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

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, ...

Dorset Dorset ( ; Archaism, archaically: Dorsetshire , ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South West England. It is bordered by Somerset to the north-west, Wiltshire to the north and the north-east, Hampshire to the east, t ...

and the

Isle of Wight The Isle of Wight (Help:IPA/English, /waɪt/ Help:Pronunciation respelling key, ''WYTE'') is an island off the south coast of England which, together with its surrounding uninhabited islets and Skerry, skerries, is also a ceremonial county. T ...

, broadcasting 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 on Havelock Road 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, ...

. 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 204,000 listeners and a 4.2% share as of September 2023.

History

The station began broadcasting on 31 December 1970. It is named after the

Solent The Solent ( ) is a strait between the Isle of Wight and mainland Great Britain; the major historic ports of Southampton and Portsmouth lie inland of its shores. It is about long and varies in width between , although the Hurst Spit whi ...

, the area of sea between

Portsmouth Portsmouth ( ) is a port city status in the United Kingdom, city and unitary authority in Hampshire, England. Most of Portsmouth is located on Portsea Island, off the south coast of England in the Solent, making Portsmouth the only city in En ...

and the

. In 1996, Radio Solent expanded its coverage into

West Dorset West Dorset was a Non-metropolitan district, local government district in Dorset, England. The district was formed on 1 April 1974 under the Local Government Act 1972, and was a merger of the boroughs of Bridport, Dorchester, Dorset, Dorchester ...

and South Dorset by taking over neighbouring BBC Dorset FM, which was formerly an opt-out of

BBC Radio Devon BBC Radio Devon is the BBC's local radio station serving the county of Devon. It broadcasts on FM, DAB, digital TV and via BBC Sounds from studios in the Mannamead area of Plymouth. According to RAJAR, the station has a weekly audience of ...

. In 2013, a new programme specifically for

listeners on 103.8 FM was launched under the name ''Breakfast in Dorset'', after campaigns for a more locally focused service. The programme is presented by Steve Harris from a studio complex in Dorchester and also broadcasts county-wide on DAB.

Technical

The service is broadcast on 96.1 FM for

, the

and eastern

from

Rowridge transmitting station The Rowridge transmitting station is a facility for FM radio and television transmission at Rowridge on the Isle of Wight in southern England. It currently has a tall guyed mast, owned and operated by Arqiva (previously National Grid Wir ...

on the Isle of Wight; and on 103.8 FM for western Dorset from

Bincombe Bincombe is a small village, or hamlet, and civil parish in Dorset, England, north of Weymouth. The village is from Upwey railway station and from Bournemouth International Airport. The main road running through the village is Icen Lane. ...

Hill transmitter. Since 2003, the station has also been broadcast on DAB Digital Radio from the

NOW South Hampshire Arqiva () is a British telecommunications company which provides infrastructure, broadcast transmission and smart meter facilities in the United Kingdom. The company is headquartered at the former Independent Broadcasting Authority headquarters ...

and NOW Bournemouth networks from thirteen transmitters between them. 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 channels 714 (Hampshire / Isle of Wight) and 715 (Dorset) in the

BBC South BBC South is the BBC English Region serving Hampshire, Isle of Wight, Dorset, West Sussex, Oxfordshire, Berkshire and parts of Gloucestershire, Buckinghamshire, Northamptonshire, Surrey, and Wiltshire, with geographic coverage varying between ...

region, and streams online via

TV channel 715 (Dorset) is also broadcast 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 flags ...

and

BBC West BBC West is one of the BBC's English Regions serving Bristol, Somerset, the majority of Wiltshire and Gloucestershire and north of Dorset. Services Television BBC West's television service (broadcast on BBC One) consists of the flagship regio ...

regions. From launch until 2020, BBC Radio Solent 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 ...

