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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. Originally broadcast on 88.1 MHz VHF only, the station later acquired a medium wave frequency of 202m, and transferred to 95.3 MHz on VHF.

In common with much of the BBC's early local radio output, Radio Brighton broadcast only for limited daytime hours in its early years, relying on Radio 2 and Radio 4 for a sustaining service, but building to a full daytime service by the mid-1970s. In the early years, the emphasis was on structured programmes rather than the open-ended magazine shows which have since become more common. The flagship was the breakfast news programme 'Coastwise'.

The transmission area was initially restricted to little more than the immediate Brighton and Hove conurbation, with the surrounding suburbs, but coverage was extended to include Worthing in the late 1970s. In 1983, as part of the BBC's move to extend its local radio network across the UK, the station expanded further to include the entire county. The 'Radio Brighton' name was dropped in favour of the more accurate BBC Radio Sussex. This in turn merged with a later arrival, BBC Radio Surrey to form the modern BBC Southern Counties Radio. Though a separate news service for Sussex survives, and there is a breakfast show for Brighton and Hove on the old 95.3 frequency, much of the new station's output derives from Guildford rather than Brighton.

The first manager was Bob Gunnell, who remained with the station for more than a decade. He instigated the station's idiosyncratic use of the 24-hour clock, much to the confusion of listeners and presenters. The innovation was quietly dropped after his retirement.

Regular presenters included the programme organiser Jim Parr, Keith Slade, John Henty, Stewart Macintosh, David Arscott, Piers Bishop and Joanna Holles (whose focus was women's programmes and old-time music shows, notably the long-running 'Oh Joanna'). Desmond Lynam was among the Radio Brighton staff who went on to national fame.