BBC Three Counties Radio

Last updated

BBC Three Counties Radio
BBC Three Counties Radio 2022.svg
Broadcast area Bedfordshire, Hertfordshire and Buckinghamshire
Frequency FM: 90.4 MHz (Welwyn Garden City, Hertford and Stevenage)
FM: 92.1 MHz (Hemel Hempstead)
FM: 94.7 MHz (Aylesbury)
FM: 95.5 MHz (Bedford)
FM: 98.0 MHz (High Wycombe)
FM: 103.8 MHz (Luton and Dunstable)
FM: 104.5 MHz (Milton Keynes)
DAB: 10D
Freeview: 712
RDS BBC 3CR
Programming
Language(s) English
Format Local news, talk and music
Ownership
Owner BBC Local Radio,
BBC East,
BBC London,
BBC South
History
First air date
24 June 1985 (1985-06-24)
Former names
BBC Radio Bedfordshire (1985–1993)
Technical information
Licensing authority
 Ofcom
Links
Website BBC Three Counties Radio

BBC Three Counties Radio is the BBC's local radio station serving the counties of Bedfordshire, Hertfordshire and Buckinghamshire.

Contents

It broadcasts on FM, DAB, digital TV and via BBC Sounds from studios at Grove Park in Dunstable.

According to RAJAR, the station has a weekly audience of 125,000 listeners and a 5.8% share as of December 2023. [1]

History

BBC Radio Bedfordshire (1985–1993)

Radio Bedfordshire logo BBC Radio Bedfordshire.jpg
Radio Bedfordshire logo

The station launched as "Radio Bedfordshire" on 24 June 1985, serving the whole of Bedfordshire plus (despite the name) North Buckinghamshire and the northern parts of Hertfordshire. Therefore Bedford, Luton, Dunstable, Milton Keynes, Knebworth, Berkhamsted, Tring, Harpenden, Leighton Buzzard, Aylesbury, Hemel Hempstead, St Albans, Hatfield, Welwyn Garden City, Letchworth Garden City, Stevenage and Hitchin were served by the new station. In 1992, the station became known as "BBC Radio Bedfordshire with Herts and Bucks".

BBC Three Counties Radio (1993–present)

The station changed to its present name on 5 April 1993. The new name was intended to reflect the wider reach across the three counties and to give equal service to all. The editorial area was not, at that point, expanded but enhanced studio facilities and staff were devoted to Buckinghamshire and Hertfordshire.

New transmitters at Epping Green and Bedmond extended the coverage area to Welwyn Garden City, Hatfield and west Hertfordshire in late 2005.

BBC Three Counties Radio became available on DAB radio on 14 February 2013. In June 2015, the station moved from its Luton base to new studios in Dunstable.

Technical

BBC Three Counties Radio broadcasts on FM on these frequencies (transmitter location in brackets):

The station broadcasts on DAB digital radio on the Herts, Beds and Bucks digital radio multiplex, transmitted from Sandy Heath, Aylesbury, Epping Green, Hemel Hempstead, Chepping Wycombe, Letchworth, Zouches Farm and Bow Brickhill.

The station also broadcasts on Freeview TV channel 712 in the BBC East, BBC London and BBC South regions and streams online via BBC Sounds.

Marlow is officially covered by BBC Radio Berkshire on 94.6 FM, Royston is covered by BBC Radio Cambridgeshire on 96.0 FM and Princes Risborough is served by BBC Radio Oxford on 95.2 FM. Those towns can still receive BBC Three Counties Radio through DAB and Freeview TV.

Programming

Local programming is produced and broadcast from the BBC's Dunstable studios from 6 am to 2pm weekdays. Weekdays from 2pm to 10pm are now BBC East regional programming. Saturday 6am to 10pm BBC East shared programming. Sundays 6am to 6pm BBC East regional shared programming. Many of the regional shows are broadcast from the studios of Three Counties Radio. All other times such as late and overnight programming is England wide shared programming.

The former Saturday regional late show, broadcast across the eastern counties from 9pm to 1am was from Cambridge for nearly 30 years hosted by Richard Spendlove MBE. Keith Skues was the Weekday Late Show host 1995–2005 10pm to 1am. Keith presented PRS Pirate Radio Skues for 2 years Mondays 10pm to 1am. Keith then carried on Sundays 9pm to 1am with PRS, The Skues Collection and Skues Me.

During the station's downtime, overnight programming is simulcast from BBC Radio 5 Live.

Presenters

Notable current presenters

Notable past presenters

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">BBC Radio Suffolk</span> Radio station in Ipswich, England

BBC Radio Suffolk is the BBC's local radio station serving the county of Suffolk.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">BBC Essex</span> BBC Local Radio service for Essex, England

BBC Essex is the BBC's local radio station serving the county of Essex and parts of Suffolk.

BBC Radio Northampton is the BBC's local radio station serving the county of Northamptonshire.

BBC Radio Berkshire is the BBC's local radio station serving the county of Berkshire and surrounding areas. It broadcasts on FM, DAB, digital TV and via BBC Sounds. It has studios at Thames Valley Park near Reading.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">BBC Radio Devon</span> Radio station in Plymouth

BBC Radio Devon is the BBC's local radio station serving the county of Devon.

BBC Radio Cornwall is the BBC's local radio station serving the county of Cornwall.

BBC Radio Guernsey is the BBC's local radio station serving the Bailiwick of Guernsey.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">BBC Radio Leicester</span> Radio station in Leicester

BBC Radio Leicester is the BBC's local radio station serving the counties of Leicestershire and Rutland.

BBC Radio Lincolnshire is the BBC's local radio station serving the county of Lincolnshire.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">BBC Radio York</span> BBC Local Radio service for North Yorkshire, England

BBC Radio York is the BBC's local radio station serving the county of North Yorkshire.

BBC Radio Newcastle is the BBC's local radio station serving Newcastle upon Tyne, the neighbouring metropolitan boroughs, Northumberland and north east County Durham.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">BBC Radio Bristol</span> Radio station in Bath and Bristol

BBC Radio Bristol is the BBC's local radio station serving the cities of Bristol and Bath and the unitary authorities of Bath and North East Somerset, North Somerset and South Gloucestershire.

BBC Radio Gloucestershire is the BBC's local radio station serving the county of Gloucestershire.

BBC Radio Somerset is the BBC's local radio station serving the county of Somerset, England.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">BBC Hereford & Worcester</span> BBC Local Radio service for Herefordshire and Worcestershire, England

BBC Hereford & Worcester is the BBC's local radio station serving the counties of Herefordshire and Worcestershire, which were one county from 1974 to 1998.

BBC Radio Shropshire is the BBC's local radio station serving Shropshire.

BBC Radio Manchester is the BBC's local radio station serving Greater Manchester, north-east Cheshire and north-west Derbyshire.

Greatest Hits Radio West Yorkshire is an Independent Local Radio station serving West Yorkshire on 96.3 and 106.8 FM, DAB, online and via the app.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">BBC Radio Sussex</span> BBC Local Radio service for the English county of Sussex

BBC Radio Sussex is the BBC's local radio station serving the county of Sussex.

This is a timeline of BBC Local Radio.

References

  1. ↑ "RAJAR". RAJAR. Retrieved 27 September 2015.
  2. ↑ "Nana Akua". nanaakua.com. Retrieved 19 June 2021.

51°52′37″N0°25′05″W / 51.877°N 0.418°W / 51.877; -0.418

This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.