The BBC today publishes an update on the regulatory process relating to its plans to launch four new music extensions for Radio 1, Radio 2 and Radio 3 as radio stations, and to expand the audience offering on Radio 5 Sports Extra.

THE Initial plans to evolve BBC radio portfolio outlined in February 2024, in response to rapidly changing listener habits and the continued growth of streaming and digital radio listening.

They have been developed to give people more choice and value in terms of license fees, particularly those currently underserved by the BBC, including existing, archive and new programmes. Making the add-ons available on DAB+ would allow the BBC to reach its audiences cost-effectively and also grow BBC Sounds, as listeners discover a richer catalog of on-demand shows they can enjoy on the BBC.

Over the past eight months, the BBC has carried out an extensive engagement process with the audio and music industry. The BBC carried out extensive market and audience analysis and modeling, using an approach agreed with Ofcom. As a result, much feedback and findings have been incorporated into the final plans, and Radio 1 Anthems, Radio 3 Unwind and expanded Radio 1 Dance have now been launched on BBC Sounds as music streams.

The Radio 2 and Radio 5 Sports Extra extension proposals have been significantly revamped in response to feedback from the audio industry consultation to broaden their distinctiveness and reduce their potential impact on the market.

As part of the ‘public interest testing’ processes to launch the music extensions as radio stations and expand Radio 5 Sports Extra, the updated proposals have now been approved by the board of directors of the BBC. They are now being referred to Ofcom for the regulatory process to continue over the next six to seven months, as set out in the BBC Charter and Agreement.

Musical extension proposals

In addition to previously announced plans, the revised proposal for the new Radio 2 extension includes:

• News bulletins throughout the day, approximately 70 per week
• Commitment to playing a wider range of music from the 50s, 60s and 70s, with at least 6,000 unique tracks per year, including tracks from lesser known albums
• Increased voice writing in programs, with speech-focused content taking up the majority of the program (60%), including documentaries (around 55% music/45% speech) and highly curated programs (around 65% % music/35% speech)
• A new partnership with local and national BBC radio stations, drawing on experts and local voices to tell the story of the importance of music in their specific regions across the UK.
• An increased volume of archive content, with 20% of programming drawing on the BBC’s unique archive of specially recorded songs, sessions and interviews.
• Supporting the audio industry through content commissioning projects from local independent producers across the UK

The commitments would come to life through a series of editorial plans, including:

• An ‘archive show’ every weekday for three hours, spotlighting Britain’s biggest music stars and their live performances on the BBC.
• A ‘legends show’ every weekday for an hour, drawing on the BBC’s extensive archive to tell the stories of key artists and groups from the decades
• A “cultural show” every day of the week for three hours, dedicated to new interviews with cultural personalities who will relay their memories, shed new light on the 50s, 60s and 70s, or share their specialized knowledge on an aspect particularly about local music and culture. the period
• Archive shows from Radio 2, revisiting the work of broadcasting legends and showcasing past programmes, including telling the definitive history of pop with 100 episodes of Pick of the Pops, unseen since their original broadcast. The much-loved show, which will celebrate 70 years on air in October 2025, would introduce listeners to iconic tracks from the last seven decades, fronted by Tony Blackburn and Alan Freeman.
• Stories and music from some of the UK’s best-loved presenters, including simulcasts of Sounds of the 60s with Tony Blackburn, Radio 2’s most listened to on-demand program on BBC Sounds and Sounds of the 70s with Bob Harris.

Lorna Clarke, BBC director of music, said: “We have received a wide range of feedback and have taken much of this into account in our plans, including significantly redeveloping our proposed Radio 2 extension to increase its editorial feature. Our music extensions allow us to support new music, showcase British talent, bring back performances from the BBC’s unrivaled archive and help audiences discover a greater breadth and range of music than ever before. what is available on the market.

“The continued growth of commercial radio and global streamers has shown that there are multiple ways to bring genres and decades to life for audiences. Our projects are unique, with context, curation and storytelling delivered in a way that only the BBC can, meeting evolving audience expectations and providing more choice for license fee payers.

An expanded version of Radio 1 Dance, along with Radio 1 Anthems and Radio 3 Unwind, were successfully launched as music streams on BBC Sounds, following industry feedback which shaped the final plans and a materiality assessment conducted by the BBC and approved by Ofcom.

Radio 1 Dance broadcasts a wider range of music than any comparable station, with over 3,000 unique tracks per year, a third of the music played during the day is new music and around 45% of tracks are from British artists. Editorial includes collaborations with the dance industry to showcase exciting new talent, Pete Tong’s Essential History of Dance Music series and a new morning show dedicated to the genre.

Radio 1 Anthems helps young audiences discover and rediscover a wide range of music and acts supported by Radio 1 in the 2000s and 2010s, and supports new presenters through its collaboration with the Student Radio Association, reaffirming the vital role of Radio 1 in training new talents. for the BBC and the rest of the industry. The extension plays around 4,000 unique tracks and at least 33% of the tracks are from UK artists.

Radio 3 Unwind presents a wide and eclectic range of classical music that is soothing, enhancing wellbeing and helping listeners escape the pressures of everyday life. To support the British music scene, living contemporary composers are championed on Radio 3 Unwind, with a particular focus on British talent. They appear in all shows except the first, and represent at least 50% of the pieces on Piano Focus. A new show, Soundwaves, is dedicated to the music of current British composers, and three major commissions, Classical Unwind, Classical Wind Down and Cinematic Soundtracks, feature at least 25% music by British composers and reflect under-represented artists and composers .

Radio 5 Sports Extra Proposal

The Radio 5 Sports Extra formats have been revised by reducing the proposed broadcast times by 30%, from 6 a.m. to 10:30 p.m. to 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. This means that Radio 5 Sports Extra is not broadcast during key commercial radio times, mornings and evenings, when it reaches a significant audience outside of live sports commentary. The updated proposal also removes plans to simulcast wider Radio 5 Live content on Radio 5 Sports Extra that is not live sports commentary. These significant changes and the high public value of the proposal mitigate the risk of any potential market impact.

Heidi Dawson, Controller of Radio 5 Live and Radio 5 Sports Extra, said: “Our plan for Radio 5 Sports Extra allows us to better cater to underserved audiences and help them discover more of the content we already produce on the BBC, without any additional expense to our sports rights budget or hours of live coverage. After conducting detailed analysis and receiving feedback from the audio industry, we have significantly scaled back our plans to mitigate the potential impact on the market.

Radio 5 Sports Extra is currently a part-time station with no fixed broadcast times and broadcasts a short marketing track on a constant loop when no live sport is being broadcast. The proposal sets out a plan for existing BBC sport-related audio content, including BBC Sounds podcasts and nations and regions programmes, to be broadcast on the station. This would enable the BBC’s current investment in sports content to reach a wider, underserved audience, and provide them with a dedicated destination for BBC audio sports content, without increasing the BBC’s sports audio rights budget. BBC due to these changes.

L.Z.