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BBC Southern Counties Radio
 
 
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BBC Southern Counties Radio is the BBC Local Radio
BBC Local Radio

BBC Local Radio is the BBC's regional radio service for England and the Channel Islands, consisting of 40 stations.Initially, stations had to be co-funded by the BBC and local authority, which only some Labour Party -controlled areas proved willing to do....
 service for the English
England

native_name =|conventional_long_name = England|common_name = England|image_flag = Flag of England.svg|image_coat = England COA.svg|symbol_type = Royal Coat of Arms...
 counties
County

A county is a land area of Local government government within a larger state. A county may have city and towns within its area....
 of Surrey
Surrey

Surrey is a counties of England in the South East England of England and is one of the Home Counties. The county borders Greater London, Kent, East Sussex, West Sussex, Hampshire, and Berkshire....
 and Sussex
Sussex

Sussex , from the Old English Su?seaxe , is a Historic counties of England in South East England England corresponding roughly in area to the ancient Kingdom of Sussex....
. The station also covers a large part of North-East Hampshire. It was the first BBC Local Radio station to introduce a controversial all-speech format. It broadcasts from its studios in Brighton
Brighton

Brighton is a city on the south coast of England and, with its neighbours Hove and Portslade, forms the Brighton and Hove.The ancient settlement of Brighthelmston dates from before the Domesday Book , but it emerged as a health resort during the 18th Century and became a destination for day-trippers after the arrival of the railway in...
 and Guildford
Guildford

Guildford is the county town of Surrey, England, as well as the seat for the Guildford and the administrative headquarters of the South East England region....
 on FM, AM and on DAB
Digital audio broadcasting

Digital Audio Broadcasting , also known as EUREKA, is a digital radio technology for broadcasting radio stations, used in several countries, particularly in the UK and Europe....
 on the NOW Sussex Coast
NOW Sussex Coast

NOW Sussex Coast is a local commercial Digital audio broadcasting multiplexing in the United Kingdom, which serves Brighton and the Sussex coast....
 server.

History
The station was formed by the merger of BBC Radio Sussex and BBC Radio Surrey
BBC Radio Surrey

BBC Radio Surrey was a BBC Local Radio station covering the county of Surrey in England which broadcast from 1991 to 1994. The station officially commenced broadcasting on 14 November 1991....
.






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Encyclopedia


BBC Southern Counties Radio is the BBC Local Radio
BBC Local Radio

BBC Local Radio is the BBC's regional radio service for England and the Channel Islands, consisting of 40 stations.Initially, stations had to be co-funded by the BBC and local authority, which only some Labour Party -controlled areas proved willing to do....
 service for the English
England

native_name =|conventional_long_name = England|common_name = England|image_flag = Flag of England.svg|image_coat = England COA.svg|symbol_type = Royal Coat of Arms...
 counties
County

A county is a land area of Local government government within a larger state. A county may have city and towns within its area....
 of Surrey
Surrey

Surrey is a counties of England in the South East England of England and is one of the Home Counties. The county borders Greater London, Kent, East Sussex, West Sussex, Hampshire, and Berkshire....
 and Sussex
Sussex

Sussex , from the Old English Su?seaxe , is a Historic counties of England in South East England England corresponding roughly in area to the ancient Kingdom of Sussex....
. The station also covers a large part of North-East Hampshire. It was the first BBC Local Radio station to introduce a controversial all-speech format. It broadcasts from its studios in Brighton
Brighton

Brighton is a city on the south coast of England and, with its neighbours Hove and Portslade, forms the Brighton and Hove.The ancient settlement of Brighthelmston dates from before the Domesday Book , but it emerged as a health resort during the 18th Century and became a destination for day-trippers after the arrival of the railway in...
 and Guildford
Guildford

Guildford is the county town of Surrey, England, as well as the seat for the Guildford and the administrative headquarters of the South East England region....
 on FM, AM and on DAB
Digital audio broadcasting

Digital Audio Broadcasting , also known as EUREKA, is a digital radio technology for broadcasting radio stations, used in several countries, particularly in the UK and Europe....
 on the NOW Sussex Coast
NOW Sussex Coast

NOW Sussex Coast is a local commercial Digital audio broadcasting multiplexing in the United Kingdom, which serves Brighton and the Sussex coast....
 server.

