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| Broadcast area | Greater London |
| Frequencies | FM: 94.9 MHz DAB: 12A Freesat: 718 Freeview: 713 Sky: 0135 Virgin Media: 937 |
| RDS | BBCLondn |
| Programming | |
| Language | English |
| Format | Local news, talk and music |
| Ownership | |
| Owner | BBC Local Radio, BBC London |
| History | |
First air date | 6 October 1970 |
Former names | BBC GLR (1988–2000) BBC London Live 94.9 (2000–2001) BBC London 94.9 (2001–2015) |
Former frequencies | 95.3 FM 1458MW |
| Technical information | |
Licensing authority | Ofcom |
| Links | |
| Website | bbc |
BBC Radio London is theBBC's local radio station servingGreater London.
It broadcasts onFM,DAB, digital TV and viaBBC Sounds from studios atBroadcasting House inLangham Place, London.
According toRAJAR, the station has a weekly audience of 548,000 listeners and a 0.9% share as of December 2023.[1]
Local radio arrived in London as part of the second wave of BBC local stations, following a successful pilot project headed byFrank Gillard, who on visiting the United States, discovered local radio stations of varying formats and brought the concept to Britain.[2]
Test transmissions for the new local radio station were carried out fromWrotham,Kent, on 95.3MHz inFMmono, relayingBBC Radio 1 (at the time broadcast only onmedium wave), with several announcements informing listeners of the new service. On 6 October 1970,Radio London was launched, three years before commercial radio forGreater London in the guise ofLBC. On 2 September 1972 the station began broadcasting on MW in 1972, on 1457 kHz (206 metres) fromBrookmans Park and in 1973 the VHF frequency changed to 94.9.
BBC Radio London was the local station for the capital, although, in its early days, it relied heavily on news reports from other stations in the BBC network and often shared programming with BBC Radio 1 andBBC Radio 2. For several months after launch, the station was not able to play commercial records as no agreement had been reached over so-calledneedle time, which led to London listeners becoming acquainted with broadcast library music from outside the UK (including the Canadian Talent Library) and music from film soundtracks. A phone-in programme,Sounding Brass, was first presented by Owen Spencer-Thomas in 1977. Listeners were invited to choose a Christmas carol or hymn while aSalvation Army brass band stood by in the studio to play their request live. It later moved to BBC Radio 2 and was presented byGloria Hunniford.[3]
As soon asIndependent Local Radio stations LBC andCapital London went on air, public attention to Radio London declined.[citation needed]
Radio London started regular broadcasts from Harewood House, 13Hanover Square, nearOxford Circus, later moving to 35Marylebone High Street – the formerRadio Times warehouse.
Tests for FMstereo began in 1981 withMusic on the Move, a programme featuring non-stop music, before its full launch on 11 February. The FM transmitter was shortly moved toCrystal Palace. This coincided with the planned relaunch in 1981, which saw the station take on a style that was softer than BBC Radio 2 – a station predominantly playing "easy listening" music. The music ranged from softer contemporary pop, such asThe Carpenters, to light classical music. The relaunch led to improved audience figures and a string of awards and accolades.[citation needed]
One of its programmes on the schedule wasBlack Londoners, devised by Ray Criushank, a community relations officer for theLondon Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham, and presented byAlex Pascall.[4] The programme helped to develop on-air talent from London's Afro-Caribbean community, namelyJuliet Alexander,Syd Burke andMike Phillips and was the pioneering programme on television or radio to regularly speak to Black Londoners. The programme's title was changed toBlack London shortly before Radio London closed. It was revived for a short time in 2003, with Pascall returning as a presenter. The forerunner to theBBC Asian Network was anAsian programme,London Sounds Eastern, presented byVernon Corea who was appointed the BBC's Ethnic Minorities Adviser in the 1970s.[5]
A programming relaunch in 1984 saw Radio London adopt the tagline"The Heart and Soul of London", with more soul music being played during the day.Tony Blackburn from BBC Radio 1 moved up the schedule to host a morning show. Regular Soul Night Outs were held initially inKilburn but later in other venues, such asIlford. This was whereDave Pearce (who later went to BBC Radio 1) made his first regular appearances as a BBC DJ on a Monday night programme.[citation needed]
Radio London closed on 7 October 1988. The final programme, just before its 18th birthday, was presented byMike Sparrow and Susie Barnes. Immediately after closedown at 7 pm, test transmissions began in preparation for the launch of its replacement, Greater London Radio (GLR).
