BBC Radio Leeds

BBC Radio Leeds

City of license	Leeds
Broadcast area	West Yorkshire
Slogan	Proud to be Yorkshire
Frequency	FM: 92.4, 95.3, 102.7, 103.9 MHz MW: 774 kHz DAB: 11B (Bradford/Huddersfield) 12D (Leeds) RDS: BBCLEEDS
First air date	24 June 1968
Format	Local news, talk and music
Language(s)	English
Audience share	4.4% (September 2014, [1])
Owner	BBC Local Radio, BBC Yorkshire
Website	BBC Radio Leeds

BBC Radio Leeds is the BBC Local Radio service for the English metropolitan county of West Yorkshire.

Frequencies

BBC Radio Leeds broadcasts from studios at St. Peters Square in Leeds on 92.4 (Holme Moss), 95.3 (Luddenden, two miles west of Halifax & Wharfedale, two miles north of Otley), 102.7 (Keighley, on Rombalds Moor near Riddlesden) 103.9 (Beecroft Hill, in Bramley near Leeds) FM, 774 (New Farnley, near the A58) AM and DAB.

Transmitters

BBC Yorkshire studios on St Peters Square in Leeds. BBC Radio Leeds is broadcast from here.

Initially, Radio Leeds had a low powered transmitter in Meanwood Park, on 94.6 MHz.^[2] This was at a time when VHF receivers were not widespread, and the station covered Leeds exclusively (and was funded by Leeds City Council, rather than the licence fee) instead of West Yorkshire as a whole.

The main VHF/FM transmitter moved to Holme Moss on 92.4 MHz, covering most of West Yorkshire. Unusually, this transmitter also transmits neighbouring services Radio Manchester and Radio Sheffield from separate directional aerials on the mast.

Radio Leeds is also carried on the Wharfedale and Luddenden relay transmitters on 95.3 MHz, from Keighley on 102.7 and from Beecroft Hill (West Leeds) on 103.9 MHz to fill in areas which are screened from Holme Moss by the topology of the area. The medium wave service on 774 kHz is transmitted from Farnley (also known as Leeds MF). The MW service was added when the Radio Leeds service area was expanded to cover the whole of West Yorkshire.

Since 2001, Radio Leeds has also been carried on the Bauer Leeds DAB multiplex, and since October 2002, on the Bradford & Huddersfield Multiplex. Live streaming is available from the station's website.

Studios

Along with BBC Yorkshire's television output, the station moved in 2004 from the old studios on Woodhouse Lane to a new broadcasting centre in St Peter's Square, near the West Yorkshire Playhouse.

Until 2012, the station also ran offices and studios at the National Media Museum in Bradford, where the public could see programmes being broadcast. Radio Leeds also operated district newsrooms and contribution studios in Wakefield, at Dean Clough in Halifax and at Huddersfield Town Hall.

Programming

The majority of the station's programming is produced and broadcast from Leeds, including the networked evening shows for BBC Local Radio on weekday evenings (produced independently by Wire Free Productions) and regional programming simulcast on BBC Radio Sheffield and BBC Radio York.

The station's presenters include Liz Green, Richard Stead, Martin Kelner, Andrew Edwards, Johnny I'Anson, Mark Forrest and Russell Walker.

During the station's downtime, BBC Radio Leeds simulcasts BBC Radio 5 Live overnight.

Sports coverage

A BBC Radio Leeds vehicle as seen at Headingley Stadium during a one day cricket match in 2009.

BBC Radio Leeds broadcasts commentaries on many football and rugby league games involving Leeds United, Bradford City, Huddersfield Town, Leeds Rhinos, Bradford Bulls, Huddersfield Giants, Wakefield Trinity Wildcats and Castleford Tigers.

Match commentaries on Leeds United's home games ended in 2008 when the club awarded the rights to its own in-house digital radio station Yorkshire Radio, but following its closure in July 2013, Radio Leeds resumed live coverage of home games at Elland Road.^[3]

Management

Managing Editor: Sanjiv Buttoo
Assistant Editor: Layla Painter

References

External links

• BBC Radio Leeds
• The history of BBC Radio Leeds