BBC Local Radio

This article is about BBC stations in England and the Channel Islands. For stations in other parts of the UK, seeBBC Radio Scotland,BBC Radio nan Gaidheal,BBC Radio Wales,BBC Radio Cymru,BBC Radio Ulster,andBBC Radio Foyle.

BBC Local Radio

Logo used since 2021
Company type	Division
Industry	Mass media
Founded	1965
Headquarters	Broadcasting House,London , United Kingdom
Area served	England Channel Islands
Key people	Chris Burns (Head of Audio and Digital forBBC England) Jason Horton (Director of Production for BBC Local Radio)
Services	Local Radio
Parent	BBC
Website	bbc.co.uk/radio

BBC Local Radio(also referred to asLocal BBC Radio) is theBBC's local and regionalradiodivision forEnglandand theChannel Islands,consisting of forty stations.

As of December 2023, the network broadcasts to a combined audience of 6.9 million, with a listening share of 4.9%, according toRAJAR.

History

For a chronological guide, seeTimeline of BBC Local Radio.

Former BBC Local Radio logo, used from 2008 to 2020

The popularity ofpirate radiowas to challenge a change within the at the time very "stiff" and blinkered management at the BBC. The most prominent concession by the BBC was the creation ofBBC Radio 1to satisfy the ever-demanding new youth culture with their thirst for new, popular music. The other, however, was that these pirate radio stations were, in some cases, local. As a result, BBC Local Radio began as an experiment.

Initially, stations had to be co-funded by the BBC andlocal authorities,which only someLabour-controlled areas proved willing to do.Radio Leicesterwas the first to launch on 8 November 1967, followed byLeeds,Stoke,Durham,Sheffield,Merseyside,Brighton,andNottingham.The local authority funding requirement was dropped by the early 1970s, and stations spread across the country; many city-based stations later expanded their remit to cover an entire county.

There were eight stations in the initial "experiment", which lasted for two years. When this ended, it was deemed so successful that all of the stations, except BBC Radio Durham, remained on air. More followed in 1970 and 1971:BBC Radio Birmingham,Bristol,Blackburn,Derby,Humberside,London,Manchester,Medway,Newcastle(replacing Radio Durham),Oxford,Solent,andTeesside.

Despite the success of this, the original stations were seen as flawed, as they originally only broadcast on theFM waveband,and not on the more widely availableAM waveband.This was eventually rectified a few years after the creation of these new channels.

Independent Local Radio(ILR) launched nationally in 1973, with nineteen stations; more followed in subsequent years. As a result, many of the BBC Local Radio stations found themselves in direct competition with commercial competitors that utilised many of the popularDJsfrom the pirate radio stations, and that gained, in most cases, large audiences. Despite this, BBC Local Radio continued to flourish, with the current network in place by the early 1990s. The complement of stations has remained unchanged since that time.

Current operation

The radio stations are operated from locations around the country that usually share with the BBC regional TV news services, and their news gathering bureaux. The stations are operated by the region in which the station is based and are the responsibility of theBBC English Regionsdepartment, a division ofBBC News.

The remit for each Local Radio station is the same: to offer a primarily speech-based service; comprising news and information complemented by music.The target audience of BBC Local Radio are listeners aged over fifty, who are not served as well as other age groups on the BBC.

Each station produces local programmes on weekdays from 6am until 2pm. Depending on location and population, afternoon, evening and weekend schedules will vary from shared regional programmes to being fully local although sports coverage continues to remain local. Since October 2023, all stations take the all England Late Show which originates in London or Manchester.and since November 2023, the Sunday evening show is also carried on all stations.

All local BBC radio stations simulcastBBC Radio 5 Livefrom 0100 until 0600.

Transmission

All of the BBC Local Radio stations broadcast onFM,digital radio,FreeviewandBBC Soundsin their respective areas across England, but BBC Radio London is also available onFreesatandVirgin Media.

Also, until the start of the 1990s, all BBC stations used to broadcast onmedium wavealthough initially, the BBC's local stations were broadcast only on VHF. The start of the 1990s saw new stations, once again, launching only on FM and in 1992 and 1993, six MW transmitters -BBC Radio Cleveland,BBC Radio Northampton,BBC Radio Oxford,BBC GLR,BBC GMRand one ofBBC Radio NottinghamandBBC WM's transmitters - were switched offalthough three, icnlduing BBC GLR's MW frequency, were re-allocated for use by commercial radio. In 1996, the MW frequencies ofBBC Radio Leicesterand BBC WM were handed over to theBBC Asian Network.

