BBC Local Radio

BBC Local Radio is the local and regional radio part of the BBC. It has 39 stations in England and the Channel Islands. These stations give news, music, and information to the people in their areas.

Many people listen to BBC Local Radio. It helps communities stay connected and informed.

History

For a chronological guide, see Timeline of BBC Local Radio.

BBC Local Radio started as an experiment to serve local areas, inspired by popular pirate radio. The first station, Radio Leicester, began broadcasting on 8 November 1967, and was soon followed by others like Leeds, Stoke, and Sheffield. These stations were funded by the BBC and local authorities at first, but this changed in the early 1970s, allowing more stations to start across the country.

Over time, BBC Local Radio grew to include many stations, reaching its current number by the mid-1990s. Even with competition from other radio stations, BBC Local Radio kept growing. Today, these stations offer local programming for most of the day, with some evening and weekend shows shared across nearby areas.

Current operation

The local radio stations are run from places around the country. They also work with the BBC's regional TV news services. Each station is managed by the area where it is located. It is part of the BBC English Regions department, which is a part of BBC News.

Each local radio station aims to give talk-based shows. These shows include news, information, and music. These stations mainly try to reach listeners who are older than fifty years old. Every station makes its own shows for local listeners from early morning until early afternoon on weekdays. In the afternoons, evenings, and on weekends, the shows may be shared between regions or be local, depending on where the station is and how many people live there. Since October 2023, all stations have also played a special evening show that comes from London or Manchester. Since November 2023, they all share a Sunday evening show as well.

All local BBC radio stations also show BBC Radio 5 Live very early in the morning, from 1:00 am until 6:00 am.

Transmission

All BBC Local Radio stations broadcast on FM, digital radio, Freeview and BBC Sounds in their local areas across England. BBC Radio London can also be found on Sky UK, Freesat and Virgin Media.

In the past, these stations also used to broadcast on medium wave, but many of these signals have been turned off over the years. By April 2026, only a few stations will still use this older method of broadcasting. Sometimes, special sports events might not be available on BBC Sounds, and a different program will be shown instead.

Stations

BBC Local Radio has stations in many parts of England and the Channel Islands. There are 39 different stations. They share local news, stories, and entertainment for people living in those areas.

A list of the forty local radio stations by region. In addition to these stations, BBC Radio Solent has a service for Dorset. There were also services for Milton Keynes (BBC Three Counties Radio), Peterborough and the Fens (BBC Radio Cambridgeshire), Plymouth (BBC Radio Devon), and Swindon (BBC Wiltshire). These stopped in 2012 because of budget cuts.

BBC East

• BBC Essex (Broadcasts to Essex)
• BBC Radio Cambridgeshire (Broadcasts to Cambridgeshire)
• BBC Radio Norfolk (Broadcasts to Norfolk)
• BBC Radio Northampton (Broadcasts to Northamptonshire but not to South Northamptonshire District)
• BBC Radio Suffolk (Broadcasts to Suffolk)
• BBC Three Counties Radio (Broadcasts to Bedfordshire, Hertfordshire and Buckinghamshire)

BBC East Midlands

• BBC Radio Derby (Broadcasts to Derbyshire and East Staffordshire)
• BBC Radio Leicester (Broadcasts to Leicestershire, and Rutland)
• BBC Radio Nottingham (Broadcasts to Nottinghamshire)

BBC London

• BBC Radio London (Broadcasts in Greater London)

BBC North East and Cumbria

• BBC Radio Cumbria (Broadcasts to Cumbria)
• BBC Radio Newcastle (Broadcasts to Tyne and Wear and Northern County Durham)
• BBC Radio Tees (Broadcasts to Central and South of County Durham and Northern parts of North Yorkshire including Whitby.)

