The station was launched as BBC Wiltshire Sound on 4 April 1989, with its main studios and headquarters in Prospect Place, Swindon. The station was not initially titled 'BBC Radio Wiltshire' because at that time its competitor GWR owned the trademark of 'Wiltshire' and 'Radio' in whatever combination.[2]
The first presenter heard on air was Paul Chantler. The early logo of the station featured the White Horse at Westbury. BBC Wiltshire Sound had a reputation for solid local programming focusing on news and information.
From 1991 to 1994, the station's Programme Editor was Mike Gray, who left to found the successful Kiss 102 and Kiss 105 radio stations in Manchester and Yorkshire. Amongst Gray's innovations was giving 17-year-old Swindon student Mark Franklin his own programmes, which led to him being spotted and hired as a presenter on Top of the Pops. Other specialist music presenters at the time included jazz singer Rosemary Squires.
One of BBC Wiltshire Sound's best-known features was the long-running soap opera Acrebury, in which all the characters were voiced by presenter and actor Gerry Hughes, for which he was awarded a Guinness World Record.[citation needed] The city of Salisbury was given its own breakfast show for a time, due to its distance from Swindon. Both the Salisbury breakfast show and Acrebury were discontinued as part of a virtual relaunch of the station in 2000. Along with a number of presenter departures, the changes led to listener protests at the station's headquarters and unflattering headlines in the local newspaper.[citation needed]
The 2000 relaunch gave listeners in Swindon separate programmes from the rest of the county, introduced in response to the rapid growth of the town and its new unitary authority status. New presenters brought in for the Swindon programmes included Dan Chisholm and Peter Heaton-Jones.
BBC Radio Wiltshire and BBC Radio Swindon (2002–2008)
On 11 November 2002, the separation was enhanced when the station was effectively split into two services: BBC Radio Swindon, covering the town and surrounding areas, and BBC Radio Wiltshire for the rest of the county. Originally the two stations had their own programmes for most of the day, but by 2007, following a number of schedule changes and presenter departures, only the breakfast shows remained separate, with all other programmes simulcast on both stations.
BBC Wiltshire (2008–2020)
On 21 April 2008, exactly 19 years after the original launch, the two stations effectively merged again and became a single entity branded as BBC Wiltshire. This became the umbrella name for the radio station and online service, in common with branding policy across most of the BBC local radio network. Swindon initially retained its own breakfast show, for which the branding Swindon's BBC Wiltshire was used. Currently all programmes across the week are broadcast on all BBC Wiltshire frequencies with no separate opt-outs.
BBC Radio Wiltshire (2020-present)
BBC Radio Wiltshire logo used from 2020 to 2022.
On 9 March 2020 the station reverted to BBC Radio Wiltshire again, in order to fit the station name in to the new jingle package.
Transmission
Radio studios on Victoria Hill, Swindon
BBC Radio Wiltshire broadcasts from its studios in Swindon on FM frequencies 103.5 (Newton Barrow, near A360, 5 miles northwest of Salisbury), 103.6 (Blunsdon, next to the A419, north of Swindon), 104.3 (Naish Hill, near A342 4 miles west of Calne, for west Wiltshire), 104.9 (Marlborough for east Wiltshire); on DAB; Freeview (channel 721); and via BBC Sounds.
Programming
Local programming is produced and broadcast from the BBC's Swindon studios from 6am – 10pm on Sundays – Fridays and from 6am – 6pm on Saturdays.
Off-peak programming, including the late show from 10pm – 1am, originates from BBC Radio Gloucestershire and BBC Radio Devon. BBC Introducing in the West is presented from BBC Radio Wiltshire's Swindon studios. Sunday afternoon programming is shared between BBC Radio Gloucestershire and BBC Radio Wiltshire.
