BBC Three Counties Radio
Encyclopedia : B : BB : BBC : BBC Three Counties Radio
| First air date | June 24, 1985 |
| Frequencies | 90.4FM, 92.1FM, 94.7FM, 95.5FM, 98.0FM, 103.8FM, 104.5FM, 1161MW, 630MW |
| Broadcast area | Bedfordshire, Hertfordshire and Buckinghamshire |
| Style | News, local news, local chat, occasional music and competitions. |
| Group | BBC |
BBC Three Counties Radio is the BBC Local Radio service for the English counties of Bedfordshire, Hertfordshire and Buckinghamshire (referred to as "Beds, Herts and Bucks"). It broadcasts from its studios on Hastings Street in Luton on 92.1 (Hemel Hempstead) FM, 94.7 (Quainton Hill, near Aylesbury) FM, 95.5 (Sandy Heath) FM, 98.0 (High Wycombe) FM, 103.8 (Zouches Farm, near Luton) FM, 104.5 (Bow Brickhill, Milton Keynes) FM, 1161 (Kempston, near Bedford) kHz MW, 630 (Lewsey Farm, near Luton) kHz MW, and from the BBC 3CR website using Real Player. It started unglamourously as Radio Bedfordshire on June 24 1985, then added the counties of Buckinghamshire and Hertfordshire to 'BBC Radio Bedfordshire with Bucks and Herts' but quickly changed to its present name on April 5 1993. Since 1995 it has not played music during its daily output, instead relying on pure speech from 4:30am until 7pm, when its specialist and niche programming starts broadcasting.
Transmitters
Milton Keynes 104.5 FM is broadcast from Bow Brickhill, near Bletchley, Milton Keynes, and has the strongest and furthest signal of all three; although none of the frequencies are that powerful, it can be heard in Swindon and as far north as Rugby (where it begins to interfere with Radio Derby). The studios in Willen have produced a separate breakfast show from 6.30am to 10am since Oct 2001, and a separate drivetime show from Nov 2004 until Oct 2005. There is now a separate lunchtime programme for Milton Keynes from 1pm. The Three Counties traffic broadcasts are useful if you are stuck in rush-hour traffic near Luton or Milton Keynes on the M1 motorway.The Bow Brickhill transmitter, which is no higher than a large mobile phone mast, also has the commercial station FM 103 Horizon on 103.3FM, BBC DAB National and Digital One. The Sandy Heath transmitter (95.5FM) has television reception for most of the surrounding counties, national radio frequencies and the commercial station 96.9 Chiltern FM, BBC DAB National and Digital One. The Three Counties' local Look East programme comes from Norwich . The 630MW signal from Lewsey Farm can be heard clearly as far north as south Lincolnshire, and can interfere with the Voice of Russia, which is on the [same frequency]. The Zouches Farm transmitter (103.8FM), between Luton and Dunstable is not particularly high and also has 97.6 Chiltern FM, BBC DAB National, Digital One, and the Greater London [1 (12C)], [2 (12A)] and [3 (11B)] digital multiplexes. The Quainton Hill transmitter, near Aylesbury, also has Mix 96 on 96.2FM. There are new transmitters on 90.4FM (Epping Green) for Welwyn Garden City, Hatfield and Cheshunt, and 92.1FM (Bedmond, near Kings Langley) for west Hertfordshire. The Bedmond transmitter also has television, BBC DAB National, Mercury 96.6, Digital One and the Greater London 1 , 2 and 3 digital multiplexes. The London 2 multiplex carries the BBC London 94.9 station. BBC 3CR is not broadcast on digital radio.
Schedule
[Justin Dealey], a presenter in his early 20s, used to do the early-bird slot from 4.30 - 6.30am on the Early Riser. After Justin's promotion to the 3pm afternoon slot in March 2006, Lorna Milton took over the show. As no-one's around at that time to have lucid conversations, she chats with correspondents from the USA, Australia, South Africa and the Netherlands, which can be very revealing and uncensored.The 6:30-10:00 Breakfast shows are presented by Italian-speaking [Roberto Perrone] in Beds and Herts, and by Martyn Coote in Bucks. [Big George (Webley)], who used to present the breakfast show for Milton Keynes, now presents 'The Business Of Sound' on a Sunday afternoon, promoting and interviewing unsigned bands from the region, as part of the BBC's nationwide scheme to encourage and nurture raw musical talent.
From 10am until 1pm everyday, Stephen Rhodes investigates listener's consumer problems. Conmen are his bread and butter, of which the Three Counties region is never facing a shortage. Local dodgy garage proprietors get called up so often, Stephen and his assistants have their numbers as part of their [Friends & Family].