History


The station was formed by the merger of BBC Radio Sussex and BBC Radio Surrey
BBC Radio Surrey

BBC Radio Surrey was a BBC Local Radio station covering the county of Surrey in England which broadcast from 1991 to 1994. The station officially commenced broadcasting on 14 November 1991....
. It began on 1 August 1994.

BBC Radio Sussex had originally been founded on 14 February 1968 as BBC Radio Brighton
BBC Radio Brighton

BBC Radio Brighton was one of the first wave of BBC Local Radio stations which took to the air during the late 1960s. Broadcasting from Marlborough Place, it officially opened on 14 February 1968, though a short-lived emergency service had been broadcast during the blizzards earlier that winter....
, broadcasting from studios in Marlborough Place. Des Lynam
Des Lynam

Desmond Michael "Des" Lynam, Order of the British Empire is an Irish people presenter on British television and radio. He currently lives in the seaside town of Worthing, West Sussex....
 was one of the original presenters. It expanded to cover the whole of Sussex in October 1983.

BBC Radio Surrey had a chequered history. Once planned as a stand-alone radio station, it eventually launched on 14 November 1991 as a limited opt-out service of BBC Radio Sussex, broadcasting from newly-built studios on the campus of the University of Surrey
University of Surrey

The University of Surrey is a university located within the county town of Guildford, Surrey in the South East England of England. It received its Royal Charter on 9 September 1966, and was previously situated near Battersea Park in south-west London....
 in Guildford
Guildford

Guildford is the county town of Surrey, England, as well as the seat for the Guildford and the administrative headquarters of the South East England region....
. However it was never able to build a substantial audience over its two years on air.

The two stations were merged in January 1994 and moved into the Guildford studios; a bone of contention for many Brighton residents who felt they were being deprived of the local station they had enjoyed since 1968. (Their campaign to bring the station back to Brighton was to succeed 12 years later).

Initially called BBC Radio Sussex and Surrey, the station relaunched with the name BBC Southern Counties Radio in August 1994. It became the first BBC Local Radio
BBC Local Radio

BBC Local Radio is the BBC's regional radio service for England and the Channel Islands, consisting of 40 stations.Initially, stations had to be co-funded by the BBC and local authority, which only some Labour Party -controlled areas proved willing to do....
 station to adopt an all-speech format, with the broadcast slogan 'all talk all the time'. Presenters included Gordon Astley
Gordon Astley

Gordon Astley was a presenter on BBC Southern Counties Radio until 9 Feb 2009.He was also presenter on the final series of the children's show Tiswas in 1982 alongside Sally James....
, Tommy Boyd
Tommy Boyd

Timothy Leslie Boyd , better known as Tommy Boyd, is an England radio presenter and television presenter, who now lives in Chichester, West Sussex....
, Peter Heaton-Jones
Peter Heaton-Jones

Peter Heaton-Jones, , is a British/Australian journalist, broadcaster and political campaigner who has held senior positions in the media and politics in both the UK and Australia....
, Al Clarke and Eric Dixon; however there were to be numerous presenter and schedule changes over the next three years.

The next revamp occurred in September 1997, when the station reverted to a more traditional mix of talk and music, and introduced new presenters such as Chris Ashley, Giles Dilnot, Bill Buckley
Bill Buckley (LBC)

Bill Buckley is a former That's Life! co-presenter and occasional television personality, who is currently a presenter on London talk radio station LBC 97.3....
 and Simon Bates
Simon Bates

Simon Bates is best known for being a disc jockey in the United Kingdom and New Zealand. Between 1976 and 1993 he worked at BBC Radio 1, spending the vast majority of his time at the station presenting the weekday mid-morning show....
, who presented the Sunday morning show.