MW transmitter closures began again in 2012, initially as a five-week trial to find out if listeners would miss or complain about the lack ofAMservices.Two of the four transmitters partaking in the trial - BBC Radio Nottingham's MW transmitter andBBC Radio Kent's relay atRusthallnearTunbridge Wells- remained off-air after the BBC said that the trial switch-off attracted very few complaints from listeners.In 2018, the MW transmissions of BBC RadiosSussex,Surrey,Humberside,Wiltshire,Nottingham, Kent andLincolnshireended and MW coverage for Radios Devon, Lancashire and Essex was reduced. Altogether, thirteen MW transmitters were switched off.In 2020, the MW transmissions ofBBC Radio Cornwall,BBC Radio Newcastle,BBC Radio Merseyside,BBC Radio Solent,BBC Three Counties RadioandBBC Radio Yorkended,BBC Radio Cumbriastopped broadcasting on MW inWhitehavenandBBC Radio Norfolk'sNorwichMW transmitter went silent.In 2021, a further eight BBC Local Radio stations -BBC Essex,BBC Radio Cambridgeshire,BBC Radio Devon,BBC Radio Leeds,BBC Radio Sheffield,BBC Hereford & Worcester,BBC Radio StokeandBBC Radio Lancashire- stopped broadcasting on MW.As of May 2024, onlyBBC Radio Cumbria(in North Cumbria and South Cumbria),BBC Radio Derby,BBC Radio Gloucestershire,BBC Radio Guernsey,BBC Radio Jersey,BBC Radio Norfolk(inWest Norfolk) andBBC Radio Somerset,still broadcast on MW.

Due to sports rights broadcasting restrictions, some commentaries are not available on BBC Sounds. In this instance, an alternative national programme will usually be broadcast on Saturday afternoons.Overnight events are replaced by a looping message explaining this is broadcast.

Stations

Cambridgeshire

Essex

Norfolk

North-
-ampton

Suffolk

Three Counties

Derby

Leicester

Nottingham

London

Cumbria

Newcastle

Tees

Lancashire

Manchester

Merseyside

Berkshire

Oxford

Solent

Solent (Dorset)

Kent

Surrey

Sussex

Cornwall

Devon

Somerset

Bristol

Gloucestershire

Wiltshire

CWR

Hereford & Worcester

Shropshire

Stoke

WM

Leeds

Sheffield

York

Humberside

Lincolnshire

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BBC Local Radio areas andstudios (GuernseyandJerseynot shown)

A list of the forty local radio stations byregion.In addition to these stations,BBC Radio Solentoperates an opt-out service coveringDorset.There were also opt-out services coveringMilton Keynes(BBC Three Counties Radio),Peterboroughandthe Fens(BBC Radio Cambridgeshire),Plymouth(BBC Radio Devon), andSwindon(BBC Wiltshire);but these ceased in 2012 due to cutbacks as part of the BBC's "Delivering Quality First" programme.

BBC East

• BBC Essex
• BBC Radio Cambridgeshire
• BBC Radio Norfolk
• BBC Radio Northampton
• BBC Radio Suffolk
• BBC Three Counties Radio

BBC East Midlands

• BBC Radio Derby
• BBC Radio Leicester
• BBC Radio Nottingham

BBC London

ARoutemasterdouble-decker bus, being used as a mobileradio broadcastingfacility by BBC Radio London in 2011, under its then current name of BBC London 94.9.

