BBC Radio Cumbria

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This article or section contains a current television or radio schedule.
Please convert this schedule to prose. Schedules which have been copied and pasted from an external source may possibly be in violation of copyright. Please remove this template after editing.
This article has been tagged since April 2007.

BBC Radio Cumbria

City of license	Carlisle
Broadcast area	Cumbria
Frequency	95.6, 96.1, 104.1 MHz, 837 KHz & DAB Digital Radio
First air date	24th November 1973
Format	Mainly local news and talk
Audience share	16.3% (September 2007, [1])
Owner	BBC Local Radio
Website	bbc.co.uk/cumbria

BBC Radio Cumbria is the BBC Local Radio service for the English county of Cumbria and broadcasts from studios in Carlisle.

1 History
2 Background
3 Technical
4 Programming
- 4.1 Weekdays
- 4.2 Weekends
5 Former presenters
6 See also
7 External links

Radio Cumbria began service on 1973-11-24 as BBC Radio Carlisle and adopted its current name shortly before its tenth anniversary in May 1982. Interestingly, the county of Cumbria was not created until 1974.

Between 1982-05-25 and 1991, an opt-out service, BBC Radio Furness operated in the south of the county at peak times (breakfast), covering the Furness area which encompasses the Lake District and what is now the south coast of Cumbria. Its programmes were produced in Barrow-in-Furness and used 96.1 MHz and 837 kHz. Radio Furness closed as a result of budgetary constraints, after which the whole county once again received a single programme.

Radio Cumbria claims to be listened to by one third of the county's population. In order to address the challenge of broadcasting to a county which is sparsely populated and predominantly rural, it regularly makes outside broadcasts from a bus to maintain direct contact with its audience. Most programming has a similar format to that of other BBC local radio stations, although one unique feature is the Lamb Bank - a short daily programme which carries announcements from farmers wishing to exchange livestock.

Radio Cumbria is unusual among BBC local radio stations in that its coverage area does not correspond exactly with a BBC television "region". Due mainly to considerations of terrain, northern parts of Cumbria receive BBC television from Caldbeck, which broadcasts regional news from studios in Newcastle upon Tyne, directed at the "North East and Cumbria" region (although the transmitter broadcasts ITV signals from Border Television in Carlisle). Southern Cumbria receives regional news (both BBC and ITV) from Manchester via the Winter Hill transmitting station. Earlier attempts by the BBC to transmit the Manchester-produced bulletins to northern Cumbria all proved unpopular, because viewers objected to coverage of Derbyshire and Cheshire at the expense of their own locality. For these reasons, Radio Cumbria fulfils an important role in providing a unified news service to the whole county.

On FM, Radio Cumbria broadcasts to northern Cumbria on 95.6 MHz (Sandale) - suitable for drivers on the M6 north of Penrith - and to the south of the county on 96.1 MHz (Morecambe Bay), with lower-powered relays on 95.2 MHz (Kendal), 104.1 MHz (Whitehaven) and 104.2 MHz (Windermere). It also broadcasts on medium wave: 756 kHz (Brisco - Carlisle), 837 kHz (Barrow-in-Furness) and 1458 kHz (Whitehaven). Radio Cumbria and Radio York are the only BBC local radio stations in northern England not to be carried on DAB. Radio Cumbria will not be on DAB until at least 2009. The Kendal, Morecambe Bay and Sandale transmitters have BBC DAB National, as well as a transmitter at Penrith Beacon. Digital One comes from Morecambe Bay and Penrith. MXR North West comes from Morecambe Bay.

Until late 2005, evening programmes had been shared with Radio Newcastle and Radio Cleveland and prior to that with the BBC Night Network, a group of BBC local radio stations in the North of England.

The station is now on air between 5am and 1am every day. Programming begins at 5am with Richard Corrie. The Breakfast Show from 7 - 10am is hosted by Gordon Swindlehurst. From 10am - 1pm is Ian Timms. The Tony James Show is from 1 - 4pm. Devon-bred Richard Nankivell has drivetime from 4 - 7pm. Evening variations between 7 - 10pm include Harry King on Monday, Matchnight on Tuesday, Joe Costin on Wednesday & Thursday and John Mann on Fridays. Night-time broadcasting is provided by Paul Braithwaite from 10pm - 1am. Between 1 and 5 am Radio Cumbria transmits BBC Radio 5 Live.

Saturday

6.00 am Martin Plenderleith.
9.00 am Val Armstrong.
12.00 noon John Mann.
2.00 pm Saturday Sport.
6.00 pm 'The Big Night Out' with James Watt.
9.00 pm 'The Saturday Rock Show' with John Caine.
12 midnight - 6 am As 5 Live

Sunday

6.00 am Martin Plenderleith.
9.00 am Val Armstrong.
12.00 noon John Mann.
3.00 pm 'The Gardening Show' with Paul O'Neill.
4.00 pm Anne Hopper.
6.00 pm 'Simply Classics' with the Galloping Major (Richard Nankivell).
7.00 pm 'Braithwaite's Country'.
9.00 pm Sally Moon .
12 midnight - 5 am As 5 Live