In 1978 BBC Radio's 1-4 all changed their frequencies. This caused a lot of consternation from listeners who couldn't hear Radio 4 due to poor frequency coverage. (*)
Likewise within the BBC there were ideas to change BBC Radio 4 to an all news station.
This led to the BBC creating a multi channel network in 1981:
BBC Radio's 1-3 as OTL
BBC Radio 4 split into:
BBC Radio England, Scotland, Ulster and Wales/Cymru with a mixture of local output and national programming eg The Archers
BBC Radio News FM
(*) http://andywalmsley.blogspot.co.uk/2010/12/wavelength-changes-1978-part-1.html
Likewise within the BBC there were ideas to change BBC Radio 4 to an all news station.
This led to the BBC creating a multi channel network in 1981:
BBC Radio's 1-3 as OTL
BBC Radio 4 split into:
BBC Radio England, Scotland, Ulster and Wales/Cymru with a mixture of local output and national programming eg The Archers
BBC Radio News FM
(*) http://andywalmsley.blogspot.co.uk/2010/12/wavelength-changes-1978-part-1.html