1. Radio 4 Media Presentation

2. About radio 4 Radio 4 is the second most popular British domestic radio station, after Radio 2, and was named "UK Radio Station of the Year" at the 2003, 2004 and 2008 Sony Radio Academy Awards. Costing £71.4 million (2005/6), it is the BBC's most expensive national radio network and is considered by many to be the corporation's flagship. There is currently no comparable UK commercial network (nor any internationally). This situation is unlikely to change in the near future, as Channel 4 abandoned plans to launch its own speech-based digital radio station in October 2008 as part of a £100m cost cutting review.

3. The controller of Radio 4 is Mark Damazer; his successor Gwyneth Williams will take over in October 2010. The previous controller was Helen Boaden, who is now the head of BBC News. The station is available on FM (in most of the UK and the North of France), LW (throughout the UK and in parts of Northern Europe), MW (in some areas), DAB, Digital TV (including Freeview, Freesat, Sky and Virgin Media), and on the Internet.

4. Radio 4’s schedule The night-time feed from the BBC World Service ends at 05:20, with a brief introduction from the early shift continuity announcer. The five-minute Radio 4 UK Theme (composed by Fritz Spiegl) followed this for 33 years until April 2006. It was replaced by an extension to the early news bulletin, despite some public opposition and a campaign to save it. After a continuity link and programme trail there is a shipping forecast, weather reports from coastal stations for 04:00GMT and the inshore waters forecasts, followed at 05:30 by a news bulletin, a review of British and international newspapers, and a business report. On weekdays, Farming Today, which deals with news of relevance to the agricultural sector, is followed by the Today programme from 06:00 to 09:00. After the Today programme, the schedule is then determined by the day of the week, though on every weekday there are 'fixtures': Woman's Hour at 10:00, You and Yours at 12:00, The World at One and a repeat of the previous day's The Archers at 2:00 pm, followed by the Afternoon Play at 2.15 pm. At 5:00 pm another current affairs programme, PM, is broadcast. At 6:30 pm there is a regular comedy 'slot', followed by The Archers. At weekends the schedule is different, but also has its 'fixtures' at various times. On or after the hour, a news bulletin is broadcast—this is sometimes a two-minute summary, a longer piece as part of a current affairs programme, or a 30-minute broadcast on weekdays at 18:00 and midnight. At 12:00, FM has a four-minute bulletin while long wave has the headlines and then the Shipping Forecast; for the same reason, long wave leaves PM on weekdays at 17:54. There is a news programme or bulletin (depending on the day) at 22:00. The midnight news is followed on weekdays by a repeat of Book of the Week. The tune Sailing By is played until 00:48, when the late shipping forecast is broadcast. Timing is said to be difficult as the Sailing By theme must be started at a set time and faded in as the last programme ends. Radio 4 finishes with the national anthem, God Save the Queen, and the World Service takes over from 01:00 until 05:20. Timing is considered sacrosanct on the channel. Running over the hour except in special circumstances or occasional scheduled instance is unheard of, and even interrupting the Greenwich Time Signal on the hour (known as 'crashing the pips') is frowned upon.

5. Radio 4’s audience BBC Radio 4’s remit is to use the power of the spoken word to offer programmes of depth which are surprising, searching, revelatory and entertaining. The network aims to offer in-depth and thoughtful news and current affairs and seeks to engage and inspire its audience with a rich mix of factual programmes, drama, readings and comedy. Audiences to Radio 4 are slightly down, with reach at 9.6 million in 2003/2004 (9.8 million in 2002/2003). In London, the most competitive radio marketplace, the network remains top for reach and share. News and current affairs provide the spine for Radio 4 and the network has maintained its strong position in this genre. Audience research shows that six out of ten radio listeners consider BBC Radio to be the best source of radio news – and Radio 4 leads the other BBC radio stations in being considered the best provider of news. These figures were not significantly affected by the Hutton Inquiry, which stemmed from a report on Radio 4’s Today. Notable pieces of journalism include the hour-long special marking the end of the Iraq war, Edward Stourton’s series on the history and future of the UN, and the interview with ‘Witness Bromley’, the 12 year old who was the main witness at the trial of the boys accused of killing Damilola Taylor. The network continues to deliver across a broad range of genres, including drama, comedy and religion. The Archers has maintained its strong grip on its audience with storylines – sometimes controversial –that, as our recent study of impartiality indicates, fairly represent a range of contemporary rural issues.