The BBC's legal monopoly on sound broadcasting was broken only on 8 October 1973 , with the launch of LBC .sx The public appetite for commercial radio had , however , been whetted over a period of years , firstly by Radio Luxembourg ( which could be heard in the UK as long ago as 1933 ) and later by 'pirate' stations such as Radio Caroline and Radio London which broadcast in the 1960s from ships anchored outside UK territorial waters .sx The pop-oriented content of these stations attracted a large following among younger listeners , providing a strong challenge to the BBC .sx Legal independent radio was placed under the control of the Independent Television Authority ( ITA ) , which became the Independent Broadcasting Authority ( IBA ) prior to the launch of the first three independent local radio ( ILR ) stations in 1973 .sx The BBC has so far retained its monopoly on the provision of national broadcasting services ; independent radio has provided local services only .sx This is to change following the passing of the Broadcasting Act 1990 on 1 November 1990 .sx As well as allowing for an increase in independent local radio broadcasting , the Act also paves the way for the introduction of independent broadcasting on a national basis ( Independent National Radio , or INR) .sx Under the new Broadcasting Act the Independent Broadcasting Authority was abolished from 1 January 1991 .sx It was replaced by two newly established public bodies , the Radio Authority and the Independent Television Commission ( ITC ) ; their function is to license and regulate the provision of the broad range of independent , non-BBC broadcasting services which the Act allows .sx The Act defines the various categories of service central to the future development of radio broadcasting in the UK through the coming decade .sx These include broadcasting services provided from places within the UK ( i ) for any minimum area determined by the Authority ( national services ) , ( ii ) for a particular area or location ( local services ) , ( iii ) for a particular establishment , location or event ( restricted services ) and ( iv ) programmes other than ones provided by the BBC which are transmitted by satellite ( satellite services) .sx The Radio Authority regulates these services by granting licences subject to certain requirements .sx The Authority has wide discretion in interpreting these requirements and it is intended to have a generally 'lighter touch' than the IBA which it replaced .sx Under the Broadcasting Act , the Radio Authority will licence three new independent national radio services .sx It is required to do all it can to secure a diversity of services , each catering for distinctive tastes and interests .sx One of the services must be a predominantly speech based programme ( " the broadcasting of the spoken word " , to use the jargon of the Act ) and another must consist wholly or mainly of music other than 'pop music' .sx No requirements have yet been laid down for the third service .sx The well known definition of pop music finally adopted by the Act within the context of a national broadcasting service is " rock music and other kinds of modern popular music which are characterised by a strong rhythmic element and a reliance on electronic amplification for their performance , whether or not , in the case of any particular piece of rock or other such music , the music in question enjoys a current popularity as measured by the number of recordings sold " .sx With regard to local services the Radio Authority is required to grant licences in such a way as to provide a range of services which as a whole ( i ) are of high quality , ( ii ) offer a wide range of appeal to a variety of tastes and interests and ( iii ) ensure fair and effective competition .sx The coverage of radio in the UK .sx BBC radio currently has five fully national network services in the UK ( Radios 1 , 2 , 3 , 4 and 5) .sx Regional broadcasting is divided into seven services ( Scotland , Wales , Northern Ireland , North , Midlands , South & West and South & East ) which together are responsible for some 50 local radio stations .sx As a result of cost cutting measures , some plans for further fully fledged BBC local radio stations have been abandoned in favour of providing a limited output ( up to six hours per day ) of local news and events within the programming of existing local stations and under their management .sx There has been a dramatic growth in independent radio since 1973 , largely achieved by exploiting the gap in the market not covered by the BBC during its fifty years of otherwise unsuccessful broadcasting .sx In less than two decades independent radio has grown from nothing to over one hundred services covering 95 per cent of the country ( table 2.2 ) and accounting for more than one third of all listening ( table ) .sx Most but not all of the independent local radio companies are members of the Association of Independent Radio Contractors ( AIRC) .sx Incremental services have been an important feature of the development of independent local radio since the first contracts for such services were awarded in April 1989 .sx The phrase was coined by the IBA to cover services broadcasting in addition to and within the service areas of existing ILR contractors .sx Incremental stations have pioneered services directed at a wide range of ethnic , religious and cultural minority interest groups , including specialist musical tastes .sx The IBA felt that a different term was necessary to signify that these new services would not be required to provide the broad range of programming required of " full service " ILR contractors under the terms of the 1981 Broadcasting Act .sx There were 163 applications for the first 21 incremental ILR franchises advertised , together with a further 40 applications for two extra London-wide franchises .sx The first incremental service on the air was Sunset Radio in Manchester on 22 October 1989 .sx Among the many others now broadcasting , Jazz FM caters to a specific musical taste in London , Radio Harmony provides programmes for Asian listeners in Coventry and Galaxy does the same for the Afro-Caribbean community in Bristol .sx Spectrum Radio offers programmes for a number of different ethnic communities in London at particular times each day , and Airport Information Radio is dedicated to providing information about air travel .sx The Broadcasting Act 1990 abolished the distinction