One of the worst areas in the UK with very poor choice of radio.
Having travelled up and down the UK...Birmingham has to have the worst choice of radio which is rather a shame being the UK's second city.
I think Birmingham has a very good choice, not necessarily for the anorak but the average listener.
BRMB, Heart, Smooth, Kerrang, Touch, Gold, Galaxy and depending what side of Brum you live there are ...Mercia, Beacon, Leicester Sound, Wyvern. Add to that the numerous pirates playing their Dance music it aint that bad.
A lot better than it used to be.....well a part from the loss of the excellent Xtra AM and Beacon 303.
essex radio aint that bad. i used to live near colchester and could get all the main london stations.
i used to listen to kiss 100 clearly (much better than vibe fm was back in the day)
I think Birmingham has a very good choice, not necessarily for the anorak but the average listener.
BRMB, Heart, Smooth, Kerrang, Touch, Gold, Galaxy and depending what side of Brum you live there are ...Mercia, Beacon, Leicester Sound, Wyvern. Add to that the numerous pirates playing their Dance music it aint that bad.
A lot better than it used to be.....well a part from the loss of the excellent Xtra AM and Beacon 303.
Mercia/Beacon/BRMB/ Leicester Sound/Wyvern are all the same with a similar networked output.
Touch is the only one that does anything for me and Kerrang is a decent listen most of the time, but rumour has it that that the Kerrang name will be short lived.
Beacon and BRMB are almost the same due to networking.
It is almost comical that the two stations which overlap greatly have more or less the same output.
Signal 1 is definately not my choice of radio...once a fantastic station, now you can predict what's next on the playlist. The only station I listen to which has a near decent variety is Touch which their TSA is just a couple of miles outide of where I live.
Beacon and BRMB are not officially aimed at the same area though.
One of the worst areas in the UK with very poor choice of radio.
Having travelled up and down the UK...Birmingham has to have the worst choice of radio which is rather a shame being the UK's second city.
Brimingham is one of the best outside London
* BRMB (Hit Music)
* Gold (Classic Hits)
* Radio XL (Asian)
* Galaxy (Dance and RnB)
* Kerrang! (Rock and Indie)
* Smooth (Easy Listening)
* Heart (80s - current pop)
The only place outside London which is better served is Manchester
* Key 103 (Hit Music)
* Magic AM (Classic Hits)
* Gold (Classic Hits)
* Asian Sound (Asian)
* Galaxy (Dance and RnB)
* XFM (Rock and Indie)
* Smooth (East Listening)
* Century (80s - current pop)
* Rock Radio (Classic Rock)
* Imagine / Tower / The Rev (80s - current pop)
In general towns in the north of England (outside Cumbria) do much better than there southern counterparts - e.g. most towns and cities get at least :-
* Big City (Hit Music - e.g. Rock FM)
* Magic AM (Classic Hits)
* Real Radio / Century Radio (80s - current pop)
* Galaxy/Juice (Dance and RnB - except Lancashire)
* Smooth Radio (Easy Listening - except Yorkshire)
* Local radio station (80s - current pop)
The Midlands is reasonably well served, provided you don't live in Stoke-on-Trent or Lincolnshire
* Hit Music Network (Hit Music)
* Heart (80s - current pop)
* Gold (Classic Hits)
* Smooth (Easy Listening)
* Kerrang! (Rock and Indie - West Midlands only)
* Small scale local station (80s - current pop - if you are lucky)
Where as a typical southern town gets the following
* Heart (80s - current pop)
* Gold (classic hits)
* Small scale local station (80s - current pop - if you are lucky)
DAB is even more marked - most of the North gets a regional and local multiplex, as does the West Midlands - the rest of England gets a local multiplex (if that).
I'd nominate North Devon. Apart from the nationals and BBC Radio Devon, all you've got is Lantern FM. Or else you're reliant on overspill from South Wales, as long as you're not too far inland, and the local geography is favourable.
Apart from that, I'd imagine areas such as the Lake District and elsewhere where there's a low population. Huge chunks of Scotland and Wales must be like this.
We've got extended family who own a house way up in the Highlands (we're talking an hour or two NORTH of Inverness).
I was there just over 10 years ago. You couldn't get terrestrial TV, or FM. Radio 4 came in on Long Wave, but that was about it. Even if you went towards the coast, either East or West, where most of the larger settlements are in that part of the world such as Ullapool, Bonar Bridge, or Lairg, all you could get on FM was the BBC Nationals, and often no Classic FM.
I haven't been up that way since, so I don't know whether it's improved. I was surprised to discover that there does now appear to be decent mobile reception up that way these days, which must be a recent development.
The map at the foot of this page suggests that the signal reaches Swansea & Port Talbot.
Classic FM have a relay on 101.3 at Kilvey Hill which squeezes it out.
Also there's very high ground immediately to the East of Neath and Port Talbot, so heading West on the M4, in my experience, 101 disappears some way short of Swansea.
They really ought to get Kiss 101 FM relays for Swansea, Yeovil and Swindon. I'm sure that if Gloucester was included as well (Churchdown Hill) they could wrangle clearance from Ofcom to increase local hours in return.
