 Logo used since 2021 | |
| Company type | Division |
|---|---|
| Industry | Mass media |
| Founded | 1965 |
| Headquarters | The Mailbox, Birmingham (English Regions HQ)Broadcasting House, London (Audio HQ) ,United Kingdom |
Area served | |
Key people |
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| Services | Local Radio |
| Parent | BBC |
| Website | bbc |
 |
|---|
Commercial subsidiaries |
Key properties in London |
Birmingham |
BBC Local Radio (also referred to asLocal BBC Radio) is theBBC's local and regionalradio division forEngland and theChannel Islands,[1] consisting of 39 stations.[2]
As of December 2024, the network broadcasts to a combined audience of 7.1 million, with a listening share of 4.6%, according toRAJAR.[3]
The popularity ofpirate radio was to challenge a then very "stiff" and blinkered management at the BBC. The most prominent concession by the BBC was the creation ofBBC Radio 1 to 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 Leicester was 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.[4]
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.[5]
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.[5]
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 popularDJs from the pirate radio stations, and that gained, in most cases, large audiences. Despite this, BBC Local Radio continued to flourish, and the 1980s and early 1990s saw the network expanded with a combination of new launches and existing city-based services expanded to include whole counties. By the mid-1990s this expansion concluded and since then, the complement of stations has remained unchanged.[6]
BBC Local stations were never intended to broadcast around the clock but from launch, rather than each station's frequency going silent, each station has carried another BBC station when not on air. Until the early 1990sBBC Radio 2 was carried due to it broadcasting a 24-hour service, although during the 1980s and early 1990s some stations carried output fromBBC Radio 1 at various times, such as simulcastingRadio 1's Top 40 programme on Sunday afternoons. During the mid-1990s many stations switched to airing theBBC World Service and by the end of the 1990s all stations were carryingBBC Radio 5 Live during their downtime.
The 1980s also saw an expansion of programming hours but stations had still handed over to Radio 2 by early evening. This was seen as unacceptable by the BBC so the decision was taken to begin the roll-out of regional evening programming which saw the same programme networked on all the stations in that area. Consequently, by the end of the 1980s, stations were now providing local/regional programming on weeknights, and in many areas at the weekend as well, until midnight.
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 Regions department, 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.[2] The target audience of BBC Local Radio is listeners aged over fifty, who are not served as well as other age groups on the BBC.[2]
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 all live sports coverage continues to remain local. Since October 2023, all stations have carried the all England Late Show which originates in London or Manchester,[7] and since November 2023, the Sunday evening show is also carried on all stations.[8]
All local BBC radio stations simulcastBBC Radio 5 Live from 0100 until 0600.
All of the BBC Local Radio stations broadcast onFM,digital radio,Freeview andBBC Sounds in their respective areas across England, but BBC Radio London is also available onSky UK,Freesat andVirgin Media.
Also, until the start of the 1990s, all BBC stations used to broadcast onmedium wave although 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 GMR and one ofBBC Radio Nottingham andBBC Radio WM's transmitters - were switched off[9][10] although three, including BBC GLR's MW frequency, were re-allocated for use by commercial radio. In 1996, the MW frequencies ofBBC Radio Leicester and 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 ofAM services.[11] Two of the four transmitters partaking in the trial - BBC Radio Nottingham's MW transmitter andBBC Radio Kent's relay atRusthall nearTunbridge Wells - remained off-air after the BBC said that the trial switch-off attracted very few complaints from listeners.[12] In 2018, the MW transmissions of BBC RadiosSussex,Surrey,Humberside,Wiltshire, Nottingham, Kent andLincolnshire ended and MW coverage for Radios Devon, Lancashire and Essex was reduced. Altogether, thirteen MW transmitters were switched off.[13][14][15] In 2020, the MW transmissions ofBBC Radio Cornwall,BBC Radio Newcastle,BBC Radio Merseyside,BBC Radio Solent,BBC Three Counties Radio andBBC Radio York ended,BBC Radio Cumbria stopped broadcasting on MW inWhitehaven andBBC Radio Norfolk'sNorwich MW transmitter went silent.[16] 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 Stoke andBBC Radio Lancashire - stopped broadcasting on MW.[17] 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,East Lindsey and theSouth Holland District) 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.[18] Overnight events are replaced by a looping message explaining this is broadcast.[citation needed]
A list of the forty local radio stations byregion. In addition to these stations,BBC Radio Solent operates an opt-out service coveringDorset.[2] There were also opt-out services coveringMilton Keynes (BBC Three Counties Radio),Peterborough andthe Fens (BBC Radio Cambridgeshire),Plymouth (BBC Radio Devon), andSwindon (BBC Wiltshire);[2] but these ceased in 2012 due to cutbacks as part of the BBC's "Delivering Quality First" programme.
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BBC Yorkshire and Lincolnshire
Former stations
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 FM on 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.
Between October 2009 and April 2012, a three notejingle package 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 Leicester launched 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 are 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 listeners during 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 ouraudience target is and be able to focus on it in all we do."[4]
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".[4]
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.[19]
The BBC also produced photographs of the couple, to encourage presenters to visualise their potential listeners.[4] At the 2005Frank Gillard Awards for BBC Local Radio, the corporation hired two actors to represent the fictional couple and award a prize to the "Receptionist of the Year".[20]
Mia Costello ofBBC Radio Solent wrote 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 reallyelderly voices. 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."[21]
![[icon]](/mt/?noimg=&dark=on&url=http%3a%2f%2fen.wikipedia.org%2fwiki%2fFile%3aWiki_letter_w_cropped.svg) | This sectionneeds expansion. You can help byadding to it.(November 2022) |
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.
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