ANALOGUE
AM and FM
You turn a dial to one frequency per station. Medium wave reaches far; FM sounds cleaner but runs out sooner.
See the bandsStart
HOW RADIO WORKS
Tune in.
Find out how.
Most UK radio listening is now digital. A quarter still travels the old way.
The voice in your kitchen may arrive on a medium-wave signal, an FM broadcast, a shared digital DAB stream or the internet. Each one travels differently, and each one explains why the reception does what it does. Here is how, in plain English.
Plain English, with the sources linked.
ON AIRsince 1901
Compare the ways to listenKeep in mind
- Analogue
- Digital
- Online
- Same station, different road
THE SHORT ANSWER
Waves, bits and a mast.
Every station still starts as a signal.
What changes is how it travels to you.
DIGITAL
DAB, speakers and apps
Stations travel as data, shared on one signal or streamed online. Together they carry three in four listening hours.
Compare the ways
THE SKY ABOVE
Masts and the ionosphere
Transmitters send the signal out; charged layers high above can bounce some of it back, mostly at night.
See the numbersHOW DO YOU LISTEN?
Which road does
your station take?
Pick the way you usually listen to see how the signal reaches you and what share of UK radio listening hours it carried in the second quarter of 2026, according to RAJAR.
RAJAR reports AM and FM as one figure, so both show 24.5%. Shares are of all radio listening hours; a small remainder came through digital television.
TWO NUMBERS WORTH KNOWING
Still listening,
differently.
Radio has not faded away.
It has changed the road it travels.
86.6%
UK adults who listened each week
About 51.1 million people aged 15 and over tuned in to radio each week, for an average of 20.3 hours per listener.
WEEKLY REACH · Q2 2026
75.5% vs 24.5%
Share of all listening hours
Three in four hours of radio listening came through a digital platform. The rest still arrived on AM and FM.
DIGITAL SHARE · Q2 2026
Both figures come from RAJAR, the industry body that measures UK radio audiences, for the second quarter of 2026.
BETTER RECEPTION
Four habits
for a clearer signal.
Step 1
Give FM a clear view
FM travels in fairly straight lines. A radio near a window, with its aerial fully pulled out, often hears more than one tucked behind a wall.
Step 2
Rescan your digital radio
If a DAB station goes missing after a move or a change of signal, run the radio’s station scan again so it finds what is on air now.
Step 3
Try medium wave after dark
Once the ionosphere’s lowest layer fades at night, distant AM stations can come through. Turn the dial slowly and listen.
Step 4
Know your station’s roads
Many stations are on more than one platform. If reception is poor one way, the same station may come through on DAB, a smart speaker or an app.
RADIO FACTS
Five things worth
tuning in to.
It started with one letter
On 12 December 1901, the Morse code letter S was sent from Poldhu in Cornwall and picked up by Guglielmo Marconi at Signal Hill, Newfoundland, more than 2,000 miles away.
Two bands on the dial
Ofcom’s technical code covers UK FM services between 87.5 and 108 MHz, and AM services on medium wave between 531 and 1602 kHz.
The night sky changes the signal
The ionosphere’s lowest layer, the D region about 60 to 90 km up, disappears over most nights. Some radio waves reflect off the charged layers above it.
DAB leads the digital switch
Of the roughly 786 million hours spent on digital radio in an average week, DAB took 57%, smart speakers 25%, websites and apps 15% and digital TV 3%.
Long wave signs off
The BBC set 27 June 2026 to close its long-wave service on 198 kHz, which carried Radio 4 from Droitwich, Westerglen and Burghead.
QUICK QUESTIONS
Radio, answered.
Short answers to the questions people ask most.
What is the difference between AM and FM?
They use different parts of the radio spectrum. In the UK, Ofcom’s technical code covers AM on medium wave between 531 and 1602 kHz, and FM between 87.5 and 108 MHz. FM usually sounds clearer; medium wave can travel further, especially after dark.
Why can I hear distant AM stations at night?
The lowest layer of the ionosphere, the D region about 60 to 90 km up, disappears over most nights. With it gone, medium-wave signals can reflect off the charged layers higher up and come back down far from the transmitter.
How many people still listen to the radio?
Plenty. In the second quarter of 2026, RAJAR found that 86.6% of UK adults, about 51.1 million people, listened to radio each week, for an average of 20.3 hours per listener.
Is digital radio replacing FM?
It is taking the larger share. In the second quarter of 2026, 75.5% of UK radio listening hours were digital, against 24.5% on AM and FM. DAB alone took 57% of digital listening hours.
What happened to BBC long wave?
The BBC set 1am BST on 27 June 2026 to close its long-wave service on 198 kHz, which carried Radio 4. The transmitters at Droitwich, Westerglen and Burghead were to shut down on that day.
Destination
Where the facts come from
- Transmission of transatlantic radio signals, 1901IEEE Milestones, ETHW
- Analogue Radio Technical Code: FM and AM limitsOfcom
- All radio listening charts, Q2 2026RAJAR
- DAB takes 57% share of UK digital listening hoursWorldDAB
- The ionosphere and its layersUCAR Center for Science Education
- The closure of BBC long wave (2026)Radio Society of Great Britain
Updated