BBC Radio Essex
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| City | Chelmsford |
|---|---|
| Broadcast area | Essex |
| Slogan | Essex and Proud |
| Frequency | 95.3 FM, 103.5 FM, 729 AM, 765 AM, 1530 AM |
| First air date | 5 November 1986 |
| Format | Talk / News / Music |
| Language(s) | English |
| Owner |
BBC Local Radio, BBC East |
| Website | BBC Essex |
BBC Essex is the BBC Local Radio service for the English county of Essex. It broadcasts from its studios on New London Road in Chelmsford on 95.3 (South Benfleet) and 103.5 (Great Braxted) FM, and on 729 (Manningtree), 765 (Bakers Wood), and 1530 (Rayleigh) AM. It is also available on DAB and live streaming via the internet.
BBC Essex launched on 5 November 1986. It broke from the naming convention of "BBC Radio (county name)" so as to avoid confusion with Essex Radio (later Essex FM, now Heart Essex). There had also been a pirate station called Radio Essex in the 1960s, and currently there is an independent radio station called Radio Essex.
BBC Essex set out to be different from existing BBC local stations, which were often perceived as rather "stuffy" and "worthy". It launched with a more up-beat sound, an almost "tabloid" news style and younger presenters than most stations; the BBC Essex symbol also didn't feature the traditional BBC logo. However, over the years the style has been toned down and the format is now more in line with the rest of the BBC local radio family.
Current regular weekday presenters are Rob Jelly, Sadie Nine, Ronnie Barbour, Tony Fisher and Dave Monk. The station has also seen a number of high-profile presenters pass through its doors including James Whale, Jonathan Overend (BBC Radio 5 Live), Tim 'Timbo' Lloyd (twice winner of Best Local DJ at the Sony Radio Awards), Mark Pougatch (BBC Sport), Dermot O'Leary (National radio & TV presenter) and music promoter Eric 'Monster' Hall.
According to RAJAR, as of July 2014 the station has a listenership figure of 228,000 which equates to 18% of the audience reach/
A revised programme schedule at the station occurred in September 2015 following the appointment of Lou Birt as Managing Editor in April 2015, which occurred after the previous Managing Editor, Gerald Main, who had been in that role since 2007, left in February.
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