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Test transmissions for the newGreater London Radio GLR began as soon as Radio London closed. Its pre-launch announcements stated in no uncertain terms that GLR was to be radically different in style. GLR was to be the first new radio station in London for 15 years.
Heading the new station were Managing EditorMatthew Bannister and Programme OrganiserTrevor Dann. Bannister came fromCapital London, while Dann came from Radio 1, via BBC TV'sWhistle Test, and developed an album-oriented music policy. GLR was aimed atpeople who hate pop but love music, hate prattle (excessive on-air talk)but want to know what's what where in the world. The station was aimed at 25 to 45-year-olds. Early promotions used the phrase "rock 'n' rolling news". Much of the daytime speech output covered London events and nightlife, with comedians and other artists being interviewed. The music mix was best described asAdult album alternative, though indie bands were also played.
Chris Evans took on a variety of roles on GLR, often presenting a weekend show, ending in 1993.Danny Baker presented Weekend Breakfast from 1989 to 1990 and then returned to present a Sunday morning show from 1996 to 1998.Janice Long presented the Breakfast show on the station from 1989 to 1991, andKevin Greening started as a producer in 1989, before becoming a presenter of the Breakfast show withJeremy Nicholas in 1991.Bob Harris also presented shows for the station from 1994 to 1998 after leavingBBC Radio 1. Early afternoon programming previewed London's entertainment scene, interviewing comedians and other performers.Richard Cook had a Saturday night jazz show.
Specialist speech programmes in the evening were aimed at London's communities:Asian,Afro-Caribbean,Jewish,Gay, andIrish.Black London was replaced with Margaret Jones (aka TheRanking Miss P). Later, a programme for the gay community,Lavender Lounge, was launched. It was presented by comedianAmy Lamé. Weekends featured extensive sports coverage, centring on football and London's numerous clubs such asArsenal,Tottenham, andWest Ham United.
In 1989, GLR set up a youth-based radio training facility atVauxhall College, SW8, which was followed by a second course based atWhite City, W12. This was allocated funds from theLondon Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham and the British parliament.
GLR had the ability to directly access Scotland Yard's network of traffic cameras across London's busiest streets. This enabled its reporters, most commonly "Bob at the Yard", to give accurate traffic and travel news to its listeners. The reports were known as20/20 Travel, named because its travel reports were read out every 20 minutes during peak times. No other radio station had this access for a while, even managing to outdoCapital Radio's traffic plane, known as theFlying Eye.
Three years into the new relaunch, the station was given an additional three years to prove itself to its audience by senior BBC management or close for good; this threat was also applied to its other metropolitan BBC local radio stationsBBC WM inBirmingham andBBC GMR inManchester. The threat was lifted after the BBC deemed it sufficiently patronised to remain on-air; however, criticism of the station grew from its Radio London days, causingDavid Mellor, thenSecretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport to remark: "TheBBC must think hard whether it is occupying radio frequencies without making much use of them." This claim was rejected by senior management.
In 1991, Matthew Bannister left to spearhead the BBC's charter-renewal strategy called Extending Choice. He was replaced as Managing Editor by Trevor Dann. Kate Marsh was appointed News Editor. In 1993, GLR was forced to relinquish its 1458 kHz medium wave frequency, for a new commercial radio station, which was eventually won bySunrise Radio. Previously it had been simulcasting with 94.9 MHz FM, with a few programmes which occasionally opted from FM. In 1993, Nigel Chapman, Head of BBC South & East, drove through a policy of "speech shoulders", forcing GLR to drop its music / speech mix at breakfast and drive times. Dann resigned in protest and left the BBC.[6]
Steve Panton, formerly Managing Editor ofBBC Radio Solent, took over at GLR in 1993.[7] One of its noted DJs on-air at the time wasGary Crowley,[8] who had a weekend show which regularly showcased new and unsigned bands. Kaleem Sheikh presented the A to Z of Indian Film and Classical music to a mainstream and specialist audience.
