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BBC Radio Wales is a Welsh radio station owned and operated by

BBC Cymru Wales BBC Cymru Wales is a division of the BBC and the main public broadcaster in Wales. It is one of the four BBC national regions, alongside the BBC English Regions, BBC Northern Ireland and BBC Scotland. Established in 1964, BBC Cymru Wales is b ...

, a division of the

BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board exam. ...

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. It began broadcasting on 13 November 1978, replacing the 'Radio 4 Wales' opt-out service (previously the Welsh

Home Service Home Service is a British folk rock group, formed in late 1980 from a nucleus of musicians who had been playing in Ashley Hutchings' Albion Band. Their career is generally agreed to have peaked with the album ''Alright Jack'', and has had an ...

). Radio Wales broadcasts in English, whilst sister network

Radio Cymru BBC Radio Cymru is a Welsh language radio network owned and operated by BBC Cymru Wales, a division of the BBC. It broadcasts on two stations across Wales on FM, DAB, digital TV and online. The main network broadcasts for hours a day from ...

has

Welsh language Welsh ( or ) is a Celtic language of the Brittonic subgroup that is native to the Welsh people. Welsh is spoken natively in Wales, by some in England, and in Y Wladfa (the Welsh colony in Chubut Province, Argentina). Historically, it has ...

programming. As of August 2022, the station's managing editor is Carolyn Hitt, who is also editor of BBC Wales Sport. 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 ...

, BBC Radio Wales has a weekly audience of 298,000 listeners and a listening share of 5.1%, as of September 2022.

History

In November 1978, BBC Radio Wales was launched as a distinct station on the former Radio 4 opt-out frequency of 882 kHz. Initially the station broadcast for only 20 hours per week, and relayed output from Radios 2 and 4 at other times. However, the groundwork had been laid for the station to gradually become a full-time service and now Radio Wales broadcasts for up to 20 hours a day. BBC Radio Wales was preceded in the autumn of 1978 by four experimental local radio stations broadcasting for a single week: Radio

Wrexham Wrexham ( ; cy, Wrecsam; ) is a city and the administrative centre of Wrexham County Borough in Wales. It is located between the Welsh mountains and the lower Dee Valley, near the border with Cheshire in England. Historically in the count ...

, Radio

Deeside Deeside ( cy, Glannau Dyfrdwy) is the name given to a predominantly industrial conurbation of towns and villages in Flintshire and Cheshire on the Wales–England border lying near the canalised stretch of the River Dee that flows from nei ...

, Radio

Merthyr Merthyr Tydfil (; cy, Merthyr Tudful ) is the main town in Merthyr Tydfil County Borough, Wales, administered by Merthyr Tydfil County Borough Council. It is about north of Cardiff. Often called just Merthyr, it is said to be named after Tydf ...

and Radio

Rhondda Rhondda , or the Rhondda Valley ( cy, Cwm Rhondda ), is a former coal mining, coalmining area in South Wales, historically in the county of Glamorgan. It takes its name from the River Rhondda, and embraces two valleys – the larger Rhondda Fa ...

. They were broadcast using an RTÉ Outside Broadcast transmitter. The first editor of BBC Radio Wales was

Teleri Bevan Welsh broadcaster and author Teleri Bevan, ''b. 1931, d. 2020 (aged 88)'',was the founding editor of BBC Radio Wales. She was also the author of three nonfiction books including ''Esmé: Guardian of Snowdonia'' (2014), a biography of Welsh conservat ...

, a former producer for Radio 4 Wales. Radio Wales commenced broadcasting at 6.30am on Monday 13 November 1978 with the first edition of ''AM'', a breakfast magazine show presented by Anita Morgan, which replaced the news-driven predecessor ''Good Morning Wales''.

Chris Stuart Christopher Elliot Stuart (19 February 1949 – 12 July 2022) was a British journalist, songwriter and radio and television presenter and producer. He was executive producer of the BBC Two quiz series ''Only Connect''. As a presenter, he fronte ...

later took over ''AM'', presenting the programme for almost a decade, before it was replaced by a revival of ''Good Morning Wales'', which was again axed in May 2019. The other main presenters for the first decade on air included Mike Flynn, who hosted a show each weekday until 1989,

Vincent Kane Vincent Kane, OBE (born 1935) is a Welsh broadcaster and writer, known primarily for his career with the BBC. He was chairman of the Wales Quality Centre, the International Festival of Musical Theatre and the Cardiff Initiative. Biography Kane w ...

, Noreen Bray and

Alun Williams David Alun Williams, OBE (26 August 1920 – 30 March 1992) was a Welsh radio presenter who became one of the best known voices on BBC radio when he commentated on events such as the Coronation in 1953 and sports events including rugby, swimm ...

