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

Kent Kent is a county in South East England and one of the home counties. It borders Greater London to the north-west, Surrey to the west and East Sussex to the south-west, and Essex to the north across the estuary of the River Thames; it faces ...

. It broadcasts on FM,

DAB DAB, dab, dabs, or dabbing may refer to: Dictionaries * '' Dictionary of American Biography'', published under the auspices of the American Council of Learned Societies * ''Dictionary of Australian Biography'', published since 1949 Places * Dą ...

, 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 tabl ...

from studios at The Great Hall in

Tunbridge Wells Royal Tunbridge Wells is a town in Kent, England, southeast of central London. It lies close to the border with East Sussex on the northern edge of the High Weald, whose sandstone geology is exemplified by the rock formation High Rocks. T ...

. According to RAJAR, the station has a weekly audience of 192,000 listeners and a 3.0% share as of September 2022.

History

The radio station was launched in 1970 under the name of BBC Radio Medway, originally only serving the Medway Towns. It broadcast from studios at 30 High Street in Rochester, a former newspaper office which was subsequently named Media House. The local radio station became well known in the early 1980s for its early Friday evening soul music show presented by DJ Dave Brown, becoming one of the most listened to soul shows in the UK before DJ Robbie Vincent earned that achievement with the national broadcaster BBC Radio 1 in 1983. The station gained its current name on 2 July 1983 when operations expanded to cover all of Kent as part of the BBC's policy of operating countywide stations. Radio Medway was closed down by long serving staff member Rod Lucas, who was also the first voice to be heard on the new BBC Radio Kent. In July 1986, the studios moved to the nearby Sun Pier, from where it broadcast in

stereo Stereophonic sound, or more commonly stereo, is a method of sound reproduction that recreates a multi-directional, 3-dimensional audible perspective. This is usually achieved by using two independent audio channels through a configuration ...

for the first time. On 18 March 1994, BBC Radio Kent stopped broadcasting on 1035 kHz MW due to the frequency being reallocated to a new London-wide commercial radio station. In 2001, the station moved to The Great Hall in

Royal Tunbridge Wells Royal Tunbridge Wells is a town in Kent, England, southeast of central London. It lies close to the border with East Sussex on the northern edge of the High Weald, whose sandstone geology is exemplified by the rock formation High Rocks ...

, to combine with new television studios for the

BBC South East BBC South East is the BBC English region serving Kent, East Sussex, most parts of West Sussex and southern parts of Surrey. The BBC region was created in September 2001 by the joining of the Heathfield transmitter (formerly part of the BB ...

region covering Kent and Sussex. From here BBC Radio Kent operates a total of five studios – two for programmes, one for news bulletins, one network contributions area, and a comprehensive live performance area. Since gaining the live performance area, live music has played an increasingly important part of the station's output. The music studio is in use daily as part of the evening arts strand "The Dominic King Show". In 2015, under the direction of a new Station Managing Editor, the station created a comprehensive Station Imaging Creative Department. Organised more along the lines of a commercial stations Creative Department, it is responsible for trails, idents and jingles. The three person department also undertook creative imaging for shared programmes originating from Tunbridge Wells, as well as providing trails for other stations in the South East cluster. Other Local BBC Radio usually has a single Station Sound producer, not a whole department. BBC Radio Kent also operated a studio and office in The Wendy House (a building close to the original Sun Pier site in Chatham), although this has since closed, and small contributions studios in

Dover Dover () is a town and major ferry port in Kent, South East England. It faces France across the Strait of Dover, the narrowest part of the English Channel at from Cap Gris Nez in France. It lies south-east of Canterbury and east of Maids ...

and

Canterbury Canterbury (, ) is a cathedral city and UNESCO World Heritage Site, situated in the heart of the City of Canterbury local government district of Kent, England. It lies on the River Stour. The Archbishop of Canterbury is the primate of t ...

Programming

Local programming airs from the BBC's Tunbridge studios from 6am to 10pm on weekdays, from 6am – 6pm and 8-10pm on Saturdays and from 6am – 6pm on Sundays. Off-peak programming, including the weekday late show from 10pm – 1am, originates from BBC Radio Solent in Southampton and BBC Essex in Chelmsford. During the station's downtime, BBC Radio Kent simulcasts overnight programming from

BBC Radio 5 Live BBC Radio 5 Live is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC that broadcasts mainly news, sport, discussion, interviews and phone-ins. It is the principal BBC radio station Broadcasting of sports events, covering sport in ...

and

BBC Radio London BBC Radio London is the Local BBC Radio, 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 broadcasting, FM frequency, Digital Audio Broadcasting, DAB, ...

Notable former presenters

Jimmy Mack "Jimmy Mack" is a pop/soul song that in 1967 became a hit single by Martha and the Vandellas for Motown's Gordy imprint. Written and produced by Motown's main creative team, Holland–Dozier–Holland, "Jimmy Mack" was the final Top 10 pop hit ...

(1970–1983) *

Don Durbridge Don Durbridge (13 January 1939 – 9 June 2012) was a UK radio presenter who started his career on the BBC Light Programme, and subsequently worked on the British Forces Broadcasting Service, and on BBC Radio 2,. He also broadcast for many year ...

(1983–1992) * Mo Dutta (1991–1994) *

Barbara Sturgeon Barbara Sturgeon is a British radio presenter and winner of two Sony Radio Awards for a show she presented on BBC Radio Kent during the 1980s. Sturgeon subsequently presented an early weekend morning programme for BBC Radio 2 in 1992/93, but ret ...

(1983–2004) * Dave Cash (1999–2016) * Alex Lester (2017) *

Richard Spendlove Richard Spendlove MBE (born 16 June 1939) is a retired British radio presenter/producer television writer. Life and work Spendlove was born in Carlton in Nottinghamshire. He worked for British Railways for 35 years, and in 1963 was appointed ...

(1989–2017)

References

External links

BBC Radio Kent

BBC Kent local homepage

Media UK – BBC Radio Kent
{{Coord, 51.130235, 0.263537, type:landmark_region:GB-KEN_scale:500000, display=title Radio stations established in 1970

Radio stations in Kent Borough of Tunbridge Wells 1970 establishments in England