48-594: The Greenwich Time Signal ( GTS ), popularly known as the pips , is a series of six short tones (or "pips") broadcast at one-second intervals by many BBC Radio stations to mark the precise start of each hour. The pips were introduced in 1924, generated by the Royal Observatory, Greenwich, and from 1990 were generated by the BBC in London. The broadcast pips replaced an electrical time coordination system based on
96-660: A UK listenership on LW and therefore DAB Services allowed, by this popular demand, it to be now available 24/7 for this audience in better quality reception. BBC Radio services are broadcast on various FM and AM frequencies, DAB digital radio and live streaming on BBC Sounds , which is available worldwide. They are also available on digital television in the UK, and archived programmes are available for 30 days or more after broadcast on BBC Sounds; many shows are available as podcasts. The BBC also syndicates radio and podcast content to radio stations and other broadcasting services around
144-456: A breakdown of one. These sent a signal each second to the BBC, which converted them to the audible oscillatory tone broadcast. The Royal Greenwich Observatory moved to Herstmonceux Castle in 1957 and the GTS equipment followed a few years later in the form of an electronic clock. Reliability was improved by renting two lines for the service between Herstmonceux and the BBC, with a changeover between
192-817: A different service from the domestic audience the Corporation started the BBC Empire Service on short wave in 1932, originally in English but it soon provided programmes in other languages. At the start of the Second World War it was renamed The Overseas Service and is now known as the BBC World Service . Beginning in March 1964, Radio Caroline became the first of what would become ten offshore pirate radio stations that began to ring
240-613: A few months prior to Radio London's closure, The Perfumed Garden got more fan mail than the rest of the pop DJs on Radio London combined, so much that staff wondered what to do with it all. The reason it got so much mail was that it played different music and was the beginning of the "album rock" genre. On Everett's suggestion, Radio London's PAMS jingles were commissioned to be re-recorded in Dallas , Texas , so that " Wonderful Radio London " became " Wonderful Radio One on BBC ". The BBC's more popular stations have encountered pressure from
288-521: A purely digital format – they can be received via DAB Digital Radio , UK digital television (satellite, cable and Freeview ) plus live streams and listen again on BBC Sounds . The current stations are: The BBC also operates radio stations for three UK nations: Wales , Scotland , and Northern Ireland . These stations focus on local issues to a greater extent than their UK-wide counterparts, organising live phone-in debates about these issues, as well as lighter talk shows with music from different decades of
336-438: A song or a jingle "bed" (background music from a jingle), followed by their respective news jingles. Many BBC local radio stations also played the pips over the station's jingle before the 2020 rebrand. BBC Radio 4 is stricter, as it is an almost entirely speech-based network. As a contribution to Comic Relief 's 2005 Red Nose Day , the BBC developed a "pips" ringtone which could be downloaded. Bill Bailey 's BBC Rave includes
384-446: Is a 1 k Hz tone (about a fifth of a semitone above musical B5 ) the first five of which last a tenth of a second each, while the final pip lasts half a second. The actual moment when the hour changes – the "on-time marker" – is at the very beginning of the last pip. When a leap second occurs (exactly one second before midnight UTC ), it is indicated by a seventh pip. In this case the first pip occurs at 23:59:55 (as usual) and there
432-405: Is a sixth short pip at 23:59:60 (the leap second) followed by the long pip at 00:00:00. The possibility of an extra pip for the leap second thus justifies the final pip being longer than the others, so that it is always clear which pip is on the hour. Before leap seconds were conceived in 1972, the final pip was the same length as the others. Although "negative" leap seconds can also be used to make
480-483: Is partnered with Sirius Satellite Radio and British Airways as well as many other local radio stations. Throughout its history the BBC has produced many radio programmes. Particularly significant, influential, popular or long-lasting programmes include: The following expenditure figures are from 2012/13 and show the expenditure of each service they are obliged to provide: David Lowe (television and radio composer) Too Many Requests If you report this error to
528-605: Is the world's largest international broadcaster, broadcasting in 27 languages to many parts of the world via analogue and digital shortwave, internet streaming and podcasting, satellite, FM and MW relays and simulcast on Radio 4 from 01:00-05:20 BST and Radio Cymru from 00:00-05:30 BST. It is politically independent (by mandate of the Agreement providing details of the topics outlined in the BBC Charter), non-profit, and commercial-free. The English language service had always had
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#1732772950942576-509: The BBC News theme , which incorporates a variant of the pips (though not actually broadcast exactly on the hour). The footage can be seen on his DVD Part Troll . In the late 1980s Radio 1 featured the pips played over a station jingle during Jakki Brambles ' early show and Simon Mayo 's breakfast show. This was not strictly "crashing the pips" as they were not intended to be used as an accurate time signal. At 8 am on 17 September 2008, to
