Of course, one doesn't contradict the other.

My initial point though was there would a potential problem caused by reassigning LCNs to existing BBC LR stations, even with recent equipment, supposedly designed to handle such problems.

Sure, the, well known, wider issue of the inadequacies of legacy equipment exists. It exists, however, regardless of the LCN allocation policy adopted. It's a problem not limited to the BBC LR stations on Freeview.

I would agree though, limiting the allocation pool to 6 LCNs with 5 BBC LRs in each region doesn't help. A carefully planned, larger, LCN pool would have allowed BBC LRs from adjacent regions to fit neatly into the EPG rather than being shunted into the 800s.

Indeed both issues would have been helped by this - as well as recognising that it is not just the (West) Midlands that has an issue with needing different stations on transmitters within the same region.

I wonder in Cumbria (Caldbeck) they will receive the following stations:

BBC Radio Cumbria
BBC Newcastle
BBC Tees
BBC Radio Lancashire
BBC Radio Manchester

Or

BBC Radio Cumbria
BBC Newcastle
BBC Tees
BBC Radio York
BBC Radio Lancashire

BBC Radio Cumbria
BBC Newcastle
BBC Tees
BBC Radio York
BBC Radio Leeds

It's odd that the BBC re-engineered the transport streams at Ridge Hill, The Wrekin SFN, Sheffield/Chesterfield & Kendal but didn't do the same at Hannington (Berks & North Hants Network) and Caldbeck (West Borders Network).

Ok, being at the end of the country, West Borders probably doesn't have a pressing need to carry different services to the North East Network transmitters. It could probably be argued that Cumbria would be better served by additional services from Lancashire rather than from Yorkshire. However, for BBC services, Kendal - at the southern end of Cumbria already takes services from the north west. Indications are that Kendal will get its own set of LR channels, so it would probably be difficult to justify a further split in North Cumbria.

Hannington is arguably the best case for its own set of channels. A new transport stream could have dropped Dorset and Sussex in favour of Oxford and Surrey giving a better match for the area. It could be argued that Radio London and 3CR would also be good additions but it's impossible to add every nearby service to every transmitter.

Three services just added to Winter Hill's SDT: BBC C&W , BBC H&W , BBC Stoke

First two are out of region entries for overlap areas and won't broadcast from WH.
BBC Stoke is now live on LCN 734 from Winter Hill.

Oxford now carrying:
719 BBC Radio Berkshire
720 BBC Three Counties (3CR)
721 BBC Radio Wiltshire
722 BBC Radio Oxford
735 BBC Radio Gloucestershire

BBC Bristol (719)
BBC Cornwall (721)
BBC Somerset (722)
BBC Solent Dorset (734)

Have now joined BBC Devon (720) at Huntshaw Cross.

Currently only BBC Bristol and BBC Devon have EPG programme information.

On Sutton Coldfield

719 BBC C&W
720 BBC H&W
722 BBC WM (as previously)
734 BBC Stoke
735 BBC Derby (as previously)

There's nothing on LCN 721, will it be used in the future?

on Ilchester Crescent Bristol

719 BBC Bristol
721 BBC Wiltshire
722 BBC Somerset
734 BBC Solent for Dorset
735 BBC Gloucestershire

Same from Caradon Hill (not that I expected anything different)

Only Three Counties and Berkshire with EPG info. Still think to give balance Northampton and C&W should be there as they are as near or nearer to the Transmitter than others on it and the county boundaries certainly are. In fact Northants is very near in fact I reckon you can see it at night from Northants.

I presume the choice has been made on some population coverage calculation based on the overlap between the TV region and the target radio audience, but I don't think we've had this officially stated anywhere.

If you are playing the game of choosing alternative stations, you can't just add them - you have to also declare which stations you would delete.

Surprised to see Radio Solent and BBC Wiltshire using the old BBC Local Radio Jingle package,I would have thought all stations would have the new package by now. Which other stations are on the old package?

The problem is... there is enough room to add 5 local radio stations... not 7!

Most stations are still using the old jingles. So far only about 13 out of 40 stations have changed over to the new package. The roll-out seems to be happening very slowly.

