The frequency for BBC Radio 3 in Scotland has been taken over by Alba after 5pm each day. Please can you tell me where Radio 3 can now be found in Scotland from 5pm through the rest of the evening? Thank you.
– Carol
Five radio stations on Freeview in Scotland are unavailable while BBC ALBA is on-air. These are BBC Radio 1, BBC Radio 2, BBC Radio 3, BBC Radio nan Gàidheal and the BBC World Service.
This only affects Freeview (also called digital terrestrial television). BBC Radio 3 continues 24-hours a day on DAB digital radio, 90.2 to 92.6 FM, digital satellite (Sky and Freesat), Virgin Media and online.
Television channel BBC ALBA launched in 2008 but wasn’t available on Freeview until 2011. When it joined Freeview to broadcast in the evening it replaced several BBC radio stations. The BBC Trust gave approval for BBC ALBA to take the Freeview capacity for 13 radio stations in the evening. Initially the BBC was able to provide capacity for three stations to broadcast 24 hours a day. These were BBC Radio 5 Live, BBC Radio 1 Xtra and BBC Radio 6 Music.
In 2013 the BBC made changes which meant that BBC Radio Scotland, BBC Radio 4, BBC Radio 4 Extra, BBC Radio 5 live sports extra and BBC Asian Network would also be available for 24 hours a day.
However, the five radio stations mentioned above remain unavailable on Freeview while the television channel BBC ALBA is broadcasting.
If you have access to another digital television platform, such as Sky or Virgin Media, you could try listening to BBC Radio 3 there. If you have a smart TV or streaming device, such as a Roku stick, you could see if an Internet radio app is available. BBC Radio 3 can be found in TuneIn, the radio app in the Roku store.