BBC Radio Cumbria

BBC Radio Cumbria
City of license	Carlisle
Broadcast area	Cumbria
Frequency	95.6, 96.1, 104.1 MHz (FM) & 837 KHz (MW)
First air date	24 November 1973
Format	Mainly local news and talk
Language	English
Audience share	15.4% (September 2009, [1])
Owner	BBC Local Radio, BBC North East and Cumbria
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.

History

The county of Cumbria was not created until 1974. Radio Cumbria began service on 24 November 1973 as BBC Radio Carlisle and adopted its current name shortly before its tenth anniversary in May 1982 when its service was expanded from most of the former county of Cumberland to include the former counties of Westmorland and Lancashire, north of the sands plus the small area of the former West Riding of Yorkshire around Sedbergh and Dent, thus covering the whole administrative county of Cumbria.

From the launch of the renamed station, between 25 May 1982 and 1991, an opt-out service, BBC Radio Furness operated in the south of the county at peak times (originally breakfast, lunchtime and a Saturday morning slot, though the lunchtime slot was later dropped to cut costs), covering the broadly the Furness area, which encompasses parts of the Lake District and what is now the south coast of Cumbria, plus the Millom area and most of the former Westmorland. 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 again received a single programme.

Background

Radio Cumbria claims to be listened to by one third of the county's population despite having to face the challenge of an area which is sparsely populated and predominantly rural, with the biggest urban areas around its perimeter. Most programming has a similar format to that of other BBC local radio stations, although one unique feature is the seasonal Lamb Bank - a short daily segments which carries announcements from farmers wishing to exchange livestock.

Radio Cumbria is unusual among BBC local radio stations in that its area does not correspond exactly with a BBC television region" Due mainly to 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). The rest of Cumbria receives regional news (both BBC and ITV) from Manchester via the Winter Hill transmitting station. Attempts by the BBC in the 1980s to transmit Manchester-produced bulletins to northern Cumbria proved unpopular because viewers objected to coverage of Derbyshire and Cheshire at the expense of their own locality, despite them receiving equally irrelevant news from North Yorkshire, Teesside and the north-east in the Newcastle bulletins. For this reason, Radio Cumbria fulfils an important role in providing a unified news service to the whole county.

Technical

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 National DAB, as well as a transmitter at Penrith Beacon. Digital One comes from Morecambe Bay and Penrith. MXR North West comes from Morecambe Bay.

Programming

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.

Radio 5 Live's Up All Night is simulcast on Radio Cumbria after closedown every night. Morning Reports and the third hour of The Stephen Nolan Show are simulcast at weekends.

Presenters

Former presenters

See also

• The Bay - independent local radio station covering north Lancashire and southern Cumbria
• CFM (Carlisle), CFM (West Cumbria)

External links

• BBC Radio Cumbria
• History of local radio in Cumbria
• Jingles
• Barrow transmitter
• Carlisle (Brisco) transmitter
• Kendal transmitter.
• Morecambe Bay transmitter.
• Sandale transmitter (including coverage map).
• Whitehaven transmitter.
• Windermere transmitter.