BBC Southern Counties Radio
Encyclopedia
BBC Southern Counties Radio was 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. They cover a variety of areas with some serving a city and surrounding areas, for example BBC Radio Manchester; a county, for example BBC Radio Norfolk; an administrative region for...

 service for the English
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...

 counties
County
A county is a jurisdiction of local government in certain modern nations. Historically in mainland Europe, the original French term, comté, and its equivalents in other languages denoted a jurisdiction under the sovereignty of a count A county is a jurisdiction of local government in certain...

 of Surrey
Surrey
Surrey is a county in the South East of England and is one of the Home Counties. The county borders Greater London, Kent, East Sussex, West Sussex, Hampshire and Berkshire. The historic county town is Guildford. Surrey County Council sits at Kingston upon Thames, although this has been part of...

 and Sussex
Sussex
Sussex , from the Old English Sūþsēaxe , is an historic county in South East England corresponding roughly in area to the ancient Kingdom of Sussex. It is bounded on the north by Surrey, east by Kent, south by the English Channel, and west by Hampshire, and is divided for local government into West...

. The station also covered a large part of North-East Hampshire. It was the first BBC Local Radio station to introduce a controversial all-speech format. It broadcast from its studios in Brighton
Brighton
Brighton is the major part of the city of Brighton and Hove in East Sussex, England on the south coast of Great Britain...

 and Guildford
Guildford
Guildford is the county town of Surrey. England, as well as the seat for the borough of Guildford and the administrative headquarters of the South East England region...

 on FM
FM broadcasting
FM broadcasting is a broadcasting technology pioneered by Edwin Howard Armstrong which uses frequency modulation to provide high-fidelity sound over broadcast radio. The term "FM band" describes the "frequency band in which FM is used for broadcasting"...

, AM and on DAB
Digital audio broadcasting
Digital Audio Broadcasting is a digital radio technology for broadcasting radio stations, used in several countries, particularly in Europe. As of 2006, approximately 1,000 stations worldwide broadcast in the DAB format....

 on the NOW Sussex Coast
NOW Sussex Coast
NOW Sussex Coast is a local commercial digital radio multiplex in the United Kingdom, which serves Brighton and the Sussex coast. It launched in February 2004 and is operated by NOW Digital and owned by Arqiva after being sold by Global Radio....

 server.

History

The station was formed by the merger of BBC Radio Sussex and BBC Radio Surrey. It began on 1 August 1994.

BBC Radio Sussex had originally been founded on 14 February 1968 as BBC Radio Brighton, broadcasting from studios in Marlborough Place. Des Lynam
Des Lynam
Desmond Michael "Des" Lynam, OBE is an Irish television and radio presenter based in the UK.He has hosted television coverage of high profile events for many years...

 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 of England. It received its charter on 9 September 1966, and was previously situated near Battersea Park in south-west London. The institution was known as Battersea College of Technology...

 in Guildford
Guildford
Guildford is the county town of Surrey. England, as well as the seat for the borough of 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 on 1 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. They cover a variety of areas with some serving a city and surrounding areas, for example BBC Radio Manchester; a county, for example BBC Radio Norfolk; an administrative region for...

 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 a British radio and television presenter who now lives in Chichester, West Sussex.-Early career:...

, Peter Heaton-Jones
Peter Heaton-Jones
Peter Heaton-Jones, , is a British politician and journalist 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 on 1 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 radio and television presenter. For three years, he was a co-presenter of BBC Television's consumer affairs programme That's Life!, and has presented shows on BBC Southern Counties Radio, BBC Radio Leicester, London talk radio station LBC 97.3 and BBC London...

 and Simon Bates
Simon Bates
Simon Bates is a UK disc jockey and radio presenter. Between 1976 and 1993 he worked at BBC Radio 1, presenting the station's weekday mid-morning show for most of this period. He later became a regular presenter on Classic FM...

, who presented the Sunday morning show.

Further changes followed, including the departure in 2005 of Brighton Breakfast Show Presenter JoAnne Good
JoAnne Good
JoAnne Dorothy Good is a British radio presenter, television presenter, broadcast journalist and actor.-Actor:As an actor, she is best known for her role as Carol Sands in the ITV soap Crossroads from 1982 to 1984. She played a schoolgirl in the 1978 cult British horror film Killer's Moon, and...

 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 Greater London and beyond on 94.9 FM, DAB, Virgin Media Channel 930, Sky Channel 0152 and also online...

 and was replaced by Sarah Gorrell. JoAnne also left her Saturday morning show and was replaced by Brighton comedian Stephen Grant. Tommy Boyd
Tommy Boyd
Timothy Leslie Boyd , better known as Tommy Boyd, is a British radio and television presenter who now lives in Chichester, West Sussex.-Early career:...

 was recruited, initially to present an adult-style programme on Saturday evenings.