• BBC Radio London

BBC North East and Cumbria

• BBC Radio Cumbria
• BBC Radio Newcastle
• BBC Radio Tees

BBC North West

• BBC Radio Lancashire
• BBC Radio Manchester
• BBC Radio Merseyside

BBC South

• BBC Radio Berkshire
• BBC Radio Oxford
• BBC Radio Solent

BBC South East

• BBC Radio Kent
• BBC Radio Surrey
• BBC Radio Sussex

BBC South West

• BBC Radio Cornwall
• BBC Radio Devon
• BBC Radio Guernsey
• BBC Radio Jersey

BBC West

• BBC Radio Bristol
• BBC Radio Gloucestershire
• BBC Radio Somerset
• BBC Radio Wiltshire

BBC West Midlands

• BBC Radio WM
• BBC CWR
• BBC Hereford & Worcester
• BBC Radio Shropshire
• BBC Radio Stoke

BBC Yorkshire

Blue plaqueplaced by Leeds Civic Society outlining radio inLeeds

• BBC Radio Leeds
• BBC Radio Sheffield
• BBC Radio York

BBC Yorkshire and Lincolnshire

• BBC Radio Humberside
• BBC Radio Lincolnshire

Former stations

• BBC Dorset FM
• BBC Radio Durham
• BBC Southern Counties Radio
• BBC Thames Valley FM

The stations were launched progressively; starting with BBC Radio Leicester on 8 November 1967, with the last station to launch being the short-livedBBC Dorset FMon 26 April 1993. Since then, many stations have been merged and renamed but no new stations have been created where no service previously existed, as plans to launch stations in unserved areas, most notably inCheshire,have not materialised.

Imaging

Between October 2009 and April 2012, a three notejinglepackage produced by Mcasso Music Production was gradually rolled out across the network, and was in use by all BBC Local Radio stations. Mcasso also updated the imaging in October 2015 which was launched byBBC Radio London(on the day of the station's 45th anniversary) replacing the three-note package with a six-note package.

In January 2020,BBC Radio Leicesterlaunched a brand new custom-made jingle package by Reelworld, based inMediaCity UK,Salford.The new jingle package was rolled out to all BBC Local Radio stations over the course of the year, alongside a refreshed "on air" sound to help encourage younger listeners to the station. The new station branding also incorporates a new tag line, "The Sound of *area of coverage*, and all the music you love". The new jingle package marked the first time in ten years that "sung jingles" were used in the stations' on air branding.

Dave and Sue

Dave and Sueare two fictional radio listeners created asmarketing personas.Descriptions of the characters, created by the BBC, were given to all their local radio presenters as representativetarget listenersduring the 2000s. They were later superseded by the "BBC Local Radio 2010" strategy.

The characters were created as part of "Project Bullseye". Its stated aim was "To develop greatradio programming... we need to know where the centre of ouraudiencetarget is and be able to focus on it in all we do. "

Dave and Sue are both 55. Sue is a schoolsecretary,while Dave is aself-employedplumber.They are both divorcees with grown-up children. The characters shop atAsda,and wear casual clothes. The couple have little interest inhigh culture,orpolitics,and see the world as "a dangerous and depressing place". They hope that radio will be "something that will cheer them up and make them laugh".

BBC Local Radio staff were given facts and timelines about Dave and Sue, described as "composite listeners". Staff were asked to focus on producing something to which the pair would enjoy listening to.

The BBC also produced photographs of the couple, to encourage presenters to visualise their potential listeners.At the 2005Frank Gillard Awardsfor BBC Local Radio, the corporation hired two actors to represent the fictional couple and award a prize to the "Receptionist of the Year".

Mia Costello ofBBC Radio Solentwrote a controversial internal memo in October 2006, re-stating the importance of these characters. She wrote: "Whatever job you do on station, make sure this week, you broadcast to Dave and Sue – people in their fifties. Only put on callers sounding in the 45–64 range. I don't want to hear reallyelderlyvoices. Only talk about things that are positive and appealing to people in this age range. Only do caller round ups about people in this age range. "This was reprinted the following month in theSouthern Daily Echo,following which a BBC spokesperson commented "Out of context these notes sound harsh and we apologise if they offend anyone."

BBC Sounds

BBC Local Radio is available as a listen-again service onBBC Sounds.

England Unwrapped was launched in 2019 and shares stories made by Local Radio teams.

Podcasts

• A full list of Local Radio podcasts

See also

• Independent Local Radio
• BBC Radio
• BBC English Regions
• BBC Scotland
• BBC Cymru Wales
• BBC Northern Ireland
• Radio in the United Kingdom

External links

• Media related toBBC Radioat Wikimedia Commons
• BBC Sounds – Local RadioatBBC Online