Editing BBC Third Programme (section)

{{short description|Former British national radio station (1946–1967)}}
{{more footnotes|date=August 2011}}
{{Use British English|date=February 2020}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=November 2019}}
{{Infobox radio network
| name           = BBC Third Programme
| image          = BBC Broadcasting House 532073098.jpg
| image_size     = 220
| image_alt      = A photograph of Broadcasting House showing the art deco styling of the main facade was made from Portland stone.
| caption        = The Third Programme headquarters was at [[Broadcasting House]] in [[London]].
| country        = [[United Kingdom]]
| headquarters   = [[Broadcasting House]], London, England
| radio_stations = 647 [[kHz]], 1547 kHz
| owner          = [[BBC]]
| launch_date    = {{Start date and age|1946|09|29|df=y}}
| dissolved      = {{End date and age|1967|09|29|df=y}}
| language       = [[English language|English]]
| replaced_by    = [[BBC Radio 3]]
}}

The '''BBC Third Programme''' was a national radio station produced and broadcast from 1946 until 1967, when it was replaced by [[BBC Radio 3]]. It first went on the air on 29 September 1946 and became one of the leading cultural and intellectual forces in [[Great Britain|Britain]], playing an important role in disseminating the arts, broadcasting music (mainly [[classical music|classical]]), plays, documentary features and talks.<ref>{{cite book |last=Hewison |first=Robert |year=1995 |title=Culture and Consensus: England, Art and Politics Since 1940 |page=55 |publisher=[[Methuen Publishing]] |location=London |isbn=0-413-69060-1 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=NHDbCQAAQBAJ |via=[[Google Books]]}}</ref> It was the [[BBC]]'s third national radio network, the other two being the [[BBC Home Service|Home Service]] (mainly speech-based) and the [[BBC Light Programme|Light Programme]], principally devoted to [[light entertainment]] and [[light music|music]].