624-744: The London 2012 Olympics during the Beijing 2008 Olympics closing ceremony . The pips were also broadcast by the BBC Television Service , but this practice was discontinued by the 1960s. To celebrate the 90th birthday of the pips on 5 February 2014, the Today programme broadcast a sequence that included a re-working of the Happy Birthday melody using the GTS as its base sound. The BBC discourages any other sound being broadcast at
672-467: The Marine, &c., Broadcasting (Offences) Act 1967 , which virtually wiped out all of the pirate stations at midnight on 14 August 1967, by banning any British citizen from working for a pirate station. Only Radio Caroline survived, and continues to broadcast today, though the last original offshore broadcast was in 1989. One of the stations, Radio London (also known as "Big L"), was so successful that
720-436: The 2000s and 2010s, catering to the appetite from young audiences for recent nostalgia”; one from Radio 2, with “‘a distinctive take on pop nostalgia’ from the 50s, 60s and 70s”; and one from Radio 3 for “calming classical music”. In addition, Radio 1 Dance would launch on DAB expanded programming. The BBC today runs national domestic radio stations, six of which are available in analogue formats (via FM or AM), while other have
768-493: The 20th and 21st centuries. Compared to the majority of the UK's commercially funded radio stations, which generally broadcast little beyond contemporary popular music, the BBC's "national regional" stations offer a more diverse range of programming. There are forty BBC Local Radio services across England and the Channel Islands , often catering to individual counties , cities, or wider regions. BBC World Service
816-625: The BBC World Service; some shorten it to five, four, or three tones. On some broadcasters the final pip is of a different pitch. BBC Radio BBC Radio is an operational business division and service of the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) which has operated in the United Kingdom under the terms of a royal charter since 1927. The service provides national radio stations covering
864-407: The BBC could be broken, other parties became attracted to the idea of creating a new commercial radio station specifically for this purpose. It was an important forerunner of pirate radio and modern commercial radio in the United Kingdom. The onset of World War II silenced all but one of the original IBC stations, with only Radio Luxembourg continuing its nightly transmissions to Britain. To provide
912-537: The BBC elected to broadcast a "dignified silence" in place of the pips at 19:00. By 19:45 the same day the power supply was repaired and the 20:00 pips were broadcast as normal. Many radio broadcasters around the world use the Greenwich Time Signal, or a variant thereof, as a means to mark the start of the hour. The pips are used in both domestic and international commercial and public broadcasting. Many radio stations use six tones similar to those used by
960-566: The BBC through its General Post Office , which had original control of the airwaves because they had been interpreted under law as an extension of the Post Office services. Today radio broadcasting still makes up a large part of the corporation's output – the title of the BBC's listings magazine, Radio Times , reflects this. On 1 January 1927, the British Broadcasting Company was succeeded in monopoly control of
1008-424: The BBC was told to copy it as best they could. This led to a complete overhaul by Frank Gillard , the BBC's director of radio output, creating the four analogue channels that still form the basis of its broadcasting today. The creator of Radio 1 told the press that his family had been fans of Radio London. The BBC hired many out-of-work broadcasting staff who had come from the former offshore stations. Kenny Everett
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#17327729509421056-517: The British coastline, mostly along the south-east coast. By 1966 millions were tuning into these commercial stations, and the BBC was rapidly losing its radio listening audience. This was largely due to the fact that even though they were fully aware of the problem, the BBC still only played a few hours of pop music records a week, as opposed to the pirates which broadcast chart music and new releases every day. The British government reacted by passing
1104-754: The English Midlands. BBC Radio 1Xtra , 4 Extra , 5 Sports Extra , 6 Music and the World Service broadcast only on DAB and BBC Sounds, while Radio 1's Dance stream is available only online. All of the BBC's national radio stations broadcast from bases in London and Manchester , usually in or near to Broadcasting House or MediaCityUK . However, the BBC's network production units located in Belfast , Birmingham , Bristol , Cardiff and Glasgow also make radio programmes. The BBC's radio services began in 1922. The British Government licensed
1152-500: The UK, a former British Royal Air Force captain and entrepreneur (and from 1935 Conservative Party MP ) named Leonard Plugge set up his own International Broadcasting Company in 1931. The IBC began leasing time on transmitters in continental Europe and then reselling it as sponsored English-language programming aimed at audiences in Britain and Ireland. Because Plugge successfully demonstrated that state monopolies such as that of