In 1999, following a consultation exercise on local broadcasting in theSouth East, the BBC decided to rebrand GLR and substantially change the programming. A campaign to "Save GLR" was organised and a petition was delivered to the BBC.[9] The argument became acrimonious. In particular, those opposed to the changes argued that the BBC never organised a public meeting in London as part of the consultation exercise and, when one was organised by supporters of the station, no one involved in the consultation exercise attended.[10] Although the campaign was unsuccessful in saving GLR and the rebranding went ahead the next year, it demonstrated the existence of a loyal audience for its format. GLR's music format and several of its presenters returned to the BBC with the launch of the national digital stationBBC Radio 6 Music in 2002.[11]
Facing even more public criticism over GLR's position in the London radio market and its very low listening reach, the station was relaunched on 27 March 2000[12] asBBC London Live 94.9.[13] Promising even more speech and less music, London Live — originally the title for GLR's lunch-time news show (presented by Charles Carroll, now on BBC Radio 4) — was launched with new on-air personalities and new shows, including a speech-heavy breakfast show and a mid-morning phone-in and debate. OnlyDrivetime and the specialist shows would remain, albeit refreshed. The re-launch at the time was promoted by huge billboards and television spots on BBCNewsroom South East depicting London's famous landmarks as radio paraphernalia (a woman seen raisingBig Ben as a radio aerial, for example). It cost the BBC in excess of £20 million, an amount seen by critics[who?] as an "obscene amount of money" and added to calls for thelicence fee to be scrapped.[citation needed]
Leading the relaunch was Station Director David Robey, who hired such personalities asLisa I'Anson,Vanessa Feltz,Tom Watt, and various black presenters includingEddie Nestor andDotun Adebayo.
In October 2001, the name was changed toBBC London 94.9. Newly updated jingles were added with its new slogan"On TV, On Radio, Online", voiced byBBC London News hostEmily Maitlis. The overall branding for this wasBBC LDN.
New recruits to BBC London 94.9 includedJon Gaunt fromBBC Three Counties Radio, former GLR presenterDanny Baker, andSean Rowley (hosting theGuilty Pleasures show). Danny Baker hosted a breakfast show, which was co-hosted with American comedianAmy Lamé. Jon Gaunt then hosted the mid-morning phone-in show.Robert Elms was kept at lunchtime. Vanessa Feltz took overLisa I'Anson's afternoon slot with a phone-in. Then there wasDrivetime withEddie Nestor and Kath Melandri, with news updates, sport, travel and debates with the public. Specialist programmes for the Black community emerged at the weekends along with sports coverage and alternative music shows in the evening. BBC London also saw the return ofTony Blackburn on Saturdays, more than 20 years since he first appeared on the station. His show was as before, playing classic soul music and chat.
Although having joined at the end of the station's time as GLR,Norman Jay'sGiant 45 show attracted a large and loyal following until Jay's eventual departure in February 2008 having been moved to a "digital only slot".[14] This was by no means the first change to specialist music programming by Robey to have attracted a negative reaction. In 2003, a campaign calledLondumb Live was briefly launched as a response to the axing of a number of specialist shows includingColdcut and Ross Allen.[15][16] Another presenter,Henry Bonsu, was controversially sacked for reportedly being "too intellectual".[17]
BBC London 94.9 was the firstBBC local radio station to air a 24-hour live-stream online, which coincided with the 2001 re-launch. It also aired onDAB Digital Radio (from July 2000) and onSky channel 0152 (from 2005) in the London area, but it can be accessed within the UK and Ireland by manual tuning.
Additional coverage for football was made possible through a combination of its DAB platform, on Sky channel 0152, and via aBBC Essex transmitter on 765 kHz medium wave (forWest Ham commentaries).
On 6 October 2015, BBC London 94.9 was re-branded as BBC Radio London.[18]
On 23 March 2020, to prioritise resources during theCoronavirus pandemic,BBC Radio 5 Live suspended overnight programmes between 01:00 and 05:00 and carried the output of BBC Radio London.[19] This continued until early July, when 5 Live resumed its overnight programming.[20] In 2022, presenter Salma El-Wardany took over the Breakfast Show,[21] after Vanessa Feltz left the station after almost twenty years.[22]Following the departure of Salma El-Wardany, 5 Live Broadcaster Aaron Paul launched a new breakfast show on 6 January 2025.
Local programming is produced and broadcast from the BBC's London studios.
During the station's overnight downtime, BBC Radio London simulcasts overnight programming fromBBC Radio 5 Live.
While previous incarnations of the station offered a more diverse range of programmes for London's variousethnic, religious, social and cultural communities, specialist community programmes no longer feature on the station due toBBC local radio stations now targeting a broad, mainstream audience.
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