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BBC Radio 4 is a radio station owned and operated by the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) that broadcasts a wide variety of spoken-word programmes including news, drama, comedy, science and history. It replaced the BBC Home Service in 1967.〔(History of the BBC: 1960s )〕 The station controller is Gwyneth Williams; and the station is part of BBC Radio and the ''BBC Radio'' department. The station is broadcast from the BBC's headquarters at Broadcasting House, London. It is the second most popular domestic radio station in the UK, broadcast throughout the UK, the Isle of Man and the Channel Islands on FM, LW and DAB; and can be received in the north of France and Northern Europe. It is also available through Freeview, Sky, Virgin Media and on the Internet. Its sister station, BBC Radio 4 Extra (formerly ''BBC 7''), complements the main channel by broadcasting repeats from the Radio 4 archive, extended versions of Radio 4 programmes and supplements to series such as ''The Archers'' and ''Desert Island Discs''. It is notable for its news bulletins and programmes such as ''Today'' and ''The World at One'', heralded on air by the Greenwich Time Signal "pips" or the chimes of Big Ben. == Outline == BBC Radio 4 is the second most popular British domestic radio station by total hours, after Radio 2 – and the most popular in London and the South of England. It recorded its highest audience, of 11 million listeners, in May 2011〔(Guardian 12 May 2011 ) Retrieved 16 May 2011]〕 and was "UK Radio Station of the Year" at the 2003, 2004 and 2008 Sony Radio Academy Awards.〔(The Sony Radio Academy Awards: Winners 2004 ) 〕〔(【引用サイトリンク】title=Sony Radio Academy Awards — Winners 2008 )〕 It also won a Peabody Award in 2002 for ''File On 4: Export Controls''.〔(62nd Annual Peabody Awards ), May 2003.〕 Costing £71.4 million (2005/6),〔(【引用サイトリンク】title=BBC Annual Report and Accounts 2005/2006, page 106 )〕 it is the BBC's most expensive national radio network and is considered by many to be its flagship. There is no comparable British commercial network: Channel 4 abandoned plans to launch its own speech-based digital radio station in October 2008 as part of a £100m cost cutting review. In 2010 Gwyneth Williams〔("Gwyneth Williams appointed BBC Radio 4 controller" The Guardian 15 July 2010 ) Retrieved 15 July 2010〕 replaced Mark Damazer as Radio 4 controller. Damazer became Master of St Peter's College, Oxford. Music and sport are the only fields that largely fall outside the station's remit. It broadcasts occasional concerts, and documentaries related to various forms of both popular and classical music, and the long-running music-based ''Desert Island Discs''. Prior to the creation of BBC Radio 5 it broadcast sports-based features, notably Sport on Four, and since the creation of BBC Radio 5 Live has become the home of ball-by-ball commentaries of most Test cricket matches played by England, broadcast on long wave. As a result, for around 70 days a year listeners have to rely on FM broadcasts or increasingly DAB for mainstream Radio 4 broadcasts - the number relying solely on long wave is now a small minority. The cricket broadcasts take precedence over on-the-hour news bulletins, but not the Shipping Forecast, carried since its move to long wave in 1978 because that can be received clearly at sea. The station is the UK's national broadcaster in times of national emergency such as war, due to the wide coverage of the Droitwich signal: if all other radio stations were forced to close, it would carry on broadcasting.〔 It has been claimed that the commanders of nuclear-armed submarines believing that Britain had suffered nuclear attack were required to check if they could still receive Radio 4 on 198 long wave, and if they could not they would open sealed orders that might authorise a retaliatory strike.〔("Radio silence puts subs on nuclear alert" 28 November 2003 Manchester Evening News ) Retrieved 27 July 2010〕〔(【引用サイトリンク】author=BBC Press Office )〕 As well as news and drama, the station has a strong reputation for comedy, including experimental and alternative comedy, many successful comedians and comedy shows first appearing on the station. The station is available on FM in most of Great Britain, parts of Ireland and the north of France; LW throughout the UK and in parts of Northern Europe, and the Atlantic north of the Azores to about 20 degrees west; MW in some areas; DAB; Digital TV including Freeview, Freesat, Sky and Virgin Media; and on the Internet. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「BBC Radio 4」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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