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BBC Radio York is the BBC's local radio station serving the county of
North Yorkshire North Yorkshire is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in Northern England.The Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority areas of City of York, York and North Yorkshire (district), North Yorkshire are in Yorkshire and t ...
. 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 in the Bootham area of
York York is a cathedral city in North Yorkshire, England, with Roman Britain, Roman origins, sited at the confluence of the rivers River Ouse, Yorkshire, Ouse and River Foss, Foss. It has many historic buildings and other structures, such as a Yor ...
. 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 60,000 listeners and a 4.6% share as of December 2023.


History

In May 1982, just over a year before the station was due to launch, a temporary service was provided to cover
Pope John Paul II Pope John Paul II (born Karol Józef Wojtyła; 18 May 19202 April 2005) was head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 16 October 1978 until Death and funeral of Pope John Paul II, his death in 2005. In his you ...
's visit to
York York is a cathedral city in North Yorkshire, England, with Roman Britain, Roman origins, sited at the confluence of the rivers River Ouse, Yorkshire, Ouse and River Foss, Foss. It has many historic buildings and other structures, such as a Yor ...
. The service, which ran for just over 24 hours, operated on what was to be the station's primary
medium wave Medium wave (MW) is a part of the medium frequency (MF) radio band used mainly for AM radio broadcasting. The spectrum provides about 120 channels with more limited sound quality than FM stations on the FM broadcast band. During the daytim ...
frequency and was also broadcast on the other local stations in the
Yorkshire Yorkshire ( ) is an area of Northern England which was History of Yorkshire, historically a county. Despite no longer being used for administration, Yorkshire retains a strong regional identity. The county was named after its county town, the ...
region. The station launched at 6:30 am on 4 July 1983, and featured on the cover of the ''
Radio Times ''Radio Times'' is a British weekly listings magazine devoted to television and radio programme schedules, with other features such as interviews, film reviews and lifestyle items. Founded in September 1923 by John Reith, then general manage ...
''. John Jefferson was the first station manager with the late Tony Fish as Programme Organiser. The original team included David Farwig, Derm Tanner, Andy Joynson, David Thomas, Will Hanrahan, Graham Pass, Nik Wood (Scarborough Producer), Diane Myers (Harrogate Producer), Andy Hitchcock, Chris Loveder, Chris Choi, Charlotte Counsel, Shirley Lewis and Sandy Barton. Initially, the station was only on air for a few hours a day (6:30 am to 1 pm and 4 pm to 6 pm during the week with weekend programming restricted to 8 am until 2 pm) and carried
BBC Radio 2 BBC Radio 2 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. It is the List of most-listened-to radio programs, most popular station in the United Kingdom with over 14 million weekly listeners. Since launching in 1967, the sta ...
the rest of the time although during the football and rugby league seasons, the station simulcasted BBC Radio Leeds, whose output also featured matches played by the senior North Yorkshire clubs. Later in the decade, the station started to produce its own sports programming as broadcast hours slowly expanded. Weekday afternoon broadcasting was introduced in autumn 1984 and programming also began to start earlier in the day and by the time regional evening programme was introduced by the end of the decade, the station was producing its own programming all day from 6am on weekdays and from 7am at the weekend. Evening programming on BBC Radio York has always been of a regional nature. The very first was a Saturday evening 45-minute programme consisting of organ music which aired during the winter sports period at 6:45 pm on BBC Radios Leeds, York and Humberside. Then in August 1986 Radio York joined with the other BBC local stations in Yorkshire in broadcasting an early evening service of specialist music programmes. This was expanded on 29 May 1989 with the launch of the BBC Night Network – an all-evening networked service which broadcast nightly on all six Yorkshire and north-east stations from 6.05 pm (6 pm at the weekend) until midnight. In May 1991, local programming was expanded by an hour, until 7 pm. This co-insided with the ''Night Networks expansion to include the BBC's north-west stations and the following year, Night Network programming was extended on weeknights until 12:30 am, and to 1 am by the end of that decade. Initially, BBC Radio York did not provide any programming for the network but later on, ''Late Night North with David Dunning'' often aired from the
York York is a cathedral city in North Yorkshire, England, with Roman Britain, Roman origins, sited at the confluence of the rivers River Ouse, Yorkshire, Ouse and River Foss, Foss. It has many historic buildings and other structures, such as a Yor ...
studios and in 2002 the BBC's Yorkshire stations, including Radio York, parted from the network to bring back a phone-in with Alex Hall, who had presented a similar show on
Pulse In medicine, the pulse refers to the rhythmic pulsations (expansion and contraction) of an artery in response to the cardiac cycle (heartbeat). The pulse may be felt ( palpated) in any place that allows an artery to be compressed near the surfac ...
. Other programming included Martin Kelner's Late Thing. ''The Early Show'' from BBC Radio Humberside (within the BBC Yorkshire and Lincolnshire region) was also carried. BBC Radio York was not the first radio station broadcasting in York. University Radio York, the oldest independent legal radio station, is the
University of York The University of York (abbreviated as or ''York'' for Post-nominal letters, post-nominals) is a public Collegiate university, collegiate research university in York, England. Established in 1963, the university has expanded to more than thir ...
's student radio station and before the BBC, URY was named Radio York. The independent commercial rival, Minster FM, began broadcasting on 4 July 1992. Stray FM, the independent station covering the
Harrogate Harrogate ( ) is a spa town and civil parish in the North Yorkshire District, district and North Yorkshire, county of North Yorkshire, England. Historic counties of England, Historically in the West Riding of Yorkshire, the town is a tourist de ...
and
Ripon Ripon () is a cathedral city and civil parish in North Yorkshire, England. The city is located at the confluence of two tributaries of the River Ure, the Laver and Skell. Within the boundaries of the historic West Riding of Yorkshire, the ...
areas, made its first transmission exactly two years to the day after Minster's launch and eleven years to the day after Radio York's launch.


