BBC Radio Solent

Southampton and Dorchester
Broadcast area	Hampshire, Dorset and the Isle of Wight
Frequency	FM: 96.1 MHz (Hampshire and Isle of Wight) FM: 103.8 MHz (Dorset) DAB: 11B (Bournemouth) DAB: 11C (South Hampshire) Freeview: 722 (Hampshire) Freeview: 726 (Dorset)
RDS	BBC SLNT
Programming
Language(s)	English
Format	Local news, talk and music
Ownership
Owner	BBC Local Radio, BBC South, BBC South West
History
First air date	31 December 1970
Former frequencies	999 MW 1359 MW
Technical information
Licensing authority	Ofcom
Links
Website	www.bbc.co.uk/radiosolent/

BBC Radio Solent is the BBC's local radio station serving Hampshire, Dorset and the Isle of Wight, broadcasting on FM, DAB, digital TV and via BBC Sounds from studios on Havelock Road in Southampton.

According to RAJAR, the station has a weekly audience of 204,000 listeners and a 4.2% share as of September 2023.^[1]

History

The station began broadcasting on 31 December 1970. It is named after the Solent, the area of sea between Southampton, Portsmouth and the Isle of Wight.

In 1996, Radio Solent expanded its coverage into West Dorset and South Dorset by taking over neighbouring BBC Dorset FM, which was formerly an opt-out of BBC Radio Devon.

In 2013, a new programme specifically for Dorset listeners on 103.8 FM was launched under the name Breakfast in Dorset, after campaigns for a more locally focused service. The programme comes from a studio complex in Dorchester and also broadcasts county-wide on DAB.

Technical

The service is broadcast on 96.1 FM for Hampshire, the Isle of Wight and eastern Dorset from Rowridge transmitting station on the Isle of Wight; and on 103.8 FM for western Dorset from Bincombe Hill transmitter. Since 2003, the station has also been broadcast on DAB Digital Radio from the NOW South Hampshire and NOW Bournemouth networks from thirteen transmitters between them.^[2][3][4]

The station also broadcasts on Freeview TV channels 722 (Hampshire / Isle of Wight) and 726 (Dorset) in the BBC South region, and streams online via BBC Sounds.

From launch until 2020,^[5] BBC Radio Solent broadcast on medium wave, with the main AM transmitter on 999 kHz from Fareham covering most of the coverage area and a secondary transmitter covering Bournemouth and Poole on 1359 kHz from Fern Barrow, Bournemouth.^[4]

North and north-east Hampshire

The signal for Hampshire on 96.1 FM from Rowridge on the Isle of Wight is weaker north of Winchester than the transmissions from other BBC Local Radio stations, so that the north Hampshire town of Basingstoke is officially served by BBC Radio Berkshire, while towns such as Aldershot, Farnborough and Fleet in the north-east of the county are served by BBC Radio Surrey.

Programming

As of 2022, local programming is produced and broadcast from the BBC's Southampton studios from 6 am to 1 am each Monday to Saturday and from 6 am to 6 pm and 10 pm to 1 am on Sundays. These shows must contain at least 60% speech content within the core broadcast hours of 6 am to 7 pm, with full speech content during the breakfast peak of 7 am to 8.30 am.^[6] The station must also provide at least 95 hours of locally-made programming per week, that provides news, information and content relevant to the areas and communities it serves.^[7]

The station's 6 am to 10 am breakfast show, 10 am to 2 pm morning show and 2 pm to 6 pm afternoon show are broadcast solely to the Solent area. The station's late show, airing from 10 pm to 1 am, is additionally broadcast to other BBC Local Radio stations in the South (comprising BBC Radio Berkshire and BBC Radio Oxford) and South East (comprising BBC Radio Kent, BBC Radio Surrey and BBC Radio Sussex).^[8]

The station's Saturday and Sunday afternoon show is occupied by sports coverage under the BBC Radio Solent Sport banner. The Saturday evening Stereo Underground show with Richard Latto from 6 pm to 8 pm also airs on sister stations in the South, South East regions and the Channel Islands (BBC Radio Guernsey and BBC Radio Jersey) while the Sunday evening show with Tony Blackburn from 6 pm to 10 pm is broadcast across the South and South East but originates from BBC Radio Berkshire in Reading. The Saturday evening 8 pm to 10 pm slot is occupied by the BBC Music Introducing programme^[8] which features music from new and up and coming artists from the local area.^[9] The show helped discover and launch the careers of Wet Leg^[10] and has featured artists such as Natives^[11] and Echotape.

During the station's downtime, BBC Radio Solent simulcasts overnight programming from BBC Radio 5 Live between 1 am and 5 am and an early morning breakfast programme broadcast across the Local Radio network from BBC Radio London between 5 am and 6 am.^[8]

Presenters

Notable current presenters

• Tony Blackburn (Sunday evenings)

Notable past presenters

• Roger Day (DJ and presenter, left in 2012, now at Boom Radio)^[12]
• Kenny Everett (1972)
• Nick Girdler (1972–2006, 2009–2019)
• Nicky Horne (left in 2019, now at Boom Radio)
• Simon Jupp (now Member of Parliament for East Devon)
• Andrew Peach (now at BBC Radio Berkshire)
• John Piper (presented Piper's Tune throughout the 1970s, left to launch 2CR in Bournemouth)
• Carolyn Quinn (left to join BBC Radio 4)
• Richard Skinner (newsreader, left to join BBC Radio 1 in 1973)
• Sean Street (broadcaster, poet, writer, and Britain's first Professor of Radio)
• Sally Taylor (presenter on BBC South Today, worked for Radio Solent from 2006 to 2011)
• Peter White (the BBC's Disability Affairs Correspondent, worked for Radio Solent from 1970 to 2006)