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

BBC Cymru Wales BBC Cymru Wales is a division of the BBC and the main public broadcasting, 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, ...

, a division of the

BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...

. It began broadcasting on 13 November 1978, replacing the Welsh opt-out service of

BBC Radio 4 BBC Radio 4 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. The station replaced the BBC Home Service on 30 September 1967 and broadcasts a wide variety of spoken-word programmes from the BBC's headquarters at Broadcasti ...

. As of August 2022, the station's managing editor is Carolyn Hitt, who is also editor of BBC Wales Sport. Radio Wales is broadcast in English, whilst sister network

Radio Cymru BBC Radio Cymru is a Welsh language radio station owned and operated by BBC Cymru Wales, a division of the BBC. It broadcasts across Wales on FM, DAB, digital TV and BBC Sounds. The station broadcasts general factual and entertainment pro ...

broadcasts in Welsh. 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 c ...

, BBC Radio Wales has a weekly audience of 348,000 listeners and a listening share of 5.5%, as of March 2024.

History

In November 1978, BBC Radio Wales launched on the former Radio 4 opt-out frequency of 882 kHz. Initially the station broadcast for only twenty hours per week, and relayed output from Radio 2 and Radio 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 twenty 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 ( ; ) is a city status in the United Kingdom, city in the North East Wales, north-east of Wales. It lies between the Cambrian Mountains, Welsh mountains and the lower River Dee, Wales, Dee Valley, near the England–Wales border, borde ...

, Radio

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

, Radio

Merthyr Merthyr Tydfil () 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 Tydfil, daughter of Kin ...

and Radio

Rhondda Rhondda , or the Rhondda Valley ( ), is a former 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 Fawr valley (, 'large') and t ...

. They were broadcast using an

RTÉ (; ; RTÉThe É in RTÉ is pronounced as an English E () and not an Irish É ()) is an Irish public service broadcaster. It both produces and broadcasts programmes on television, radio and online. The radio service began on 1 January 1926, ...

Outside Broadcast transmitter. The first editor of BBC Radio Wales was Teleri Bevan, 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 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, Noreen Bray and Alun Williams. 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 or Outsides may refer to: * Wilderness Books and magazines * ''Outside'', a book by Marguerite Duras * Outside (magazine), ''Outside'' (magazine), an outdoors magazine Film, theatre and TV * Outside TV (formerly RSN Television), a televi ...

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 relaunched in February 1980 in response to the closure of the Shotton steelworks. Its coverage area was expanded to the rest of

Clwyd Clwyd ( , ) is a preserved counties of Wales, preserved county of Wales, situated in the north-east corner of the country; it is named after the River Clwyd, which runs through the area. To the north lies the Irish Sea, with the English cerem ...

in October 1981 and the station was subsequently renamed BBC Radio Clwyd, broadcasting on 657 kHz, and featuring 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 that certain fungus, fungi can form. The dust-like, colored appearance of molds is due to the formation of Spore#Fungi, spores containing Secondary metabolite#Fungal secondary metabolites, fungal ...

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

in June 1998. BBC Radio Gwent, based in

Cwmbran Cwmbran ( ; , 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 counties of Wales, historic boundaries of Monmouthshire (historic), Monmouthshire, Cwmbran was ...

, 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 05:30 to 00:30 and from 05:00 to 01:00 at weekends, live from the headquarters of BBC Cymru Wales at Central Square, near the main railway station in

Cardiff Cardiff (; ) is the capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of Wales. Cardiff had a population of in and forms a Principal areas of Wales, principal area officially known as the City and County of Ca ...

city centre. During the station's downtime, Radio Wales simulcasts the output of

BBC Radio 5 Live BBC Radio 5 Live is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. It broadcasts mainly news, sport, Talk show, discussion, interviews and phone-ins, and is on air 24 hours a day. It is the principal BBC radio station Broadca ...

. 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-graduate ...