Technical

BBC Radio York broadcasts from its studios in
York York is a cathedral city in North Yorkshire, England, with Roman Britain, Roman origins, sited at the confluence of the rivers River Ouse, Yorkshire, Ouse and River Foss, Foss. It has many historic buildings and other structures, such as a Yor ...
and uses three FM transmitters. The station broadcasts on 95.5 ( Oliver's Mount,
Scarborough Scarborough or Scarboro may refer to: People * Scarborough (surname) * Earl of Scarbrough Places Australia * Scarborough, Western Australia, suburb of Perth * Scarborough, New South Wales, suburb of Wollongong * Scarborough, Queensland, sub ...
), 103.7 (Acklam Wold transmitter near Leavening, midway between York and Malton) and 104.3 FM (Woolmoor, near Upsall four miles north of Thirsk close to the A19 – for
Ripon Ripon () is a cathedral city and civil parish in North Yorkshire, England. The city is located at the confluence of two tributaries of the River Ure, the Laver and Skell. Within the boundaries of the historic West Riding of Yorkshire, the ...
,
Harrogate Harrogate ( ) is a spa town and civil parish in the North Yorkshire District, district and North Yorkshire, county of North Yorkshire, England. Historic counties of England, Historically in the West Riding of Yorkshire, the town is a tourist de ...
, Northallerton and the
Yorkshire Dales The Yorkshire Dales are a series of valleys, or Dale (landform), dales, in the Pennines, an Highland, upland range in England. They are mostly located in the Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county of North Yorkshire, but extend into C ...
). The 140 ft Acklam Wold transmitter broadcasts the strongest frequency on 103.7 which is for Ryedale and the Vale of York. In the early days, Radio York's FM frequencies were 90.2 and 97.2. The station also broadcasts on Freeview TV channel 712 in the BBC Yorkshire and BBC North East and Cumbria regions and streams online 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 ...
. Until 24 February 2020, BBC Radio York was also broadcast on
medium wave Medium wave (MW) is a part of the medium frequency (MF) radio band used mainly for AM radio broadcasting. The spectrum provides about 120 channels with more limited sound quality than FM stations on the FM broadcast band. During the daytim ...
– 666 ( Fulford) and 1260 (Row Brow, Scarborough) AM. The transmitters were closed as a cost-cutting measure. Much of BBC York's studio infrastructure was the original Mk3 installation, dating from the station's inception in 1983. This ageing equipment had become unreliable, causing the station to "fall off air" regularly. Because the refurbishment required was significant, it would not be possible to continue to broadcast from the existing premises during the refurbishment, and no suitable alternative premises could be identified. Therefore, plans were drawn up for BBC York to move in with BBC Leeds temporarily and to retain a presence in
North Yorkshire North Yorkshire is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in Northern England.The Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority areas of City of York, York and North Yorkshire (district), North Yorkshire are in Yorkshire and t ...
through the BBC Bus, and through increased contributions from district studios in Harrogate and Scarborough. BBC York has since completed refurbishment of studio equipment and news room.


DAB licence

The DAB licence that BBC Radio York uses covers North Yorkshire from transmitters at Acklam Wold, Oliver's Mount, Harrogate, Hilderbrand, and
Bilsdale Bilsdale is a Dale (landform), dale in the western part of the North York Moors in North Yorkshire, England. The head of the dale is at Hasty Bank, and the dale extends south to meet Rye Dale near Hawnby. The dale is the valley of the River ...
. The licence was advertised in June 2007 and was awarded to MuxCo in September 2007. It was supposed be ready in June 2009, then revised to December 2009. Finally, the North Yorkshire DAB multiplex launched on 17 December 2014. Listeners in
Whitby Whitby is a seaside town, port and civil parish in North Yorkshire, England. It is on the Yorkshire Coast at the mouth of the River Esk, North Yorkshire, River Esk and has a maritime, mineral and tourist economy. From the Middle Ages, Whitby ...
cannot get signals that broadcast BBC Radio York. However, the town is officially served by BBC Radio Tees that broadcasts from its studios in
Middlesbrough Middlesbrough ( ), colloquially known as Boro, is a port town in the Borough of Middlesbrough, North Yorkshire, England. Lying to the south of the River Tees, Middlesbrough forms part of the Teesside Built up area, built-up area and the Tees Va ...
. Areas west of Craven such as Settle, Ingleton and Bentham is officially served by BBC Radio Lancashire. Although editorially, news for those areas is covered by BBC Radio York, but FM reception and DAB isn't possible in those areas.


