The building is quite old but the distinctive feature of the Broadcasting House is its structure. The shape of the building is like a doughnut. Offices are located around the ring of the doughnut, and the studios are located inside the ring. So the studios are protected from the noise and vibration from the outside by the offices.
The studios in this building are broadcast studios but they are not as large as typical recording studios. They consist of booths where an announcer or DJ talks, and a small monitor room. There are four radio studios of BBC Radio 1-4.
There are not only studios - There is also a central control centre in this "Headquarters of BBC radio". It is the control area for the sound of radio as well as the sound of TV. The building is a central part of the BBC.
Of course, there is also a network room with local broadcasting stations, and the importance of this building can be inferred from it as well.
There is a small hall in the basement of the centre of the building built in early '30s. This hall has a excellent acoustics for classical music, and even now, it is used for recordings of small orchestras. The hall symbolises the British tradition - inheritance of good old quality.
There are four radio channels, the relation between AM and FM is puzzling.
The BBC has four radio channels, from Radio 1 to Radio 4. The output of Radio 1 covers the latest rock/pop music, Radio 2 covers easy listening and sports, Radio 3 covers classical music and dramas, and Radio 4 covers news and chats (it is called a talk show). Radio 1-4 have both AM radio frequencies and FM radio frequencies respectively, but the programs on AM and FM differ depending on the time of day so their relationship is a bit complicated. To make things more complicated, FM is called VHF, and AM is expressed by frequency and/or wavelength.
For example in case of Radio 1, as it has two mid-wavelength, it is expressed with frequency and/or wavelength as follows ; 1053kHz / 285m, and 1089kHz / 275m. FM is expressed like R1 / R2 88-91MHz.
Radio 3 and Radio 4 have the independent FM broadcasts, and they have educational programs called Open University in the morning and at night.. The Radio 1 and 2, in which the readers may have interest, share one FM radio wave; for example, they divide 24 hours broadcasting as follows; Radio 1 from 6:00a.m. to 5:00 p.m., Radio 2 from 5:00 p.m. to 10:00 p.m., and Radio 2 from 10:00p.m. to 5:00 a.m. As for AM broadcast, Radio 1-3 are using mid-wavelength and Radio 4 is using long-wavelength.