BBC Radio Five Live

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Template:Redirect {{Infobox Radio Station

| name = BBC Radio Five Live
| image = Image:BBC Radio Five Live.png 
| area = UK - National MW & DAB
| airdate = 28 March, 1994
| frequency = 693 kHz, 909 kHz
| format = News & Sport
| owner = BBC
| website = www.bbc.co.uk/fivelive

}}

BBC Radio Five Live is the BBC's radio service providing live BBC News, phone-ins, and sports commentaries. It is the principal radio station covering sport in the United Kingdom, broadcasting virtually all major sports events in the UK or involving British competitors.

It is transmitted via analogue radio on 693 and 909 kHz AM in the mediumwave band, frequencies that belonged to BBC Radio 2 from November 23, 1978 to August 26, 1990 (before that they were used in some regions of the UK by the BBC Home Service and BBC Radio 4), and on digital radio, digital satellite and digital terrestrial television. It is also streamed online, however due to rights restrictions coverage of some events is not available online. Some content is available online but restricted to UK users, however this restriction can be circumvented by using an open proxy server. The station broadcasts from the News Centre at BBC Television Centre with a small office in Manchester and a team of its own reporters based around the UK.

The station was originally launched as BBC Radio 5 at 9am on August 27 1990, with a brief pre-recorded skit from comedians Trevor Neal and Simon Hickson (consisting of the two larking about in the studio amid the strains of "Sailing By", and Trevor suddenly being cut off while he was reading his so-called "Ode to Radio 5") and a pre-recorded programme by Bruno Brookes (who was doing his live breakfast show on Radio 1 at launch time), and carried a mixture of sports, news, children's programming and drama, broadcasting for about 18 hours per day.

In 1991 Operation Desert Storm was launched, the multinational response to the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait. From January 16 Radio 4's FM frequencies were used to provide an all-news network for the coverage of the war. Despite protests from BBC Radio 4 listeners the BBC also received praise for the quality of this service and the speed with which it was set up. Following the end of the conflict Radio 4 resumed its normal schedule but the BBC commenced a review into the possibility of providing a full-time news station, also broadcasting a similar service on long wave during the 1992 UK general election campaign. Due to the resistance to any use of Radio 4 FM or LW frequencies it was decided that Radio 5, criticised by John Birt as "improvised and disjointed", would relaunch as a combined news and sport channel.

The "old" Radio 5 closed down at midnight on Sunday March 27, 1994 following a special programme on the subject of endings, and the new Radio Five Live began its 24-hour service on the morning of Monday, March 28. The first voice on air was Jane Garvey, who later went on to co-present the breakfast and drivetime shows with Peter Allen. The tone of the channel, engaging and more relaxed than contemporary BBC output, was the key to the channel's success and would set the model for more BBC News services later in the decade.

Before the launch of digital broadcasting, both versions of the station broadcast for several years on analogue satellite with near-FM quality.

Five Live broadcasts a news bulletin and sports headlines on the hour, news headlines and a full sports bulletin on the half-hour, with travel at quarter-past and quarter-to. On weekdays there is a 3-hour breakfast programme from 6-9am followed by a phone-in from 9-10am.

Five Live is the overnight sustaining service for almost all BBC Local Radio stations between 1am and 5am when Up All Night is broadcast.

A companion station, BBC Five Live Sports Extra, was launched as a digital-only service on February 2 2002.

Five Live occasionally collaborates with the BBC Asian Network (Bob Shennan is controller of both stations) - in 2005 the General Election results programme was simulcast.

The many presenters over the years have included Peter Allen, Anita Anand, Danny Baker, Matthew Bannister, Susan Bookbinder, Jon Briggs, Jon Champion, Adrian Chiles, Edwina Currie, David Mellor, Nicky Campbell, Victoria Derbyshire, Kirsty Gallacher, Jane Garvey, Fi Glover, Stuart Hall, Nick Hancock, Brian Hayes, Jane Hill, Eamonn Holmes, John Inverdale, Desmond Lynam, Simon Mayo, Louise Minchin, Stephen Nolan, Jonathan Pearce, Mark Pougatch, Allan Robb, Nick Robinson, Sybil Ruscoe, Mark Saggers, Rhod Sharp, Richard Bacon and Julian Worricker.

In 2005 the "Radio Five Live Sporting Yearbook" (ISBN 0007215983) was published.

Five Live's commercial rival is TalkSPORT, but unlike the commercial television station, Sky Sports, TalkSPORT has acquired few exclusive rights, and non-commercial radio, represented by Five Live and the BBC's local radio stations, remains dominant in radio sport broadcasting in the UK.

The station won five Sony Awards, one gold and four silver, in 2005 and was nominated an additional six times. The lone gold award was in the News Story Award category for its coverage of the 2004 Asian Tsunami.

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