BBC Radio 4 Extra (formerly BBC Radio 7) is a British

digital Digital usually refers to something using discrete digits, often binary digits. Technology and computing Hardware *Digital electronics, electronic circuits which operate using digital signals ** Digital camera, which captures and stores digital ...

radio station Radio broadcasting is transmission of audio (sound), sometimes with related metadata, by radio waves to radio receivers belonging to a public audience. In terrestrial radio broadcasting the radio waves are broadcast by a land-based radio ...

from the BBC, broadcasting archived repeats of

comedy Comedy is a genre of fiction that consists of discourses or works intended to be humorous or amusing by inducing laughter, especially in theatre, film, stand-up comedy, television, radio, books, or any other entertainment medium. The term o ...

drama Drama is the specific mode of fiction represented in performance: a play, opera, mime, ballet, etc., performed in a theatre, or on radio or television.Elam (1980, 98). Considered as a genre of poetry in general, the dramatic mode has b ...

and documentary programmes nationally, 24 hours a day. It is the sister station of

BBC Radio 4 BBC Radio 4 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC that replaced the BBC Home Service in 1967. It broadcasts a wide variety of spoken-word programmes, including news, drama, comedy, science and history from the BBC's ...

and the principal broadcaster of the BBC's spoken-word archive, and as a result the majority of its programming originates from that archive. It also broadcasts extended and companion programmes to those broadcast on Radio 4, and provides a "catch-up" service for certain programmes. The station launched in December 2002 as BBC 7, broadcasting a mix of archive comedy, drama and current children's radio. The station was renamed BBC Radio 7 in 2008, then relaunched as Radio 4 Extra in April 2011. For the first quarter of 2013, Radio 4 Extra had a weekly audience of 1.642 million people and had a market share of 0.95%; in the last quarter of 2016 the numbers were 2.184 million listeners and 1.2% of market share. According to

RAJAR Radio Joint Audience Research Limited (RAJAR) was established in 1992 to operate a single audience measurement system for the radio industry in the United Kingdom. RAJAR is jointly owned by the BBC and RadioCentre. RAJAR's predecessor was call ...

, the station broadcasts to a weekly audience of 1.7 million with a listening share of 1.4% as of September 2022.

History

BBC 7

The station was initially launched as BBC 7 on 15 December 2002 by comedian

Paul Merton Paul James Martin (born 9 July 1957), known under the stage name Paul Merton, is an English writer, actor, comedian and radio and television presenter. Known for his improvisation skill, Merton's humour is rooted in deadpan, surreal and somet ...

. The first programme was broadcast at 8pm and was simulcast with Radio 4. The station, referred to by the codename 'Network Z' while in development, was so named to reflect the station's presence on the internet and on digital television in addition to radio. The station broadcast mostly archived comedy and drama, in that the programme was either three or more years old or had been broadcast twice on their original station. The station also broadcast a themed section for Children's programmes. This section carried a variety of programmes, including ''The Little Toe Radio Show'' (later renamed '' CBeebies Radio''), aimed at younger children and consisting of short serials, stories and rhymes, and '' The Big Toe Radio Show'' and '' Arthur Storey and the Department of Historical Correction'' with phone-ins, quizzes and stories for the 8+ age group. The segment also hosted the only news programme on the network presented by the ''

Newsround ''Newsround'' (stylised as ''newsround'', and originally called ''John Craven's Newsround'' before his departure in 1989) is a BBC children's news programme, which has run continuously since 4 April 1972. It was one of the world's first tele ...

'' team. The station won the

Sony Radio Academy Award The Radio Academy Awards, started in 1983, were the most prestigious awards in the British radio industry. For most of their existence, they were run by ZAFER Associates, but in latter years were brought under the control of The Radio Academy ...

for station sound in 2003, was nominated for the Promo Award in 2004, and in 2005 received a silver for the Short-Form award, plus nominations in the speech and digital terrestrial station-of-the-year sections. Because of the station's archive nature the station was scheduled, produced and researched by 17 people, excluding presenters. The station was renamed on 4 October 2008 as BBC Radio 7 in an effort to bring it in line with other BBC Radio brands. It also coincided with the introduction of a new network logo for the station. During this later period, Radio 7 saw growth in its audience, with a growth rate of 9.5% annually in 2010, going from 931,000 listeners in the first quarter of that year to 949,000 a quarter later, making it the second most listened to BBC digital radio station at the time. However, despite this growth, the audience of children between 4 and 14 was reported to be only at 25,000 and in February 2011 the

BBC Trust The BBC Trust was the governing body of the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) between 2007 and 2017. It was operationally independent of BBC management and external bodies, and its stated aim was to make decisions in the best interests of ...

approved a reduction in hours dedicated to children from 1,400 to 350.

