BBC Radio Cornwall
BBC Radio Cornwall is the BBC's local radio station serving the county of Cornwall.
Broadcast area | Cornwall |
---|---|
Frequency | FM: 95.2 MHz (East Cornwall) FM: 96.0 MHz (Isles of Scilly) FM: 103.9 MHz (West Cornwall) DAB: 11B Freeview: 721 |
RDS | BBC CNWL |
Programming | |
Language(s) | English, Cornish |
Format | Local news, talk and music |
Ownership | |
Owner | BBC Local Radio, BBC South West |
History | |
First air date | 17 January 1983 |
Former frequencies | 630 MW 657 MW |
Technical information | |
Licensing authority | Ofcom |
Links | |
Website | BBC Radio Cornwall |
It broadcasts on FM, DAB, digital TV and via BBC Sounds from studios at Phoenix Wharf in Truro.
According to RAJAR, the station has a weekly audience of 103,000 listeners and a 14.2% share as of October 2023.[1]
Overview
Until 1983, local radio services for Cornwall had amounted to a regional weekday breakfast show Morning Sou'West on the frequencies of BBC Radio 4 in Devon and Cornwall plus five-minute regional bulletins on Saturday mornings and Mondays to Saturdays at lunchtime and teatime. There was no regional output of any kind on Sundays. The regional programming ended on 31 December 1982.
Just under three weeks later, on 17 January 1983, BBC Radio Cornwall and BBC Radio Devon launched although for their first few on air they shared an afternoon programme with BBC Radio Devon. Programming hours gradually expanded and now BBC Radio Cornwall broadcasts up to 16 hours a day of local programming.
BBC Radio Cornwall can be heard on 95.2 MHz in the east, 96.0 MHz on the Isles of Scilly and 103.9 MHz in the west, as well as on DAB. It was also broadcast on 630 kHz and 657 kHz AM until 2 March 2020, when those transmitters were closed for cost savings.[2]
The station also broadcasts on Freeview TV channel 721 in the BBC South West region and streams online via BBC Sounds.
Programming
Local programming is produced and broadcast from the BBC's Truro studios from 6 am to 10 pm on weekdays, from 6 am to 1 am on Saturdays and from 6 am to 2 pm on Sundays.
Daniel Pascoe's show (Saturdays 6 pm to 8 pm) and his BBC Introducing show (Saturdays 8 pm to 10 pm) are both broadcast to BBC Radio Devon and BBC Radio Somerset
David White's Boogie Wonderland show used to be broadcast on Saturdays between 10 pm to 1 am and was also broadcast to stations in the BBC South West and BBC West regions. This programme ended on October 7th 2023 due the BBC cutbacks.
Off-peak programming, including the Sunday late show from 10 pm to 1 am, originates from BBC Radio Devon in Plymouth. The weekday late show from 10 pm to 1 am originates from BBC Radio Gloucestershire in Gloucester
During the station's downtime, BBC Radio Cornwall simulcasts overnight programming from BBC Radio 5 Live and BBC Radio London.
Cornish language output
Radio Cornwall is one of two radio stations to have broadcast programmes in the Cornish language. A five-minute news show, An Nowodhow, used to be broadcast every Sunday.[3][4]
When Radio Cornwall was first set up Cornish language content was limited to around 2 minutes per week. In 1987, a new weekly 15-minute-long bilingual show, Kroeder Kroghan, detailing Celtic cultural events taking place in Cornwall, was introduced.[5]
Presenters
Notable past presenters
See also
References
- "RAJAR". RAJAR. Retrieved 26 October 2023.
- "BBC Blog - Further changes to some BBC local radio medium wave services". BBC. 13 January 2020. Archived from the original on 14 May 2020. Retrieved 5 March 2021.
- Diarmuid O'Néill, Rebuilding the Celtic Languages: reversing language shift in the Celtic countries, 2005
- John T. Koch, Celtic Culture: a historical encyclopedia, 2006
- Martin John Ball, James Fife, The Celtic Languages, 1993