Editing BBC Radio WM (section)

==History==
[[File:The Mailbox 01.jpg|left|thumb|[[Mailbox Birmingham|The Mailbox]], home to BBC Radio WM's studios in [[Birmingham]]]]
The station launched as BBC Radio Birmingham on 9 November 1970 and on 23 November 1981, the station changed its name to BBC WM to reflect that the station broadcasts to a wider area than just [[Birmingham]].<ref>[http://news.bbc.co.uk/local/birmingham/hi/tv_and_radio/newsid_8957000/8957168.stm ''BBC WM: The first 40 years'']</ref> This date also saw the station launch a second MW transmitter to improve MW reception in Birmingham.<ref>[https://transdiffusion.org/2024/11/23/radio-birmingham-new-name-new-look/ Radio Birmingham: New Name, New Look]</ref>

A short-lived service called WM Heartlands ran between early 1989 and 1991 serving the 'Heartlands' area of East Birmingham using the 1458 [[medium wave]] frequency. It ran as an experiment, opting out from 8 am until 12 am.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://forums.digitalspy.com/discussion/1593463/bbc-radio-wm-heartlands|title=BBC Radio WM Heartlands}}</ref> Further wavelength splitting took place later in 1989 when on 30 October 1989, the [[BBC Asian Network]] launched as a part time service on MW and in 1996, the Asian Network became a full time service. Consequently, at this point, BBC WM stopped broadcasting on MW.

In the 1990s, as an economic measure, BBC WM took over [[BBC CWR|BBC Coventry & Warwickshire]] in [[Coventry]] and [[Warwickshire]]. On 3 September 2005, CWR resumed the production of separate programming between 5 am and 10 pm each weekday (6 am to 6 pm at weekends).

Until 2004, BBC WM was broadcast from the [[Pebble Mill]] studios, in [[Edgbaston]].<ref name=40th>{{Cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/local/birmingham/hi/tv_and_radio/newsid_9168000/9168761.stm|quote=In November 1981 Radio Birmingham changed its name to BBC Radio WM (the 'Radio' was later dropped) to give a better reflection of the area it covered.|date=8 November 2010|publisher=BBC Birmingham|work=BBC News Online|title=BBC WM – 40th anniversary}}</ref> On 4 July that year, the station moved to the new BBC Birmingham city centre offices in [[The Mailbox]].<ref name=40th /> Its facilities include two broadcast studios, a talk studio, an operations and production area, and a studio shared with the BBC Asian Network.{{Citation needed|date=January 2011}}

===BBC Radio Wolverhampton===
[[File:BBC_Birmingham_1970s_logo.png|thumb|200px|BBC Radio Birmingham logo]]
On 15 January 2021, BBC Radio Wolverhampton launched as a temporary sister station. The service provided eight hours of opt-out programming for listeners in [[Wolverhampton]] and the surrounding area each weekday until 31 March 2021.<ref>{{Cite web|title=BBC Radio in Wolverhampton is changing on Friday 15th January 2021 {{!}} Help receiving TV and radio|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/reception/work-warning/news/waw-bbc-radio-wolverhampton-150121|access-date=2021-01-16|website=www.bbc.co.uk}}</ref>