The station was relaunched in April 2006. Its headquarters were relocated from Guildford to Brighton, and the station was referred to on air as "The New Sound of Sussex and Surrey". Four of the presenters, Bill Buckley
Bill Buckley (LBC)
Bill Buckley is a radio and television presenter. For three years, he was a co-presenter of BBC Television's consumer affairs programme That's Life!, and has presented shows on BBC Southern Counties Radio, BBC Radio Leicester, London talk radio station LBC 97.3 and BBC London...

, John Radford, Ed Douglas and Dominic Busby left the station shortly before the relaunch of 2006. Three presenters were recruited and started broadcasting on the station on 3 April 2006, the day of the relaunch: 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...

  was taken on to present daily shows, just as he had done in the 1990s; Fred Marden was recruited to present the Surrey breakfast show; and one-time Radio Sussex sports reporter Richard Lindfield also rejoined. By early February 2009 all three had left the station and the designation "The New Sound of Sussex and Surrey" was no longer being used on air by presenters.

BBC Sussex and BBC Surrey relaunch

BBC Southern Counties Radio became BBC Sussex
BBC Sussex
BBC Sussex is the BBC Local Radio service for the English county of Sussex. It began on 14 February 1968 as BBC Radio Brighton, later becoming BBC Radio Sussex and then part of BBC Southern Counties Radio, before adopting its present name on 30 March 2009...

 and BBC Surrey
BBC Surrey
BBC Surrey is the BBC Local Radio service covering the English county of Surrey, along with North-East Hampshire and the northern fringes of West Sussex including Crawley, East Grinstead and Gatwick Airport...

 on 30 March 2009. Though the two stations broadcast on different frequencies, the infrastructure and managements team remained 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 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.- Introduction :...

. 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 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. It differs from a digital signal in terms of small fluctuations in the signal which are...

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

     FM
    Frequency modulation
    In telecommunications and signal processing, frequency modulation conveys information over a carrier wave by varying its instantaneous frequency. This contrasts with amplitude modulation, in which the amplitude of the carrier is varied while its frequency remains constant...

    • 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, on the English Channel coast, and is a ferry port for services to France.-Origins:...

       (Newhaven Transmitter)
    • 95.1 MHz - Horsham
      Horsham
      Horsham is a market town with a population of 55,657 on the upper reaches of the River Arun in the centre of the Weald, West Sussex, in the historic County of Sussex, England. The town is south south-west of London, north-west of Brighton and north-east of the county town of Chichester...

       (Horsham Transmitter)
    • 95.3 MHz - Brighton
      Brighton
      Brighton is the major part of the city of Brighton and Hove in East Sussex, England on the south coast of Great Britain...

       and Worthing
      Worthing
      Worthing is a large seaside town with borough status in West Sussex, within the historic County of Sussex, forming part of the Brighton/Worthing/Littlehampton conurbation. It is situated at the foot of the South Downs, west of Brighton, and east of the county town of Chichester...

       (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 West Sussex, England. It is south of Charing Cross, 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 2001 Census.The area has...

       (Reigate Transmitter)
    • 104.5 MHz - East and West Sussex
      Sussex
      Sussex , from the Old English Sūþsēaxe , is an historic county in South East England corresponding roughly in area to the ancient Kingdom of Sussex. It is bounded on the north by Surrey, east by Kent, south by the English Channel, and west by Hampshire, and is divided for local government into West...

      , including Eastbourne
      Eastbourne
      Eastbourne is a large town and borough in East Sussex, on the south coast of England between Brighton and Hastings. The town is situated at the eastern end of the chalk South Downs alongside the high cliff at Beachy Head...

       (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 borough of Guildford and the administrative headquarters of the South East England region...

       (Guildford Transmitter)
    • 104.8 MHz - Chichester
      Chichester
      Chichester is a cathedral city in West Sussex, within the historic County of Sussex, South-East England. It has a long history as a settlement; its Roman 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 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. It differs from a digital signal in terms of small fluctuations in the signal which are...

     Mediumwave
    Mediumwave
    Medium wave is the part of the medium frequency radio band used mainly for AM radio broadcasting. For Europe the MW band ranges from 526.5 kHz to 1606.5 kHz...

     AM
    Amplitude modulation
    Amplitude modulation is a technique used in electronic communication, most commonly for transmitting information via a radio carrier wave. AM works by varying the strength of the transmitted signal in relation to the information being sent...

    • 1161 kHz - East Sussex
      East Sussex
      East Sussex is a county in South East England. It is bordered by the counties of Kent, Surrey and West Sussex, and to the south by the English Channel.-History:...

       (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 West Sussex, England. It is south of Charing Cross, 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 2001 Census.The area has...