BBC Radio 4 Extra

The BBC announced their intention to relaunch the station on 2 March 2010 and following a public consultation, the proposal was approved by the corporation's governing body the

in February 2011. As a result, the station relaunched as BBC Radio 4 Extra on Saturday 2 April 2011. The relaunched station contained much of the same mix of programming with some new additions that reflected the new alignment with Radio 4, many of which were extended, archive or spin offs of flagship Radio 4 programmes. On 26 May 2022, as part of planned cuts and streamlining with a greater focus on digital, the BBC announced plans to discontinue Radio 4 Extra as a broadcast station. It will be supplanted by

BBC Sounds BBC Sounds is a walled garden streaming media and audio download service from the BBC that includes live radio broadcasts, audio on demand, and podcasts. The service is available on a wide range of devices, including mobile phones and tabl ...

Broadcast

BBC Radio 4 Extra is broadcast from Broadcasting House in central London, although due to the nature of the channel very little of the channel's content is broadcast live from there with even the continuity announcements being pre-recorded. The channel uses ten continuity announcers to link between programmes. Notable announcers include

Wes Butters Wesley Paul Butters (born 4 May 1979, in Salford), is a radio broadcaster, formerly of BBC Radio 1, and writer. Early life Butters attended Buile Hill High School in Pendleton, Salford, and studied at the University of Salford between 1995 a ...

Kathy Clugston Kathy Clugston (born 22 August 1969) is a Northern Irish presenter, newsreader and continuity announcer on BBC Radio 4, BBC Radio 4 Extra and the BBC World Service. Born in Belfast, Clugston attended Methodist College and then studied French ...

Jim Lee Jim Lee (Korean 이용철; born August 11, 1964) is a Korean American comic-book artist, writer, editor, and publisher. He is currently the Publisher and Chief Creative Officer of DC Comics. In recognition of his work, Lee has received a Harvey ...

David Miles David Kenneth Miles (born 1959) is a British economist. Born in Swansea, he has spent his working life in London, in teaching, business and the public sector. He is a professor at Imperial College London, and was Chief UK Economist of Morgan ...

, Susan Rae,

Alex Riley Kevin Robert Kiley Jr. (born April 28, 1981) is an American professional wrestler and commentator best known for his time with WWE under the ring name Alex Riley. He was a participant in the second season of ''NXT''. Professional wrestling ...

, Alan Smith, Chris Berrow and Steve Urquhart. Previous presenters, including those presenting Radio 7, include Zeb Soanes, Penny Haslam, Helen Aitken, Rory Morrison and Michaela Saunders. The station is broadcast nationally on

digital radio Digital radio is the use of digital technology to transmit or receive across the radio spectrum. Digital transmission by radio waves includes digital broadcasting, and especially digital audio radio services. Types In digital broadcasting s ...

via the

BBC National DAB BBC National DAB is a digital audio broadcasting multiplex in the UK, for a number of radio stations which have UK wide coverage. The multiplex is owned and operated by the BBC and is transmitted from a number of transmitter sites across the c ...

multiplexand online via

and other services such as Radioplayer. It is also available on a number of digital television platforms;

Freeview Freeview may refer to: *Freeview (Australia), the marketing name for the digital terrestrial television platform in Australia *Freeview (New Zealand), a digital satellite and digital terrestrial television platform in New Zealand *Freeview (UK), a ...

Virgin Media Virgin Media is a British telecommunications company which provides telephone, television and internet services in the United Kingdom. Its headquarters are at Green Park in Reading, England. It is owned by Virgin Media O2, a 50:50 joint ventu ...

Freesat Freesat is a British free-to-air satellite television service, first formed as a joint venture between the BBC and ITV plc and now owned by Digital UK. The service was formed as a memorandum in 2007 and has been marketed since 6 May 2008. Free ...

and Sky. The controller of the station is

Gwyneth Williams Gwyneth Williams (born 14 July 1953) is a former controller of BBC Radio 4. She grew up in South Africa and attended St Hugh's College, Oxford. Earlier career Williams joined the BBC World Service in 1976 as a trainee, having briefly worked as r ...

who is answerable to the Radio board in the BBC. BBC Radio 4 Extra is broadcast in

stereo Stereophonic sound, or more commonly stereo, is a method of sound reproduction that recreates a multi-directional, 3-dimensional audible perspective. This is usually achieved by using two independent audio channels through a configuration ...

on television and online, although many of the older archive programmes were only recorded in

mono Mono may refer to: Common meanings * Infectious mononucleosis, "the kissing disease" * Monaural, monophonic sound reproduction, often shortened to mono * Mono-, a numerical prefix representing anything single Music Performers * Mono (Japanes ...

