Radio in the UK can be not only great entertainment but great company too! If you are on your own in the house, or driving home from work, a boring afternoon can be much improved by listening to your favourite tunes.

Radio has moved on a long way in the last 20 years. As well as using a normal radio at home and in the car – now you can tune in on the internet and through your digital TV service as well. And if you are a real radio fan, you can get digital (DAB) radio which means more radio stations, and a clearer signal.
 

Normal (Analogue) radio

For those of you with a normal radio tuner at home or in the car, you can listen to all sorts of different UK stations that play anything from the Beatles to Beethoven.

To find out what is on the radio stations on a daily basis, you can find a guide inside most daily newspapers. But for a full list of what’s on for the whole week you can buy a specialist magazine - this is a guide you can trust – it has been established since 1923!

Here’s a quick guide to the most popular radio stations in the UK – where to find them and what you will find on them. But also remember that wherever you are in Britain, there will also be local radio stations you can tune into.

There are different channels on a standard radio – FM, MW and LW – you have to tune your radio to a specific range of frequencies on these channels to find the station you require. With the stations on FM you will get a much stronger and clearer signal.

BBC Radio 1: 97.6-99.8 FM
A mainstream* station that plays pop and chart music for the younger listener. Also has interviews and live music programmes

BBC Radio 2: 88-90.2 FM
Plays more easy-listening and older music as well as some new indie**  bands in the daytime. In the evening, it has classical music and comedy programmes

BBC Radio 3: 90.2-92.4
Classical, jazz, folk and music from around the world

BBC Radio 4: 92.4-94.6
News and political comment, the arts, radio plays and comedy, weather and shipping forecasts

BBC Radio 5 live: 909 or 693 MW
The radio channel for sports – including live match coverage, sports commentary, phone-ins and news

BBC World Service: 648 MW
You may want to listen to this channel to get a world-news report

Classic FM: 99.9-101.9
24-hour classical music

Talksport: 1053 and 1089 MW
Does exactly what it says – this station has constant discussion and phone-in programmes about popular sports in the UK

*’mainstream’ is the word used to describe pop – the music that is most popular in the charts at the moment

**’indie’ is a slang word which describes music which is an alternative to the mainstream.

Digital Radio players

The main advantage of digital radio (DAB) players is that they give you a clear signal with no ‘hiss’ – the background noise you get on analogue radios.

This is very useful if you want to listen to stations on MW such as Radio 5 live, because they suffer from more noise than the FM stations.

Also, DAB players give you information on the programme that is on at the moment, as well as details of the band and the song you are listening to.

There are also many more stations on digital radios. The BBC has some digital only stations like BBC Radio 6 (which plays modern alternative music mainly from guitar bands).

You can find many of the stations online now as well, but if you want to listen out of the house, then you should consider buying a portable DAB radio.  

Internet radio

All of the above radio stations plus more are now available online. So you can work or surf the internet with the digital radio in the background! The advantage of this as with DAB radio is that there is no interference – this means the signal is much clearer.

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By Matt Taylor

USEFUL WORDS

analogue radio = a regular radio
digital (DAB) radio = a radio which uses the most modern technology to give a clearer signal
broadcast = to send out radio programmes
tune in = to find and start listening to a radio programme
on air = broadcasting on radio
local / national radio station
clear / poor signal = good / bad sound quality
radio programme
frequency / wavelength = the special number where you can find your radio station e.g. 97.6-99.8 FM
interference = extra noise that is not wanted on the radio station
Disc Jockey (DJ) = a person whose job it is to introduce and play music on radio
presenter = the person who introduces the different sections of a radio programme

Types of Radio Programme
pop & chart music = the most popular music of the time
interviews
live music = music which is not recorded, but broadcast at the time it is actually being played
easy-listening = music that is pleasant and relaxing but that some people think is not very interesting
comedy
news & political comment
play = a piece of writing performed by actors on radio
shipping forecast = a radio broadcast giving a report for ships on the weather conditions at sea
phone-in = a radio programme in which people can telephone and make comments or ask questions about a particular topic


Communication Idioms
A: You and Sharon get on very well together
B: Yes, we seem to be on the same wavelength

A: I think Tom like the sound of his own voice.  He just never stops talking
B: Yes, he does go on a bit, doesn’t he?

A: Ah, come in Susan, I’ve had an idea.  I’ll get straight to the point.  I want you to go to Australia and sort out our distribution problems

A: I don’t believe it!  Kate, getting married?  Who told you that?
B: I got it straight from the horse’s mouth.  She said she’s met someone and they’re planning to get married in June