(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 host of '' Final Score'' on BBC One on Saturday afternoons. Personal life Mohammad was born and brought up in Cardiff to ...

(Monday–Wednesday), Wynne Evans, Behnaz Akhgar (Monday–Thursday) and

Eleri Siôn Eleri Siôn (; born Eleri Jones on 18 January 1971) is a Welsh radio and television presenter. She currently presents The Friday Afternoon Show and The Late Show on BBC Radio Wales Monday-Thursday. Early life Born and raised on a farm in Neuadd ...

(Friday). Weekend programming includes Sunday afternoon shows with

Lynn Bowles Lynn Bowles (born 1963) is a Welsh broadcaster and a former traffic weekday mornings reporter for BBC Radio 2. Early life Bowles was born in Splott, Cardiff, Wales in 1963, and is the youngest of three siblings. Her father, Cliff, was a marine e ...

and Roy Noble, Adam Walton's new music show on Saturday nights, ''Celtic Heartbeat'' with Frank Hennessy, ''Beverley’s World of Music'' hosted by Beverley Humphreys and entertainment shows with Kiri Pritchard-McLean and Bronwen Lewis. Most of Radio Wales' programming is produced and broadcast from the Cardiff headquarters with the Adam Walton show originating from the BBC's

studios on the

Glyndŵr University Wrexham University (; ) is a public university in the north-east of Wales, with campuses in Wrexham, Northop and St Asaph. It offers both undergraduate and postgraduate degrees, as well as professional courses. The university had students in ...

campus.

Sports coverage

''Radio Wales Sport'' is broadcast on Saturdays, generally between 14:00 and 19:00, during the football and rugby seasons (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 Swansea City Association Football Club ( ; ) is a Welsh professional football club based in Swansea, Wales. It competes in the EFL Championship, the second tier of the English football league system. Swansea have played their home matches at ...

in the south-west of Wales,

Cardiff City Cardiff City Football Club () is a professional association football club based in Cardiff, Wales. It currently competes in , the third tier of the English football league system in the 2025–26 season following relegation. Founded in 1899 a ...

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 appre ...

and former Wales flanker

Martyn Williams Martyn Elwyn Williams, (born 1 September 1975) is a Welsh former professional rugby union player who played as a flanker. He earned 100 caps for the Wales national rugby union team, Wales national team, the most by a forward until he was surpa ...

Presenters

Notable current presenters include: * Behnaz Akhgar (Monday - Thursday afternoons) *

(Sunday afternoons) * Wyre Davies (Wednesday drivetime) * Bethan Elfyn (Saturday evenings) * Elin Fflur (Friday evenings) * Oliver Hides (''The Phone In'' - Thursday - Friday afternoons) *Beverley Humphries (Sunday nights) *Bronwen Lewis (Wednesday evenings; Sunday afternoons) *

(''The Phone In'' - Monday - Wednesday afternoons) * Owen Money (''Money for Nothing'', ''Solid Gold Sunday'') * Roy Noble (Sunday evenings) *

Lucy Owen Lucy Owen (born 18 June 1971 as Lucy Jane Cohen) is a Welsh television news reader. Early life Born 18 June 1971, in Llandaff, Owen attended Howell's School in Llandaff, Cardiff, and graduated from Royal Holloway, University of London, in Eng ...

(Saturday afternoons) *Molly Palmer (Tuesday evenings) * Kiri Pritchard-McLean (Thursday evenings; ''Kiri's Comedy Club'') * Aleighcia Scott (Thursday evenings) *

(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 evenings) *

(Monday - Tuesday; Thursday - Friday drivetime) * Ian "H" Watkins (Friday nights) * Adam Walton (Saturday nights, ''Science Cafe'') Past presenters include: *

Janice Long Janice Berry (née 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. The first female presenter to have a ...

(died in 2021) * Chris Needs (died in 2020) * Alan Thompson (died in 2017) * Vicki Blight * Wynne Evans *

Aled Jones Aled Jones, (born 29 December 1970) is a Welsh singer, radio and television presenter, and actor. As a teenage chorister, he gained widespread fame in 1985 with his recording of " Walking in the Air", which reached No 5 in the UK pop chart. He ...

