The BBC Light Programme was a national radio station which broadcast chiefly mainstream light entertainment and light music from 1945 until 1967, when it was replaced by BBC Radio 1 and BBC Radio 2. It opened on 29 July 1945, taking over the long wave frequency which had earlier been used
The service was intended as a domestic replacement for the wartime BBC General Forces Programme which had gained many civilian listeners in Britain as well as members of the British Armed Forces. and gave fairly good coverage of most of the United Kingdom, although a number of low-power medium wave transmitters (using 1215 kHz / 247 metres) were added later to fill in local blank spots. Over the course of the 1950s and 1960s, the Light Programme (along with the BBC's two other national stations – the BBC Home Service and the BBC Third Programme) gradually became available on what was known at the time as VHF, as the BBC developed a network of local FM transmitters.
There was, however, a period of a year when the Light Programme was forced to end its broadcasting day one hour earlier at 11:00 p.m. This commenced in mid-February 1947 as an effect from the appalling winter of 1946–1947 which saw a fuel shortage in the country with the government enforcing electricity saving measures, one of which was losing one hour of broadcasting per day from the Light Programme. Even after the fuel shortage had ended by spring 1947, the 11:00 closedown each night continued as BBC Radio found itself in financial problems and needed to save money. The midnight closedown of the Light Programme resumed one year later from Sunday 11 April 1948. The long-running soap opera The Archers was first heard nationally on the Light Programme on New Year's Day 1951, although a week-long pilot version had been broadcast on the Midlands Home Service in 1950.
From Monday 2 September 1957, the Light Programme's broadcasting hours would start to increase, with a new early morning start time of 7:00 a.m. until midnight, later moving to 6:30 a.m. from Monday 29 September 1958.
In 1964, broadcasting hours were increased even more, with a new morning start time of 5:30 a.m. from Monday 31 August. Up until September 1964, the Light Programme would always end its broadcasting day at midnight; however this changed on Sunday 27 September 1964, when a new closedown time of 2:02 a.m. was introduced. At 5:30 a.m., it was replaced by BBC Radio 2 and at 7:00 a.m. by BBC Radio 1 on medium wave. The Archers, Pick of the Pops, Desert Island Discs and Woman's Hour. Other programmes included:
- The Al Read Show
- Appointment with Fear
- Educating Archie
- Life with the Lyons
- Movie-Go-Round
- Midday Spin
- Mrs Dale's Diary (1948–1967)
- Pick of the Pops (1955–1967)
- The Public Ear
- Pop Go the Beatles (1963)
- Riders of the Range
- Round the Horne (1965–1967)
- The Showband Show
- Side by Side
- Sports Report
- Welsh Rarebit
- Marjorie Anderson
- Tony Blackburn
- Michael Brooke
- Sam Costa
- Alan Dell
- David Dunhill
- Don Durbridge
- Simon Dee
- Franklin Engelmann
- Alan Freeman
- Peter Haigh
- David Hamilton
- David Jacobs
- Pete Murray
- Ray Orchard
- Robin Richmond
- Phillip Slessor
- Ken Sykora
- David Symonds
- John Webster
- Roy Williams
- Terry Wogan