# UK Dopers - How much radio do you listen to? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [September 4, 2008, 6:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/uk-dopers-how-much-radio-do-you-listen-to/462031 "2008-09-04T18:26:55Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Wendell\_Wagner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/8491ac/32.png) [@Wendell\_Wagner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wendell_Wagner)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2008, 11:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/uk-dopers-how-much-radio-do-you-listen-to/462031/21 "2008-09-05T11:27:25Z")
It isn’t clear from the OP, but there is a lot of commercial radio (everything other than the BBC, in other words) in the U.K., and it consists mostly of pop music. ---
**Author:** ![GuanoLad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guanolad/32/42_2.png) [@GuanoLad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GuanoLad)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2008, 11:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/uk-dopers-how-much-radio-do-you-listen-to/462031/22 "2008-09-05T11:49:56Z")
> [@jjimm](#): > > I listen to a metric shitload of radio. Is that more, or less, than an Imperial crapload? I have discovered UK TV hows that aren’t exported, via YouTube, bittorrent, and subsequently DVD. And in exploring what these new comedic and dramatic discoveries have done elsewhere, I have inevitably uncovered a lot of their radio shows, especially the panel shows. They are often listenable online for a limited time, which I will take advantage of where I can. I pretty much don’t listen to local radio at all. I’m sure there’s something different to the music stations somewhere about here in Australia - ABC Radio for example - but I haven’t found that just sounds dull, and aimed squarely at elderly opinionated people. Which is at least ten years away for me. ---
**Author:** ![yojimbo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yojimbo/32/232_2.png) [@yojimbo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yojimbo)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2008, 11:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/uk-dopers-how-much-radio-do-you-listen-to/462031/23 "2008-09-05T11:57:50Z")
I listen to a lot of radio as well. Some Irish stuff but mostly BBC 4/5. I go to sleep everynight listening to _Up all Night_ on BBC5. Download a lot of podcasts and listen to them when I’m travelling to work etc. BBC radio is the best in the world in my experience. Along with the NHS it’s the thing the Brits should be most proud of IMO. ---
**Author:** ![Meurglys](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/258eb7/32.png) [@Meurglys](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Meurglys)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2008, 12:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/uk-dopers-how-much-radio-do-you-listen-to/462031/24 "2008-09-05T12:23:20Z")
The radio alarm is tuned to radio 4, as is the main radio so that’s a couple of hours in the morning, and another hour of R4 at night, although that might segue into the World Service if I’m up late. If reception’s bad, sometimes Radio Scotland substitutes. Through the day I use listen again and catch plays and book readings (usually on BBC7) and some music on R2 - Sounds of the Sixties, Pick of the Pops\* & the Bob Dylan Theme Time Radio - & BBC6 - The Freak Zone. Not much other stuff, I’m afraid. Late Junction on R3 sometimes, and the Grateful Dead show, Dead to the World on kpfa and YepRoc streaming radio, if that counts. \*depends on the weeks they highlight! ---
**Author:** ![mallurox](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9de053/32.png) [@mallurox](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mallurox)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2008, 12:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/uk-dopers-how-much-radio-do-you-listen-to/462031/25 "2008-09-05T12:37:13Z")
> [@Staggerlee](#): > > I’m a big Radio 4 fan too. I particularly like listening to some intelligent discussion while playing ultraviolent first-person shooters. [Paris Hilton] Thats hot! [/PH] ---
**Author:** ![Gyrate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gyrate/32/3588_2.png) [@Gyrate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gyrate)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2008, 1:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/uk-dopers-how-much-radio-do-you-listen-to/462031/26 "2008-09-05T13:03:05Z")
BBC Radio 3 and 4 out the wazoo, plus podcasts of Radio 4 and Radio 5 shows. Excluding the podcasts I probably only listen to 3-4 hours a day (because I’m never home and don’t have a car), but the podcasts easily add another 1-2 hours a day just of BBC stuff. The Archers podcast = radio crack. ---
**Author:** ![Charley](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/97f17d/32.png) [@Charley](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Charley)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2008, 2:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/uk-dopers-how-much-radio-do-you-listen-to/462031/27 "2008-09-05T14:18:48Z")
I’m another Radio 4 devotee, it’s on whenever I’m in the kitchen/family room, which is pretty much the whole time I’m in the house. I also listen in the car: the Today programme in the morning and PM/The 6 o’clock news/the comedy slot on the way home. I do flick to LBC ( London local commercial station) every now and then, and occasionally pick up Radio 2, BBC 7 and Planet Rock on DAB. I clock up about 4 hours in a typical day. I don’t really listen to music radio these days, I prefer my own collection for that. We often talk about radio items at work - Radio 4 is just brilliant for that. I do go out of my way to catch specific progammes: PM (news magazine programme), You and Yours when I can (consumer show, it’s a guilty pleasure, but I love it) and of course The Archers. ---
