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

Cleveland Cleveland ( ), officially the City of Cleveland, is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Cuyahoga County. Located in the northeastern part of the state, it is situated along the southern shore of Lake Erie, across the U ...

which comprises the

unitary authorities A unitary authority is a local authority responsible for all local government functions within its area or performing additional functions that elsewhere are usually performed by a higher level of sub-national government or the national governm ...

Hartlepool Hartlepool () is a seaside and port town in County Durham, England. It is the largest settlement and administrative centre of the Borough of Hartlepool. With an estimated population of 90,123, it is the second-largest settlement in County ...

Middlesbrough Middlesbrough ( ) is a town on the southern bank of the River Tees in North Yorkshire, England. It is near the North York Moors national park. It is the namesake and main town of its local borough council area. Until the early 1800s, the a ...

Redcar and Cleveland Redcar and Cleveland is a borough with unitary authority status in North Yorkshire, England. Its main settlements are Redcar, South Bank, Eston, Brotton, Guisborough, the Greater Eston part of Middlesbrough, Loftus, Saltburn and Skelton. T ...

and Stockton-on-Tees. It broadcasts on FM, DAB, 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 on Newport Road in

. 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 call ...

, the station has a weekly audience of 115,000 listeners and a 4.3% share as of September 2022.

History

BBC Radio Teesside

The station was originally launched as Radio Teesside at 18:00 on 31 December 1970 with a local news programme entitled ''Teesside Tonight'', presented by George Lambelle, who later won five major programming awards.

BBC Radio Cleveland

On 1 April 1974 the station became known as Radio Cleveland when the

county of Cleveland Cleveland was a ceremonial county located in northern England. It was created in 1974 under the Local Government Act 1972, and named after the historic area of Cleveland, Yorkshire. The county was abolished in 1996. The area was partitioned ...

was formed. The station moved to new studios in 1983. On 1 April 1996, the county of Cleveland was abolished and the boroughs of Stockton-on-Tees,

, and

were returned to County Durham and North Yorkshire. These four boroughs, along with nearby

Darlington Darlington is a market town in the Borough of Darlington, County Durham, England. The River Skerne flows through the town; it is a tributary of the River Tees. The Tees itself flows south of the town. In the 19th century, Darlington under ...

, now form the governmental sub-region of

Tees Valley Tees Valley is a mayoral combined authority and Local enterprise partnership area in northern England, around the River Tees. The area is not a geographical valley. The LEP was established in 2011 and the combined authority was establishe ...

. Also included in the main coverage area is the

Army An army (from Old French ''armee'', itself derived from the Latin verb ''armāre'', meaning "to arm", and related to the Latin noun ''arma'', meaning "arms" or "weapons"), ground force or land force is a fighting force that fights primarily on ...

's main garrison at

Catterick Garrison Catterick Garrison is a major garrison and military town south of Richmond, North Yorkshire, England. It is the largest British Army garrison in the world, with a population of around 13,000 in 2017 and covering over 2,400 acres (about ...

, which is also included in the transmission area of Radio York on 104.3 FM.

BBC Tees

file: BBC Tees.png On Saturday 11 August 2007 the station was renamed BBC Tees. The BBC Tees brand was already associated with its "Where I Live" website and "BBC Bus", which have both since been discontinued.

BBC Radio Tees

On 27 January 2020 the station was renamed BBC Radio Tees, the addition of "radio" to the names of most BBC local radio stations was to avoid confusion with its similarly named TV news regions.

Transmitters

Before moving to

Eston Eston is a Village in the borough of Redcar and Cleveland, North Yorkshire, England. The ward covering the area (as well as Lackenby, Lazenby and Wilton) had a population of 7,005 at the 2011 census. It is part of Greater Eston, which i ...

Nab, the signal on 95 FM originally was relatively strong and originated from the 900-foot

Bilsdale transmitter The Bilsdale transmitting station is a broadcasting and telecommunications facility, located at Bilsdale West Moor above Bilsdale, close to Helmsley, North Yorkshire, England. The original facility included a guyed steel tubular mast that was ...

on the

North York Moors The North York Moors is an upland area in north-eastern Yorkshire, England. It contains one of the largest expanses of heather moorland in the United Kingdom. The area was designated as a National Park in 1952, through the National Parks and A ...