. On DAB, all programmes are broadcast in mono, as the maximum bit rate is only 80kbps.

Programming

Although the current station is a rebranding of Radio 7 and contains a similar mix of archived programming, content has been brought further in line with

with new additions based upon their schedule. These include extended versions of programmes such as ''

The News Quiz ''The News Quiz'' is a British topical panel game broadcast on BBC Radio 4. History ''The News Quiz'' was first broadcast in 1977 with Barry Norman as chairman. Subsequently, it was chaired by Barry Took from 1979 to 1981, Simon Hoggart f ...

'' and ''

Desert Island Discs ''Desert Island Discs'' is a radio programme broadcast on BBC Radio 4. It was first broadcast on the BBC Forces Programme on 29 January 1942. Each week a guest, called a "castaway" during the programme, is asked to choose eight recordings (usua ...

'', the broadcast of archived editions of the latter as ''Desert Island Discs Revisited''. It has also previously included the addition of the programme ''

Ambridge Extra ''Ambridge Extra'' is an extension of the long-running radio drama ''The Archers''. It began broadcasting sporadically on the digital radio station BBC Radio 4 Extra from 5 April 2011. The programme ran for five series, before it was "rested". O ...

'', a more youth-orientated version of long-running radio soap ''

The Archers ''The Archers'' is a BBC radio drama on BBC Radio 4, the corporation's main spoken-word channel. Broadcast since 1951, it was famously billed as "an everyday story of country folk" and is now promoted as "a contemporary drama in a rural set ...

'', and an extended version of '' The Now Show''. Some programming is organised into programme blocks of similar programmes. The late night ''Comedy Club'' segment broadcasts "two hours of contemporary comedy" most nights of the week and is primarily hosted by Arthur Smith. A long-standing segment that remained following the change from Radio 7, it was previously fronted by

and Phil Williams. Comedy previously available as CDs on the ''Laughing Stock'' label is also broadcast. Drama is also broadcast, notably in

The 7th Dimension ''The 7th Dimension'' is the BBC's regular radio slot for science fiction, fantasy and horror. It is broadcast on the digital radio station BBC Radio 4 Extra at midnight (GMT in winter, BST in summer) on Sundays and repeated at 4 p.m.. The origi ...

segment. A long-running segment continued from Radio 7, the block airs

speculative fiction Speculative fiction is a term that has been used with a variety of (sometimes contradictory) meanings. The broadest interpretation is as a category of fiction encompassing genres with elements that do not exist in reality, recorded history, nat ...

science fiction Science fiction (sometimes shortened to Sci-Fi or SF) is a genre of speculative fiction which typically deals with imaginative and futuristic concepts such as advanced science and technology, space exploration, time travel, parallel uni ...

fantasy Fantasy is a genre of speculative fiction involving magical elements, typically set in a fictional universe and sometimes inspired by mythology and folklore. Its roots are in oral traditions, which then became fantasy literature and d ...

and horror stories presented by

Nicholas Briggs Nicholas Briggs (born 29 September 1961) is an English actor, writer, director, sound designer and composer. He is associated with the BBC science fiction television series ''Doctor Who'' and its spin-offs, particularly as the voice of the Dal ...

. The segment contains programmes including

Doctor Who ''Doctor Who'' is a British science fiction television series broadcast by the BBC since 1963. The series depicts the adventures of a Time Lord called the Doctor, an extraterrestrial being who appears to be human. The Doctor explores the ...

audio dramas starring

Paul McGann Paul John McGann (; born 14 November 1959) is an English actor. He came to prominence for portraying Percy Toplis in the television serial '' The Monocled Mutineer'' (1986), then starred in the dark comedy '' Withnail and I'' (1987), which wa ...

as the

Eighth Doctor The Eighth Doctor is an incarnation of the Doctor, the protagonist of the BBC science fiction television series '' Doctor Who''. He is portrayed by Paul McGann. The character was introduced in the 1996 TV film '' Doctor Who'', a back-door ...