, with the main AM transmitter on 999 kHz from

Fareham Fareham ( ) is a market town at the north-west tip of Portsmouth Harbour, between the cities of Portsmouth and Southampton in south east Hampshire, England. It gives its name to the Borough of Fareham. It was historically an important manufac ...

covering most of the coverage area and a secondary transmitter covering

Bournemouth Bournemouth ( ) is a coastal resort town in the Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole unitary authority area, in the ceremonial county of Dorset, England. At the 2021 census, the built-up area had a population of 196,455, making it the largest ...

and

Poole Poole () is a coastal town and seaport on the south coast of England in the Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole unitary authority area in Dorset, England. The town is east of Dorchester, Dorset, Dorchester and adjoins Bournemouth to the east ...

on 1359 kHz from Fern Barrow, Bournemouth.

North and north-east Hampshire

The signal for Hampshire on 96.1 FM from

Rowridge Rowridge is a hamlet on the Isle of Wight towards the west in an area known as West Wight. It is the location of the Rowridge transmitting station, a 149.6 metres (491 ft) tall guyed transmitting mast. It is in the civil parish of Newport ...

on the Isle of Wight is weaker north of

Winchester Winchester (, ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city in Hampshire, England. The city lies at the heart of the wider City of Winchester, a local government Districts of England, district, at the western end of the South Downs N ...

than the transmissions from other

BBC Local Radio BBC Local Radio (also referred to as Local BBC Radio) is the BBC's local and regional radio division for England and the Channel Islands, consisting of 39 stations. As of December 2024, the network broadcasts to a combined audience of 7.1 mil ...

stations, so that the north Hampshire towns of

Basingstoke Basingstoke ( ) is a town in Hampshire, situated in south-central England across a valley at the source of the River Loddon on the western edge of the North Downs. It is the largest settlement in Hampshire without city status in the United King ...

and

Andover Andover may refer to: Places Australia *Andover, Tasmania Canada * Andover Parish, New Brunswick * Perth-Andover, New Brunswick United Kingdom * Andover, Hampshire, England ** RAF Andover, a former Royal Air Force station United States * Andov ...

are officially served by

BBC Radio Berkshire BBC Radio Berkshire is the BBC's local radio station serving the county of Berkshire. It broadcasts on FM, DAB, digital TV and via BBC Sounds. According to RAJAR, the station has a weekly audience of 48,00 listeners as of May 2025. It has ...

, while towns such as

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 ...

, Farnborough and

Fleet Fleet may refer to: Vehicles * Fishing fleet *Naval fleet * Fleet vehicles, a pool of motor vehicles * Fleet Aircraft, the aircraft manufacturing company Places Canada * Fleet, Alberta, Canada, a hamlet England * The Fleet Lagoon, at Chesil Be ...

in the north-east of the county are served by

BBC Radio Surrey BBC Radio Surrey is the BBC's local radio station serving Surrey and north-east Hampshire. It broadcasts on FM, DAB, digital TV and via BBC Sounds from studios at the University of Surrey in Guildford. According to RAJAR, BBC Radio Surrey ...

Programming

As of 2023, local programming was produced and broadcast from the BBC's

studios from 6 am to 6 pm each Monday to Friday and for sports coverage. Full speech content is required during the breakfast peak of 7 am to 8.30 am. The station must also provide at least 95 hours of locally-made programming per week, that provides news, information and content relevant to the areas and communities it serves. On weekdays, the station's 6 am to 10 am breakfast show, 10 am to 2 pm morning show and 2 pm to 6 pm afternoon show are broadcast solely to the station's broadcast area. The station's Saturday and Sunday afternoon show is occupied by sports coverage under the ''BBC Radio Solent Sport'' banner. The Saturday evening 8 pm to 10 pm slot is occupied by the

BBC Music Introducing BBC Music Introducing is BBC Radio's platform supporting unsigned, undiscovered, and under-the-radar UK music talent. The backbone of that network consists of 32 BBC local radio shows on stations across England and the Channel Islands, various ...

programme which features music from new and up and coming artists from the local area. The show helped discover and launch the careers of

Wet Leg Wet Leg are an English indie rock band from the Isle of Wight, England, founded in 2019 by Rhian Teasdale (vocals, guitar) and Hester Chambers (guitar). The band also includes Josh Mobaraki (guitar, keyboards), Ellis Durand (bass) and Henry Ho ...

and has featured artists such as

Natives There is no generally accepted definition of Indigenous peoples, although in the 21st century the focus has been on self-identification, cultural difference from other groups in a state, a special relationship with their traditional territ ...

and Echotape. During the station's downtime, BBC Radio Solent 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 ...

between 1 am and 6am

Presenters

Notable past presenters

* Roger Day (DJ and presenter, left in 2012, now at

Boom Radio Boom Radio (also Boom Radio UK) is an independent, commercial, national radio station in the United Kingdom. Owned by Boom Radio Ltd, the station is aimed at baby boomers, the generation of people born between 1946 and 1964. Launched on 14 Febr ...