, which transmitted the main television signals for

Teesside Teesside () is a built-up area around the River Tees in the north of England, split between County Durham and North Yorkshire. The name was initially used as a county borough in the North Riding of Yorkshire. Historically a hub for heavy manu ...

and

North Yorkshire North Yorkshire is the largest ceremonial county (lieutenancy area) in England, covering an area of . Around 40% of the county is covered by national parks, including most of the Yorkshire Dales and the North York Moors. It is one of four cou ...

, and national radio frequencies, as well as the commercial stations TFM on 96.6, Heart North East on 100-102, and Capital North East on 106.4 FM. A relay transmitter covering the town of

Whitby Whitby is a seaside town, port and civil parish in the Scarborough borough of North Yorkshire, England. Situated on the east coast of Yorkshire at the mouth of the River Esk, Whitby has a maritime, mineral and tourist heritage. Its East Clif ...

broadcasts on 95.8 FM. The DAB signals come from the

Bauer Bauer is a German surname meaning "peasant" or "farmer". For notable people sharing the surname, see Bauer (surname). Bauer may also refer to: Education and literature * Bauer's Lexicon, a dictionary of Biblical Greek * Bauer College of Busin ...

11B multiplex at

Nab (near the

A174 road The A174 is a major road in North Yorkshire, England. It runs from the A19 road at Thornaby-on-Tees, across South Teesside and down the Yorkshire Coast to Whitby. The A174 is the coastal route between Teesside and Whitby; the alternative ro ...

) and Brusselton (near

Shildon Shildon is a town and civil parish in County Durham, in England. The population taken at the 2011 Census was 9,976. The town has the Locomotion Museum, due to it having the first , built in 1825, and locomotive works on the Stockton and Darlin ...

between the A68 and A6072). On 10 August 2021, FM transmission was knocked off air indefinitely following a fire at the Bilsdale site. It is feared that the structural integrity of the transmitter mast may have been compromised. As at 11 August 2021, the 95 FM service is available again, using the Eston Nab transmitter, but it does not reach all areas of the station's transmission area. A temporary transmitter on 104.0 FM has also been instated for Darlington and the surrounding areas. The station also broadcast on medium wave until 1992. BBC Radio Tees is also available on DAB in Teesside, County Durham and North Yorkshire and online via

. In addition, the station also broadcasts on Freeview TV channel 722.

Programming

Local programming is produced and broadcast from the BBC's Middlesbrough studios from 6am - 10pm each day. The late show, airing from 10pm - 1am, originates from

BBC Radio Newcastle BBC Radio Newcastle is the BBC's local radio station serving Newcastle upon Tyne, the neighbouring metropolitan boroughs, Northumberland and north east County Durham. It broadcasts on FM, DAB, digital TV and via BBC Sounds from BBC studi ...

every night. During the station's downtime, BBC Radio Tees simulcasts overnight programming from BBC Radio 5 Live and

BBC Radio London BBC Radio London is the BBC's local radio station serving Greater London and its surrounding areas. The station broadcasts across the area and beyond, on the 94.9 FM frequency, DAB, Virgin Media channel 937, Sky channel 0152 (in the London ...

Notable past presenters

Ali Brownlee Alastair Brownlee (14 April 1959 – 14 February 2016) was an English radio broadcaster best known for his coverage of Middlesbrough F.C. on BBC Tees from 1982 onwards. His connection to the club earned him the honorific "Voice of the Boro". ...

Richard Hammond Richard Mark Hammond (born 19 December 1969) is an English journalist, television presenter, mechanic, and writer. He is best known for co-hosting the BBC Two motoring programme '' Top Gear'' from 2002 until 2015 with Jeremy Clarkson and ...

References

External links

BBC Radio TeesBilsdale West Moor transmitterWhitby transmitter
{{coord, 54, 34, 33.7, N, 1, 14, 29.5, W, region:GB_type:landmark, display=title Radio stations established in 1970 Tees County Durham North Yorkshire Mass media in Yorkshire Teesside Radio stations in North East England 1970 establishments in England