christmas Television of that year (2015 Update)".
6. "You can't touch me, I'm part of the union – Politics – Transdiffusion Broadcasting System". www.transdiffusion.org.
7. "TV Cream". tv.cream.org.
8. "BBC Radio 3 – 2 January 1980 – BBC Genome". genome.ch.bbc.co.uk.
9. "BBC Radio 3 – 24 October 1981 – BBC Genome". genome.ch.bbc.co.uk.
10. Ben Lawrence, In praise of Composer of the Week, Daily Telegraph 2 August 2013
11. "BBC Radio 3 – 26 September 1993 – BBC Genome". genome.ch.bbc.co.uk.
12. Williams, Rhys (28 September 1995). "BBC switches on CD-quality radio". The Independent. Independent Print Limited. Retrieved 3 May 2019.
13. "BBC Radio 3 – 9 October 1995 – BBC Genome". genome.ch.bbc.co.uk.
14. "BBC Radio 3 – 4 May 1996 – BBC Genome". genome.ch.bbc.co.uk.
15. "BBC Radio 3 – 29 March 1998 – BBC Genome". genome.ch.bbc.co.uk.
16. "BBC Radio 3 – 4 April 1998 – BBC Genome". genome.ch.bbc.co.uk.
17. "CD Review – BBC Radio 3 – 12 September 1998". BBC Genome. BBC/Radio Times. Retrieved 26 November 2016.
18. "BBC Radio 3 – 11 September 1999 – BBC Genome". genome.ch.bbc.co.uk.
19. "BBC Radio 3 – 13 September 1999 – BBC Genome". genome.ch.bbc.co.uk.
20. Gibbons, Fiachra; correspondent, arts (July 14, 2000). "Radio 3 snaps up Kershaw, late-night DJ cast aside by Radio 1" – via www.theguardian.com.
21. Thorpe, Vanessa (May 28, 2000). "BBC under fire for teen bias after DJ is axed" – via www.theguardian.com.
22. Higgins, Charlotte; correspondent, arts (December 17, 2004). "Radio 3 clears the air for Beethoven" – via www.theguardian.com.
23. Staff, Guardian (December 12, 2005). "Christmas with Bach" – via www.theguardian.com.
24. Dowell, Ben (December 21, 2006). "Radio 3 gets schedule shakeup" – via www.theguardian.com.
25. "Protests at move for radio evensong". Church Times, 17 November 2006. Retrieved 3 November 2008.
26. Higgins, Charlotte; writer, chief arts (February 17, 2011). "Radio 3 rolls back the years with a return to broadcasting live concerts" – via www.theguardian.com.
27. "Children's shows to leave BBC One". BBC News. BBC. 16 May 2012. Retrieved 14 July 2018.
28. "BBC – Radio 3 launches new weekend schedule – Media Centre". www.bbc.co.uk.
29. "BBC – Radio 3 announces presenter changes – Media Centre". www.bbc.co.uk.
30. "BBC – Alan Davey named new Controller of Radio 3 – Media Centre". www.bbc.co.uk.
31. "Radio 3 boss to recreate Pied Piper series". BBC News. BBC. 5 April 2015. Retrieved 5 April 2015.
32. "BBC – BBC Radio to launch temporary Jazz Pop-up digital radio station with Jazz FM and The EFG London Jazz Festival – Media Centre". www.bbc.co.uk.
33. "BBC Music Jazz – BBC Music Jazz". BBC.
34. "BBC – Katie Derham to join Sean Rafferty as presenter on BBC Radio 3's Drivetime Show – InTune – Media Centre". www.bbc.co.uk.
35. "BBC – Ian Skelly to join Suzy Klein on Essential Classics – Media Centre". www.bbc.co.uk.
36. "BBC – BBC Radio 3 announce new After Dark zone, refreshed weekend programmes and new presenter line-up – Media Centre". www.bbc.co.uk.
37. "BBC – Major FM boost for BBC Radio Wales – Media Centre". www.bbc.co.uk.