)Yandell, Chris (20 August 2012)
"Listener petition to save the Roger Day show on BBC Radio Solent"

Southern Daily Echo The ''Southern Daily Echo'', more commonly known as the ''Daily Echo'' or simply ''The Echo'', is a regional tabloid newspaper based in Southampton, covering the county of Hampshire in the United Kingdom. The newspaper is owned by Newsquest, on ...

. Retrieved 27 January 2018 *

Kenny Everett Kenny Everett (born Maurice James Christopher Cole; 25 December 1944 – 4 April 1995) was an English radio Disc Jockey, DJ and television entertainer, known for his zany comedic style. After spells on pirate radio and Radio Luxembourg in the m ...

(1972) *

Nick Girdler Nick Girdler is a freelance radio broadcaster who worked for BBC Radio Solent from 1972 until 2006 and again from 2009 until 2019. Following a short-lived retirement from 2006, on 3 June 2009, Radio Solent announced that he would be returning to ...

(1972–2006, 2009–2019) *

Nicky Horne Nicky Horne (born 3 September 1950) is an English DJ, who has worked for a variety of radio stations, including Capital London, Capital Radio, BBC Local Radio and Boom Radio. Career Horne worked as a road manager for Emperor Rosko in 1969, b ...

(left in 2019, now at Boom Radio) *

Simon Jupp Simon James Jupp (born 8 September 1985) is a British Conservative Party politician who was Member of Parliament (MP) for East Devon from the 2019 general election until the constituency was abolished in 2024. Early life and career Simon Ju ...

(former Member of Parliament for

East Devon East Devon is a local government district in Devon, England. Its council is based in the town of Honiton, although Exmouth is the largest town. The district also contains the towns of Axminster, Budleigh Salterton, Cranbrook, Ottery St M ...

) *

Andrew Peach Andrew Peach is a radio presenter and event host in the United Kingdom. He presents programmes on BBC Radio 4 such as '' Pick of the Week (radio)'' ''Business Matters'' and the ''Six O'Clock News''. On BBC World Service he hosts news program ...

(now at

) * John Piper (presented ''Piper's Tune'' throughout the 1970s, left to launch 2CR in

) *

Carolyn Quinn Carolyn Quinn (born 22 July 1961 in Camberwell, London) is a British journalist best known for her work on BBC Radio 4 as a political correspondent and for presenting the ''Today'' programme and '' PM''. Early life Quinn attended St Joseph's RC ...

(left to join

BBC Radio 4 BBC Radio 4 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. The station replaced the BBC Home Service on 30 September 1967 and broadcasts a wide variety of spoken-word programmes from the BBC's headquarters at Broadcasti ...

) * Richard Skinner (newsreader, left to join

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 1973) *

Sean Street Sean Street (born 2 June 1946, Waterlooville, Hampshire) is a writer, poet, broadcaster. and Britain's first Professor of Radio. He retired from full-time academic life in 2011 and was awarded an emeritus professorship by Bournemouth University. ...

(broadcaster, poet, writer, and Britain's first Professor of Radio) * Sally Taylor (presenter on

BBC South Today ''BBC South Today'' is the BBC's regional television news service for the south of England, covering Hampshire, Isle of Wight, Berkshire, Oxfordshire, West Sussex, much of Dorset and parts of Surrey and Wiltshire. The service is produced and bro ...

, worked for Radio Solent from 2006 to 2011) * Peter White (the BBC's Disability Affairs Correspondent, worked for Radio Solent from 1970 to 2006)

References

External links

* {{Radio stations in Hampshire Radio stations established in 1970

Radio stations in Hampshire Radio stations in the Isle of Wight Radio stations in Dorset Companies based in Hampshire Southampton 1970 establishments in England