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

Lancashire Lancashire ( , ; abbreviated Lancs) is the name of a Historic counties of England, historic county, Ceremonial County, ceremonial county, and non-metropolitan county in North West England. The boundaries of these three areas differ significa ...

. It broadcasts on FM, AM, 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 Darwen Street in

Blackburn Blackburn () is an industrial town and the administrative centre of the Blackburn with Darwen borough in Lancashire, England. The town is north of the West Pennine Moors on the southern edge of the Ribble Valley, east of Preston and nort ...

. 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 139,000 listeners and a 4.4% share as of September 2022.

Transmitters

The 103.9 FM signal comes high on the Winter Hill transmitter, and its height gives it the greatest coverage over Lancashire. North Manchester, although nearby, can also pick up the signal. Winter Hill also carries national radio (including

BBC National DAB BBC National DAB is a digital audio broadcasting multiplex in the UK, for a number of radio stations which have UK wide coverage. The multiplex is owned and operated by the BBC and is transmitted from a number of transmitter sites across the c ...

), TV,

Digital One Digital One is a national commercial digital radio multiplex in the United Kingdom, owned by Arqiva. , the multiplex covered more than 90% of the population from 137 transmitters. Coverage was extended to Northern Ireland in July 2013. It cont ...

, and the commercial stations

Heart North West Heart North West is a regional radio station owned and operated by Global as part of the Heart network. It broadcasts to North West England from studios in the Spinningfields area of Manchester city centre. Overview Century Radio (1998–2009) ...

(formerly 105.4 Real Radio), Rock FM (formerly Red Rose Radio) on 97.4FM and

Smooth North West Smooth North West is a regional radio station owned by Communicorp UK and operated by Global as part of the Smooth network. The station broadcasts to the North West of England from studios at Spinningfields in Manchester. History GMG Radio o ...

on 100.4FM. Winter Hill also broadcasts two other local digital multiplexes –

MXR North West MXR North West was a regional commercial digital radio multiplex in the United Kingdom, which served the North West of England. The multiplex closed on 24 September 2013 after the shareholders Global Radio & Arqiva Arqiva () is a British te ...

12C and CE Digital Manchester 11C (it is a digital transmitter for Radio Manchester). Radio Manchester is very clear in the south of Lancashire as is Radio Merseyside. The Lancaster transmitter also carries TV,

stations and

. Beginning on 1 October 2001, the DAB signals have come from the EMAP Digital

Central Lancashire Central Lancashire is an area of Lancashire, England. Central Lancashire New Town Central Lancashire New Town was the largest of the post-war English new towns, designated in 1970 and covering : the County Borough of Preston, parts of Chorley, ...

12A multiplex located at Winter Hill and Pendle Forest (near

Nelson Nelson may refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''Nelson'' (1918 film), a historical film directed by Maurice Elvey * ''Nelson'' (1926 film), a historical film directed by Walter Summers * ''Nelson'' (opera), an opera by Lennox Berkeley to a lib ...

). Pendle Forest also started broadcasting

stations in April 2004. In addition, BBC Radio Lancashire also broadcasts on Freeview TV channel 720 in the

BBC North West BBC North West is the BBC English Region serving Cheshire, Greater Manchester, Lancashire, Merseyside, North Yorkshire (western Craven), West Yorkshire (western Calderdale), Derbyshire (western High Peak), Cumbria (Barrow-in-Furness and Sou ...

region and streams online via

. Until 17 May 2021, BBC Radio Lancashire had also broadcast on MW.

Programming

Local programming is produced and broadcast from the BBC's Blackburn studios from 6am – 10pm on Sundays – Fridays and from 6am – 2am on Saturdays. The late show, airing from 10pm – 1am, is simulcast with

BBC Radio Cumbria BBC Radio Cumbria is the BBC's local radio station serving the county of Cumbria. It broadcasts on FM, AM, DAB, digital TV and via BBC Sounds from studios in Carlisle. According to RAJAR, the station has a weekly audience of 71,000 listener ...

on Monday - Thursday, and originates from

BBC Radio Merseyside BBC Radio Merseyside is the BBC's local radio station serving Merseyside. It broadcasts on FM, DAB, digital TV and via BBC Sounds, from studios on Hanover Street in Liverpool. According to RAJAR, the station has a weekly audience of 203,000 ...

on Fridays and

BBC Radio Manchester BBC Radio Manchester is the BBC's local radio station serving Greater Manchester. It broadcasts on FM, DAB, digital TV and via BBC Sounds from studios at MediaCityUK in Salford Quays. According to RAJAR, the station has a weekly audience of ...

on Saturdays and Sundays. During the station's downtime, BBC Radio Lancashire 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 former presenters

Jim Bowen James Brown Whittaker (born Peter Williams; 20 August 1937 – 14 March 2018), known professionally as Jim Bowen, was an English stand-up comedian, actor and television personality. He was the long-time host of the ITV game show '' Bullseye'', ...

(deceased) *

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 ...

* Tony Livesey (now at BBC Radio 5 Live) * Andy Peebles * Martin Roberts (afterwards on ''Homes Under the Hammer'') *

Norman Thomas Norman Mattoon Thomas (November 20, 1884 – December 19, 1968) was an American Presbyterian minister who achieved fame as a socialist, pacifist, and six-time presidential candidate for the Socialist Party of America. Early years Thomas was the ...

References

Audio clips

2001 jingle
* Some old jingles and clips. {{coord, 53.747017, -2.483042, display=title, region:GB_type:landmark Radio stations established in 1971

Radio stations in Lancashire 1971 establishments in England

Transmitters

Programming

Notable former presenters

References

External links

Audio clips