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

Devon Devon ( , historically known as Devonshire , ) is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in South West England. The most populous settlement in Devon is the city of Plymouth, followed by Devon's county town, the city of Exeter. Devon is ...

. It broadcasts on FM,

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, digital TV and via

BBC Sounds BBC Sounds is a walled garden streaming media and audio download service from the BBC that includes live radio broadcasts, audio on demand, and podcasts. The service is available on a wide range of devices, including mobile phones and tablets, ...

from studios in the Mannamead area of

Plymouth Plymouth () is a port city and unitary authority in South West England. It is located on the south coast of Devon, approximately south-west of Exeter and south-west of London. It is bordered by Cornwall to the west and south-west. Plymout ...

. According to RAJAR, the station has a weekly audience of 142,000 listeners and a 7.1% share as of September 2022.

History

BBC Radio Devon started broadcasting on 17 January 1983, replacing the BBC Radio 4 regional breakfast show ''

Morning Sou'West ''Morning Sou’West'' was a regional programme broadcast in south west England as an opt-out from BBC Radio 4. It was broadcast on weekday mornings between 6:30am and 8:35am, rejoining Today for Yesterday in Parliament when Parliament was sitting ...

''. On the same day, BBC Radio Cornwall started broadcasting, as did BBC Breakfast television. When broadcasting started, the new studios in Exeter had not yet been finished, so BBC Radio Devon was broadcast from portable cabins for the first few weeks. The Exeter studios were officially opened by

Alastair Milne Alasdair David Gordon Milne (8 October 19308 January 2013) was a British television producer and executive. He had a long career at the BBC, where he was eventually promoted to Director-General, and was described by '' The Independent'' as " ...

, then Director-General of the BBC, on 30 September 1983. BBC Radio Devon has reporters based in Exeter, Plymouth, Paignton and Barnstaple, allowing it to cover news stories throughout Devon. The Plymouth newsroom is shared with the BBC's regional TV news programme '' Spotlight'' and also provides online news services. The station has won several Sony Awards for its programming.

Frequencies

Radio Devon is broadcast on the following frequencies from BBC Broadcasting House in Plymouth and Pynes Hill in Exeter (transmitter location in brackets): * FM: ** 103.4 MHz main frequency (

North Hessary Tor North Hessary Tor is a 517 metres hill just above Dartmoor Prison, in Princetown within Dartmoor Forest civil parish, which is in the borough of West Devon, Devon, England (). The tor is one of the boundary points mentioned in the perambulations ...

) ** 94.8 MHz in Barnstaple ( Huntshaw Cross) ** 95.7 MHz in

( Plympton) ** 95.8 MHz in

Exeter Exeter () is a city in Devon, South West England. It is situated on the River Exe, approximately northeast of Plymouth and southwest of Bristol. In Roman Britain, Exeter was established as the base of Legio II Augusta under the personal c ...

(St. Thomas) ** 96.0 MHz in

Okehampton Okehampton ( ) is a town and civil parish in West Devon in the English county of Devon. It is situated at the northern edge of Dartmoor, and had a population of 5,922 at the 2011 census. Two electoral wards are based in the town (east and west). ...

** 104.3 MHz in Torbay and Torquay and the South Hams (

Beacon Hill Beacon Hill may refer to: Places Canada * Beacon Hill, Ottawa, Ontario, a neighbourhood * Beacon Hill Park, a park in Victoria, British Columbia * Beacon Hill, Saskatchewan * Beacon Hill, Montreal, a neighbourhood in Beaconsfield, Quebec United ...

) *

In addition, BBC Radio Devon also broadcasts on Freeview TV channel 720 in the

BBC South West BBC South West is the BBC English Region serving Cornwall, Devon, Isles of Scilly, West Somerset, West Dorset and Channel Islands. Services Television ''BBC South Wests television service (broadcast on BBC One South West) consists of the flagshi ...

region and streams online via

. The station also broadcast on 1458 kHz in the Torbay area until the transmitter closed on 15 January 2018. The station's other AM transmissions, 801 kHz in North Devon ( Barnstaple) and 990 kHz in

, were slated to cease in May/June 2021; however, this was postponed and the transmissions remained on air until after the 1100 BST news on 3 August 2021. Radio Devon previously broadcast on 855 AM in Plymouth; these transmissions ceased in 2007 and the frequency was used for a trial of Digital Radio Mondiale services, though these trials ultimately did not lead to DRM going into permanent service in the UK.BBC Research and Development
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Programming

Local programming is produced and broadcast from the BBC's Plymouth studios from 6am - 1am on Sundays - Fridays and from 6am - 10pm on Saturdays. Some of the station's off-peak evening output is simulcast with sister stations in the

and BBC West regions. During the station's downtime, BBC Radio Devon simulcasts overnight programming from BBC Radio 5 Live and BBC Radio London.

Presenters

Notable current presenters include: * Toby Buckland (Sunday mid-mornings)

References

External links

* {{coord, 50.3861, -4.1266, type:landmark_region:GB, display=title

Companies based in Devon Radio stations in Devon Radio stations established in 1983 1983 establishments in England