. By 1985, Roy Noble was also a regular daily voice, presenting weekday magazine shows for the station for 27 years. Old Radio 4 type continuity studios were modified to become 'self operated' by the early 1980s.

Outside broadcast Outside broadcasting (OB) is the electronic field production (EFP) of television or radio programmes (typically to cover television news and sports television events) from a mobile remote broadcast television studio. Professional video camera a ...

s from different towns in Wales were also introduced, with Mike Flynn and Alun Williams hosting a weekly three-hour live show on Friday mornings. BBC Radio Wales also began to use publicity similar to the type used by commercial radio stations in the UK. Other early presenters included Wyn Calvin, Maureen Staffer, Sylvia Horn, G. V. Wynne Jones (Geevers), Claire Vincent, Piet Brinton, Jackie Emlyn and Princess Anne's biographer Brian Hoey.

Radio Gwent and Radio Clwyd opt-outs

Following BBC Wales' experiments with community radio in 1978, two permanent opt-out services were developed in the North East and the South East. Radio Deeside was reopened in February 1980 in response to the closure of the Shotton steelworks. Its coverage area was expanded to the rest of Clwyd in October 1981 and the station was subsequently renamed BBC Radio Clwyd, broadcasting extended local news bulletins, a mid-morning show and occasional special programming from studios in

Mold A mold () or mould () is one of the structures certain fungi can form. The dust-like, colored appearance of molds is due to the formation of spores containing fungal secondary metabolites. The spores are the dispersal units of the fungi. Not ...

until its closure in October 1993. After the closure of Radio Clwyd, local bulletins for north-east Wales continued until 2002 - staff having moved from Mold to

in summer 1998. BBC Radio Gwent, based in

Cwmbran Cwmbran ( ; cy, Cwmbrân , also in use as an alternative spelling in English) is a town in the county borough of Torfaen in South Wales. Lying within the historic boundaries of Monmouthshire, Cwmbran was designated as a New Town in 1949 to prov ...

, broadcast from 18 April 1983 until March 1991. Radio Gwent was available on FM, and since its closure has continued to relay the national Radio Wales service on the same FM frequencies to the Gwent area. Both of these stations operated at peak times only, and carried Radio Wales at other times.

Programming

BBC Radio Wales broadcasts each weekday from 5.30am to 12:30am and from 5am to 1am at weekends, live from the headquarters of BBC Cymru Wales at Central Square, just near the

main railway station Central stations or central railway stations emerged in the second half of the nineteenth century as railway stations that had initially been built on the edge of city centres were enveloped by urban expansion and became an integral part of the ...

Cardiff Cardiff (; cy, Caerdydd ) is the capital and largest city of Wales. It forms a principal area, officially known as the City and County of Cardiff ( cy, Dinas a Sir Caerdydd, links=no), and the city is the eleventh-largest in the United Kingd ...

city centre. The station simulcasts overnight programming from BBC Radio 5 Live after closedown every night. Weekday programming includes the flagship breakfast news magazine ''Radio Wales Breakfast'' with

Claire Summers Claire Summers is a Welsh news television presenter for BBC Wales. Born in Cardiff, but brought up in Cowbridge, Summers was educated at Our Lady’s Convent in Cardiff. She then gained a BA degree at Aberystwyth University, and a post-gradu ...

(Monday–Thursday), magazine shows with

Jason Mohammad Jason Mohammad (born 17 September 1973) is a Welsh radio and television presenter currently working for the BBC. He is the current host of ''Final Score'' on BBC One on Saturday afternoons. Personal life Mohammad was born and brought up in Ca ...

(Monday–Wednesday),

Wynne Evans Wynne Evans BEM MStJ (born 27 January 1972) is a Welsh singer and actor, known for his role as Gio Compario and laterly himself in the Go.compare insurance adverts on television in the United Kingdom. Evans sang the role of Ubaldo Piangi i ...

Behnaz Akhgar Behnaz Akhgar ( fa, بهناز اخگر; born 21 June 1980 ) is an Iranian- Welsh weather presenter currently working for BBC's Wales Today. She broadcasts the morning and weekend bulletins with Sue Charles, and acts as a relief presenter for m ...

(Monday–Thursday) and

Eleri Siôn Eleri Siôn (; born Eleri Jones on 18 January 1971) is a Welsh radio and television presenter. Early life Born and raised on a farm in Neuaddlwyd, Aberaeron, she was educated at Ysgol Gyfun Aberaeron. Her brother is the actor and author Meilyr ...