Further changes followed, including the departure in 2005 of Brighton Breakfast Show Presenter JoAnne Good
JoAnne Good

JoAnne Good is a British radio presenter, television presenter and actor who currently presents the breakfast show on BBC London 94.9. Her Monday to Friday co-presenter is Paul Ross, and on Saturdays she presents with Simon Lederman....
 who left to work at BBC London 94.9
BBC London 94.9

BBC London 94.9 is London's BBC Local Radio station, and part of BBC London. Broadcasting across the city on 94.9 FM, Digital audio broadcasting, Virgin Media, Sky Digital and also on the Internet, it was previously known as London Live, GLR and before that Radio London, not to be confused with the pirate radio station of the Wonder...
 and was replaced by Sarah Gorrell. JoAnne also left her Saturday morning show and was replaced by Brighton comedian Stephen Grant.

The continuing low listener figures in Surrey, coupled with the long-running campaign by Brighton residents, led to the station being relaunched in April 2006 and its headquarters relocating from Guildford to Brighton. Four of the presenters, Bill Buckley
Bill Buckley (LBC)

Bill Buckley is a former That's Life! co-presenter and occasional television personality, who is currently a presenter on London talk radio station LBC 97.3....
, John Radford, Ed Douglas and Dominic Busby left the station. Gordon Astley
Gordon Astley

Gordon Astley was a presenter on BBC Southern Counties Radio until 9 Feb 2009.He was also presenter on the final series of the children's show Tiswas in 1982 alongside Sally James....
 and Tommy Boyd
Tommy Boyd

Timothy Leslie Boyd , better known as Tommy Boyd, is an England radio presenter and television presenter, who now lives in Chichester, West Sussex....
 were recruited to present daily shows, just as they did in 1994, and one-time Radio Sussex sports reporter Richard Lindfield also rejoined. By early February 2009 all had left the station.

BBC Sussex and BBC Surrey relaunch

BBC Southern Counties Radio is to become BBC Sussex and BBC Surrey from 30th March. Though the two stations will broadcast on different frequencies, the infrastructure and managements team will remain unaffected.

In a statement, a Southern Counties spokesman said: “For a long time we have been working hard to make our programmes and news bulletins even more local with dedicated programmes in Sussex and Surrey, so we now feel that the name ‘Southern Counties’ doesn’t fully describe what we do. The ethos of the station will stay exactly the same – to entertain our listeners, brighten their day and tell them everything they need to know about life in Sussex or Surrey.”

Brighton Festival and Fringe


Increasingly, in recent years, BBC Southern Counties Radio has worked to provide extensive and interactive coverage of the Brighton Festival
Brighton Festival

The Brighton Festival is an annual arts festival which takes place in the city of Brighton and Hove in England each May. It was founded in 1966, and is the largest multi-art form festival in England....
 and Fringe
Brighton Festival Fringe

The Brighton Festival Fringe is an open access arts festival held annually in Brighton, England. It is the largest annual arts festival in England....
. Aside from dedicating a daily hour-long show to Brighton's Festivals, it also provided in-depth internet coverage, including reviews, features and video clips.

Frequencies


  • Analogue
    Analog signal

    An analog or analogue signal is any continuous function Signal for which the time varying feature of the signal is a representation of some other time varying quantity, i.e analogous to another time varying signal....
     VHF
    Very high frequency

    VHF is the radio frequency range from 30 megahertz to 300 megahertz. Frequencies immediately below VHF are denoted High frequency , and the next higher frequencies are known as Ultra high frequency ....
     FM
    Frequency modulation

    In telecommunications, frequency modulation conveys information over a carrier wave by varying its frequency . In analog signal applications, the instantaneous frequency of the carrier is directly proportional to the instantaneous value of the input signal....
    • 95.0 MHz - Newhaven
      Newhaven, East Sussex

      Newhaven is a town in the Lewes District of East Sussex in England. It lies at the mouth of the River Ouse, Sussex, on the English Channel coast, and is a ferry port for services to France....
       (Newhaven Transmitter)
    • 95.1 MHz - Horsham
      Horsham

