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In the UK there are now over 800 radio stations. Listeners can tune in via DAB, satellite, Freeview or analogue. They can even receive radio broadcasts in High Definition. The British listening public has never had more choice – and this places an extra responsibility on the ´óÏó´«Ã½ to provide as many licence fee payers as possible with services they love, and can't find anywhere else.

Often described as a national treasure, ´óÏó´«Ã½ Radio 4 is a great British success story, and the third most popular station in the UK. No surprise then that the ´óÏó´«Ã½ Trust review of Radio 4, along with Radios 3 and 7, which is published today, attracted a record 16,795 thousand responses from licence fee payers, the vast majority of which are positive.

It might seem churlish in that context to suggest that Radio 4, or indeed Radio 3 or Radio 7, could do even better. Our research found that while sizeable, Radio 4's audience is predominately white, older and better off than the average, with a marked geographic skew to London and the south east of England. The Trust is clear that Radio 4's core audience should not be alienated or compromised. But it is our role to ensure that the ´óÏó´«Ã½ is serving all licence fee payers, and one particular challenge for these radio services is now to remain distinctive and high quality while keeping pace with changing audience needs. That's why we are backing the ´óÏó´«Ã½'s proposals to extend the station's appeal to audiences that are currently being under-served.

´óÏó´«Ã½ Radio 3 faces a similar challenge. It has a smaller but equally loyal audience and its listeners feel as strongly about their station as those of Radio 4. A small minority let us know that they thought the station had suffered a loss of quality and distinctiveness in recent years, though the Trust found no compelling evidence that this was the case. The ´óÏó´«Ã½ Executive has made changes to make the programmes at breakfast and early evening more welcoming and accessible, with a view to encourage new listeners to the station. The ´óÏó´«Ã½ Trust endorses this strategy; however, we recognise there are limits to broadening the appeal of the station without compromising its quality and distinctiveness. So we have asked the ´óÏó´«Ã½ Executive to consider how Radio 3 can work alongside other ´óÏó´«Ã½ services and events to better deliver classical, jazz and world music to all licence fee payers.

The underlying challenge of evolving services to adapt to changing audience needs is no greater than in children's radio. Children's programming is one of the five editorial priorities for the ´óÏó´«Ã½, and while it is doing a great job in serving children overall, the Trust regrets that the targeted programming for children on Radio 7 is not working. The average age of the audience listening each day to the children's programming on Radio 7 is 48, and it does not perform well by any available measure - audience reach, quality, impact or value for money.

That is why after carefully weighing the evidence and listening to audience views which were evenly divided on this issue, the Trust has given the go ahead to the ´óÏó´«Ã½ Executive's proposals to refocus children's audio output. Radio 7 will, in future, carry family-friendly speech programming likely to appeal to both older children and adults. This has the potential to increase listening amongst older children and so deliver greater public value. A new daily downloadable audio offering for pre-school children will also be launched, backed by evidence that this will better serve this audience. The Trust will monitor the new arrangements carefully, ensuring that children are properly served across all platforms.

We've also endorsed another change to Radio 7 – the repositioning of the service as Radio 4 Extra. The Trust agrees that this change, which will be funded from existing service budgets, will increase awareness and reach, and promote DAB listening.

However, it is clear from our research that audiences hold great affection for the station, and enjoy listening to the best of the ´óÏó´«Ã½ radio archive. While we see the benefits of Radio 4 Extra, we do not want to lose the distinctive elements of Radio 7 that audiences really appreciate. That's why, in endorsing this proposal, the Trust has strengthened the commitment to comedy and drama, and will ensure that only a small proportion is Radio 4 catch up.

The decision about children's radio in particular has been a tough one to make. But it is the right one, taken after close examination of the evidence and careful consideration of the public's views. This approach underpins the whole of the ´óÏó´«Ã½ Trust's work ensuring licence fee payers continue to be well served into the future.

This piece first appeared on Ìý·É±ð²ú²õ¾±³Ù±ð.