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BBC Three Counties Radio

Coordinates: 51°52′37″N 0°25′05″W / 51.877°N 0.418°W / 51.877; -0.418
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BBC Three Counties Radio
Broadcast areaBedfordshire, Hertfordshire and Buckinghamshire
Frequency90.4 (Welwyn Garden City, Hertford and Stevenage)
92.1 (Hemel Hempstead)
94.7 (Aylesbury)
95.5 (Bedford)
98.0 (High Wycombe)
103.8 (Luton and Dunstable)
104.5 (Milton Keynes)
DAB: 10D
Freeview: 720
RDSBBC 3CR
Programming
Language(s)English
FormatLocal news, talk and music
Ownership
OwnerBBC Local Radio, BBC East
History
First air date
24 June 1985 (1985-06-24)
Former names
BBC Radio Bedfordshire (1985–1993)
Links
WebsiteBBC Three Counties Radio

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

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 101,000 listeners and a 4.6% share as of December 2022.[1]

History

BBC Radio Bedfordshire (1985–1993)

Radio Bedfordshire logo

The station launched as "Radio Bedfordshire" on 24 June 1985, serving the whole of Bedfordshire plus (despite the name) North Bucks and the northern parts of Hertfordshire. Therefore, as well as 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.

Transmitters

BBC Three Counties Radio broadcasts on DAB Digital radio on the Herts, Beds and Bucks digital radio multiplex, transmitted from Sandy Heath, Aylesbury TE, Epping Green, Hemel Hempstead, Chepping Wycombe, Letchworth, Zouches Farm and Bow Brickhill.

On FM it broadcasts on 90.4FM (Epping Green, near Hertford), 92.1FM (Bedmond, near Hemel Hempstead), 94.7FM (Quainton Hill, near Aylesbury), 95.5FM (Sandy Heath), 98.0FM (High Wycombe), 103.8FM (Zouches Farm, near Luton), 104.5FM (Bow Brickhill, near Milton Keynes).

In addition, BBC Three Counties Radio also broadcasts on Freeview TV channel 720 in the Western half of the BBC East region and streams online via BBC Sounds.

Programming

Local programming is produced and broadcast from the BBC's Dunstable studios from 6am – 10pm on Sundays – Fridays and from 6am – 1am on Saturdays.

Off-peak programming originates from BBC Radio Suffolk, BBC Radio Norfolk and BBC Radio Northampton. The Saturday late show, broadcast across the eastern counties between 10pm and 1pm, originates from Three Counties Radio and is presented by Justin Dealey.

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

Presenters

Notable current presenters include:

Notable past presenters

  • Phil Richards [folk Presenter]

    • [A founding director of Radio Verulam & Radio Broadstairs]

    References

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

    51°52′37″N 0°25′05″W / 51.877°N 0.418°W / 51.877; -0.418

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