      Horsham is a market town situated on the River Arun in the Horsham District of West Sussex, England with a population of roughly 50,000 . It lies south southwest of London, northwest of Brighton and northeast of the county town of Chichester....
       (Horsham Transmitter)
    • 95.3 MHz - Brighton
      Brighton

      Brighton is a city on the south coast of England and, with its neighbours Hove and Portslade, forms the Brighton and Hove.The ancient settlement of Brighthelmston dates from before the Domesday Book , but it emerged as a health resort during the 18th Century and became a destination for day-trippers after the arrival of the railway in...
       and Worthing
      Worthing

      Worthing is a large seaside resort town and a local government borough in West Sussex, England. Around 100,000 people live within the borough itself and 183,000 in the urban area....
       (Whitehawk Hill Transmitter)
    • 104.0 MHz - Reigate
      Reigate

      Reigate is a historic market town in Surrey, England at the foot of the North Downs, and in the London commuter belt. It is one of the main constituents of the Borough of Reigate and Banstead....
       & Crawley
      Crawley

      Crawley is a town and local government district with Borough status in England and Wales in West Sussex, England. It is south of London, north of Brighton and Hove, and northeast of the county town of Chichester, covers an area of and had a population of 99,744 at the time of the United Kingdom Census 2001....
       (Reigate Transmitter}
    • 104.5 MHz - East and West Sussex
      Sussex

      Sussex , from the Old English Su?seaxe , is a Historic counties of England in South East England England corresponding roughly in area to the ancient Kingdom of Sussex....
      , including Eastbourne
      Eastbourne

      Eastbourne is a large town and borough of East Sussex, on the south coast of England, with an estimated population of 94,816 as of 2007. The area has seen human activity since the stone age and it remained one of small settlements until the 19th century when its four hamlets gradually merged to form a town....
       (Heathfield Transmitter
      Heathfield Transmitter

      The Heathfield Transmitting Station is a facility for FM- and television- Transmission at Heathfield, East Sussex, UK . Opened in 1969 it uses as its antenna mast a 135 metre tall guyed structure, giving average transmitter height 256 metres above sea level....
      )
    • 104.6 MHz - Guildford
      Guildford

      Guildford is the county town of Surrey, England, as well as the seat for the Guildford and the administrative headquarters of the South East England region....
       (Guildford Transmitter)
    • 104.8 MHz - Chichester
      Chichester

      Chichester is a cathedral city status in the United Kingdom in West Sussex, England. It has a long history as a settlement; its Ancient Rome past and its subsequent importance in Anglo-Saxon times are only its beginnings....
       (Burton Down Transmitter)


  • Analogue
    Analog signal

    An analog or analogue signal is any continuous function Signal for which the time varying feature of the signal is a representation of some other time varying quantity, i.e analogous to another time varying signal....
     Mediumwave
    Mediumwave

    Medium Wave is a part of the Medium frequency radio band used mainly for AM broadcasting. Some experiments and trials are planned or under way for a digital modulation such as Digital Radio Mondiale ....
     AM
    Amplitude modulation

    Amplitude modulation is a technique used in electronic communication, most commonly for transmitting information via a radio carrier wave....
    • 1161 kHz - East Sussex
      East Sussex

      East Sussex is a Counties of England in South East England England. It is bordered by the counties of Kent, Surrey, Brighton and Hove and West Sussex, and to the south by the English Channel....
       (Bexhill Transmitter)
    • 1368 kHz - Reigate
      Reigate

      Reigate is a historic market town in Surrey, England at the foot of the North Downs, and in the London commuter belt. It is one of the main constituents of the Borough of Reigate and Banstead....
       & Crawley
      Crawley

      Crawley is a town and local government district with Borough status in England and Wales in West Sussex, England. It is south of London, north of Brighton and Hove, and northeast of the county town of Chichester, covers an area of and had a population of 99,744 at the time of the United Kingdom Census 2001....
       (Duxhurst Transmitter)
    • 1485 kHz - Southern West Sussex
      West Sussex

