Home of archive and contemporary comedy

Radio 4 Extra – the treasure trove of archive BBC comedy – is to shut as part of the broadcaster’s plans to make £500million of savings by March 2028.

Meanwhile, BBC Three and BBC Scotland will go online-only – the second time the youth-oriented channel has lost its linear broadcast slot.

Radio 4 Extra has an annual budget of £4million. It reached 1.55million people a week in 2025, up on the previous year. When the figures were revealed in February, the BBC said: ‘Radio 4 Extra performed well… underscoring the continued strength and distinctive appeal of the network’s speech audio offer.’

As well as being home to classic comedies such as The Goon Show, Tony Hancock and Beyond Our Ken, 4 Extra carries repeats of more contemporary shows. Today, for example, features a stand-up special by Geoff Norcott, Richard Herring sitcom Relativity and David Mitchell panel show The Unbelievable Truth.

It is the corporation’s cheapest national radio channel, costing 0.6p per hour listened. Most expensive are Radios 1Xtra (budget £7million); Radio 3 (£37million) and Asian Network (£7million), all of which cost 5p per hour.

Radio 4’s budget is £84million, 5 Live’s £57million, Radio 2’s £49million and Radio 1’s £41million

Matt Brittin, the BBC director-general, said the cuts reflected changing audience habits. He said: ‘We need to make every pound work harder for audiences as we respond to the immediate cost pressures and reinvent the BBC for a changing world. We all know that means tough choices.’

‘Much of the great content [on the axed channels] currently carry will still be found where audiences already enjoy it on iPlayer and Sounds. While this follows media speculation, I recognise the confirmation of this news will be hard for audiences and colleagues.’

Radio 4 Xtra launched in December 2002 as BBC 7, rebranding in 2011. No end date has yet been announced.

BBC Three, which launched hits including Fleabag, Normal People, Gavin & Stacey and Little Britain, was taken online only in 2016 before it was resurrected in 2022.

In previous rounds of cuts, the BBC announced the end of stand-up showcase Live At The Apollo

Published: 20 Oct 2026