BBC Radio 4 Extra facts for kids

Quick facts for kids
BBC Radio 4 Extra

Logo used since 2022
London
Broadcast area	United Kingdom and Internationally via Satellite and BBC Sounds
Frequency	DAB: 12B BBC National DAB Freesat: 708 Freeview: 708 Sky (UK only): 0126 Virgin Media: 910 Virgin Media Ireland: 929
Programming
Language(s)	English
Format	Comedy Drama Entertainment
Ownership
Owner	BBC
Sister stations	BBC Radio 4
History
First air date	15 December 2002; 22 years ago (2002-12-15) (as BBC 7) 2 April 2011; 14 years ago (2011-04-02) (as BBC Radio 4 Extra)
Former names	BBC 7 (2002–2008) BBC Radio 7 (2008–2011)
Links
Webcast	BBC Sounds

BBC Radio 4 Extra is a special digital radio station from the BBC in the UK. It plays old radio shows, including funny comedies, exciting dramas, and interesting documentaries, all day, every day. It's like a younger sibling to BBC Radio 4 and is the main place to hear shows from the BBC's huge collection of spoken-word recordings. Most of its programmes come from this amazing archive. It also broadcasts longer versions of shows from Radio 4 and helps you catch up on programmes you might have missed.

The station first started in December 2002 as BBC 7. Back then, it played a mix of old comedy and drama, plus radio shows for children. In 2008, it changed its name to BBC Radio 7. Then, in April 2011, it became BBC Radio 4 Extra. Many people listen to it! In early 2013, about 1.6 million people tuned in each week. By late 2016, this grew to over 2.1 million listeners weekly. As of December 2022, about 1.7 million people listen every week.

History of the Station

Former logos for BBC 7 (2002) and BBC Radio 7 (2008). Both had a smiling face!

How BBC 7 Started

The station first launched as BBC 7 on December 15, 2002. A famous comedian named Paul Merton helped start it. The very first show was broadcast at 8 PM and was also played on Radio 4 at the same time. While it was being developed, the station was secretly called 'Network Z'. It was named BBC 7 because you could listen to it on the internet, digital TV, and regular digital radio. Most of the shows were older comedies and dramas, meaning they were at least three years old or had been played twice before on their original station.

BBC 7 also had a special section just for children's programmes. This part of the station played many different shows. These included The Little Toe Radio Show (which later became CBeebies Radio) for younger kids, with short stories and rhymes. For older children (aged 8 and up), there was The Big Toe Radio Show and Arthur Storey and the Department of Historical Correction. These shows had phone-ins, quizzes, and stories. This children's section even had the only news programme on the station, presented by the Newsround team.

The station won an award in 2003 for its sound. It was also nominated for other awards in 2004 and 2005. Because the station mainly played old shows, only 17 people worked to plan, produce, and research the programmes, not including the people who presented them.

On October 4, 2008, the station changed its name to BBC Radio 7. This was done to make its name fit better with other BBC Radio stations. It also got a new logo at this time.

During this time, Radio 7 gained more listeners. In 2010, its audience grew by 9.5% each year. It went from 931,000 listeners to 949,000 in just three months. This made it the second most listened-to BBC digital radio station back then. However, fewer children aged 4 to 14 were listening, so in 2011, the BBC decided to reduce the hours dedicated to children's shows.

Becoming BBC Radio 4 Extra

The first BBC Radio 4 Extra logo, used in 2011.

The BBC announced in March 2010 that they wanted to change the station again. After asking the public what they thought, the BBC's main group, the BBC Trust, approved the idea in February 2011. So, the station relaunched as BBC Radio 4 Extra on Saturday, April 2, 2011. The new station still had many of the same types of shows. But it also added new programmes that connected it more closely to Radio 4. Many of these were longer versions of popular Radio 4 shows, or spin-offs from them.

In May 2022, the BBC announced plans to eventually stop broadcasting Radio 4 Extra as a traditional radio station. Instead, they plan to focus more on BBC Sounds, which is their online platform for listening to radio and podcasts.

How to Listen

BBC Radio 4 Extra is broadcast from Broadcasting House in central London.

BBC Radio 4 Extra broadcasts from Broadcasting House in central London. Because most of the shows are pre-recorded from the BBC's archive, very few programmes are actually broadcast live from there. Even the people who introduce the shows (called continuity announcers) record their parts beforehand. There are ten different announcers who link between programmes. Some well-known announcers include Wes Butters, Kathy Clugston, and Susan Rae.

You can listen to the station all over the UK on digital radio (DAB). You can also listen online using BBC Sounds and other services like Radioplayer. It's also available on many digital television platforms, such as Freeview, Virgin Media, Freesat, and Sky.

The person in charge of the station is Gwyneth Williams. BBC Radio 4 Extra broadcasts in stereo on TV and online. However, many of the older shows from the archive were originally recorded in mono (single channel sound). On DAB digital radio, all programmes are broadcast in mono to save space.

What's On?

Even though the current station is a new version of Radio 7, it still plays a similar mix of old shows. However, the content is now more connected to BBC Radio 4. New additions include longer versions of popular programmes like The News Quiz and Desert Island Discs. They also play old episodes of Desert Island Discs called Desert Island Discs Revisited. In the past, it also had Ambridge Extra, which was a more youth-focused version of the long-running radio soap The Archers, and a longer version of The Now Show.

Some programmes are grouped together into special blocks. The late-night Comedy Club plays "two hours of contemporary comedy" most nights of the week. It is mainly hosted by Arthur Smith. This comedy block has been around since the Radio 7 days.

Drama is also a big part of the schedule, especially in a section called The 7th Dimension. This long-running segment, which also came from Radio 7, plays speculative fiction, science fiction, fantasy, and horror stories. It's presented by Nicholas Briggs. This section includes Doctor Who audio dramas starring Paul McGann as the Eighth Doctor. It also plays shows from other countries, like the American programmes The Twilight Zone and Garrison Keillor's Radio Show, and Vinyl Cafe from Canada. The 7th Dimension used to be on every day, but now it's only on weekends.

Archive Shows

A lot of the station's schedule is made up of repeats of classic comedy and drama shows. The shows go all the way back to The Goon Show from the 1950s and Round the Horne from the 1960s. It also plays favourites from BBC Radio 2 like The News Huddlines and Listen to Les. More recent shows from BBC Radio 4 like Little Britain and Dead Ringers are also played. Some of these old shows are newly found, like copies of Dick Barton Special Agent that were made for other countries, and early episodes of The Goon Show.

Original Programmes

The station has also broadcast some brand new shows. Newsjack is a comedy sketch show about current news that lets listeners send in their own ideas. Spanking New on Seven featured stand-up comedy, and the BBC New Comedy Competition was a contest for new comedians. Some comedians who won or were featured later got their own series on Radio 7.

The Mitch Benn Music Show featured funny songs introduced by Mitch Benn. Colin and Fergus' Digi Radio was a comedy sketch show that ran for two series. Serious About Comedy was a weekly show where comedians and critics talked about comedy on TV, radio, and in films. Tilt was a funny, satirical look at the week's news from different viewpoints. Knocker was a sitcom about a market researcher.

Original Radio 7 Programmes

While most shows on Radio 7 were repeats, some were brand new, including:

Original Radio 4 Extra Programmes

These are some of the new shows made especially for Radio 4 Extra:

See also

In Spanish: BBC Radio 4 Extra para niños

• List of BBC radio stations

Images for kids

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  BBC Radio 4 Extra is broadcast from Broadcasting House in central London.