between full service and incremental ILR from 1 January 1991 .sx Existing stations of both types have renewed their contracts under the same " promises of performance " and are now simply known as ILR companies .sx Future applications for ILR licences will be invited on the basis of either wider or minority interest programming , as deemed appropriate by the Radio Authority .sx Split frequency broadcasting is also an increasingly common feature of ILR broadcasting , allowing existing operators to provide two or more services on different frequencies ( normally one on FM and one on AM ) , where previously there had been only one .sx Twelve ILR stations were operating split frequency broadcasting by March 1989 ; one year later the number had increased to 24 .sx Splitting frequencies generally allows ILR contractors to increase their total audience .sx For example Capital Radio reached 30 per cent of its target audience before splitting frequencies in 1988 , when it already had the largest independent radio audience .sx Since splitting , it now reaches an even larger audience .sx Capital FM alone reaches 31 per cent of its target audience ( roughly on a par with BBC Radios 1 and 2 in London ) and Capital Gold AM reaches 21 per cent .sx The two frequencies together reach some 40 per cent of their target audience ( Independent Radio Network Survey - 4th quarter 1990 ) .sx But LBC , London's all-news station , lost ground following its split into LBC Newstalk ( FM ) and London Talkback ( AM) .sx The two frequencies together reached some 18 per cent of their target audience during the last quarter of 1990 , some 2 percentage points lower than in 1989 .sx The current tendency is for radio stations to segment their output and audience by using AM frequencies to broadcast 'classic hits' of the 1950s and 1960s ( so called 'golden oldies' , hence the term 'AM Gold' services ) while reserving their FM frequencies for current chart/dance music .sx This policy allows the stations to retain their 35 to 50 age group listeners while at the same time encouraging younger listeners .sx It also has the advantage of being in line with the older listeners' preference for the AM spectrum of frequencies ( with which they tend to be more familiar ) and the younger listeners' preference for FM .sx To some extent however , the practise of splitting frequencies is making a virtue of necessity ; ILR stations were under the threat of losing the allocated frequencies they were not fully utilising ( known colloquially as the 'use it or lose it' policy) .sx Splitting frequencies is not confined to the independent radio operators .sx For example in the past BBC Radio 3 has regularly split frequencies during summer months to allow coverage of major sporting events , and Radio 4 has split frequencies at certain times of the day for schools broadcasting .sx Since the advent of radio 5 , the only regular national radio frequency split is on Radio 4 for parliamentary broadcasting , although it has also split to provide coverage of special events , such as the all-day news service ( Radio 4 News FM ) during the Gulf War .sx Indeed this proved so successful that the BBC is considering launching a permanent all-news radio service .sx Like ILR , BBC local radio stands to lose frequencies it does not utilise by split frequency broadcasting .sx The audience for radio .sx Unlike television , where switching between channels is a well established feature of viewing habits , radio listeners have traditionally been known for their loyalty to one station .sx Incremental stations and frequency splitting both provide increasing opportunities for switching stations according to mood , thus enhancing the possibilities for niche marketing .sx Pre-set tuning ( especially on car radios ) , which makes changing stations far easier , might also be seen as encouraging this change of habit .sx However this may not happen in practice , if the American experience is any guide .sx According to the AIRC , research in America indicates that in spite of a choice of some 50 local radio stations , the average number of services listened to each week is just 2.7. The equivalent figure in the UK is 1.7 services from a far smaller choice .sx This suggests that increased choice does not necessarily lead to a much wider range of listening .sx In this context , one of the main current concerns of both BBC and ILR broadcasters is whether the increasing choice offered by the proliferation of independent radio stations is generating a genuine increase in radio listening , or is tending merely to fragment an already fully developed audience - drawing audiences from the BBC or , worse still , from other ILR stations .sx The problem is the same for both the full service and incremental independent stations .sx The latter do not want listeners who switch to their services only for brief periods to hear a particular programme , then switch back to their main listening station .sx Now that the distinction between full and incremental service has disappeared , all stations are anxious to achieve the same gaol , namely a loyal audience who will stay tuned in for extended periods .sx That is what the advertisers are ready to pay for .sx The only exceptions are services such as Spectrum Radio which have very specific audience objectives .sx The introduction of Radio 5 in August 1990 , with the reorganisation of the BBC's other broadcasting output , was a carefully planned move to provide a clearer identity for its various stations , thus providing a more effective challenge to independent services .sx It was also a means of securing the future of sports and educational broadcasting on the AM frequency , against the time when the BBC loses other AM frequencies to new independent national services .sx The BBC also announced other moves to challenge the independent services .sx For example there are plans to move Woman's Hour from its sacred 2.00 pm slot to morning hours , in order to attract listeners to the BBC during what has been shown to be a peak listening time ( BBC research for the fourth quarter of 1990 indicates that around one third of all radio listening typically takes place between 9.00 am and noon .sx ) .sx On the basis of the BBC's summary of listening for the fourth quarter of 1990 , Radio 5 audience figures were hailed as the first signs of regular listening by children to radio plays and stories since the end of Children's Hour in 1964 .sx