area united kingdom frequency fm 90.2 mhz 92.6 mhz dab 12b freeview 703 freesat 703 sky uk only 0103 virgin media 903 virgin media ireland 909 first air date 30 september 1967 format classical jazz world music drama culture arts language s english audience share 1.2 % september 2015 rajar quarterly listening owner bbc webcast web stream http progressive streams worldwide stream shoutcast 128 kbps mp3 uk only stream shoutcast 320 kbps aac hls streams worldwide stream 48 kbps aac worldwide stream 96 kbps aac uk only stream 128 kbps aac uk only stream 320 kbps aac hds streams worldwide stream 48 kbps aac website www.bbc.co.uk radio3 song list bbc radio 3 is a british radio network operated by the bbc . its output centres on classical music and opera but jazz world music drama culture and the arts also feature . 1 the station is the world s most significant commissioner of new music 2 3 and through its new generation artists scheme promotes young musicians of all nationalities . 4 the station is notable for its broadcast of the bbc proms concerts live and in full each summer in addition to performances by the bbc orchestras and singers . there are regular productions of both classic plays and newly commissioned drama . radio 3 won the sony radio academy uk station of the year gold award for 2009 5 and was nominated again in 2011 . 6 contents 1 history 1.1 broadcasting in the seventies 1.2 the arts controllers 1.3 the music controllers 2 operation 3 notable programmes 3.1 choral evensong 3.2 composer of the week 3.3 record review 3.4 jazz record requests 3.5 pied piper 3.6 radio 3 live in concert 4 news broadcasts 5 performing groups 6 controllers 7 controversy 8 see also 9 references 9.1 works cited 10 external links history edit radio 3 is the successor station to the bbc third programme which began broadcasting on 29 september 1946 . 7 the name radio 3 was adopted on 30 september 1967 when the bbc launched its first pop music station radio 1 8 247 and rebranded its national radio channels as radio 1 radio 2 formerly the light programme radio 3 and radio 4 formerly the home service . radio 3 was the overall label applied to the collection of services which had until then gone under the umbrella title of the third network namely the third programme proper as launched in 1946 an evenings only offering of demanding cultural fare both musical and spoken the music programme a daytime service of classical music sports coverage chiefly on saturday afternoons and adult educational programming in the early part of weekday evenings known as network three . all these strands including the third programme kept their separate identities within radio 3 until 4 april 1970 when there was a further reorganisation following the introduction of the structural changes which had been outlined the previous year in the bbc document broadcasting in the seventies . broadcasting in the seventies edit on 10 july 1969 the bbc published its plans for radio and television in a policy document entitled broadcasting in the seventies . later described in 2002 by jenny abramsky head of radio and music as the most controversial document ever produced by radio 9 the document outlined each station s target audience and what content should be broadcast on each channel . this concept went against the earlier methods laid out by the bbc s first director general john reith and caused controversy at the time despite laying out the radio structure that is recognisable today . 10 at the time of the review radio 3 faced several problems . an early option to cut costs required under the proposals was to reduce the number of networks from four to three so that radio 3 would not broadcast during the day and would use the frequencies of either radio 1 or 2 as the two stations would merge content . however day time serious music would be the casualty of these proposals and caused some controversy . 8 249 a further rumour was expressed that radio 3 could be closed altogether as a strong statistical case existed against the station according to the guardian . 8 251 however the director general charles curran publicly denied this as quite contradictory to the aim of the bbc which is to provide a comprehensive radio service . 8 251 curran had earlier dismissed any suggestion that radio 3 s small audience was a consideration what is decisive is whether there is a worthwhile audience and i mean by worthwhile an audience which will get an enormous satisfaction out of it . 8 251 as a result of broadcasting in the seventies factual content including documentaries and current affairs were moved to bbc radio 4 and the separate titled strands were abolished . the document stated that radio 3 was to have a larger output of standard classical music but with some element in the evening of cultural speech programmes poetry plays . 8 253 equally questions were being asked by the poet peter porter about whether other spoken content for example poetry would remain on the station . these concerns also led to the composer peter maxwell davies and the music critic edward greenfield to fear that people would lose the mix of cultural experiences which expanded intellectual horizons . 11 however radio 3 controller howard newby reassured these concerns by replying that only the coverage of political and economic affairs would be passed to radio 4 radio 3 would keep drama poetry and talks by scientists philosophers and historians . 11 the broadcasting in the seventies report also proposed a large cutback in the number and size of the bbc s orchestras . in september 1969 a distinguished campaign group entitled the campaign for better broadcasting was formed to protest with the backing of sir adrian boult jonathan miller henry moore and george melly . 