Community radio stations broadcast to a small area, normally within a 3 mile (5 km) radius, and are required by the Act to be not-for-profit organisations, owned by local people, on which the broadcasters are mostly volunteers. as a distinct third tier of radio in the United Kingdom. The community radio movement in the United Kingdom was founded in the mid-1970s, broadcasting through Restricted Service Licences, theinternet and cable.
HISTORY
The meaning and usage of the word "radio" has developed in parallel with developments within the field of communications and can be seen to have three distinct phases: electromagnetic waves and experimentation; wireless communication and technical development; and radio broadcasting and commercialization
As with the BBC, digital radio has brought about many changes, including the roll-out of local stations such as Xfm, Kiss 100 and Kerrang Radio to other areas of the United Kingdom. Most local commercial stations in the United Kingdom broadcast to a city or group of towns within a radius of 20– 50 miles, with a second tier of regional stations covering larger areas such as North West England.
BBC Radio 1 broadcasts mostly current pop music output on FM and digital radio, with live music throughout the year
BBC Radio 2 is the United Kingdom's most listenedto radio station, featuring presenters such as Chris Evans and Terry Wogan, and playing popular music from the last five decades as well as special interest programmes in the evening
"Pirate radio" in the UK first became widespread in the early 1960s. At the time these stations were not illegal because they were broadcasting from international waters. The stations were set up by entrepreneurs and music enthusiasts to meet the growing demand for pop and rock music, which was not catered for by the legal BBC Radio services
The first British pirate radio station was Radio Caroline, which started broadcasting from a ship off the Essex coast in 1964. By 1967 ten pirate radio stations were broadcasting to an estimated daily audience of 10 to 15 million.

UK pirate radio (unlicensed illegal broadcasting) was popular in the 1960s and experienced another surge of interest in the 1980s.[1] There are currently an estimated 150 in the UK.
20th century In 1900, Brazilian priest Roberto transmitted the human voice wirelessly. According the newspaper Jornal do Comercio ,he conducted his first public experiment on June 3, 1900, in front of journalists and the General Consul of Great Britain, C.P. Lupton, in São Paulo, Brazil, for a distance of approximately 5.0 miles (8 km).
In June 1912 Marconi opened the world's first purpose-built radio factory at New Street Works in Chelmsford, England.
Radio enjoys a large number of listeners in the United Kingdom. There are around 600 licensed radio stations in the country. The most prominent stations are the national networks operated by the BBC.
BBC Radio 4 is a current affairs and speech station, with news, debate and radio drama. It broadcasts the daily radio soap The Archers, as well as flagship news programme Today
BBC Radio 3 is a classical music station, broadcasting high-quality concerts and performances. At night, it transmits a wide range of jazz and world music
BBC Radio 5 Live broadcasts live news and sports commentary with phone-in debates and studio guests
Commercial & Community radio
Commercial radio Also available nationally are three national commercial channels, namely Absolute Radio, ClassicFM and talkSPORT.