, as well as programmes imported from overseas including American broadcasts ''

The Twilight Zone ''The Twilight Zone'' is an American media franchise based on the anthology television series created by Rod Serling. The episodes are in various genres, including fantasy, science fiction, absurdism, dystopian fiction, suspense, horror, sup ...

'' and ''

Garrison Keillor's Radio Show ''A Prairie Home Companion'' is a weekly radio variety show created and hosted by Garrison Keillor that aired live from 1974 to 2016. In 2016, musician Chris Thile took over as host, and the successor show was eventually renamed ''Live from He ...

'' as well as

Stuart McLean Andrew Stuart McLean, (April 19, 1948 – February 15, 2017) was a Canadian radio broadcaster, humorist, monologist, and author, best known as the host of the CBC Radio program ''The Vinyl Cafe''.Vinyl Cafe The Vinyl Cafe is an hour-long radio variety show hosted by Stuart McLean that was broadcast on CBC Radio and was syndicated to approximately 80 U.S. public radio stations through Public Radio International. It aired on Sunday at noon EST and T ...

'' from Canada. The 7th Dimension was originally broadcast daily, but has now been reduced to weekends-only. With increasing repeats of old Radio 4 documentaries, interviews and "educational/cultural" programmes, some listeners are concerned that the station's original mandate to provide comedy, drama and entertainment is being increasingly sidelined.

Original programmes

The station has broadcast original programmes. ''

Newsjack ''Newsjack'' was a British satirical sketch show which was broadcast on BBC Radio 4 Extra between 2009 and 2021. It was hosted by Miles Jupp (2009-Mar 2011), Justin Edwards (Sep 2011-2013), Romesh Ranganathan (2014), Nish Kumar (2015-2016), ...

'' is a topical news sketch show which encourages contributions from listeners. ''Spanking New on Seven'' was stand-up comedy, and the ''BBC New Comedy Competition'' a competition for new comedians. Those who went on to have their own series on Radio 7 include John-Luke Roberts with '' Spats'' and Miriam Elia with ''

A Series of Psychotic Episodes ''A Series of Psychotic Episodes'', also known as ''Series of Psychotic Episodes'', is a Sony Award nominated surreal comedy sketch show written by and starring Miriam Elia. The pilot and first series were broadcast on digital radio station BB ...

''. ''The

Mitch Benn Mitchell John Benn (born 20 January 1970) is an English comedian, author and musician known for his comedy rock songs performed on BBC radio. He was, until 2016, a regular contributor to BBC Radio 4's satirical programme '' The Now Show'', and h ...

Music Show'' featured comedy songs introduced by Mitch Benn. The ''Colin and Fergus' Digi Radio'' comedy sketch show ran for two series in 20052006. ''

Serious About Comedy ''Serious About Comedy'' was a British comedy discussion show on the digital radio station BBC7, hosted by Robin Ince. It was broadcast at 08:30 and 22:00 on Fridays, and 03:00 on Saturdays, in series of 12 editions long. It started on 12 August ...

'' was a weekly show presented by

Robin Ince Robin Ince (born 20 February 1969) is an English comedian, actor and writer, known for presenting the BBC radio show '' The Infinite Monkey Cage'' with physicist Brian Cox, and his stand-up comedy career. Education After attending York Hous ...

in which comedians and comedy critics discussed comedy television, radio, DVDs, and films. ''

Tilt Tilt may refer to: Music * Tilt (American band), a punk rock group, formed in 1992 * Tilt (British band), an electronic music group, formed in 1993 * Tilt (Polish band), a rock band, formed in 1979 Albums * ''Tilt'' (Cozy Powell album), 1981 ...

'' was a satirical look at the week's news of views other than the norm. '' Knocker'' was a sitcom about a market researcher, written by and starring

Neil Edmond Neil is a masculine name of Gaelic and Irish origin. The name is an anglicisation of the Irish ''Niall'' which is of disputed derivation. The Irish name may be derived from words meaning "cloud", "passionate", "victory", "honour" or "champion".. A ...

Original Radio 7 programmes

While most shows on Radio 7 were repeats, original programmes included: *''

Big Toe Books ''The Big Toe Radio Show'' was a daily show (seven days a week) for children on the DAB radio station BBC 7 at breakfast time and from 4 to 6pm. It was aimed at children aged nine to eleven. It featured music, games, stories read from well-known ...