      West Sussex is a county in the south of England, bordering onto East Sussex , Hampshire and Surrey. The county of Sussex has been divided into East and West since the 12th century, and obtained separate county councils in 1888, but it remained a single ceremonial counties of England until 1974 and the coming into force of the Local Government...
       (Brighton Transmitter)


  • DAB
    Digital audio broadcasting

    Digital Audio Broadcasting , also known as EUREKA, is a digital radio technology for broadcasting radio stations, used in several countries, particularly in the UK and Europe....
     Digital Radio: Block 11B 218.64 MHz
    • Worthing
      Worthing

      Worthing is a large seaside resort town and a local government borough in West Sussex, England. Around 100,000 people live within the borough itself and 183,000 in the urban area....
       (Findon Transmitter)
    • Newhaven
      Newhaven, East Sussex

      Newhaven is a town in the Lewes District of East Sussex in England. It lies at the mouth of the River Ouse, Sussex, on the English Channel coast, and is a ferry port for services to France....
       (Beddingham Transmitter)
    • Hastings
      Hastings

      Hastings is a town and Borough status in the United Kingdom on the coast of East Sussex in England. It includes originally separate settlements, as well as the inevitable growth of the town through the building of new estates....
       (Hastings Transmitter}
    • Eastbourne
      Eastbourne

      Eastbourne is a large town and borough of East Sussex, on the south coast of England, with an estimated population of 94,816 as of 2007. The area has seen human activity since the stone age and it remained one of small settlements until the 19th century when its four hamlets gradually merged to form a town....
       (Eastbourne Transmitter}
    • Chichester
      Chichester

      Chichester is a cathedral city status in the United Kingdom in West Sussex, England. It has a long history as a settlement; its Ancient Rome past and its subsequent importance in Anglo-Saxon times are only its beginnings....
       (Burton Down Transmitter)
    • Brighton
      Brighton

      Brighton is a city on the south coast of England and, with its neighbours Hove and Portslade, forms the Brighton and Hove.The ancient settlement of Brighthelmston dates from before the Domesday Book , but it emerged as a health resort during the 18th Century and became a destination for day-trippers after the arrival of the railway in...
       (Whitehawk Hill Transmitter)


Split programming


Since September 1997 there have been separate news services for Sussex and Surrey, and separate breakfast shows for both counties, using a split frequency system. Until the April 2006 changes a separate service for Brighton, Hove
Hove

Hove is a town on the south coast of England, immediately to the west of its larger neighbour Brighton, with which it forms the unitary authority Brighton and Hove....
 and Worthing
Worthing

Worthing is a large seaside resort town and a local government borough in West Sussex, England. Around 100,000 people live within the borough itself and 183,000 in the urban area....
 was also provided. A one-hour Drivetime programme and Saturday breakfast show for Surrey were introduced at this point - however the Surrey output was now only available to listeners in the west of the county, on 104.6 FM. The 104.0 FM frequency, which covers parts of both East Surrey and the north of West Sussex and previously carried the Surrey programming, was switched to carry the Sussex output. The reasoning behind this was to give listeners in Crawley
Crawley

Crawley is a town and local government district with Borough status in England and Wales in West Sussex, England. It is south of London, north of Brighton and Hove, and northeast of the county town of Chichester, covers an area of and had a population of 99,744 at the time of the United Kingdom Census 2001....
 and East Grinstead
East Grinstead

East Grinstead is a town and civil parish in the northeastern corner of Mid Sussex, West Sussex in England near the East Sussex, Surrey, and Kent borders....
 a more relevant service, at the expense of the those in East Surrey where audience figures have been in decline, but from 16 October 2006, 104.0 FM reverted to the Surrey output. In addition, to reaffirm its commitment to Surrey listeners, the Surrey Drivetime programme was increased from one to three hours.