**Author:** ![MarcusF](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/67e7ee/32.png) [@MarcusF](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MarcusF)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2008, 2:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/uk-dopers-how-much-radio-do-you-listen-to/462031/28 "2008-09-05T14:28:38Z")
Radio 4 when I get up (the Today programme) just to check the world is still there. Radio 4 or Radio 5 in car on the way to work - both news stations, I swap about to find a topic I’m interested in. Radio 4 on the way home (Yea! for the Material World - a serious science programme despite Quentin Cooper’s puns :rolleyes: ) and the news again from PM. Sometimes the 6.30pm comedy slot on Radio 4 and other bits and pieces when I remember. Sometimes Radio 3 during the day when I don’t want to concentrate. Maybe 2 hours a day. ---
**Author:** ![big\_alex](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e56c9b/32.png) [@big\_alex](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/big_alex)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2008, 3:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/uk-dopers-how-much-radio-do-you-listen-to/462031/29 "2008-09-05T15:00:29Z")
We have Radio 2 on at work, which is alright, but when they find a song they like it’s overplayed to death. I listen to the comedy on Radio 4 and sometimes listen to local station (Radio Tees) and it is reassuring to listen to the world service when I can’t sleep. ---
**Author:** ![Small\_Clanger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9fc348/32.png) [@Small\_Clanger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Small_Clanger)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2008, 3:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/uk-dopers-how-much-radio-do-you-listen-to/462031/30 "2008-09-05T15:00:42Z")
One more bump. Wake up -\> turn on radio which is permanently tuned to Radio 4 (the Today program) Home for lunch -\> turn on radio which is permanently tuned to Radio 4 (World at One - then some stupid quiz) Cooking supper -\> turn on radio which is permanently tuned to Radio 4 (6:30 comedy slot) Get in car -\> turn on radio which is permanently turn to Radio 4 (whatever is on, have been known to switch to Radio 3 to avoid ::shudders:: women’s programs) I turn off the bloody Archers though. Am I the only Radio 4 listener that finds this dreck unlistenable. Oh and I can’t stand all the chick stuff they have on during the day. \*Women’s Hour \*ARGH!!! I will put up with \*Quote Unquote \*and will suffer though _Round Britain Quiz_ if there wasn’t something interesting to tape at 9:00 - currently _Fry’s English Delight_ is on in that slot, so frak you RBQ. All in all I probably listen to more radio (4) than I watch live telly. ---
**Author:** ![Capt.Ridley\_s\_Shooting\_Party](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/cc9497/32.png) [@Capt.Ridley\_s\_Shooting\_Party](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Capt.Ridley_s_Shooting_Party)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2008, 3:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/uk-dopers-how-much-radio-do-you-listen-to/462031/31 "2008-09-05T15:08:15Z")
I listen to xfm in my car, and sometimes in the kitchen, when I’m cooking, at home. It’s not available all over the UK, though (as far as I’m aware, Manchester, Central Scotland, London and South Wales can only pick it up). ---
**Author:** ![Ximenean](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/aca169/32.png) [@Ximenean](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ximenean)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2008, 5:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/uk-dopers-how-much-radio-do-you-listen-to/462031/32 "2008-09-05T17:26:35Z")
I like the _idea_ of Radio 4 but frankly I find a lot of it too highbrow, worthy or just downright dull. I like the quizzes and the early evening comedy slot (_Count Arthur Strong_, that spoof sports show, stuff like that). But I wish there were another all-speech station that was a little more middlebrow. At the moment, there’s this huge gulf between Radio 4 and the rest. Simon Mayo an Radio 5 is OK, and people like Jonathan Ross or Danny Baker on Radio 2 and whatever they’re calling GLR this week. But mostly it’s repetitive rolling news and moronic phone-ins on 5, or absolute trash like Talk Sport and local radio. Anyway, to answer the OP I only listen to radio in the car (Radios 1, 2, 4, 5 from the Beeb, commercial stations Classic FM and XFM, or just any old commercial pop station), and when my clock radio goes off. ---
**Author:** ![Petrobey\_Mavromihalis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/bcef8e/32.png) [@Petrobey\_Mavromihalis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Petrobey_Mavromihalis)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2008, 5:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/uk-dopers-how-much-radio-do-you-listen-to/462031/33 "2008-09-05T17:50:03Z")
> [@Small\_Clanger](#): > > I turn off the bloody Archers though. Am I the only Radio 4 listener that finds this dreck unlistenable. No. ---