* Jamie Owen *

Carol Vorderman Carol Jean Vorderman (born 24 December 1960) is a Welsh broadcaster, media personality, and writer. Her media career began when she joined the Channel 4 game show ''Countdown'', appearing with Richard Whiteley from 1982 until his death in 2005, ...

Transmission

BBC Radio Wales is broadcast across Wales on FM, DAB and 882kHz medium wave. It is also available 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), a ...

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 Everyone TV (itself owned by all of the four UK Public broadcasting, public service broadcasters, BBC, ...

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

Virgin Media Virgin Media Limited 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 ...

and the

BBC Sounds BBC Sounds is an Over-the-top media service, over-the-top audio streaming media, streaming and download service from the BBC that includes live radio broadcasts, Streaming media, audio on demand, and podcasts. The service is available on a wide ...

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 Somerset ( , ), Archaism, archaically Somersetshire ( , , ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South West England. It is bordered by the Bristol Channel, Gloucestershire, and Bristol to the north, Wiltshire to the east ...

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

West Country The West Country is a loosely defined area within southwest England, usually taken to include the counties of Cornwall, Devon, Dorset, Somerset and Bristol, with some considering it to extend to all or parts of Wiltshire, Gloucestershire and ...

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

Bristol Bristol () is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city, unitary authority area and ceremonial county in South West England, the most populous city in the region. Built around the River Avon, Bristol, River Avon, it is bordered by t ...

area, in much of

Devon Devon ( ; historically also known as Devonshire , ) is a ceremonial county in South West England. It is bordered by the Bristol Channel to the north, Somerset and Dorset to the east, the English Channel to the south, and Cornwall to the west ...

and northern

Cornwall Cornwall (; or ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South West England. It is also one of the Celtic nations and the homeland of the Cornish people. The county is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, ...

, as well as in 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 station owned and operated by BBC Cymru Wales, a division of the BBC. It broadcasts across Wales on FM, DAB, digital TV and BBC Sounds. The station broadcasts general factual and entertainment pro ...

. 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 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, simultaneously) ...

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 The Wenvoe transmitting station, officially known as Arqiva Wenvoe, is the main facility for broadcasting and telecommunications for Cardiff and South Wales. It is situated close to the village of Wenvoe in the Vale of Glamorgan, Wales, in the Uni ...

to its network on FM, replacing a low-power FM transmitter on the Wenallt Hill. 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 Mid Wales ( or simply ''Y Canolbarth'', meaning "the midlands"), or Central Wales, is a region of Wales, encompassing its midlands, in-between North Wales and South Wales. The Mid Wales Regional Committee of the Senedd covered the unitary autho ...

by taking over 32 transmitters previously used by

BBC Radio 3 BBC Radio 3 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. It replaced the BBC Third Programme in 1967 and broadcasts classical music and opera, with jazz, world music, Radio drama, drama, High culture, culture and the arts ...

. 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 Wrexham in the north. BBC Radio Wales's medium wave broadcasts on 1125 kHz were discontinued on 2 April 2020, with 657 kHz and most transmitters operating on 882 kHz following suit on 8 June 2021. The

Washford Washford is a village on the Washford River in the civil parish of Old Cleeve, Somerset, England. The village is next to Cleeve Abbey, one of the best-preserved medieval monasteries in England. It centred in a valley close to the Bristol Ch ...

transmitter on 882 kHz is the final BBC Radio Wales medium wave transmitter on air ever since.

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 Race (human categorization), race, ancestry, ethnicity, ethnic or national origin, and/or Human skin color, skin color and Hair, hair texture. Individuals ...

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.

Notes

References

External links

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

Wales Wales ( ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by the Irish Sea to the north and west, England to the England–Wales border, east, the Bristol Channel to the south, and the Celtic ...

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