BBC Radio Kent is the BBC's local radio station serving the county of

Kent Kent is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Essex across the Thames Estuary to the north, the Strait of Dover to the south-east, East Sussex to the south-west, Surrey to the west, and Gr ...

. It broadcasts on FM, DAB, digital TV and via

BBC Sounds BBC Sounds is an Over-the-top media service, over-the-top audio streaming media, streaming and download service from the BBC that includes live radio broadcasts, Streaming media, audio on demand, and podcasts. The service is available on a wide ...

from studios at The Great Hall in

Royal Tunbridge Wells Royal Tunbridge Wells (formerly, until 1909, and still commonly Tunbridge Wells) is a town in Kent, England, southeast of Central London. It lies close to the border with East Sussex on the northern edge of the Weald, High Weald, whose sand ...

. According to

RAJAR Radio Joint Audience Research Limited (RAJAR; ) was established in 1992 to operate a single audience measurement system for the radio industry in the United Kingdom. RAJAR is jointly owned by the BBC and Radiocentre. RAJAR's predecessor was c ...

, the station has a weekly audience of 136,000 listeners as of May 2025.

History

The radio station was launched in 1970 as BBC Radio Medway, originally only serving the

Medway Towns Medway is a Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority area with Borough status in the United Kingdom, borough status in the ceremonial county of Kent in South East England. It was formed in 1998 by merging the boroughs of City of Roche ...

. It broadcast from studios at 30 High Street in Rochester, a former newspaper office which was subsequently named Media House. The station became well known in the early 1980s for its early Friday evening soul music show presented by DJ Dave Brown, becoming one of the most listened to soul shows in the UK before DJ Robbie Vincent earned that achievement with the national broadcaster

BBC Radio 1 BBC Radio 1 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. It specialises in modern popular music and Contemporary hit radio, current chart hits throughout the day. The station provides alternative genres at night, including ...

in 1983. The station gained its current name on 2 July 1983 when operations expanded to cover all of

as part of the BBC's policy of operating countywide stations. Radio Medway was closed down by long serving staff member Rod Lucas, who was also the first voice to be heard on the new BBC Radio Kent. In July 1986, the studios moved to the nearby Sun Pier, from where it broadcast in

stereo Stereophonic sound, commonly shortened to stereo, is a method of sound reproduction that recreates a multi-directional, 3-dimensional audible perspective. This is usually achieved by using two independent audio channels through a configurat ...

for the first time. On 18 March 1994, BBC Radio Kent stopped broadcasting on 1035 kHz MW due to the frequency being reallocated to a new London-wide commercial radio station, and then in January 2018, 774 and 1602 kHz stopped broadcasting in order to make cost savings. In 2001, the station moved to The Great Hall in

, to combine with new television studios for the BBC South East region covering Kent and

Sussex Sussex (Help:IPA/English, /ˈsʌsɪks/; from the Old English ''Sūþseaxe''; lit. 'South Saxons'; 'Sussex') is an area within South East England that was historically a kingdom of Sussex, kingdom and, later, a Historic counties of England, ...

. From here, BBC Radio Kent operates a total of five studios – two for programmes, one for news bulletins, one network contributions area, and a comprehensive live performance area. Since gaining the live performance area, live music has played an increasingly important part of the station's output. The music studio is in use daily as part of the evening arts strand "The Dominic King Show". In 2015, under the direction of a new Station Managing Editor, the station created a comprehensive Station Imaging Creative Department. Organised more along the lines of a commercial stations Creative Department, it is responsible for trails, idents and jingles. The three person department also undertook creative imaging for shared programmes originating from Tunbridge Wells, as well as providing trails for other stations in the South East cluster. Other Local BBC Radio usually has a single Station Sound producer, not a whole department. BBC Radio Kent also operated a studio and office in The Wendy House (a building close to the original Sun Pier site in Chatham), although this has since closed, and small contributions studios in

Dover Dover ( ) is a town and major ferry port in Kent, southeast England. It faces France across the Strait of Dover, the narrowest part of the English Channel at from Cap Gris Nez in France. It lies southeast of Canterbury and east of Maidstone. ...

and

Canterbury Canterbury (, ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and UNESCO World Heritage Site, in the county of Kent, England; it was a county borough until 1974. It lies on the River Stour, Kent, River Stour. The city has a mild oceanic climat ...

Technical

BBC Radio Kent broadcasts on 96.7 FM for North and West Kent from the Wrotham transmitting station on the

North Downs The North Downs are a ridge of chalk hills in south east England that stretch from Farnham in Surrey to the White Cliffs of Dover in Kent. Much of the North Downs comprises two Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, Areas of Outstanding Natural Be ...

, close to the village of

Wrotham Wrotham ( ) is a village on the Pilgrims' Way in Kent, England, at the foot of the North Downs. It is north of Borough Green and approximately east of Sevenoaks. It is between the M20 motorway, M20 and M26 motorway, M26 motorways. History T ...

, 97.6 FM for

Folkestone Folkestone ( ) is a coastal town on the English Channel, in Kent, south-east England. The town lies on the southern edge of the North Downs at a valley between two cliffs. It was an important harbour, shipping port, and fashionable coastal res ...

and surrounding areas from the Creteway Down transmitting station situated north east of the town and 104.2 FM from the Swingate transmitting station located at the village of Swingate, near

covering

, south and east Kent. It also broadcast on DAB. The station also broadcasts on Freeview TV channel 711 in the BBC South East region and streams online via

Programming

Local programming airs from the BBC's Tunbridge studios from 6 am to 2 pm on weekdays and for sports coverage. Off-peak programming, including the weekday late show from 10 pm to 1 am, originates from BBC Radio Solent in

Southampton Southampton is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and unitary authority in Hampshire, England. It is located approximately southwest of London, west of Portsmouth, and southeast of Salisbury. Southampton had a population of 253, ...

, BBC Radio Manchester and

BBC Radio London BBC Radio London is the BBC Local Radio, BBC's local radio station serving Greater London. It broadcasts on FM broadcasting, FM, Digital Audio Broadcasting, DAB, digital TV and via BBC Sounds from studios at Broadcasting House in Langham Plac ...

. During the station's downtime, BBC Radio Kent simulcasts overnight programming from

BBC Radio 5 Live BBC Radio 5 Live is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. It broadcasts mainly news, sport, Talk show, discussion, interviews and phone-ins, and is on air 24 hours a day. It is the principal BBC radio station Broadca ...

Presenters

Notable former presenters

* Dave Cash (1999–2016) * Don Durbridge (1983–1992) * Mo Dutta (1991–1994) * Alex Lester (2017, now at Greatest Hits Radio) * Jimmy Mack (1970–1983) * Richard Spendlove (1989–2017) * Barbara Sturgeon (1983–2004)

References

External links

BBC Radio Kent
{{Authority control Radio stations established in 1970

Radio stations in Kent Borough of Tunbridge Wells 1970 establishments in England