'' (Children's show) *''

'' (Comedy review show) *''

'' (Satirical sketch comedy) *''

'' (Satirical sketch comedy) *'' Spats'' (Sketch comedy) *'' Knocker'' (Sitcom) *'' The Penny Dreadfuls Present…'' (Comedy) *'' Undone'' (Sci-fi comedy) *''

The Spaceship ''The Spaceship'' is a science fiction comedy set in the year 2104 and onwards that premiered on BBC Radio 7 over the course of five days during the last week of June 2005. It was written by Paul Barnhill and Neil Warhurst and was directed by Sa ...

'' (Sci-fi comedy) *''

Oneira ''Oneira''{{cite web, title=Oneira, url=http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00cjmvk is a science fiction comedy written for BBC Radio 4 Extra by Robert Easby. It tells a surreal story of the encounter between a young museum guard, called Oneira, ...

'' (Sci-fi comedy) *''The Laxian Key'' (Sci-fi comedy) *''Cold Blood'' (Sci-fi drama) *''The Voice of God'' (Sci-fi drama) *''Slipstream'' (Sci-fi drama) *''

'' (Sketch comedy) *''CBeebies Radio'' (Children's show) *''Colin and Fergus' Digi Radio'' (Sketch comedy) *''No Tomatoes'' (Sketch comedy) *''The Mitch Benn Music Show'' (Musical comedy) *''Spanking New on Seven'' (Stand-up) *''Play and Record'' (Sketch comedy) *''Pleased to Meet You'' (Comedy) *''Gus Murdoch's Sacred Cows'' (Comedy) *''

Planet B ''Planet B'' is a science fiction drama series first broadcast on BBC Radio 7 on 2 March 2009 as part of BBC Radio's science fiction season between February and March 2009. ''Planet B'' is set in a virtual world called "Planet B" in which peop ...

'' (Sci-fi drama) *''Doctor Who: The

Adventures'' (Sci-fi Drama) *''The Man in Black'' (Horror) *'' The Scarifyers'' (Horror comedy) *''This is Pulp Fiction'' (Crime fiction)

Original Radio 4 Extra programmes

Original programmes made for Radio 4 Extra. *''

'' (Soap opera, spin-off from ''

'') *''

Arthur Smith's Balham Bash ''Arthur Smith's Balham Bash'' is a comedy and music show hosted by Arthur Smith. It is recorded at his own house in Balham, London, and features both stand-up comedy and musical acts. Three series were broadcast on BBC Radio 4 from 2009 to 20 ...

'' (Variety show, debuted on Radio 4 Extra before being aired on Radio 4) *''The 4 O'Clock Show'' (Chat show, including children's entertainment) *''Let's Get Quizzical'' (Documentary) *''Lord of the Flies'' (dramatisation of

William Golding Sir William Gerald Golding (19 September 1911 – 19 June 1993) was a British novelist, playwright, and poet. Best known for his debut novel '' Lord of the Flies'' (1954), he published another twelve volumes of fiction in his lifetime. In 198 ...

's novel) *''Meet David Sedaris'' (Comedy, debuted on Radio 4 Extra before being aired on Radio 4) *''The Nine Billion Names of God'' (readings from

Arthur C. Clarke Sir Arthur Charles Clarke (16 December 191719 March 2008) was an English science-fiction writer, science writer, futurist, inventor, undersea explorer, and television series host. He co-wrote the screenplay for the 1968 film '' 2001: A Spac ...

's short story collection of the same name) *''Sarah Millican's Support Group'' (Sketch show, debuted on Radio 4 Extra before being aired on Radio 4) *''What's So Funny?'' (Comedy review show) *''

Neverwhere ''Neverwhere'' is an urban fantasy television miniseries by Neil Gaiman that first aired in 1996 on BBC 2. The series is set in "London Below", a magical realm coexisting with the more familiar London, referred to as "London Above". It was de ...

'' (

Neil Gaiman Neil Richard MacKinnon GaimanBorn as Neil Richard Gaiman, with "MacKinnon" added on the occasion of his marriage to Amanda Palmer. ; ( Neil Richard Gaiman; born 10 November 1960) is an English author of short fiction, novels, comic books, gra ...

's fantasy, first episode aired on Radio 4 with subsequent episodes on Radio 4 Extra)

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Bbc Radio 4 Extra 4 Extra Comedy radio stations British radio comedy Radio stations established in 2002 2002 establishments in the United Kingdom Radio stations in the United Kingdom Digital-only radio stations