12 the campaign objected to the dismantling of the third programme by cutting down its spoken word content from fourteen hours a week to six and segregating programmes into classes . 13 mention of the campaign even reached debate in the house of commons . 14 the arts controllers edit from the launch until 1987 the controllers of radio 3 showed preferences towards speech and arts programming as opposed to focus on classical music and the proms . the first controller newby made little contribution to the station focusing on the transition from the third programme to radio 3 and as a result of the broadcasting in the seventies report . the second controller stephen hearst who assumed the role in 1972 was different . as hearst had previously been head of television arts features 15 his appointment was seen with scepticism among the staff who viewed him as a populariser . 8 269 according to hearst when interviewed for humphrey carpenter s book the main rival candidate for controller martin esslin head of radio drama had said to the interviewing panel that audience figures should play no part in the decision making process over programming . 8 268 hearst said he responded to the same question about this issue by commenting that as the station was financed by public money it needed to consider the size of its audience there was a minimum viable figure but this could be increased with a lively style of broadcasting 8 268 hearst attempted to make the content of the channel more accessible to a wider audience but his efforts which included the evening drivetime programme homeward bound and sunday phone in request programme your concert choice the former an uninterrupted sequence of musical items identified only at the end of the programme ; the latter a resurrection from the old home service were criticised . 8 289 296 however during this time the long running arts discussion programme critics forum was launched 8 290 as well as themed evenings and programmes of miscellaneous music including sounds interesting . 16 in 1978 ian mcintyre took over as controller of radio 3 but quickly faced uncomfortable relationships between departments . at approximately the same time aubrey singer became managing director of radio and began to make programming on the station more populist in a drive to retain listeners in face of possible competition from competitors using a streamed format . 8 304 an example of this is the replacement of homeward bound in 1980 with an extended presenter driven programme called mainly for pleasure . the same year an internal paper recommended the disbandment of several of the bbc s orchestras and of the music division resulting in low morale and industrial action by musicians that delayed the start of the proms . 8 306 307 senior management was also getting dissatisfied with listening figures leading to the director general alasdair milne to suggest that presentation style was too stodgy and old fashioned . 8 313 the music controllers edit in 1987 the positions of controller of music and controller of radio 3 were merged and with it the operation of the proms under the former music controller john drummond . drummond like hearst believed that the music programmes presentation was too stiff and formal 8 326 17 and he therefore encouraged announcers to be more natural and enthusiastic . repeats of classic drama performances by the likes of john gielgud and paul scofield were also included because in his view newer drama was gloomy and pretentious . 18 he also introduced features and celebrations of the anniversaries of famous figures including william glock michael tippett and isaiah berlin . drummond also introduced the show mixing it which targeted the music genres that fell between radios 1 and 3 often seen as a precursor to the programme late junction . during drummond s time radio 3 also began to experiment with outside broadcasts including an ambitious berlin weekend to mark the reunification of germany in 1990 and a much praised weekend of programming that was broadcast from london and minneapolis st paul creating broadcasting history by being the first time a whole weekend had been transmitted live from another continent . 8 331 however drummond complained about the former that not one single senior person in the bbc had listened to any part of it 8 331 reflecting his general feeling that the bbc senior management paid little attention stating i can t remember ever having a serious conversation with anyone above me in the bbc about radio 3 ... i would much rather have had the feeling that they thought it mattered what radio 3 did . 8 328 329 the tercentenary of henry purcell s death was marked in 1995 by the award winning radio 3 series fairest isle drummond s successor was nicholas kenyon previously chief music critic of the observer who took over in february 1992 and was immediately faced with the looming launch date for commercial competitor classic fm who were and still remain radio 3 s biggest rivals . kenyon similar to singer a decade earlier believed that radio 3 had to make changes to its presentation before the new station began broadcasting rather than react later . 8 304 339 as a result three senior producers were sent to study classical music stations in the united states 8 339 and the station hired advertising agents saatchi & saatchi to help improve public perception . kenyon s tenure was to met with much controversy in attempts to update the station s presentation popular announcers malcolm ruthven peter barker and tony scotland were axed ; drama was cut by a quarter resulting in a letter of protest to the times signed by harold pinter tom stoppard and fay weldon among others ; 8 342 two new programmes for drive time entitled on air and in tune were launched 8 341 and a new three hour programme of popular classics on sunday