On Monday 30 March, BBC Southern Counties Radio listeners will be waking up to a new name for the station. BBC Surrey is the new name for Southern Counties Radio in Surrey and North East Hampshire, broadcasting on 104.0 and 104.6 FM. Listeners in Sussex will hear BBC Sussex on 93.5, 104.5 and 104.8 FM.
Explaining the decision to rename the station, Managing Editor Nicci Holliday said: “The move from SCR to BBC Surrey and BBC Sussex is part of the BBC’s efforts to better reflect the needs of our communities. This announcement marks the culmination of a yearlong project for our station developing content that is relevant to the two very distinct counties we serve. It also fits in with the roll out of the new branding for the whole BBC Local Radio service.
“We now provide dedicated weekday breakfast and drive time programmes for listeners in Surrey as well their own specific travel service and news bulletins. Plus sports fans can also follow their local teams on the split frequencies.
“Anyone familiar with the station’s history will know that BBC Sussex and BBC Surrey are not new names. However, unlike previous arrangements, the name change announced today acknowledges that both should be equal while recognising the counties’ individual personalities.”
(Source: BBC)
on Mar 8th, 2009 at 09:31
I live in the area served by Southern Counties Radio and as local radio stations go it is just awful! A few years ago they sacked most of their good presenters and replaced them with a selection of amateurs who are totally uninspiring. I only listen to the local news on the hour and, if I can, to the great Roger Twiggy Day who takes over at 7pm. Rather than rebranding they ought to put it out of its misery and shut it down!
on Mar 11th, 2009 at 09:49
I too live in the area. The decision is totally illogical. When BBC Radio Surrey and BBC Radio Sussex merged to form SCR they have a combined total of around 300,000 listeners. With the change they dropped the music content, sold of their vinyl library and lost over 50,000 listeners. In recent years they’ve dropped many good presenters as the BBC tries to pitch BBC local radio to gain a ‘younger’ audience (i.e. less than 60/50 yrs)
They have never been ‘equal’. BBC Surrey was by far the younger of the two with 1 listener to every 5 of BBC Sussex which traces back its history to BBC Radio Brighton.
Are they going to do a repeat of BBC Thames Valley? Which when split back into ther former respective parts BBC Berkshire / Oxford actually shared a lot of programming but branded under different titles on the respective stations.
I would have kept SCR as it is and used any additional budget on programming.
on Mar 13th, 2009 at 15:33
I totally agree with the two previous comments. I’d really like to see an authentic breakdown of listener profile within the BBC Southern Counties area. I’ve no axe to grind regarding programmes for younger listeners (served with BFBS Radio for over 35 years), but there are several local commercial stations meeting their needs. Agree that the good presenters have gone from SCR and the station often sounds like a poor attempt at campus radio. Solid local-issue documentaries and features presented by credible people and balanced by a fair sprinkling of local interest and ‘village pump’ stuff is needed. Thanks, Graham Foy, for some interesting statistics….
on Mar 13th, 2009 at 16:07
Actual listening figures for the last four quarters are in thousands 305, 282, 212 and 277. (source RAJAR)
As to the claim that the BBC is trying to “pitch BBC local radio to gain a ‘younger’ audience (i.e. less than 60/50 yrs)” the service licence states that:
The remit of BBC Local Radio is to provide a primarily speech-based service of news,
information and debate to urban and rural communities. Speech output should be
complemented by music.
The target audience should be listeners aged 50 and over, who are not well-served
elsewhere. There should be a strong emphasis on interactivity and audience
involvement.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/bbctrust/framework/bbc_service_licences/radio.html#part-11
on Mar 19th, 2009 at 09:41
Let\’s wait to see how the audiences compares between the two new operations. My guess is that Sussex will have at least 4 listenners for every 1 to Surrey. I suspect that overall over the years not much has changed in terms of audience impact.
on Apr 21st, 2010 at 14:01
Do you not think that maybe there are maybe more listeners in Sussex than Surrey because Surrey has better rivalling stations such as local station The Eagle and they can pick up Capital FM? I think the change has made better for the sport shows because it allows them to have a stronger sport identity and in regards to breakfast and drive time, local news and presenters now truly are local.