BBC Radio Leicester

Infobox Radio Station
name = BBC Radio Leicester


city = Leicester
area = Leicestershire
branding =
slogan =
airdate = 8 November 1967
frequency = 104.9 FM
share = 9.6%
share as of = March 2008
share source = [http://www.rajar.co.uk/listening/quarterly_listening.php]
format = Local news, talk and music
power =
erp =
class =
callsign_meaning =
owner = BBC Local Radio,
BBC East Midlands
website = [http://www.bbc.co.uk/leicester/local_radio/ BBC Radio Leicester]

BBC Radio Leicester is the BBC Local Radio service for the English counties of Leicestershire and Rutland. It broadcasts from studios in Leicester on 104.9 FM, on DAB, and via Real Player on its website (where individual programmes are also available using the "listen again" facility). The station's former 837 kHz medium wave frequency from the Freeman's Common [http://tx.mb21.co.uk/gallery/freemens-common.php transmitter] near the University of Leicester is now used by the BBC Asian Network which originated in Leicester but is now a national network delivered on digital satellite, Freeview and other systems across the UK and beyond. The Asian Network also broadcasts from the BBC studios in Birmingham and London.

Radio Leicester was the first of the new breed of BBC Local Radio stations introduced to the English mainland in the 1960s. Manx Radio on the Isle of Man can with some justification claim to have been providing a local radio service earlier. Radio Leicester began broadcasting at 12.45 pm on 8 November 1967 on 95.05 VHF from a transmitter located on Gorse Hill above the city centre.

In 2007 the station celebrated its 40th Anniversary by launching a Ruby Rainbow Appeal in aid of the [http://www.rainbows.eazytiger.net Rainbows Hospice] based in Loughborough, within its TSA. Special events took place throughout the year, culminating in a final fundraising appeal around the time of the actual anniversary in November 2007.

Transmitters

Although the station's FM transmitter [http://www.geograph.org.uk/photo/461648 mast] is only 70 m (230 ft) tall, it is set 235 m (770 ft) above sea level on top of the Jurassic limestone ridge at Copt Oak, [http://www.geograph.org.uk/photo/461677 next] to the M1. This is a high point in Charnwood Forest, part of the National Forest. The signal reaches a long way throughout the southern section of the East Midlands, Warwickshire, and Northamptonshire. It can be heard as far south as Towcester and as far north along the M1 as the Woodall service station near Sheffield, as well as in Sleaford, Derby and towards Stoke. Since 6 December 2002, the station's DAB signal has come from the NOW Digital East Midlands (NDEM) Leicester 11B multiplex, which comes from Copt Oak and Houghton on the Hill. The Waltham transmitter and Houghton-on-the-Hill have a Digital One multiplex and Waltham has a BBC DAB National multiplex. The Copt Oak transmitter also broadcasts Heart 106, a commercial station.

chedule

On weekdays the early morning show runs from 5.00 to 6.00 and is currently being presented by David Reeves, with news, views and music going out across the Midlands. Ben Jackson then presents the Breakfast Show from 6.00 until 9.00am, which is followed by Tony Wadsworth or 'Waddo' as he is known to many listeners (9.00-12.00) and Rupal Rajani (12.00–14.00). The Baxterman (Chris Baxter) presents between 14.00 and 17.00, after which former Leicestershire County cricketer Charles Dagnall takes over for the Drive show. There is specialist music programming between 19.00 and 21.00 produced jointly by the BBC local radio stations in the East Midlands – BBC Radio Derby, BBC Radio Leicester, BBC Radio Lincolnshire, and BBC Radio Nottingham – followed until midnight by Rob Underwood's Late Show, produced in Nottingham and taken by all the Midlands BBC local radio stations except for those in Birmingham and Coventry.

Monica Winfield can be found presenting the Saturday morning breakfast show between 6-9am. Rae and Kev take over between 9-12noon. Chris Baxter comes after that between 12-2pm and that's followed by Sportstime with Martin Ballard from 2pm onwards. On Saturday nights between 18.00 and 22.00, Dean Jackson presents a lively mixture of indie music, competitions, celebrity interviews and sessions from hit bands, called [http://www.bbc.co.uk/beat The Beat] .

Another presenter on the station is Julie Mayer, who can be heard as a roving reporter both on the Breakfast show and Tony Wadsworth's morning show during weekdays. Mayer is Wadsworth's wife, and presented a late night show with him at BBC WM [http://www.bbc.co.uk/leicester/content/articles/2006/01/04/presenter_julie_mayer_feature.shtml] .

One of the celebrity presenters on BBC Radio Leicester was Leicestershire-born actor Bill Maynard, who broadcasted a sequence of music and off-the-wall comedy on Sunday afternoons. He was recently sacked by the station with immediate effect, for undisclosed reasons.

In 2005, the station moved to new premises at 9 St Nicholas Place, which have recently won a Civic Society award for design. This new centre is adjacent to the medieval Guildhall and Cathedral and includes many aspects of Leicester's history including Victorian tiles and an undercroft with remains dating to Roman times. The centre houses a BBC Learning Centre where courses are delivered in partnership with local colleges, a cyber cafe providing free internet access and a shop.

External links

* [http://www.bbc.co.uk/leicester/local_radio BBC Radio Leicester.]
* [http://www.bbc.co.uk/leicester/content/articles/2006/01/04/bbc_radio_leicester_history_feature.shtml The history of Radio Leicester.]
* [http://www.geocities.com/thehotw/aircheck_UKLeics.htm History of local radio in Leicestershire.]
* [http://www.gjmedia.co.uk/bbclrpf/leicester.htm Tour of the studios]
* [http://tx.mb21.co.uk/gallery/copt-oak.php Copt Oak transmitter (including coverage map).]
* [http://tx.mb21.co.uk/gallery/houghton-on-the-hill.php Houghton-on-the-Hill transmitter (digital)]
* [http://homepage.ntlworld.com/d.allen43/main_pages/BBC%20Leicester.htm David's Transmitter World]
* [http://www.myspace.com/tony_wadsworth Tony Wadsworth's MySpace page]
* [http://www.geocities.com/tony_wadsworth2000 Tony Wadsworth's biog]

Video clips

* [http://www.youtube.com/user/bbcradioman Tony Wadsworth's YouTube page]
* [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b_V-26n_-p4 Jingles (YouTube)]

Audio clips

* [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bZ3SVLUolwc Suspect dedication in 2006]