(Friday). Weekend programming includes Sunday afternoon shows with

Lynn Bowles Lynn Bowles is a British broadcaster and a former traffic weekday mornings reporter for BBC Radio 2. Early life Bowles was born in Splott, Cardiff, Wales, and is the youngest of three siblings. Her father, Cliff, was a marine engineer; her mother ...

and Roy Noble,

Adam Walton Adam Walton (born 31 May 1971) is a British radio disc jockey who has presented shows on BBC Radio Wales since 1993. He is also a member of Mold-based, indie band The Immediate, and a resident DJ at Telford's Warehouse in Chester. Adam has ...

's new music show on Saturday nights, ''Celtic Heartbeat'' with Frank Hennessy and entertainment shows with

Carol Vorderman Carol Jean Vorderman, HonFIET (born 24 December 1960) is a Welsh media personality, best known for appearing on the game show ''Countdown'' for 26 years from 1982 until 2008, as a newspaper columnist and nominal author of educational and diet ...

and

Owen Money Owen Money MBE (born Lynn Mittell, 16 May 1947) is a Welsh musician, actor, comedian, and radio presenter. He was born in Merthyr Tydfil, Wales. In the 2007 New Year Honours, Money was made an MBE for services to entertainment in Wales. The ...

. Most of Radio Wales' programming is produced and broadcast from the Cardiff headquarters with the

show originating from the BBC's

studios on the

Glyndŵr University Glyndŵr was one of six local government districts in the county of Clwyd in Wales from 1974 to 1996. History The district was created on 1 April 1974, under the Local Government Act 1972. It covered the area of six former districts and two ...

campus.

Sports coverage

''Radio Wales Sport'' is broadcast on Saturdays, generally between 2pm and 7pm, during the football and rugby season (the programme is extended on occasions to include live commentary of early and late matches). ''Radio Wales Sport'' features localised FM commentary of Swansea City in the south west of Wales, Cardiff City in the south-east of Wales, and

in north Wales with a rolling service of match updates and results on medium wave. The station's commentators are led by BBC Wales football correspondent Rob Phillips and BBC Wales rugby correspondent Gareth Charles. The summarisers include former Wales football captain

Kevin Ratcliffe Kevin Ratcliffe (born 12 November 1960) is a Welsh former professional footballer who spent most of his career playing for Everton. Club career Ratcliffe was born in Mancot, near Queensferry in Flintshire, Wales. He joined Everton as an appren ...

and former Wales flanker

Martyn Williams Martyn Elwyn Williams, (born 1 September 1975) is a former Wales and British & Irish Lions international rugby union player. A flanker, he was Wales' most-capped forward with 100 caps until surpassed by Gethin Jenkins on 30 November 2013. He ...

Presenters

Notable current presenters include: *

(Monday - Thursday afternoons) * Vicki Blight (Saturday early breakfast) *

(Sunday afternoons) * Bethan Elfyn (Saturday evenings) *

(Weekday mornings) *

(Monday - Wednesday mornings) *

(''Money for Nothing'', ''Solid Gold Sunday'') * Roy Noble (Sunday evenings) *

Kiri Pritchard-McLean Kiri Louise Pritchard-McLean (born 1986) is a Welsh comedian and writer. She has performed for several consecutive years at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe and won five Chortle Awards. Career Pritchard-McLean is the director and writer for sketc ...

(Sunday afternoons) *

(Monday - Thursday nights, Friday afternoon) *

Huw Stephens Huw Meredydd Stephens (born 25 May 1981) is a Welsh radio and television presenter, currently broadcasting on BBC Radio Wales, BBC Radio Cymru and BBC Radio 6 Music. Stephens founded the Sŵn music festival with John Rostron and the yearly s ...

(Monday - Wednesday evenings) *

(''Radio Wales Breakfast'' - Monday - Thursday) *

(Saturday mornings) *

(Saturday nights, ''Science Cafe'') *

Ian "H" Watkins Ian Watkins (born 8 May 1976), known by his stage name as H, is a Welsh singer and actor. He is known as a member of the British pop group Steps. In 2020, he competed in the twelfth series of '' Dancing on Ice''. Career Steps In May 1997, W ...

(Friday nights) Past presenters include: *

Janice Long Janice Berry ( Chegwin; 5 April 1955 – 25 December 2021), known professionally by her first married name Janice Long, was an English broadcaster who was best known for her work in British music radio. In a career that spanned five decades, ...

(died in 2021) *

Chris Needs Christopher Needs, MBE (12 March 1954"Chris Needs" ''BBC Radio Wales'' May 2007 Needs said the song "Here in My Heart" by Al Martino was from the year he was born. – 26 July 2020) was a Welsh radio broadcaster, best known as a regular even ...