A strange one is that Radio WM don't go to Radio 5 on Saturday mornings, at 1am it's The Reggae Show , 3 am Network Gold and that lasts till the Early Show at 5am.

Going on area covered and population Northants would be above Berks and Gloucestershire while on area C&W would be above Berks. Very few properties in Berks are on Beckley. In fact just small pockets due to the hills. Three Counties and Wilts have the biggest population behind Oxford due to Aylesbury and Swindon. Brackley area as far as Silverstone in Northants plus some areas on the outskirts itself of Northampton. In Warwickshire it goes a long way depending on what side of the hill you are on. Certainly south Warwickshire by the Gaydon turn on the 40 and parts of Southam. Remember someone posting on here even parts of Solihull

Is anyone compiling a list of BBC Radio stations by transmitter group?

Probably more need for Oxford on Hannington then Berks on Beckley as more homes in Oxfordshire use Hannington as first choice than homes in Berkshire using Beckley as first choice.

Yes, A516 at http://www.a516digital.com/p/bbc-loc...-freeview.html

Agree re your comments on people in Gloucestershire using Beckley, acmold.

From driving around the county, I see masts in the far east of the county on Beckley in Lechlade, Fairford (although Cirencester and Mendip masts also used there), Northleach and Moreton-in-Marsh (where aerials also point towards Lark Stoke and Sutton Coldfield).
And there's the two Gloucestershire relays of Beckley at Icomb Hill and Guiting Power.

But we are talking about small communities of viewers here.....I'd be surprised if there are no more than 15,000 viewers of Beckley and (those relays) in this county.....so about 2.5% of our overall population.

The BBC?

http://www.bbc.co.uk/reception/news/item104

I was in the North Cotswolds yesterday went from Oxford to Moreton to Bourton to Burford. Aerials are on transmitters as you say but there is no logic to where they are other than to which side of the hill you are on. One of the Rissington's was on Mendip but Bourton which is beyond was on a relay and Oxford. Going from Chipping Norton to Moreton Chippy is on Oxford / Sutton Coldfield and Lark Stoke in between it tends to be Sutton Coldfield and in Moreton back to Oxford in fact as far as Bourton on the Hill is on Oxford. In Woodstock at the north end of the town centre in the dip they appear to be on Hannington, but in Lower Heyford many are on Sutton Coldfield.

Beckley is restricted by the hills which are south, east and west but not north to north west. From the eastern edge of the Cotswold ridge the signal happily wanders up the M40 and A43 towards Birmingham and Northampton.

Though Gloucestershire figures are very low I would say they out number Berkshire (post 1/4/74) I can only recall a few in Newbury which has far more on Crystal Palace and of course Hannington, some in Streetly which is just the other side of the Thames from Goring but in Berks, though saying that parts of Goring are on Crystal Palace and Hannington. Also a couple of streets in Twyford are on Oxford also you see a few aerials around Tadley and Basingstoke which are of course in Hampshire!.

As I always say the Thames Valley region thing is always a Red Herring as the good folk in the heart of it prefer to watch London either by having their aerials on Crystal Palace or using their local relays which are on London and not Meridan.

Back to the original point my order of population would be
1. Oxford
2.Wiltshire
3.Three Counties
4.Northants
5.C&W
6.Gloucestershire
7.Berkshire

Maybe 2&3 and 5&6 could be the other way round but Berkshire I would say is always going to be bottom.

Perhaps the decision had nothing to do with population. The terrain to the north, allowing Beckley to extend beyond its editorial region could also be expected to offer little resistance to signals from the transmitters intended to serve those areas. The BBC is unlikely to provide BBC C&W coverage, in the Beckley overspill, if adequate reception is already available from Sutton Coldfield, Lark Stoke etc. Similarly, unlikely to provide BBC Northants if there is adequate reception from Sandy Heath & relays.

The terrain, limiting coverage of Beckley in other directions, similarly restricts signals from adjacent regions. So the decision was possibly taken to duplicate coverage from areas with reception difficulties and to serve communities unable to receive their local service from a transmitter within its editorial region.