Independent National Radio (INR) is the official term for the three national commercial radio stations currently or previously broadcasting on analogue radio in the United Kingdom, beginning in 1992. One station was allocated an FM licence, and the other two were allocated AM

medium wave Medium wave (MW) is a part of the medium frequency (MF) radio band used mainly for AM radio broadcasting. The spectrum provides about 120 channels with more limited sound quality than FM stations on the FM broadcast band. During the daytim ...

frequencies 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 ...

and

BBC Radio 1 BBC Radio 1 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. It specialises in modern popular music and Contemporary hit radio, current chart hits throughout the day. The station provides alternative genres at night, including ...

Background

The stations came about following the

Broadcasting Act 1990 The Broadcasting Act 1990 (c. 42) is an Act of Parliament (UK), act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, which aimed to liberalise and deregulate the British broadcasting industry by promoting competition; an example being ITV (TV network), ...

which allowed for the launch of independent national radio (INR) stations in the United Kingdom. The Radio Authority was mandated to award three INR licences. The FM licence (INR1) had to be for a 'non-pop' station, and one (INR3) had to be for a predominantly speech-based service. The remaining licence (INR2) was to be open to 'all-comers'. The licences were to be awarded to the highest cash bidder, providing that the applicant met criteria set down in the Broadcasting Act. Plans for a fourth station, using 225 kHz

long wave In radio, longwave (also spelled long wave or long-wave and commonly abbreviated LW) is the part of the radio spectrum with wavelengths longer than what was originally called the medium-wave (MW) broadcasting band. The term is historic, datin ...

, were mooted in 1996 but were abandoned by the Radio Authority after consultation with the radio industry which found that there was no interest in launching a station on that frequency due to it only covering to a small part of the UK and the associated costs of extending coverage to the whole country. The frequency had originally been allocated to the BBC but, apart from a very brief period many decades earlier, had never been used. INR licences come with certain privileges and responsibilities that are not shared by

Independent Local Radio Independent Local Radio is the collective name given to commercial radio stations in the United Kingdom. As a result of the buyouts and mergers permitted by the Broadcasting Act 1990, and deregulation resulting from the Communications Act 2 ...

stations: *

Ofcom The Office of Communications, commonly known as Ofcom, is the government-approved regulatory and competition authority for the broadcasting, internet, telecommunications and mail, postal industries of the United Kingdom. Ofcom has wide-rang ...

mandates a list of transmitters across the UK from which the INR stations must be broadcast. * The INR licensees are automatically allocated a place on the national

Digital One Digital One is a national commercial digital radio multiplex in the United Kingdom, owned by Arqiva. , the multiplex covered more than 90% of the population from 137 transmitters. Coverage was extended to Northern Ireland in July 2013. It conta ...

DAB multiplex. * INR stations are required to carry party political broadcasts during

general election A general election is an electoral process to choose most or all members of a governing body at the same time. They are distinct from By-election, by-elections, which fill individual seats that have become vacant between general elections. Gener ...

periods. As of 2011, the INR licence holders paid Ofcom a nominal annual fee of £10,000.

INR stations

On air

* Classic FM (INR1) – 99.9 to 101.9 MHz, first air date 7 September 1992, owned by

Global Radio Global Media & Entertainment Limited, trading as Global, is a British media company formed in 2007. It is the owner of the largest commercial radio company in Europe having expanded through a number of historical acquisitions, including Chrysal ...

. *

Talksport Talksport (styled as talkSPORT) is a sports radio station in the United Kingdom and Republic of Ireland, owned by News Broadcasting. Its content includes live coverage of sporting events, interviews with the leading names in sport and entertai ...

(INR3) – 1053 kHz and 1089 kHz in most areas (frequencies previously used by

). First air date 14 February 1995 as Talk Radio UK. Rebranded as Talksport under new ownership in 2000.

No longer broadcasting on analogue radio

* Virgin Radio/Absolute Radio (INR2) – 1215 kHz

in most areas (frequencies previously used by

). First air date 30 April 1993 as Virgin 1215. Rebranded as Absolute Radio in 2008; ceased medium wave broadcasts on 20 January 2023. All three stations are also available nationally on DAB, digital TV and online.

References

{{Independent National Radio Radio in the United Kingdom Broadcasting in the United Kingdom