Broadcast area | Oxfordshire and Berkshire |
---|---|
Frequency | FM |
Programming | |
Language(s) | English |
Format | Local news, talk and music |
Ownership | |
Owner | BBC Local Radio |
History | |
First air date | 9 April 1996 |
Last air date | 14 February 2000 |
BBC Thames Valley FM was the BBC Local Radio station covering the English counties of Oxfordshire and Berkshire, broadcasting between 1996 and 2000.
BBC Thames Valley FM began on 9 April 1996 following the merger of BBC Radio Oxford and BBC Radio Berkshire. [1] At launch the new station broadcast its own output from 5 am to 1 am seven days a week, although this was later cut back with the introduction of regional programming in the evenings. The initial presenter line-up included Andrew Peach and Phil Kennedy, Bob Harris on Sunday afternoons and Martin Kelner on Friday nights. There were separate news bulletins for the two counties.
In September 1998, a new jingle package composed by David Arnold was introduced and the 'FM' suffix was dropped from the station name. Shortly afterwards separate breakfast and drivetime programmes for Oxfordshire and Berkshire were introduced.
The merged station was not popular with listeners, and in August 1999, as part of the BBC South East Review, [2] it was announced that BBC Radio Oxford and BBC Radio Berkshire would regain their own identities. The two stations relaunched on 14 February 2000, although most output continued to be shared and their programme schedules remained unchanged. However, by 2004 the two stations' schedules had become fully separated.
BBC London is the BBC English Region producing local radio, television, teletext and online services in London and parts of the surrounding area. Its output includes the daily BBC London news bulletin and weekly Sunday Politics on television, the BBC Radio London radio station and local coverage of the London area on BBC Online and BBC Red Button. The region's headquarters are situated in the new eastern extension of the BBC's Broadcasting House.
BBC Radio Oxford is the BBC's local radio station serving the county of Oxfordshire.
BBC Local Radio is the BBC's local and regional radio division for England and the Channel Islands, consisting of forty stations.
BBC Southern Counties Radio was the BBC Local Radio service for the English counties of Surrey and Sussex. The station also covered a large part of north-east Hampshire. It was the first BBC local radio station to introduce an all-speech format. It broadcast from studios in Brighton and Guildford on FM and AM, and on DAB on the NOW Sussex Coast multiplex.
BBC Radio Berkshire is the BBC's local radio station serving the county of Berkshire. It broadcasts on FM, DAB, digital TV and via BBC Sounds. It has studios at Thames Valley Park near Reading.
BBC Radio Solent is the BBC's local radio station serving Hampshire, Dorset and the Isle of Wight, broadcasting on FM, DAB, digital TV and via BBC Sounds from studios on Havelock Road in Southampton.
Heart Berkshire was an Independent Local Radio station, serving Berkshire and North Hampshire from studios in Reading.
Heart Kent was an Independent Local Radio station owned and operated by Global Radio as part of the Heart network. It broadcast to Kent from studios at John Wilson Business Park in Whitstable.
Heart Oxfordshire was an Independent Local Radio station broadcasting to Oxfordshire on 102.6 MHz FM from the Oxford transmitting station and 97.4 MHz FM from a relay station at Farthinghoe, near Banbury.
The Oxford transmitting station is a broadcasting and telecommunications facility, situated on land 129.5 metres (425 ft) above Ordnance Datum to the north east of the city of Oxford, in Oxfordshire, England. It has a guyed steel lattice mast which is 154.4 metres (507 ft) in height to the top of the main steel structure. The UHF television antenna, which consist of a vertical array of transmitting panels, is mounted above the steel structure. The total height of the mast to the top of this UHF antenna is 165.7 metres (544 ft). It is owned and operated by Arqiva.
BBC South is the BBC English Region serving Hampshire, Isle of Wight, Dorset, West Sussex, Oxfordshire, Berkshire and parts of Gloucestershire, Buckinghamshire, Northamptonshire, Surrey, and Wiltshire, with geographic coverage varying between digital, television and radio services.
BBC Radio Sussex is the BBC's local radio station serving the county of Sussex.
BBC Radio Surrey is the BBC's local radio station serving Surrey and north-east Hampshire.
BBC Dorset FM was a BBC Local Radio station based in Dorchester, covering the county of Dorset in England which broadcast from 1993 to 1996. It was the last BBC Local Radio station to launch which covered a previously unserved area. It operated as an opt-out station from BBC Radio Devon for around 23 hours a week.
This is a list of events in British radio during 2000.
This is a list of events in British radio during 1996.
Heart Thames Valley was a local radio station owned and operated by Global Radio as part of the Heart network. It broadcast to Berkshire, Oxfordshire, north Hampshire and parts of west Buckinghamshire from studios in Reading, southern England.
This is a timeline of BBC Local Radio.
Heart South is a regional radio station owned and operated by Global as part of the Heart network. It broadcasts to the south and south east of England from studios in Fareham, Hampshire.