At 1pm, Three Counties Radio splits into two regions again, with the @One programmes. Katherine Boyle presents the show for Bedfordshire and Hertfordshire, while Luke Ashmead does the same for Buckinghamshire. The show's content is all about the history, people and places of the area it broadcasts to.
From 3pm, Justin Dealey presents the afternoon slot. Justin has quite refreshingly forthright views on many topics, and seldom sits on the fence, as many radio presenters try to do. From 5pm, Ronnie Barbour presents the drivetime show with updates on the day's news and fun competitions for the commute home.
The weekend and evening schedule is very varied. While most of the Eastern-region BBC local radio stations link up to Cambridgshire at 7pm for Nick Lawrence and the other regional shows, Three Counties is slowly moving away from this and producing more and more local programming throughout the evening. This includes local sport, of which the Three Counties is never at a loss for with Luton Town, MK Dons, Watford Town and Bedford Rugby Club all in the area. It also includes Origins, a show launched in January 2006, where ex-pirate radio presenters from Luton take control of the airwaves, playing music and discussing issues relating to the many varied communities across the three counties.
On Saturday, following Justin's Saturday Breakfast show from 6am and the Gardening Phone-In from 9am, [Ernie Almond] and Jonathan Vernon-Smith create mayhem in their programme called Ern and Vern from midday. It may sound similar to an unsympathetic Blue Peter style Morecambe and Wise. Although never crossing the line of bad taste, it is sometimes a close call. Often listeners calling in have only a passing familiarity with rules of broadcasting. JVS adopts an air of faux-sophistication and innocence to get past the censors. JVS presents a weekday lunchtime consumer slot on Radio Northampton which shares many similarities with the Stephen Rhodes Consumer Programme on 3CR, which he helped out with for a few years. The fact that the same old double glazing and internet auction companies would be regularly discussed may have contributed to his interest in a new northward direction.
Other weekend presenters include Barry Hyde, Dave Lee Travis and Colin Berry, whose shows includes music, phone-ins and competitions. A popular show over the weekend is Treasure Quest, a show in which two studio-based contestants have to solve six clues, sending reporter Georgia Mann around Beds, Herts and Bucks to find the next clue. Clues are located in a place of interest which is an anagram, local history link or other puzzle is solved from the previous clue. If all six clues are solved and the treasure (which the sixth clue points to) is found, the contestants win a prize. The show, hosted by Toby Friedner, has built up a cult following, with listeners taking part in the treasure quest, sometimes arriving at clue sites before Georgia. In some shows, clues have been moved, removed and once even replaced, causing much confusion to Toby, Georgia and producer and clue-setter 'Producer Andy'.
Three Counties Radio has also launched Rokker Radio, a show aimed at the gypsy and travelling community, which had lots of national press attention when it was announced in March 2006. The show, presented by Jake Bowers, one of the UK's only Romany journalists, broadcasts on a Sunday evening from 5pm. The issues covered on the show include the history of the travelling community in Europe, and today's issues relating to both the gypsies and the settled community. Both the travelling and the settled community are encouraged to join in by phone, email and SMS messages.
In March 2006, editor Mark Norman was promoted to manage the newly-formed Milton Keynes project, a plan which has been around for a few years to create a new BBC region for the area, including a new, purpose-built building in Milton Keynes, a new local TV news service, and the moving of Three Counties Radio to the new base. The new editor of Three Counties Radio, Angus Moorat, used to edit BBC Radio Sheffield.
In April 2006, Three Counties Radio starting archiving some of their shows and making them available as 'Listen Again' shows from the website. Shows available on Listen Again:
- Business of Sound (Unsigned talent presented by 'Big George')
- DJ Ritu (Bhangra music)
- Dave Lee Travis (Music and competitions)
- Ern and Vern (Saturday lunchtime madness)
- Irish Link (presented by Gerry Berne)
- Origins (local pirate radio DJs take over the air)
- Rokker Radio (the show for travellers and gypsies, presented by Jake Bowers)
- Treasure Quest (the radio version of Anneka Rice's TV show!)
External links
- [BBC Three Counties Radio]
- [Media UK - BBC Three Counties Radio]
- [MDS975's coverage map] (about 12 months out-of-date, following Three Counties Radio's expansion to the south and further east for Hertfordshire)
- [An original Radio Bedfordshire jingle.]
- [Three Counties jingle.]
- [Jonathan Vernon-Smith.]
- [Bow Brickhill transmitter.]
- [Epping Green transmitter.]
- [Hemel Hempstead (Bedmond) transmitter.]
- [High Wycombe transmitter.]
- [Lewsey Farm transmitter.]
- [Kempston transmitter.]
- [Quainton Hill transmiter.]
- [Sandy Heath transmitter.]
- [Zouches Farm transmitter.]
| 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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