Editing BBC Local Radio (section)

==History==
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[[File:BBC Local Radio logo.png|thumb|200px|Former BBC Local Radio logo, used from 2008 to 2020]]
The popularity of [[Pirate radio in the United Kingdom|pirate radio]] was to challenge a then very "stiff" and blinkered management at the BBC. The most prominent concession by the BBC was the creation of [[BBC Radio 1]] to satisfy the ever-demanding new youth culture with their thirst for new, popular music. The other, however, was that these pirate radio stations were, in some cases, local. As a result, BBC Local Radio began as an experiment.

Initially, stations had to be co-funded by the BBC and [[Local government in England|local authorities]], which only some [[Labour Party (UK)|Labour]]-controlled areas proved willing to do. [[BBC Radio Leicester|Radio Leicester]] was the first to launch on 8 November 1967, followed by [[BBC Radio Leeds|Leeds]], [[BBC Radio Stoke|Stoke]], [[BBC Radio Durham|Durham]], [[BBC Radio Sheffield|Sheffield]], [[BBC Radio Merseyside|Merseyside]], [[BBC Sussex|Brighton]], and [[BBC Radio Nottingham|Nottingham]]. The local authority funding requirement was dropped by the early 1970s, and stations spread across the country; many city-based stations later expanded their remit to cover an entire county.<ref name=NewStatesman>{{cite news|author=David Self|date=28 February 2005|url=http://www.NewStatesman.com/200502280033|title=Meet Dave 'n' Sue|website=New Statesman|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111125045408/http://www.newstatesman.com/200502280033|archive-date=25 November 2011}}</ref>

There were eight stations in the initial "experiment", which lasted for two years. When this ended, it was deemed so successful that all of the stations, except BBC Radio Durham, remained on air. More followed in 1970 and 1971: [[BBC Radio  WM|BBC Radio Birmingham]], [[BBC Radio Bristol|Bristol]], [[BBC Radio Blackburn|Blackburn]], [[BBC Radio Derby|Derby]], [[BBC Radio Humberside|Humberside]], [[BBC Radio London|London]], [[BBC Radio Manchester|Manchester]], [[BBC Radio Kent|Medway]], [[BBC Radio Newcastle|Newcastle]] (replacing Radio Durham), [[BBC Radio Oxford|Oxford]], [[BBC Radio Solent|Solent]], and [[BBC Tees|Teesside]].<ref name=UKradiohistoryP2>{{cite web|author=Mike Smith|year=2005–2016|title=UK Radio: A Brief History Part 2|url=http://www.MDS975.co.uk/Content/ukradio2.html|website=MDS975.co.uk|publisher=MDS975|access-date=2 August 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160504202423/http://www.mds975.co.uk/Content/ukradio2.html|archive-date=4 May 2016|url-status=dead}}</ref>

Despite the success of this, the original stations were seen as flawed, as they originally only broadcast on the [[FM broadcasting|FM waveband]], and not on the more widely available [[AM broadcasting|AM waveband]]. This was eventually rectified a few years after the creation of these new channels.<ref name=UKradiohistoryP2/>

[[Independent Local Radio]] (ILR) launched nationally in 1973, with nineteen stations; more followed in subsequent years. As a result, many of the BBC Local Radio stations found themselves in direct competition with commercial competitors that utilised many of the popular [[Disc jockey|DJs]] from the pirate radio stations, and that gained, in most cases, large audiences. Despite this, BBC Local Radio continued to flourish, and the 1980s and early 1990s saw the network expanded with a combination of new launches and existing city-based services expanded to include whole counties. By the mid-1990s this expansion concluded and since then, the complement of stations has remained unchanged.<ref>{{cite web|author=Mike Smith|year=2005–2016|title=UK Radio: A Brief History Part 3|url=http://www.MDS975.co.uk/Content/ukradio3.html|website=MDS975.co.uk|publisher=MDS975|access-date=2 August 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160504202350/http://www.mds975.co.uk/Content/ukradio3.html|archive-date=4 May 2016|url-status=dead}}</ref>

BBC Local stations were never intended to broadcast around the clock but from launch, rather than each station's frequency going silent, each station has carried another BBC station when not on air. Until the early 1990s [[BBC Radio 2]] was carried due to it broadcasting a 24-hour service, although during the 1980s and early 1990s some stations carried output from [[BBC Radio 1]] at various times, such as simulcasting [[The Official Chart|Radio 1's Top 40 programme]] on Sunday afternoons. During the mid-1990s many stations switched to airing the [[BBC World Service]] and by the end of the 1990s all stations were carrying [[BBC Radio 5 Live]] during their downtime.

The 1980s also saw an expansion of programming hours but stations had still handed over to Radio 2 by early evening. This was seen as unacceptable by the BBC so the decision was taken to begin the roll-out of regional evening programming which saw the same programme networked on all the stations in that area. Consequently, by the end of the 1980s, stations were now providing local/regional programming on weeknights, and in many areas at the weekend as well, until midnight.