I reckon that Red Dragon should have a rely to broadcast in Swansea - Considering that their tag line is " South Wales' Hit Music Station". Swansea is in South Wales, yet the signal cannot be heard there. There is no CHR station in Swansea.
Mercia/Beacon/BRMB/ Leicester Sound/Wyvern are all the same with a similar networked output.
Touch is the only one that does anything for me and Kerrang is a decent listen most of the time, but rumour has it that that the Kerrang name will be short lived.
I think BRMB/Beacon/Mercia/Wyvern have a different network output to Leicester Sound. The former stations are up for sale.
I take your point though. Although I remember the dross that came out of BRMB in its pre-needletime restriction era.
I assume BRMB's breakfast show still has this strict needletime restriction placed on it.
dont you get kiss 101 in west wilts? used to live in westbury and you got it loud and clear around there.
Only on digital radio. Certainly not on the car FM radio or on the portable FM at home. Would do if the roof top aerial could be brought back into service (but cant do it as the new hifi doesnt have an external aerial input port).
I suppose this is the problem. You can be somewhere where you can pick up numerous commercial stations and they are all going to sound the same anyway.
Although with a decent radio you should be able to pick up Century, Smooth, Heart and Kerrang.
Smooth: the best of the lot, fine on a car radio across much of the city but patchy in places
Century: about equal to Smooth, but with problems from Leicester in places
Heart East Mids: very good in parts, weak and patchy in most areas
Heart and Kerrang West Mids: nonexistent on all but the most sensitive of radios thanks to their directional transmission away from the north
None of these are available on a "normal" FM radio, only on car radios or home stereos with roof antennas.
The Potteries also has the UK's only fully local DAB-only service, Focal Radio.
Although with a decent radio you should be able to pick up Century, Smooth, Heart and Kerrang.
Stoke is shielded from the Midlands Regionals by the hill Meir Heath sits on. This makes Kerrang/Smooth 105.7/Heart 100.7 very ropey round town.
Century gets interference from Leicester Sound (105.4) and Heart 106 used to be OK till Rock Radio 106.1 / City Talk 105.9 started
Smooth 106.6 wasn't too bad till The Severn (Shrewsbury) started on 106.5.
Only Smooth 100.4 is fairly OK but it doesn't really 'Serve' the area.
Stoke has suffered from other areas getting additional stations which have caused interference with out of area reception in Stoke. I have no problem with that as long as we get additional in TSA services too.
No offence to Oswestry but its a bit odd when a town as small as Oswestry is covered by Beacon and The Severn as general services yet Stoke only has Signal with a population of over 250,000.
I know there are other badly served areas but I'm just sticking up for my patch !!
What do you call Magic??? That's about as AC as you can get!
Magic 105.4, oh please! The station that used to be easy listening which now plays at least 200 soft AC tracks on constant rotation. London could do with a Real/Century instead of the same McDonalds style radio from Heart and Magic.
However they won't change seeing as they have over a million listeners in the capital each.
Comments
I think Birmingham has a very good choice, not necessarily for the anorak but the average listener.
BRMB, Heart, Smooth, Kerrang, Touch, Gold, Galaxy and depending what side of Brum you live there are ...Mercia, Beacon, Leicester Sound, Wyvern. Add to that the numerous pirates playing their Dance music it aint that bad.
A lot better than it used to be.....well a part from the loss of the excellent Xtra AM and Beacon 303.
i used to listen to kiss 100 clearly (much better than vibe fm was back in the day)
Mercia/Beacon/BRMB/ Leicester Sound/Wyvern are all the same with a similar networked output.
Touch is the only one that does anything for me and Kerrang is a decent listen most of the time, but rumour has it that that the Kerrang name will be short lived.
BBC
1,2,3,4,Scotland, Nan Gael,
Commerical
Talksport AM (poor reception) Absolute 1215(what reception)
MFR FM (Bauer Clone Station) Classic FM
And our DAB choice isn't much better
Beacon and BRMB are not officially aimed at the same area though.
Therefore you can receive Kiss.
Brimingham is one of the best outside London
* BRMB (Hit Music)
* Gold (Classic Hits)
* Radio XL (Asian)
* Galaxy (Dance and RnB)
* Kerrang! (Rock and Indie)
* Smooth (Easy Listening)
* Heart (80s - current pop)
The only place outside London which is better served is Manchester
* Key 103 (Hit Music)
* Magic AM (Classic Hits)
* Gold (Classic Hits)
* Asian Sound (Asian)
* Galaxy (Dance and RnB)
* XFM (Rock and Indie)
* Smooth (East Listening)
* Century (80s - current pop)
* Rock Radio (Classic Rock)
* Imagine / Tower / The Rev (80s - current pop)
In general towns in the north of England (outside Cumbria) do much better than there southern counterparts - e.g. most towns and cities get at least :-
* Big City (Hit Music - e.g. Rock FM)
* Magic AM (Classic Hits)
* Real Radio / Century Radio (80s - current pop)
* Galaxy/Juice (Dance and RnB - except Lancashire)
* Smooth Radio (Easy Listening - except Yorkshire)
* Local radio station (80s - current pop)
The Midlands is reasonably well served, provided you don't live in Stoke-on-Trent or Lincolnshire
* Hit Music Network (Hit Music)
* Heart (80s - current pop)
* Gold (Classic Hits)
* Smooth (Easy Listening)
* Kerrang! (Rock and Indie - West Midlands only)
* Small scale local station (80s - current pop - if you are lucky)
Where as a typical southern town gets the following
* Heart (80s - current pop)
* Gold (classic hits)
* Small scale local station (80s - current pop - if you are lucky)
DAB is even more marked - most of the North gets a regional and local multiplex, as does the West Midlands - the rest of England gets a local multiplex (if that).