There are also separate sports shows on Saturday afternoon, allowing listeners in north-east Hampshire and Surrey can listen to live commentaries from the local Conference teams, Aldershot Town
Aldershot Town F.C.

Aldershot Town Football Club is a Football League club based in Aldershot, England, founded in the spring of 1992 just after the closure of debt-ridden Football League Fourth Division Aldershot F.C.....
, Woking
Woking F.C.

Woking Football Club is a association football club from in Woking, Surrey, England, formed in 1889. They currently play in the Blue Square Premier....
 and Crawley Town
Crawley Town F.C.

Crawley Town Football Club is an England football team from Crawley, West Sussex.They compete in the Conference National division of the Football Conference, the highest level of the National League System and fifth highest of the overall English football league system....
, whilst listeners in Sussex can listen to Brighton's games.

On-air staff


Presenters

  • Gavin Ashenden (Faith & Ethics)
  • Suzanne Bamborough (Sussex Breakfast Saturday)
  • Mark Carter (Surrey Breakfast)
  • Clare Dutton (Surrey Drivetime)
  • Allison Ferns (Weekday afternoons)
  • Sarah Gorrell (Sussex Drivetime)
  • Emily Jeffery (Faith & Ethics)
  • Simon Levinson (Non League Round Up)
  • Paul Miller
    Paul Miller

    Paul Miller is a former United States Democratic Party member of the North Carolina General Assembly representing the state's twenty-ninth House district, including constituents in Durham County, North Carolina county....
     (The Paul Miller Show' - weekday late nights - simulcast with Radio Solent & The Soul Show - Sunday afternoons - simulcast with Radio Solent)
  • Mike Powell (Saturday afternoons - simulcast with Radio Solent)
  • Neil Pringle (Sussex Breakfast on weekdays)
  • Paul Ross
    Paul Ross

    Paul Ross , UK, is an England television and radio presenter, journalist, and media personality. He is the son of Martha Ross and the elder brother of Jonathan Ross ....
     (Saturday mornings)
  • Sid Sloan (Saturday afternoons)
  • Joe Talbot (Early Breakfast, Gardening, Surrey Breakfast Saturday)
  • Ian Hart (Fans Phone In)


Newsreaders

  • Fiona McCarthy
  • Simon Jenkins
  • Justin Stacey
  • Emily Jeffery
  • Peter Stewart


Reporters

  • Paul Jenner (Surrey, NE Hampshire and Crawley)
  • Steve Dale (Sussex)
  • Max Callum (BBC Bus)


Travel News Presenters

  • Sylvie Blackmore (Surrey & Sussex)
  • Mims Lovelock (Surrey)
  • Ben Kerrigan (Surrey & Sussex)
  • Stephen Cranford (Sussex)


One-Off Guest Presenters

  • Jeremy Clarkson
    Jeremy Clarkson

    Jeremy Charles Robert Clarkson is an English people Presenter and journalist who specialises in motoring. He is best known for his role on the BBC Television show Top Gear along with co-presenters Richard Hammond and James May....
  • James May
  • Richard Hammond
    Richard Hammond

    Richard Mark Hammond , nicknamed "Hamster" due to his size, is a British presenter of radio and television, best known for co-presenting the television programme Top Gear since 2002....


Networked and simulcast programming

Evening programming throughout the week is networked with counterpart BBC Local Radio
BBC Local Radio

BBC Local Radio is the BBC's regional radio service for England and the Channel Islands, consisting of 40 stations.Initially, stations had to be co-funded by the BBC and local authority, which only some Labour Party -controlled areas proved willing to do....
 stations in the South and South East (namely Radio Solent, Radio Berkshire, Radio Oxford and Radio Kent). During the station's downtime, Southern Counties Radio simulcasts BBC Radio 5 Live programming including Up All Night
Up All Night (radio show)

Up All Night is a programme broadcast on the national radio station BBC Radio Five Live in the United Kingdom and is on air between the hours of 1am and 5am every night....
, Morning Reports and the Stephen Nolan show.

External links