BBC Radio Leicester

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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 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 very first BBC Local Radio station, and began broadcasting on 8 November 1967 on 95.05 VHF from a transmitter located on Anstey Hill above the city centre.

Transmitters

The transmitter is actually only 220ft, but is set 750ft high on the top of the Jurassic limestone ridge at Copt Oak, next to the M1. The signal reaches a long way throughout the southern section of the East Midlands, Warwickshire, and Northamptonshire. This is a high point in Charnwood Forest, part of the National Forest. The signal can be heard as far south as Towcester and as far north along the M1 up to the Woodall service station near Sheffield, as well as Derby and towards Stoke. Since 6th December 2002, the DAB signals have come from the NOW Digital East Midlands (NDEM) [Leicestershire 11B multiplex], which comes from Copt Oak, Waltham and Houghton on the Hill. Waltham has a Digital One and BBC DAB National multiplex.

The Copt Oak transmitter also broadcasts Heart 106, a commercial station. Leicester also has Leicester Sound, with the transmitter in Billesdon, eight miles east of Leicester near the A47. Fosseway Radio, a smaller station, has broadcast from Hinckley since 1998.

Schedule

The early morning show from 5 - 6am with Dylan Roys is from Lincoln and is heard across the East Midlands. Ben Jackson presents the Breakfast Show from 6am until 9am, followed by the husband and wife team of Tony Wadsworth and Julie Mayer. John Florance and Martin Ballard look after the afternoon sequences. Rob Underwood broadcasts across the Midlands (except Birmingham and Coventry) from Nottingham from 9pm - 12am.

In 2005, the station moved to new premises at 9 St Nicholas Place, which have recently won an 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

BBC Local Radio stations
BBC Radio Berkshire	BBC Radio Bristol	BBC Radio Cambridgeshire
BBC Radio Cleveland	BBC Radio Cornwall	BBC Coventry & Warwickshire
BBC Radio Cumbria	BBC Radio Derby	BBC Radio Devon
BBC Essex	BBC Radio Gloucestershire	BBC Radio Manchester
BBC Radio Guernsey	BBC Hereford and Worcester	BBC Radio Humberside
BBC Radio Jersey	BBC Radio Kent	BBC Radio Lancashire
BBC Radio Leeds	BBC Radio Leicester	BBC Radio Lincolnshire
BBC London 94.9	BBC Radio Merseyside	BBC Radio Newcastle
BBC Radio Norfolk	BBC Radio Northampton	BBC Radio Nottingham
BBC Radio Oxford	BBC Radio Sheffield	BBC Radio Shropshire
BBC Radio Solent	BBC Somerset Sound	BBC Southern Counties Radio
BBC Radio Stoke	BBC Radio Suffolk	BBC Radio Swindon
BBC Three Counties Radio	BBC WM	BBC Radio Wiltshire
BBC Radio York

Former BBC Local Radio stations
BBC Radio Brighton	BBC Radio Bedfordshire	BBC Radio Durham
BBC GLR	BBC GMR	BBC Radio London

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