(died in 2020) * Alan Thompson (died in 2017) *

Aled Jones Aled Jones, (born 29 December 1970) is a Welsh singer and radio and television presenter. As a teenage chorister, he reached widespread fame during the mid-1980s. Since then he has worked in television with the BBC and ITV, and radio (for ...

* Jamie Owen

Transmission

BBC Radio Wales is broadcast across Wales on FM and DAB. It is also availabile on

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), ...

in Wales and throughout the UK on

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 ...

Sky The sky is an unobstructed view upward from the surface of the Earth. It includes the atmosphere and outer space. It may also be considered a place between the ground and outer space, thus distinct from outer space. In the field of astronomy, ...

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 ...

and the BBC Sounds service. As Radio Wales was created from an opt-out of BBC Radio 4, it inherited the medium wave transmitters previously used by Radio 4 across Wales—the main service coming from the Washford transmitter in

Somerset ( en, All The People of Somerset) , locator_map = , coordinates = , region = South West England , established_date = Ancient , established_by = , preceded_by = , origin = , lord_lieutenant_office =Lord Lieutenant of Somerset , lord_ ...

on . This transmitter was originally built to cover southern Wales and most of the

West Country The West Country (occasionally Westcountry) is a loosely defined area of South West England, usually taken to include all, some, or parts of the counties of Cornwall, Devon, Dorset, Somerset, Bristol, and, less commonly, Wiltshire, Glo ...

, and has a far greater coverage than its intended transmission area. It can be heard across the

Bristol Bristol () is a city, ceremonial county and unitary authority in England. Situated on the River Avon, it is bordered by the ceremonial counties of Gloucestershire to the north and Somerset to the south. Bristol is the most populous city in ...

area, in much of

Devon Devon ( , historically known as Devonshire , ) is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in South West England. The most populous settlement in Devon is the city of Plymouth, followed by Devon's county town, the city of Exeter. Devo ...

and northern

Cornwall Cornwall (; kw, Kernow ) is a historic county and ceremonial county in South West England. It is recognised as one of the Celtic nations, and is the homeland of the Cornish people. Cornwall is bordered to the north and west by the Atlantic ...

, as well as eastern and south eastern counties of Ireland. Initially, Radio Wales was not broadcast on FM as Radio 4's former FM transmitters in Wales were used for

BBC Radio Cymru BBC Radio Cymru is a Welsh language radio network owned and operated by BBC Cymru Wales, a division of the BBC. It broadcasts on two stations across Wales on FM, DAB, digital TV and online. The main network broadcasts for hours a day from ...

. In 1983, Radio Wales gained some FM coverage with the creation of opt-out service, BBC Radio Gwent. After the breakfast programme, Radio Gwent

simulcast Simulcast (a portmanteau of simultaneous broadcast) is the broadcasting of programmes/programs or events across more than one resolution, bitrate or medium, or more than one service on the same medium, at exactly the same time (that is, simulta ...

most of Radio Wales' output. When the station closed in 1991, the FM frequencies were retained to broadcast Radio Wales. From 1999 onwards, the BBC was able to start creating an FM network for Radio Wales, including a 120 kW ERP transmitter near Aberystwyth. On 6 December 2011, Radio Wales added the 40 kW ERP Wenvoe transmitter to its network on FM, replacing a low-power FM transmitter on the

Wenallt Hill Wenallt Hill (often called simply The Wenallt) is located in Cardiff, Wales. The name is Welsh and translates to 'white wooded slope'. Although Cardiff residents sometimes call it a mountain, it is too low to be classified as a mountain. It is ...

. This FM output covers South Wales and the West of England, including the city of Bristol. On 24 October 2018, the station increased its FM coverage in North East and Mid Wales by taking over 32 transmitters previously used by BBC Radio 3. The changeover allowed an estimated 400,000 listeners to receive Radio Wales on FM, extending its reach to a potential 91% of households in Wales. Regional opt-outs have been established for sports coverage on FM; specifically live football commentaries involving Cardiff City in the South East, Swansea City in the South West and

in the North.

Race discrimination case

In 2001, presenter Lionel Kelleway won a case for

racial discrimination Racial discrimination is any discrimination against any individual on the basis of their skin color, race or ethnic origin.Individuals can discriminate by refusing to do business with, socialize with, or share resources with people of a certain g ...

against BBC Radio Wales, when they dropped his ''Landmark '' series, which won

Sony 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 ...

s in 1991 and 1992, after around ten years, because of his English accent.

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Bbc Radio Wales Radio stations established in 1978

Wales Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the Bristol Channel to the south. It had a population in ...

Radio stations in Cardiff BBC Cymru Wales 1978 establishments in Wales Radio stations in Wales