UK people are tuning into the radio; 90 per cent of the population regularly listen to the radio and this figure is steadily growing.

Practically every UK home has a radio, and widespread ownership of portable sets (including personal stereos) and car radios means people can listen all day - and right through the night.

In recent years, there has been a proliferation of local and national radio stations, with a wide choice of programmes on offer. UK domestic radio services are broadcast principally across two wavebands - FM (or VHP) and Medium Wave (often referred to as AM, although that term also includes Long and Short Waves). With the expansion in the number of services set to continue as a result of digital and internet-based platforms, radio is now the most competitive area of the broadcasting marketplace.

BBC Network Radio

BBC Network Radio, broadcasting to the whole of the UK, serves an audience of 31 million each week, transmitting 43,000 hours of programmes each year on its five networks:

• BBC Radio 1 is a leading contemporary music station (24 hours a day), reaching over 50 per cent of 15- to 24-year-olds. It plays top-selling, new and specialist music, covers live performances, and broadcasts music documentaries and news programmes. In the period April-June 2001, the network attracted 11.25 million listeners a week over the age of 15;
• BBC Radio 2 is a round-the-clock music and speech station that has broadened its output in recent years to attract younger audiences. As a result, it is now the most listened to radio station in the UK, reaching 11.7 million listeners a week who, on average, stay with Radio 2 for 13 hours a week. In addition to a staple diet of folk, country, gospel and rhythm & blues, the network now airs pop, reggae and punk music;
• BBC Radio 3 offers a wide repertoire of classical music and jazz. Like Radio 2, it has broadened its appeal, adding a programme called Late Junction that offers an esoteric range of music not traditionally associated with the network. More than half of the network's musical output is performed live or is specially recorded. This is complemented by drama, documentaries, discussion and children's programmes to make up a 24 hours a day service listened to by 2 million people each week;
• BBC Radio 4's schedule (broadcast with some differences on FM and Long Wave) has undergone the most radical changes of all the BBC's national networks in the pursuit of larger audiences - and now attracts a total of 9.2 million listeners a week. Nevertheless, it has retained its commitment to news and current affairs, complemented by drama, comedy, science, the arts, religion, natural history, medicine, finance and gardening. In 2001, Radio 4 devoted an entire day to the reading of JK Rowling's Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone - a scheduling decision that attracted 3.4 million listeners, of which 1.5 million were children. Radio 4 also carries a range of programming, including its popular Test Match cricket coverage on the LW frequency;
• Radio 5 Live has been in existence since 1994. It has news and sports coverage 24 hours a day, and reaches 5.4 million listeners a week. It broadcasts live English Premier League football and Formula One motor racing as well as hard-hitting journalism on serious topical issues such as homelessness and race.

Radio usage over the internet is proving to be a popular service. The BBC's five network websites attract over 24 million visits a month. All of them offer live streaming, webcams, and a catch-up service for people who miss programmes.

BBC Regional and Local Radio

There are 39 BBC Local Radio services serving England and the Channel Islands, and national regional radio services in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, including Welsh and Gaelic language stations.

The national regions provide radio services on Radio Wales, Radio Cymru (the Welsh language service), Radio Scotland and Radio Ulster. Radio Nan Caidheal is a Gaelic language service in Scotland. English local radio transmitted 200,000-250,000 hours of programmes in 2000-01, with a weekly audience of about 8 million.

BBC Local Radio - predominantly speech rather than music-based - supplies a comprehensive service of local news and information (including frequent traffic reports and details of local events), sport, documentaries and phone-ins. Some local stations, like BBC GLR in London, transmit programmes specifically for Afro-Caribbean or Asian listeners.

In November 1996, the BBC launched the Asian Network: the first full-time BBC domestic service specifically dedicated to minority ethnic listeners. The Asian Network started life as a Midlands service in 1996, but is now offered in Yorkshire, Lancashire and Derbyshire as well as via digital satellite and the internet. The service offers news, features, music, entertainment, religious and cultural programming for people of Asian background. The BBC is proposing to develop it as a nationwide digital radio service.

BBC World Service

The BBC World Service broadcasts by radio in 43 languages (including English) worldwide. It has a global weekly audience of over 150 million listeners - bigger than any other international radio broadcaster - and this excludes an estimate for listeners in countries where it is difficult to survey audiences. In addition, the BBC's investment in the internet means that the World Service website now gets over 100 million page impressions a month.

The World Service's core programming of news, current affairs, business and sport is complemented by a range of cultural programmes, including drama, literature and music. The relationship between the BBC and the Foreign & Commonwealth Office (FCO) is governed by a Broadcasting Agreement and Financial Memorandum, which requires a regular cycle of business meetings. These encompass discussions about languages, audiences and priorities. The BBC has sole editorial control.