Programming

Local programming is produced and broadcast from the BBC's
York York is a cathedral city in North Yorkshire, England, with Roman Britain, Roman origins, sited at the confluence of the rivers River Ouse, Yorkshire, Ouse and River Foss, Foss. It has many historic buildings and other structures, such as a Yor ...
studios from 6 am to 10 pm each day. The station's Sunday evening output also airs on BBC Radio Humberside and BBC Radio Lincolnshire. The current weekday daytime presenters are Georgey Spanswick from 6 am to 10 am, Joanita Musisi (Jenkinson) from 10 am to 2 pm. Toby Foster's afternoon show is also carried on BBC Radio Leeds and BBC Radio Sheffield. Off-peak programming, including the regional late show (10 pm to 1 am), originates from BBC Radio Leeds. During the station's downtime, BBC Radio York 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 ...
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 ...
.


News, Sport and Weather

BBC Radio York provides hourly local news and sport bulletins and weather forecasts every half-hour from 6 am until 6 pm on weekdays. On weekends, local news and weather airs hourly from 7 am until 1 pm.


Notable former presenters

* Former presenters at the station include
ITV Sport ITV Sport is the Broadcasting of sports events, sports department of ITV plc, which produces and presents sports programming for the ITV (TV network), ITV network and ITVX. The branding was originally introduced in 1985 as an umbrella title fo ...
commentator Jon Champion and
Sky Sports Sky Sports is a group of British broadcasting of sports events, subscription sports channels operated by the satellite television, satellite pay television company Sky Group (a division of Comcast), and is the dominant subscription television ...
commentator Rob Hawthorne and Will Hanrahan, who went on to present Look North and report for ''
Good Morning with Anne and Nick In most contexts, the concept of good denotes the conduct that should be preferred when posed with a choice between possible actions. Good is generally considered to be the opposite of evil. The specific meaning and etymology of the term and its ...
''. * Victor Lewis-Smith started his
BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...
career here, presenting his chat and music programme, ''Snooze Button'', on Sunday mornings in 1984. * '' Countdown'' host Richard Whiteley made several guest appearances in the early 2000s. * Sky News anchor Gareth Barlow began his broadcasting career at the station. * ''
The Grand Tour ''The Grand Tour'' is a British motoring television series, created by Jeremy Clarkson, Richard Hammond, James May, and Andy Wilman, for Amazon Prime Video, and premiered on 18 November 2016. The programme was devised in the wake of the depar ...
'' front-man
Richard Hammond Richard Mark Hammond (born 19 December 1969) is an English journalist, television presenter, and author. He co-hosted the BBC Two motoring programme ''Top Gear (2002 TV series), Top Gear'' from 2002 until 2015 with Jeremy Clarkson and James Ma ...
was also once a presenter. * James Gordon's career began with presenting news packages for BBC Radio Yorkshire.


Awards

In 2001, BBC Radio York won the Sony Radio Academy Gold Award for Community Service for "Floodwatch News" – its coverage of the floods that hit the county of
North Yorkshire North Yorkshire is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in Northern England.The Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority areas of City of York, York and North Yorkshire (district), North Yorkshire are in Yorkshire and t ...
in November 2000. In 2002, BBC Radio York was awarded Silver in the News Programme category for The Great Heck Rail Crash: Countdown To A Tragedy. In 2011, BBC Radio York's news team won the Gillard award for Original Journalism. The awards are given out each year and are open to the entire BBC local radio network. In 2012, the flagship breakfast show, ''Adam Tomlinson at Breakfast'', was nominated for a Sony award for Breakfast Show of the Year.Radio Today
/ref> In 2013, presenter Jonathan Cowap won Gold at the annual Frank Gillard Awards for Best ''Hotseat'' interview. In 2014, the station won the Gillard Gold Award for Faith-based programming. In 2016, ''Georgey at Breakfast'' won Best Breakfast Show at the Local Radio Awards.


References


External links


BBC Radio York


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York York is a cathedral city in North Yorkshire, England, with Roman Britain, Roman origins, sited at the confluence of the rivers River Ouse, Yorkshire, Ouse and River Foss, Foss. It has many historic buildings and other structures, such as a Yor ...
North Yorkshire Mass media in York Radio stations in Yorkshire Radio stations established in 1983 1983 establishments in England