BBC North West

• BBC Radio Lancashire (Broadcasts to Lancashire and Western parts of North Yorkshire)
• BBC Radio Manchester (Broadcasts to Greater Manchester, North-East Cheshire and North-West Derbyshire)
• BBC Radio Merseyside (Broadcasts to Liverpool, North-West Cheshire and West Lancashire)

BBC South

• BBC Radio Berkshire (Broadcasts to Berkshire, South Oxfordshire, North Hampshire and Marlow in Buckinghamshire)
• BBC Radio Oxford (Broadcasts to Oxfordshire, South Northamptonshire and Princes Risborough in Buckinghamshire)
• BBC Radio Solent (Broadcasts to Hampshire, Dorset and the Isle of Wight)

BBC South East

• BBC Radio Kent (Broadcasts to Kent)
• BBC Radio Surrey (Broadcasts to Surrey, North East Hampshire and Northern parts of West Sussex)
• BBC Radio Sussex (Broadcasts to East Sussex and West Sussex except for northern parts including Crawley)

BBC South West

• BBC Radio Cornwall (Broadcasts to Cornwall)
• BBC Radio Devon (Broadcasts to Devon)
• BBC Radio Guernsey (Broadcasts to the Island of Guernsey, Alderney and Sark)
• BBC Radio Jersey (Broadcasts to the Island of Jersey)

BBC West

• BBC Radio Bristol (Broadcasts to Bristol City, Bath, North Somerset and South Gloucestershire)
• BBC Radio Gloucestershire (Broadcasts to Gloucestershire except for areas in South Gloucestershire)
• BBC Radio Somerset (Broadcasts to Somerset)
• BBC Radio Wiltshire (Broadcasts to Wiltshire)

BBC Midlands

• BBC Radio WM (Broadcasts to the West Midlands, Central Staffordshire and South Staffordshire areas including Tamworth)
• BBC CWR (Broadcasts to Coventry and Warwickshire)
• BBC Hereford & Worcester (Broadcasts to Herefordshire and Worcestershire)
• BBC Radio Shropshire (Broadcasts to Shropshire)
• BBC Radio Stoke (Broadcasts to North Staffordshire and South Cheshire)

BBC Yorkshire

• BBC Radio Leeds (Broadcasts to West Yorkshire)
• BBC Radio Sheffield (Broadcasts to South Yorkshire, North Nottinghamshire and North Derbyshire)
• BBC Radio York (Broadcasts to North Yorkshire except for the northern area, including Whitby, and areas west of Craven).

BBC Yorkshire and Lincolnshire

• BBC Radio Humberside (Broadcasts to East Yorkshire and Northern Lincolnshire)
• BBC Radio Lincolnshire (Broadcasts to Lincolnshire but not to Northern and North East Lincolnshire)

Former stations

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

The stations started one after another. The first was BBC Radio Leicester on 8 November 1967. The last was the short-lived BBC Dorset FM on 26 April 1993. Since then, many stations have been merged or renamed, but no new stations have been created in areas that did not already have service. Plans to start stations in places like Cheshire did not happen.

Imaging

From 2009 to 2012, BBC Local Radio stations got a special three-note jingle made by Mcasso Music Production. In 2015, Mcasso made new jingles, starting with BBC Radio London. The new jingles had six notes.

In 2020, BBC Radio Leicester started using a new custom jingle package made by Reelworld in MediaCity UK, Salford. All BBC Local Radio stations used this new package that year. It gave the stations a fresh sound to attract younger listeners. The new branding said, "The Sound of area of coverage, and all the music you love". This was the first time in ten years that the stations used "sung jingles" in their branding.

Dave and Sue

Dave and Sue are two characters created by the BBC to help local radio presenters understand their audience. They were used as examples of typical listeners during the 2000s.

Dave and Sue are both 55 years old. Sue works as a school secretary, and Dave is a self-employed plumber. They are both divorced and have grown-up children. They shop at Asda and prefer casual clothes. They don’t spend much time on high culture or politics. They hope that radio will make them smile and laugh.

BBC Local Radio staff used details about Dave and Sue to create shows that these listeners would enjoy. The BBC even made photos of the couple and used actors to represent them at an awards event.

BBC Sounds

BBC Local Radio can be listened to again later through BBC Sounds. In 2019, a program named England Unwrapped began, sharing stories made by the Local Radio teams.