       (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 county until 1974 and the coming...

       (Brighton Transmitter)

  • DAB
    Digital audio broadcasting
    Digital Audio Broadcasting is a digital radio technology for broadcasting radio stations, used in several countries, particularly in Europe. As of 2006, approximately 1,000 stations worldwide broadcast in the DAB format....

     Digital Radio: Block 11B 218.64 MHz
    • Worthing
      Worthing
      Worthing is a large seaside town with borough status in West Sussex, within the historic County of Sussex, forming part of the Brighton/Worthing/Littlehampton conurbation. It is situated at the foot of the South Downs, west of Brighton, and east of the county town of Chichester...

       (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, on the English Channel coast, and is a ferry port for services to France.-Origins:...

       (Beddingham Transmitter)
    • Hastings
      Hastings
      Hastings is a town and borough in the county of East Sussex on the south coast of England. The town is located east of the county town of Lewes and south east of London, and has an estimated population of 86,900....

       (Hastings Transmitter)
    • Eastbourne
      Eastbourne
      Eastbourne is a large town and borough in East Sussex, on the south coast of England between Brighton and Hastings. The town is situated at the eastern end of the chalk South Downs alongside the high cliff at Beachy Head...

       (Eastbourne Transmitter)
    • Chichester
      Chichester
      Chichester is a cathedral city in West Sussex, within the historic County of Sussex, South-East England. It has a long history as a settlement; its Roman past and its subsequent importance in Anglo-Saxon times are only its beginnings...

       (Burton Down Transmitter)
    • Brighton
      Brighton
      Brighton is the major part of the city of Brighton and Hove in East Sussex, England on the south coast of Great Britain...

       (Whitehawk Hill Transmitter)

Split programming

From September 1997 there were 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. It forms a single conurbation together with Brighton and some smaller towns and villages running along the coast...

 and Worthing
Worthing
Worthing is a large seaside town with borough status in West Sussex, within the historic County of Sussex, forming part of the Brighton/Worthing/Littlehampton conurbation. It is situated at the foot of the South Downs, west of Brighton, and east of the county town of Chichester...

 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 West Sussex, England. It is south of Charing Cross, 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 2001 Census.The area has...

 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. It lies south of London, north northeast of Brighton, and east northeast of the county town of Chichester...

 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 were 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 an association football club based in Aldershot, Hampshire, England, founded in the spring of 1992 just after the closure of debt-ridden Fourth Division club Aldershot Football Club...

, Woking
Woking F.C.
Woking Football Club is a football club from in Woking, Surrey, England, formed in 1889. They are playing in the Conference South in the 2011–12 season. For the 2011/2012 season, Woking are sharing their ground with Conference National club Hayes & Yeading United.-Promotion to the...

 and Crawley Town
Crawley Town F.C.
Crawley Town Football Club is an English football club based in Crawley, West Sussex. They won the title of the Football Conference, by a record 15 point margin on second place, and with it promotion to The Football League, in April 2011.-1896–2009:...

, whilst listeners in Sussex can listen to Brighton's games.

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 (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 is an English television and radio presenter, journalist, and media personality. He is the son of Martha Ross and the elder brother of Jonathan Ross.-Early life:...

     (Saturday mornings)
  • Ben Kerrigan (Weekday Early Breakfast)
  • Joe Talbot (Gardening, Surrey Breakfast Saturday)
  • Ian Hart (Fans Phone In)


Newsreaders

  • Fiona McCarthy
  • Simon Jenkins
  • Justin Stacey
  • Laura Hampton

  • Emily Jeffery
  • Peter Stewart
  • Emma James
  • Jules Anderson


Reporters

  • Paul Jenner
  • Steve Dale
  • Steve Sheppard

  • Max Callum
  • Jon Howick


Travel presenters

  • Sylvie Blackmore
  • Stephen Cranford
  • Nic Ayling
  • Ben Kerrigan
  • Allison Ferns

  • Marcus Patrick
  • Mims Lovelock
  • Nathan James
  • Stephen Cranford
  • Jenny Gerrard
  • Mark Samways


Networked and simulcast programming

Evening programming throughout the week was 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. They cover a variety of areas with some serving a city and surrounding areas, for example BBC Radio Manchester; a county, for example BBC Radio Norfolk; an administrative region for...

 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 simulcasted BBC Radio 5 Live
BBC Radio 5 Live
BBC Radio 5 Live is the BBC's national radio service that specialises in live BBC News, phone-ins, and sports commentaries...

 programming including Up All Night
Up All Night (radio show)
Up All Night is a programme broadcast on the national radio station BBC Radio 5 Live in the United Kingdom, and is on air between the hours of 1 am and 5 am every night...

, Morning Reports and the Stephen Nolan show.

External links

The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.  The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.
 
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