 | |
| Broadcast area | Herefordshire andWorcestershire |
|---|---|
| Frequency | FM: 94.7 MHz (Herefordshire) FM: 104.0 MHz (Worcester andMalvern) FM: 104.4 MHz (Bromsgrove,Redditch andAlvechurch) FM: 104.6 MHz (Kidderminster) DAB: 12A Freeview: 712 |
| RDS | BBC H&W |
| Programming | |
| Language | English |
| Format | Local news, talk and music |
| Ownership | |
| Owner | BBC Local Radio, BBC West Midlands |
| History | |
First air date | 14 February 1989 |
Former frequencies | 738MW 1584 MW |
| Technical information | |
Licensing authority | Ofcom |
| Links | |
| Website | www |
BBC Hereford & Worcester is theBBC's local radio station serving the counties ofHerefordshire andWorcestershire, which were one county from 1974 to 1998.
It broadcasts onFM,DAB, digital TV and online viaBBC Sounds from studios on Hylton Road inWorcester.
According toRAJAR, the station has a weekly audience of 90,000 listeners and a 7.8% share as of December 2023.[1]
The concept for siting a local BBC Radio station within the, soon to be combined county ofHereford and Worcester, emerged as early as 1973 as part of the BBC's evidence to theCrawford Committee on Broadcasting Coverage[2] and reinforced in the BBC's response to theAnnan Report of 1977.[3] However due to concerns about competition, and in particular a smaller than expected rise in the BBC's license fee following the report, further local radio station ambitions were halted.[4][5]
The station began broadcasting on 14 February 1989 (Valentine's Day), and to mark the unusual, two-centre set-up for the radio station, the first record played was the song "Two Hearts" byPhil Collins.[6][7] The original team of presenters included Graham Day (mid-morning), Gill Capewell (afternoons) and Allan Lee (drive). Other staff included Robert Piggott (nowBBC Religious Affairs correspondent), TV journalistLiz MacKean and formerLBC presenter Jeremy Dry.
When the station first began,Jane Garvey (ofBBC Radio 5 Live) was one of the team of journalists. A few months later, she took over the Breakfast Show[8] and went on to win aSony Award with it.
It serves the rural communities acrossHerefordshire as well as the more populousWorcestershire with a range of programmes from news, sport, consumer, arts, religion, gardening,jazz,funk,northern soul and local music. Notable guests on the station have included theArchbishop of CanterburyJustin Welby in October 2016.[9]
The station's original studio based inHereford (which supplemented the primaryWorcester base) was used from the station's launch in 1989, until the studio closed in December 2016, with the station occupying a temporary location in the city as they sought a more permanent home.[10] This studio had been used for key programmes within the schedule, including the breakfast show during the early 2000s.[11] The solution emerged in December 2020 when the station entered a collaboration with theHereford College of Arts to base their Hereford studio within their College Road campus.[12]
As a result of license fee freezes and associated budget cuts arising from theDelivering Quality First plan in 2011,[13] programmes onBBC Local Radio stations began to be shared across regions in periods of lower demand such as evenings[14] andmedium wave transmitters began to be closed down where coverage matchedFM andDAB transmissions.[15][16] Following a further freeze in the license fee by the government in January 2022, the BBC announced further cuts to BBC Local Radio in October that same year, which will see weekday afternoon programmes shared with a neighbouring station and programming in the evenings, Saturdays and on Sunday mornings shared regionally with several stations.[17][18]
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BBC Hereford and Worcester transmits onFM. The original, and two strongest FM transmitters are on 104 FM (Great Malvern, servingWorcestershire)[19] and 94.7 FM (Ridge Hill, betweenRoss On Wye andLedbury nearMuch Marcle, servingHerefordshire).[20] These signals are not particularly powerful, and have limited coverage outside the two counties, unlike stations such asBBC Radio WM. An additional FM transmitter on 104.6 FM improved coverage in theKidderminster area[21] and in February 2006, a new transmitter was turned on forRedditch (Headless Cross) on 104.4FM,[22] as reception in the town had been unreliable.
From launch until 13 May 2021,[23] BBC Hereford and Worcester broadcast onmedium wave with the mainAM transmitter on 738 kHz on the western edge ofWorcester and covered most of the two counties. Originally, there was another AM transmitter forHereford on 819 kHz; that frequency was given up to accommodate a new commercial station for southShropshire. In 2003, a small transmitter on 1584 kHz atWoofferton, just south ofLudlow, was added to the station transferring fromBBC Radio Shropshire.[24]
The station started broadcasting onDAB in December 2013 with the newMuxCo Herefordshire and Worcestershire multiplex at theBromsgrove, Ridge Hill andMalvern transmitter sites.[25] This was extended in August 2016 with a further transmitter at Hereford and in September with another at Kidderminster.
OnFreeview, the station is carried by the main transmitters at Ridge Hill,Sutton Coldfield andThe Wrekin, and by their associated relays, covering a much larger area than FM or DAB. The station also streams online viaBBC Sounds.
Until 2023, local programming was produced and broadcast from the BBC'sWorcester studios from 6 am to 10 pm each day, comprising a 6 am to 10 am breakfast show, 10 am to 2 pm morning show, 2 pm to 6 pm afternoon show and 6 pm to 10 pm evening show. The station's programming which is exclusive to the station is now mainly broadcast between 6am and 2pm on weekdays. Programming outside of these times is mainly shared with some other stations or with one other station. These shows must contain at least 60% speech content within the core broadcast hours of 6 am to 7 pm, with full speech content during the breakfast peak of 7 am to 8:30 am.[26] The station must also contain at least 95 hours of locally-made programming per week, that provides news, information and content relevant to the areas and communities it serves.[27]
The station's Saturday afternoon show is occupied by sports coverage under theBBC Hereford and Worcester Sport banner withThe Sunday Gardening Show occupying the Sunday afternoon slot. On both weekend days, the evening slot is occupied by theBBC Music Introducing programme[28] which features music from new and up and coming artists from the local area.[29] The show helped discover and launch the careers ofEllie Goulding (whose first air-play was on the station),[30]Becky Hill and220 Kid.[29]
The station's late shows, airing from 10 pm to 1 am, originates fromBBC Radio WM inBirmingham and is broadcast additionally to otherBBC Local Radio stations in theWest Midlands (BBC CWR,BBC Radio Stoke,BBC Radio Shropshire) and some nights of the week to stations in theEast Midlands (BBC Radio Derby,BBC Radio Leicester andBBC Radio Nottingham).[28]
During the station's downtime, BBC Hereford & Worcester simulcasts overnight programming fromBBC Radio 5 Live between 1 am and 5 am and an early morning breakfast programme broadcast across the Local Radio network fromBBC Radio London.[28]
52°11′39″N2°13′59″W / 52.1942°N 2.2330°W /52.1942; -2.2330
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