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BBC Radio Tees

Middlesbrough
Broadcast area	Northern North Yorkshire and south-east County Durham
Frequency	FM: 95.0 MHz (Teesside & Bilsdale) FM: 95.8 MHz (Whitby) FM: 104.0 MHz (Darlington) DAB: 11B (Teesside) Freeview: 714
RDS	BBC Tees
Programming
Language(s)	English
Format	Local news, talk and music
Ownership
Owner	BBC Local Radio, BBC North East and Cumbria
History
First air date	31 December 1970
Former names	BBC Radio Teesside (1970–1974) BBC Radio Cleveland (1974–2007) BBC Tees (2007–2020)
Former frequencies	96.6 FM
Technical information
Licensing authority	Ofcom
Links
Website	Website

BBC Radio Tees is the BBC's local radio station serving the Tees Valley,The southern parts of County Durham including Hartlepool and Darlington and the northern parts of North Yorkshire, including Whitby. It broadcasts on FM, DAB, digital TV and via BBC Sounds from studios on Newport Road in Middlesbrough.

According to RAJAR, the station has a weekly audience of 100,000 listeners and a 4.4% share as of December 2023.

History

BBC Radio Teesside

The station was originally launched as Radio Teesside at 6 p.m. on 31 December 1970 with a local news programme entitled Teesside Tonight, presented by George Lambelle.

BBC Radio Cleveland

On 1 April 1974, the station became known as Radio Cleveland when the county of Cleveland was formed. The station moved to new studios in 1983. On 1 April 1996, the county of Cleveland was abolished and the boroughs of Stockton-on-Tees, Hartlepool, Middlesbrough, and Redcar and Cleveland were returned to County Durham and North Yorkshire. These four boroughs, along with nearby Darlington, now form the governmental sub-region of Tees Valley. Also included in the main coverage area is the Army's main garrison at Catterick Garrison, which is also included in the transmission area of Radio York on 104.3 FM.

BBC Tees

On Saturday 11 August 2007, the station was renamed BBC Tees. The BBC Tees brand was already associated with its "Where I Live" website and "BBC Bus", which have both since been discontinued.

BBC Radio Tees

On 27 January 2020, the station was renamed BBC Radio Tees. The addition of "radio" to the names of most BBC local radio stations was to avoid confusion with its similarly named TV news regions.

Colin Bunyan is currently the longest-serving presenter at BBC Radio Tees, hosting the Sunday afternoon Vintage Vinyl programme. He has been a presenter for over 47 years.

Technical

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Before moving to Eston Nab, the signal on 95 FM originally was relatively strong and originated from the 900-foot Bilsdale transmitter on the North York Moors. A relay transmitter covering the town of Whitby broadcasts on 95.8 FM.

The DAB signals come from the Bauer 11B multiplex at Eston Nab (near the A174 road) and Brusselton (near Shildon between the A68 and A6072).

On 10 August 2021, FM transmission was knocked off air indefinitely following a fire at the Bilsdale site. It is feared that the structural integrity of the transmitter mast may have been compromised. As at 11 August 2021, the 95 FM service is available again, using the Eston Nab transmitter, but it does not reach all areas of the station's transmission area. A temporary transmitter on 104.0 FM has also been instated for Darlington and the surrounding areas.

The station also broadcasts on Freeview TV channel 714 in the BBC North East and Cumbria region and streams online via BBC Sounds.

The station was also broadcast on medium wave until 1992.

Programming

Local programming is produced and broadcast from the BBC's Middlesbrough studios from 6 am to 10 pm each day.

From 10 pm each night, BBC Radio Tees carries the England-wide late show and from 1 am, it simulcasts BBC Radio 5 Live.

Presenters

Notable presenters

• Ali Brownlee
• Colin Bunyan
• Marian Foster
• Richard Hammond
• Sue Sweeney

References

1. "RAJAR". RAJAR. Retrieved 26 September 2022.
2. Hodgson, Barbara (19 August 2014). "Teesside's king of the airwaves Colin Bunyan is still making waves at 70". Teesside Live. Retrieved 10 August 2014.
3. "Bilsdale transmitter fire: TV and radio for 1m off air indefinitely". BBC News. 11 August 2021. Retrieved 11 August 2021.
4. @BBCTees (11 August 2021). "Arqiva has installed a temporary..." (Tweet) – via Twitter.
5. "Problems with television and radio services in North Yorkshire and Teesside". BBC News. 1 October 2021. Retrieved 1 October 2021.

External links

• BBC Radio Tees
• History of local radio in Cleveland and Durham

54°34′33.7″N 1°14′29.5″W / 54.576028°N 1.241528°W / 54.576028; -1.241528

• Radio stations established in 1970
• BBC Local Radio
• County Durham
• North Yorkshire
• Mass media in Yorkshire
• Teesside
• Radio stations in North East England
• 1970 establishments in England