**Author:** ![irishgirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/8edcca/32.png) [@irishgirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/irishgirl)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2008, 6:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/uk-dopers-how-much-radio-do-you-listen-to/462031/34 "2008-09-05T18:05:04Z")
I love my BBC radio. Wake up, listen to Radio 1 in the shower, nothing like pop music and cheery banter to wake you up. Drive to work, catch the headlines on Radio 4 and a bit of the Today show, back to Radio 1 for some music if the news is too depressing, BBC Radio Ulster for the traffic and weather, back to Radio 4 for some more news. Get to work, BBC Radio 1 is usually playing…A&E departments need something in the background. Leave work, listen to whatever I feel like on the radio- usually Radio 1 if I need cheering up, Radio 2 if I want familiarity, Radio 4 if I feel like learning something new. Pottering aroun d the house, the radio is on if we don’t feel like listening to music. Usually Radio 1 for my husband or Radio 4 for me. I like: Russell Brand Chris Moyles Zane Lowe Colin Murray On Radio 1 and 2 for light hearted music and chat. The Today show Women’s Hour In Our Time You and Yours All In The Mind Home Planet On Radio 4 for learning new things. I’m Sorry I Haven’t A Clue Just a Minute On Radio 4- because they’re funny. The Archers and Gardener’s Question Time are traditional Weekend Listening for my parents, and subsequently very comforting to me, even though I don’t have a garden and find the plots in The Archers ludicrous. ---
**Author:** ![Ultraviolet](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/c77e96/32.png) [@Ultraviolet](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ultraviolet)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2008, 10:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/uk-dopers-how-much-radio-do-you-listen-to/462031/35 "2008-09-05T22:46:12Z")
> [@Smeghead](#): > > I’m an American, and I listen to a tonne (heh) of BBC Radio. Thank you, internet! I believe that at the moment, I have about 14 days’ worth of downloaded programs on my iPod waiting for me to listen to them. I’ve stopped listening to music. How do you download the programs? I can see where you can “listen again”, but I don’t see an option to download. I’d love to be able to put shows on my MP3 player. ---
**Author:** ![Jennyrosity](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/2bfe46/32.png) [@Jennyrosity](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jennyrosity)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2008, 11:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/uk-dopers-how-much-radio-do-you-listen-to/462031/36 "2008-09-05T23:30:49Z")
Radio Four goes on as soon as I wake up (actually, it wakes me up, thanks to my radio alarm - which can be something of a rude awakening if John Humphrys is particular exacerbated), and stays on all day if I’m working from home. If I’m the office, there’s still a radio, but it’s tuned to some inoffensive, bland pop station so as to not offend any of the 6 people I share an office with. In the evening, radio 4 goes back on whilst I’m cooking. So, between 6 and 9 hours a day, I reckon. ---
**Author:** ![Bam\_Boo\_Gut](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/8c91f0/32.png) [@Bam\_Boo\_Gut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bam_Boo_Gut)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2008, 2:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/uk-dopers-how-much-radio-do-you-listen-to/462031/37 "2008-09-06T02:04:08Z")
> [@GorillaMan](#): > > The funding for the World Service has always come directly from the Foreign Office, rather than from the normal BBC funding via the TV licence. As it had a remit to broadcast to other parts of the world rather than to the UK, that money was to be spent on ways of transmitting to the countries most in need of an alternative to censored media, rather than an extra option for British audiences. Thanks - it’s definitely much appreciated overseas. ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Kobayashi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/4af34b/32.png) [@Mr.Kobayashi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Kobayashi)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2008, 2:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/uk-dopers-how-much-radio-do-you-listen-to/462031/38 "2008-09-06T02:35:07Z")
I used to listen to BBC Radio 2 and Radio 4 a lot at work; it saved batteries on my MP3 player. Radio 2 occasionally has some decent songs on during the day, although the discussion is the usual banal nonsense and tedious banter with the traffic woman. Except Jeremy Vine, who I quite like. I also have it on sometimes at night; they tend to give the overplayed tracks the bullet and you can find some real gems, ditto with Radio 1 at night, although I could care less for Radio 1 usually. Radio 4 is a changeable beast; it’s either extremely interesting or mind numbingly boring depending on the subject matter. “And now, an analysis of Russian Cold War nuclear capabilities,” heck yes, “Coming up, an in depth look on soil conditions in southern Yemen,” er, no thanks. ---
**Author:** ![Myglaren](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f1d935/32.png) [@Myglaren](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Myglaren)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2008, 8:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/uk-dopers-how-much-radio-do-you-listen-to/462031/39 "2008-09-06T08:30:28Z")
None whatsoever, can’t stand the drivel they come up with or the infuriating adverts on commercial stations. If it was something I _really_ wanted to listen to it is invariably at a bad time or interrupted, ruining it, so I just skip it altogether. My wife is a hardened Radio 4 addict and I did used to catch and even enjoy some of it but she left 10 years ago and radio hasn’t disturbed the peace since. Only listen to CDs or DVDs. ---
**Author:** ![Quartz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quartz/32/267_2.png) [@Quartz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quartz)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2008, 9:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/uk-dopers-how-much-radio-do-you-listen-to/462031/40 "2008-09-06T09:48:32Z")
Radio 4 and Classic FM. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/uk-dopers-how-much-radio-do-you-listen-to/462031.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/uk-dopers-how-much-radio-do-you-listen-to/462031.md?page=3)