1200-516: The United Kingdom . To this day, the BBC aims to follow the Reithian directive to "inform, educate and entertain". Although no other broadcasting organisation was licensed in the UK until 1973, commercial competition soon opened up from overseas. The English language service of Radio Luxembourg began in 1933 as one of the earliest commercial radio stations broadcasting to Britain and Ireland. With no possibility of domestic commercial broadcasting in
1248-566: The accuracy of use of the pips. On digital platforms such as DVB , DAB , satellite and the Internet , the pips — although generated accurately — are not heard by the listener exactly on the hour. The encoding and decoding of the digital signal causes a delay, of usually between two and eight seconds. In the case of satellite broadcasting, the travel time of the signal to and from the satellite adds about another 0.25 seconds. The pips have been broadcast daily since 5 February 1924, and were
1296-475: The airwaves by the British Broadcasting Corporation , under the terms of a royal charter . John Reith , who had been the founding managing director of the commercial company, became the first Director-General. He expounded firm principles of centralised, all-encompassing radio broadcasting, stressing programming standards and moral tone. These he set out in his 1924 autobiography, Broadcast Over Britain , influencing modern ideas of public service broadcasting in
1344-499: The basement of Broadcasting House synchronised with the National Physical Laboratory 's Time from NPL and GPS . On other stations, the pips are generated locally from a GPS -synchronised clock. The broadcast pips usefulness for time calibration is diminished by the time lags involved in digital broadcasting. The BBC compensates for the time delay in both broadcasting and receiving equipment, as well as
1392-407: The commercial sector. John Myers , who had developed commercial brands such as Century Radio and Real Radio , was asked in the first quarter of 2011 to conduct a review into the efficiencies of Radios 1, 2, 1Xtra and 6 Music. His role, according to Andrew Harrison, the chief executive of RadioCentre, was "to identify both areas of best practice and possible savings." On 30 September 1967: With
1440-498: The east of England until it ended in March 2020, as part of his "synchronised cup of tea" feature. In 1999, pip-like sounds were incorporated into the themes written by composer David Lowe to introduce BBC Television News programmes. They are still used today on BBC One , BBC Two , BBC World News and BBC News . The BBC does not allow the pips to be broadcast except as a time signal. Radio plays and comedies which have fictional news programmes use various methods to avoid playing
1488-438: The end. BBC Radio 5 Live broadcast the pips at 06:00 between 2000 and 2008. BBC Radio 3 and BBC Radio 5 Live does not broadcast the pips. The BBC World Service broadcasts the pips every hour. Pips were also heard on many BBC Local Radio stations until the introduction of a new presentation package in 2020. A rare quarter-hour Greenwich Time Signal was heard at 05:15 weekdays on Wally Webb's programme on local radio in
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1536-589: The full six pips, ranging from simply fading in the pips to a version played on On the Hour in which the sound was made into a small tune between the pips. The News Quiz also featured a special Christmas pantomime edition where the pips went "missing", and the problem was avoided there by only playing individual pips. The 2012 project Radio Reunited used the pips to commemorate 90 years of BBC Radio. The pips for national radio stations and some local radio stations are timed relative to UTC , from an atomic clock in
1584-737: The globe, through its BBC Radio International business, which is part of BBC Studios . Programmes regularly syndicated by BBC Radio International include: In Concert (live rock music recordings from BBC Radio 1 and BBC Radio 2, including an archive dating back to 1971); interviews, live sessions and music shows; classical music (including performances from the BBC Proms); spoken word (music documentaries, dramas, readings, features and comedies, mainly from BBC Radio 4) and channels, including BBC Radio 1. BBC Radio International also provides many services internationally including in-flight entertainment, subscription, and satellite services. BBC Radio International
1632-764: The idea of the Astronomer Royal , Sir Frank Watson Dyson , and the head of the BBC, John Reith who commissioned Marconi / Siemens in Charlton , close to Greenwich, to create the signal. The company gave the project to an 18-year-old engineer, Harry Lampen Edwards, who was seconded to the Observatory. The pips were originally controlled by two mechanical clocks located in the Royal Greenwich Observatory that had electrical contacts attached to their pendula . Two clocks were used in case of
1680-459: The increased rollout of Digital Audio Broadcasting (DAB) between 1995 and 2002, BBC Radio launched several new digital-only stations BBC 1Xtra , BBC 6 Music and BBC 7 in 2002 on 16 August, 11 March and 15 December respectively – the first for "new black British music", the second as a source of performance-based "alternative" music, the latter specialising in archive classic comedy shows, drama and children's programmes. BBC Asian Network joined
1728-446: The majority of musical genres, as well as local radio stations covering local news, affairs and interests. It also oversees online audio content. Of the national radio stations, BBC Radio 1 , 2 , 3 , 4 and 5 Live are all available through analogue radio ( MW or FM , also BBC Radio 4 broadcasts on longwave ) as well as on DAB Digital Radio and BBC Sounds . The Asian Network broadcasts on DAB and selected AM frequencies in
