31 Facts About BBC Radio

1. BBC Radio apologised for underpaying former China editor Carrie Gracie and reached an agreement over her back pay.

2. BBC Radio Sounds is a collection of the broadcaster's live and on-demand radio, as well as music and podcasts in one place.

3. BBC Radio unveiled a new audio streaming app as part of the corporation's plans to "reinvent" the broadcaster "for a new generation".

4. BBC Radio published its long-awaited review into pay arrangements for on-air presenters, editors and correspondents.

5. BBC Radio has long faced accusations of liberal and left-wing bias.

6. BBC Radio has faced various accusations regarding many topics: the Iraq war, politics, ethics and religion, as well as funding and staffing.

7. The BBC Radio developed several computers throughout the 1980s, most notably the BBC Micro, which ran alongside the corporation's educational aims and programming.

8. BBC Radio services in the dependencies are financed from television licence fees which are set at the same level as those payable in the UK, although collected locally.

9. Since 2008, all the BBC Radio channels are available to watch online through the BBC iPlayer service.

10. BBC Radio operates several news gathering centres in various locations around the world, which provide news coverage of that region to the national and international news operations.

11. BBC Radio uses advertising campaigns to inform customers of the requirement to pay the licence fee.

12. The BBC Radio carries out surveillance on properties (under the auspices of the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act 2000) and may conduct searches of a property using a search warrant.

13. BBC Radio pursues its licence fee collection and enforcement under the trading name "TV Licensing".

14. In October 1985, the BBC Radio announced that it would stop the vetting process, except for a few people in top roles, as well as those in charge of Wartime Broadcasting Service emergency broadcasting and staff in the BBC World Service.

15. BBC Radio is a statutory corporation, independent from direct government intervention, with its activities being overseen from April 2017 by the BBC Board and regulated by Ofcom.

16. In January 2007, the BBC Radio released minutes of the board meeting which led to Greg Dyke's resignation.

17. Thus the BBC Radio was granted sufficient leeway to pursue the Government's objectives largely in a manner of its own choosing.

18. The BBC Radio was banned from presenting news bulletins before 19.00 and was required to source all news from external wire services.

19. BBC Radio was going to wipe the Monty Python series to re-use the tapes.

20. The BBC Radio now owns the rights to the iconic police box.

21. In 1957, the BBC Radio aired an April Fools segment showing a family harvesting spaghetti from the family spaghetti tree.

22. BBC Radio has exclusive rights to the next three men's and women's Ashes series, both home and away.

23. BBC Radio has exclusive rights to the next three men and women's Ashes series, both home and away.

24. BBC Radio expounded firm principles of centralised, all-encompassing radio broadcasting, stressing programming standards and moral tone.

25. BBC Radio hired many out-of-work broadcasting staff who had come from the former offshore stations.

26. BBC Radio could broadcast news as it happened, which newspapers could not do.

27. BBC Radio quickly became popular anywhere signals could be heard, but how best to utilize the medium—what to place on the air, or to "program"—remained to be seen.

28. BBC Radio can employ a boundless plethora of sound and music effects to entertain and enthrall listeners.

29. BBC Radio was suddenly facing major challenges from local and independent radio stations and had to come up with new programmes to combat the challenge.

30. BBC Radio shows still rely on you to know when they are on—although BBC Sounds does let you maintain lists of those you don't want to miss.

31. BBC Radio is an operational business division and service of the British Broadcasting Corporation.