radio, wiltshire, local, radio, station, serving, english, county, wiltshire, broadcasts, digital, sounds, from, studios, prospect, place, swindon, swindonbroadcast, areawiltshirefrequency103, south, wiltshire, swindon, west, wiltshire, marlborough, west, wilt. BBC Radio Wiltshire is the BBC s local radio station serving the English county of Wiltshire It broadcasts on FM DAB digital TV and via BBC Sounds from studios at Prospect Place in Swindon BBC Radio WiltshireSwindonBroadcast areaWiltshireFrequency103 5 FM South Wiltshire 103 6 FM Swindon 104 3 FM West Wiltshire 104 9 FM Marlborough DAB 10D West Wiltshire DAB 11C Swindon DAB 8B Salisbury Freeview 721RDSBBC WLTSProgrammingLanguage s EnglishFormatLocal news talk and musicOwnershipOwnerBBC Local Radio BBC West BBC SouthHistoryFirst air date4 April 1989 1989 04 04 LinksWebsitewww wbr bbc wbr co wbr uk wbr bbcwiltshire wbr According to RAJAR the station had a weekly audience of 64 000 and a 1 6 share as of September 2022 1 Contents 1 History 1 1 BBC Wiltshire Sound 1989 2002 1 2 BBC Radio Wiltshire and BBC Radio Swindon 2002 2008 1 3 BBC Wiltshire 2008 2020 1 4 BBC Radio Wiltshire 2020 present 2 Transmission 3 Programming 4 References 5 External linksHistory EditBBC Wiltshire Sound 1989 2002 Edit The station was launched as BBC Wiltshire Sound on 4 April 1989 with its main studios and headquarters in Prospect Place Swindon The station was not initially titled BBC Radio Wiltshire because at that time its competitor GWR owned the trademark of Wiltshire and Radio in whatever combination 2 The first presenter heard on air was Paul Chantler The early logo of the station featured the White Horse at Westbury BBC Wiltshire Sound had a reputation for solid local programming focusing on news and information From 1991 to 1994 the station s Programme Editor was Mike Gray who left to found the successful Kiss 102 and Kiss 105 radio stations in Manchester and Yorkshire Amongst Gray s innovations was giving 17 year old Swindon student Mark Franklin his own programmes which led to him being spotted and hired as a presenter on Top of the Pops Other specialist music presenters at the time included jazz singer Rosemary Squires One of BBC Wiltshire Sound s best known features was the long running soap opera Acrebury in which all the characters were voiced by presenter and actor Gerry Hughes for which he was awarded a Guinness World Record citation needed The city of Salisbury was given its own breakfast show for a time due to its distance from Swindon Both the Salisbury breakfast show and Acrebury were discontinued as part of a virtual relaunch of the station in 2000 Along with a number of presenter departures the changes led to listener protests at the station s headquarters and unflattering headlines in the local newspaper citation needed The 2000 relaunch gave listeners in Swindon separate programmes from the rest of the county introduced in response to the rapid growth of the town and its new unitary authority status New presenters brought in for the Swindon programmes included Dan Chisholm and Peter Heaton Jones BBC Radio Wiltshire and BBC Radio Swindon 2002 2008 Edit On 11 November 2002 the separation was enhanced when the station was effectively split into two services BBC Radio Swindon covering the town and surrounding areas and BBC Radio Wiltshire for the rest of the county Originally the two stations had their own programmes for most of the day but by 2007 following a number of schedule changes and presenter departures only the breakfast shows remained separate with all other programmes simulcast on both stations BBC Wiltshire 2008 2020 Edit On 21 April 2008 exactly 19 years after the original launch the two stations effectively merged again and became a single entity branded as BBC Wiltshire This became the umbrella name for the radio station and online service in common with branding policy across most of the BBC local radio network Swindon initially retained its own breakfast show for which the branding Swindon s BBC Wiltshire was used Currently all programmes across the week are broadcast on all BBC Wiltshire frequencies with no separate opt outs BBC Radio Wiltshire 2020 present Edit BBC Radio Wiltshire logo used from 2020 to 2022 On 9 March 2020 the station reverted to BBC Radio Wiltshire again in order to fit the station name in to the new jingle package Transmission Edit Radio studios on Victoria Hill Swindon BBC Radio Wiltshire broadcasts from its studios in Swindon on FM frequencies 103 5 Newton Barrow near A360 5 miles northwest of Salisbury 103 6 Blunsdon next to the A419 north of Swindon 104 3 Naish Hill near A342 4 miles west of Calne for west Wiltshire 104 9 Marlborough for east Wiltshire on DAB Freeview channel 721 and via BBC Sounds Programming EditLocal programming is produced and broadcast from the BBC s Swindon studios from 6am 10pm on Sundays Fridays and from 6am 6pm on Saturdays Off peak programming including the late show from 10pm 1am originates from BBC Radio Gloucestershire and BBC Radio Devon BBC Introducing in the West is presented from BBC Radio Wiltshire s Swindon studios Sunday afternoon programming is shared between BBC Radio Gloucestershire and BBC Radio Wiltshire During the station s downtime BBC Radio Wiltshire simulcasts overnight programming from BBC Radio 5 Live and BBC Radio London References Edit Quarterly Listening All Individuals 15 RAJAR June 2022 Retrieved 26 September 2022 BBC Wiltshire History A history of the BBC in WiltshireExternal links EditOfficial website A history of the BBC in Wiltshire BBC 2014 BBC Radio Wiltshire media info History of local radio in Wiltshire geocities com archived in 2004 Coordinates 51 33 14 N 1 46 39 W 51 5539 N 1 7776 W 51 5539 1 7776 Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title BBC Radio Wiltshire amp oldid 1131601808, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