1776-651: The national DAB network on 28 October 2002. The stations had "Radio" added to their names in 2008. In 2011, BBC Radio 7 was renamed BBC Radio 4 Extra and the service was more closely aligned with Radio 4. At the start of the 2020s, two Radio 1 spin-offs were launched on BBC Sounds , BBC Radio 1 Dance in October 2020, followed by BBC Radio 1 Relax in April 2021. In February 2024, the corporation announced plans to launch three new spin-offs, pending public consultation and regulatory approval: one from Radio 1 for “music from
1824-401: The news, 09:00 as part of the "Tedious Link" feature, 10:00 (at the end of the show) and often before Newsbeat . As most stations only air the pips on the hour, The Chris Moyles Show was the only show where the pips were broadcast on the half-hour. Chris Moyles continues to use the pips at the beginning of his show on Radio X . The pips were previously used at 19:00 on Saturday evenings at
1872-669: The pips every hour except at 18:00 and 00:00 (at the start of the Six O'Clock News and Midnight News respectively), and at 22:00 on Sundays (at the start of the Westminster Hour ) when they are replaced by the striking of Big Ben at the Palace of Westminster . On BBC Radio 2 , the pips are used at 07:00, 08:00 and 17:00 on weekdays, at 07:00 and 08:00 on Saturdays and at 08:00 and 09:00 on Sundays. The pips were used on BBC Radio 1 during The Chris Moyles Show at 06:30 just after
1920-408: The pips with the help of an accurate clock in the studio. A sudden total failure in the generation of the audio pulses that constitute the pips was experienced on 31 May 2011 and silence was unexpectedly broadcast in place of the 17:00 signal. The problem was traced to the power supply of the equipment which converts the signal from the atomic clocks into an audible signal. Whilst repairs were underway
1968-478: The railway telegraph network, which itself was an extension of the mechanical time balls in Portsmouth (1829) and later Greenwich (1833), which enabled navigators aboard ships moored in those places to set their chronometers for the determination of longitude on voyages. There are six pips (short beeps) in total, which occur on each of the 5 seconds leading up to the hour and on the hour itself. Each pip
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2016-402: The same time as the pips; doing so is commonly known as "crashing the pips". This was most often referred to on Terry Wogan 's Radio 2 Breakfast show, although usually only in jest since the actual event happened rarely. Different BBC Radio stations approach this issue differently. Radio 1 and Radio 2 generally take a relaxed approach with the pips, usually playing them over the closing seconds of
2064-448: The start of Radio 1's 12-hour simulcast with digital station BBC Radio 1Xtra . The pips were also used on Radio 6 Music for a rare occurrence. It took place between 2009 and 2011 on weekdays and the pips were played at 10:00 (end of the breakfast show) and at 19:00 (end of the drive show). On Remembrance Day and Remembrance Sunday , Radio 4 uses the pips at 10:59:55 to mark the start of the two minutes silence and again at 11:01:55 to mark
2112-487: The surprise of John Humphrys , the day's main presenter on the Today programme, and Johnnie Walker , who was standing in for Terry Wogan on Radio 2, the pips went "adrift" by six seconds, and broadcast seven pips rather than six. This was traced to a problem with the pip generator, which was rectified by switching it off and on again . Part of Humphrys' surprise was probably because of his deliberate avoidance of crashing
2160-552: The time for the actual transmission. The pips are timed so that they are accurately received on long wave as far as 160 kilometres (100 mi) from the Droitwich AM transmitter , which is the distance to Central London . As a pre-digital time transfer and transmission system, the pips have been a great technological success. In modern times, however, time can be transferred using IRIG and pre- NTP . Newer digital broadcasting methods have introduced even greater problems for
2208-404: The two at Broadcasting House if the main line became disconnected. The tone sent on the lines was inverted: the signal sent to the BBC was a steady 1 kHz tone when no pip was required, and no tone when a pip should be sounded. This let faults on the line be detected immediately by automated monitoring for loss of audio. The Greenwich Time Signal was the first sound heard in the handover to
2256-492: The year shorter, this has never happened in practice. Although normally broadcast only on the hour by BBC domestic radio, BBC World Service uses the signal at other times as well. The signal is generated at each quarter-hour and has on occasion been broadcast in error. The pips are available to BBC radio stations every fifteen minutes, but, except in rare cases, they are only broadcast on the hour, usually before news bulletins or news programmes. Normally, BBC Radio 4 broadcast
2304-479: Was asked for input in how to run the new pop station due to his popularity with both listeners and fellow presenters. Tony Blackburn , who presented the first Radio 1 Breakfast show, had previously presented the morning show on Radio Caroline and later on Radio London. He attempted to duplicate the same sound for Radio 1. Among the other DJs hired was John Peel , who had presented the overnight show on Radio London, called The Perfumed Garden . Though it only ran for
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