Apart from that, I'd imagine areas such as the Lake District and elsewhere where there's a low population. Huge chunks of Scotland and Wales must be like this.
We've got extended family who own a house way up in the Highlands (we're talking an hour or two NORTH of Inverness).
I was there just over 10 years ago. You couldn't get terrestrial TV, or FM. Radio 4 came in on Long Wave, but that was about it. Even if you went towards the coast, either East or West, where most of the larger settlements are in that part of the world such as Ullapool, Bonar Bridge, or Lairg, all you could get on FM was the BBC Nationals, and often no Classic FM.
I haven't been up that way since, so I don't know whether it's improved. I was surprised to discover that there does now appear to be decent mobile reception up that way these days, which must be a recent development.
Classic FM have a relay on 101.3 at Kilvey Hill which squeezes it out.
Also there's very high ground immediately to the East of Neath and Port Talbot, so heading West on the M4, in my experience, 101 disappears some way short of Swansea.
They really ought to get Kiss 101 FM relays for Swansea, Yeovil and Swindon. I'm sure that if Gloucester was included as well (Churchdown Hill) they could wrangle clearance from Ofcom to increase local hours in return.
I think BRMB/Beacon/Mercia/Wyvern have a different network output to Leicester Sound. The former stations are up for sale.
I take your point though. Although I remember the dross that came out of BRMB in its pre-needletime restriction era.
I assume BRMB's breakfast show still has this strict needletime restriction placed on it.
*cough* Eton E5...
http://www.maplin.co.uk/module.aspx?moduleno=98012
That will easily separate stations 200khz apart and even 100Khz apart (EG- Key 103 and Beacon 103.1 here both in perfect stereo).
FM:
BBC National
BBC Coventry and Warwickshire
Touch Radio
Mercia
Heart 100.7
If i'm lucky i can also pick up on FM:
Leicester Sound
BBC Leicester
Heart 106 in Nottingham
BRMB
AM:
5 live
Talksport
Absoulte Radio
Classic Gold 1359
DAB:
BBC DAB
Digital 1 Network
Now Coventry
MXR West Midlands
Only Signal 1/2 and a very niche community/access station (CrossRhythms) + the 3 nationals.
This must be the poorest served area per head of population
http://www.lovemytown.co.uk/Populations/TownsTable1.htm
London doesn't have a FM classic rock station or a decent AC station. I'm not including Radio Jackie which only serves SW London.
Only on digital radio. Certainly not on the car FM radio or on the portable FM at home. Would do if the roof top aerial could be brought back into service (but cant do it as the new hifi doesnt have an external aerial input port).
Dave
What do you call Magic??? That's about as AC as you can get!
Although with a decent radio you should be able to pick up Century, Smooth, Heart and Kerrang.
Smooth: the best of the lot, fine on a car radio across much of the city but patchy in places
Century: about equal to Smooth, but with problems from Leicester in places
Heart East Mids: very good in parts, weak and patchy in most areas
Heart and Kerrang West Mids: nonexistent on all but the most sensitive of radios thanks to their directional transmission away from the north
None of these are available on a "normal" FM radio, only on car radios or home stereos with roof antennas.
The Potteries also has the UK's only fully local DAB-only service, Focal Radio.
Stoke is shielded from the Midlands Regionals by the hill Meir Heath sits on. This makes Kerrang/Smooth 105.7/Heart 100.7 very ropey round town.
Century gets interference from Leicester Sound (105.4) and Heart 106 used to be OK till Rock Radio 106.1 / City Talk 105.9 started
Smooth 106.6 wasn't too bad till The Severn (Shrewsbury) started on 106.5.
Only Smooth 100.4 is fairly OK but it doesn't really 'Serve' the area.
Stoke has suffered from other areas getting additional stations which have caused interference with out of area reception in Stoke. I have no problem with that as long as we get additional in TSA services too.
No offence to Oswestry but its a bit odd when a town as small as Oswestry is covered by Beacon and The Severn as general services yet Stoke only has Signal with a population of over 250,000.
I know there are other badly served areas but I'm just sticking up for my patch !!
Magic 105.4, oh please! The station that used to be easy listening which now plays at least 200 soft AC tracks on constant rotation. London could do with a Real/Century instead of the same McDonalds style radio from Heart and Magic.
However they won't change seeing as they have over a million listeners in the capital each.