BBC Radio London
 |
|
| City | London |
|---|---|
| Broadcast area | Greater London |
| Frequency |
FM: 94.9 MHz DAB: 12A RDS: BBCLondn Freesat: 718 Freeview: 721 Sky: 0152 Virgin Media: 937 |
| First air date | 6 October 1970 |
| Format | Local news, talk and music |
| Language(s) | English |
| Audience share | 1.7% (June 2016, RAJAR) |
| Former frequencies | AM 1458 kHz |
| Operator | BBC London |
| Owner | BBC |
| Webcast | BBC iPlayer Radio |
| Website | bbc |
BBC Radio London is London's BBC Local Radio station and part of the broader BBC London network. The station broadcasts across Greater London and beyond, on the 94.9 FM frequency, DAB, Virgin Media Channel 937, Sky Channel 0152 (in the London area only), Freeview Channel 721 and online.
The station's output is generally similar to that of other BBC Local Radio stations and targets a broad, mainstream audience. While previous incarnations of the station offered a more diverse range of programmes for London's various ethnic, religious, social and cultural communities, specialist programming now remains in a smaller form and is mostly broadcast during weekends.
Local radio arrived in London as part of the second wave of BBC local stations, following a successful pilot project headed by Frank Gilliard, who on visiting the United States discovered local radio stations of varying formats and was to bring this concept to Britain.
Test transmissions for the new local radio station were carried out from Wrotham, Kent, on 95.3 MHz in FM mono, relaying BBC Radio 1 (at the time broadcast only on medium wave), with several announcements informing listeners of the new service. On 6 October 1970 BBC Radio London was launched, three years before commercial radio for Greater London in the guise of LBC. An additional medium wave frequency was allocated on 1457 kHz (206 metres) from Brookman's Park. 95.3 soon changed to 94.9.
BBC Radio London was the local station for the capital, although in the early days it relied heavily on news reports from other stations in the BBC network and often shared programming with BBC Radio 2. It took on a fairly lively sound and featured (as it does to this day) extensive traffic reports, phone-in programmes — it pioneered the daily phone-in in the UK — and much contemporary and middle-of-the-road music. For several months after launch the station was not able to play commercial records as no agreement had been reached over so-called needle time, which led to London listeners becoming acquainted with broadcast library music from outside the UK (notably the Canadian Talent Library) and music from film soundtracks. A phone-in programme, Sounding Brass, was pioneered, devised and first presented by Owen Spencer-Thomas in 1977. Listeners were invited to choose a Christmas carol or hymn while a Salvation Army brass band stood by in the studio to play their request live. It later moved to BBC Radio 2 and was presented by Gloria Hunniford.
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