BBC Radio Surrey is the BBC's local radio station serving

Surrey Surrey () is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Greater London to the northeast, Kent to the east, East Sussex, East and West Sussex to the south, and Hampshire and Berkshire to the wes ...

and north-east

Hampshire Hampshire (, ; abbreviated to Hants.) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Berkshire to the north, Surrey and West Sussex to the east, the Isle of Wight across the Solent to the south, ...

. 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

University of Surrey The University of Surrey is a public research university in Guildford, Surrey, England. The university received its Royal Charter, royal charter in 1966, along with a Plate glass university, number of other institutions following recommendations ...

Guildford Guildford () is a town in west Surrey, England, around south-west of central London. As of the 2011 census, the town has a population of about 77,000 and is the seat of the wider Borough of Guildford, which had around inhabitants in . The nam ...

. 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 ...

, BBC Radio Surrey and

BBC Radio Sussex BBC Radio Sussex is the BBC's local radio station serving the counties of East and West Sussex. It broadcasts on FM, DAB, digital TV and via BBC Sounds from studios on Queens Road in Brighton. According to RAJAR, BBC Radio Surrey and BBC R ...

share a combined weekly audience of 192,000 listeners and a 3.7% share as of December 2023.

History

BBC Radio Surrey (1991–1994)

Originally planned as a stand-alone radio station, it launched on 14 November 1991 as a limited opt-out service of BBC Radio Sussex, broadcasting from newly built studios on the campus of the

. However it was never able to build a substantial audience and the two stations were merged in January 1994, becoming BBC Radio Sussex and Surrey, and the station moved into the Guildford studios.

BBC Southern Counties Radio (1994–2009)

On 1 August 1994, the station's name was changed to

BBC Southern Counties Radio BBC Southern Counties Radio (BBC SCR) was the BBC Local Radio service for the England, English county, counties of Surrey and Sussex. The station also covered a large part of north-east Hampshire. It was the first BBC local radio station to in ...

. At first it ran a single all-talk schedule across

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, ...

and Surrey. However, in September 1997, a dedicated breakfast show for Surrey was reintroduced, followed by a drivetime show in April 2006. Apart from a brief period in 2006, the former BBC Radio Sussex transmitter at

Reigate Reigate ( ) is a town status in the United Kingdom, town in Surrey, England, around south of central London. The settlement is recorded in Domesday Book of 1086 as ''Cherchefelle'', and first appears with its modern name in the 1190s. The ea ...

on 104.0 FM was now used for the Surrey output, in order to give better reception for listeners in East Surrey.

BBC Radio Surrey (2020–present)

On 30 March 2020, the station reverted to its original name of BBC Radio Surrey.

Technical

BBC Radio Surrey is transmitted on FM and on DAB via the MuxCo

multiplex, which officially launched on 12 December 2013.Radio Today - Surrey DAB radio multiplex switched on
/ref> The station also broadcast on 1368 kHz medium wave (219 metres) from a transmitter located at Duxhurst, situated between Reigate and Horley. The transmitter closed on 3 January 2018 as a cost saving measure from the BBC as part of its plan to switch off thirteen BBC Local Radio medium wave transmitters. * Analogue VHF FM **104.0

MHz The hertz (symbol: Hz) is the unit of frequency in the International System of Units (SI), often described as being equivalent to one event (or cycle) per second. The hertz is an SI derived unit whose formal expression in terms of SI base u ...

- Redhill,

Crawley Crawley () is a town and Borough status in the United Kingdom, borough in West Sussex, England. It is south of London, north of Brighton and Hove, and north-east of the county town of Chichester. Crawley covers an area of and had a populat ...

and

East Grinstead East Grinstead () is a town in West Sussex, England, near the East Sussex, Surrey, and Kent borders, south of London, northeast of Brighton, and northeast of the county town of Chichester. Situated in the northeast corner of the county, bord ...

( Reigate transmitter) **104.6 MHz -

(Guildford transmitter) * DAB Digital Radio: Block 10C 213.36 MHz **Reigate & Crawley (Reigate transmitter) **Guildford (Guildford transmitter) **South West

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

( Crystal Palace transmitter) **

Farnham Farnham is a market town and civil parish in Surrey, England, around southwest of London. It is in the Borough of Waverley, close to the county border with Hampshire. The town is on the north branch of the River Wey, a tributary of the ...

Aldershot Aldershot ( ) is a town in the Rushmoor district, Hampshire, England. It lies on heathland in the extreme north-east corner of the county, south-west of London. The town has a population of 37,131, while the Farnborough/Aldershot built-up are ...

(Hungry Hill transmitter) **

Leatherhead Leatherhead is a town in the Mole Valley district of Surrey, England, about south of Central London. The settlement grew up beside a ford on the River Mole, from which its name is thought to derive. During the late Anglo-Saxons, Anglo-Saxon ...

(

Stoke d'Abernon __NOTOC__ Stoke d'Abernon () is a village and former civil parishes in England, civil parish in the Borough of Elmbridge, Elmbridge district, in Surrey, England. It is on the bank (geography), right bank of the River Mole contiguously south of ...

transmitter) * Analogue

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 ...

AM **1368

kHz The hertz (symbol: Hz) is the unit of frequency in the International System of Units (SI), often described as being equivalent to one event (or cycle) per second. The hertz is an SI derived unit whose formal expression in terms of SI base uni ...

- Reigate & Crawley (Duxhurst transmitter) eased 03/01/2018 The station also broadcasts on

Freeview Freeview may refer to: *Freeview (Australia), the marketing name for the digital terrestrial television platform in Australia *Freeview (New Zealand), a digital satellite and digital terrestrial television platform in New Zealand *Freeview (UK), a ...

TV channel 714 in the

BBC London BBC London is the BBC English Region producing local radio, television, teletext and online services in London, Surrey and parts of the surrounding areas of the Home Counties. Its output includes the daily '' BBC London'' news bulletin and w ...

and

BBC South East BBC South East is the BBC English region serving Kent, East Sussex (including the City of Brighton and Hove), parts of West Sussex and Surrey. The BBC region was created in September 2001 by the joining of the Heathfield transmitter (former ...

regions and streams online via

Programming

Local programming airs from the BBC's

studios from 6 am to 10 am on Mondays to Saturdays and from 2 pm to 6 pm on Saturdays. Regional programming, shared with

, airs from 10 am to 10 pm on weekdays, from 10 am to 2 pm and 8 pm to 10 pm on Saturdays and from 6 am to 6 pm and 10 pm to 1 am on Sundays. 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, ...

and BBC Radio Berkshire in

Reading Reading is the process of taking in the sense or meaning of symbols, often specifically those of a written language, by means of Visual perception, sight or Somatosensory system, touch. For educators and researchers, reading is a multifacete ...

. During the station's downtime, BBC Radio Surrey 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 ...

References

External links

BBC Radio Surrey
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bbc Surrey

Radio stations in Surrey Radio stations established in 1991 1991 establishments in England