View source for BBC Radio Devon

{{Use dmy dates|date=August 2021}}
{{Use British English|date=August 2012}}
{{Infobox radio station
| name                = BBC Radio Devon
| logo                = BBC Radio Devon 2022.svg
| city                = [[Plymouth]]
| area                = [[Devon]]
| airdate             = 17 January 1983
| frequency           = [[FM broadcasting|FM]]: 94.8 MHz ([[Barnstaple]])<br>FM: 95.7 MHz ([[Plymouth]])<br>FM: 95.8 MHz ([[Exeter]])<br>FM: 96.0 MHz ([[Okehampton]])<br>FM: 103.4 MHz (Devon)<br>FM: 104.3 MHz ([[Torbay]], [[Torquay]] and the [[South Hams]])<br>[[Digital Audio Broadcasting|DAB]]: 10C (Central and [[North Devon]])<br>DAB: 11C ([[East Devon]], Exeter and Torbay)<br>DAB: 12D (Plymouth and South Devon)<br>[[Freeview (UK)|Freeview]]: 712
| former_frequencies  = 801 [[AM broadcasting|MW]]<br>855 MW<br>990 MW<br>1458 MW
| format              = Local news, talk and music
| language            = [[English language|English]]
| owner               = [[BBC Local Radio]],<br>[[BBC South West]]
| licensing_authority = [[Ofcom]]
| website             = [https://www.bbc.co.uk/radiodevon/ BBC Radio Devon]
}}

'''BBC Radio Devon''' is the [[Local BBC Radio|BBC's local radio station]] serving the county of [[Devon]].

It broadcasts on [[frequency modulation|FM]], [[Digital Audio Broadcasting|DAB]], digital TV and via [[BBC Sounds]] from studios in the [[Mannamead]] area of [[Plymouth]].

According to [[RAJAR]], the station has a weekly audience of 140,000 listeners as of May 2025.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.rajar.co.uk/listening/quarterly_listening.php|title=RAJAR|publisher=RAJAR|access-date=2015-09-27}}</ref>

==History==
Until 1983, local radio services for [[Devon]] had amounted to a regional weekday breakfast show ''[[Morning Sou'West]]'', aired on [[BBC Radio 4]]'s frequencies in Devon and [[Cornwall]], plus five-minute regional bulletins on Saturday mornings and Mondays to Saturdays at lunchtime and teatime. There was no regional output of any kind on Sundays. The regional programming ended on 31 December 1982.

BBC Radio Devon started broadcasting on 17 January 1983, replacing the [[BBC Radio 4]] regional breakfast show ''[[Morning Sou'West]]''. On the same day, [[BBC Radio Cornwall]] started broadcasting, with whom it shared early afternoon programming, and the BBC began launched the UK's first regular breakfast television programme ''[[Breakfast Time (British TV programme)|Breakfast Time]]''.

When broadcasting started, the new studios in [[Exeter]] had not yet been finished, so BBC Radio Devon was broadcast from [[portacabin|portable cabins]] for the first few weeks. The Exeter studios were officially opened by [[Alastair Milne]], then [[Director-General of the BBC]], on 30 September 1983.<ref name=history>{{cite news|title=BBC Radio Devon celebrates 25 years|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/devon/content/articles/2005/09/29/station_history_radio_devon_feature.shtml|access-date=16 August 2016|publisher=BBC News|date=29 September 2005|language=en-gb}}</ref>

The then new Exeter studio centre at Walnut Gardens on St Davids Hill had the latest in BBC broadcasting technology. The studios were made up of Mark III desks, which were built in-house by BBC engineers and first designed in the 1970s.
The studio complex in Exeter consisted of the traditional BBC Local Radio Mark III set up, which saw three studios in a row - two broadcast ‘cubicles’ as they were known, either side of a centre talk-show style studio, which was home to the news programmes Good Morning Devon and Good Evening Devon. The desks were in use from 1983 until August 2015, when the original Exeter studios were closed and relocated to smaller premises on the outskirts of the city at Pynes Hill.
<ref> http://www.devoncountyradio.org.uk/#:~:text=devoncountyradio.org.uk </ref>
Since 2021, the Exeter studio and office is now located within the Exeter College building on Queen Street.<ref>{{Cite web |last= |date=2020-07-01 |title=BBC to Open Studio at Exeter College |url=https://exe-coll.ac.uk/bbc-to-open-studio-at-exeter-college/ |access-date=2025-01-30 |website=Exeter College |language=en}}</ref>

BBC Radio Devon has reporters based in Exeter, [[Plymouth]], [[Paignton]] and [[Barnstaple]] and the Plymouth newsroom is shared with the BBC's regional TV news programme ''[[BBC Spotlight (South West)|Spotlight]]''. The station has won several [[Sony Awards]] for its programming.<ref name=history/>

==Technical==
Radio Devon is broadcast on the following radio frequencies (transmitter location in brackets):

*[[FM broadcasting|FM]]:
**94.8 MHz in [[Barnstaple]] ([[Huntshaw Cross transmitting station|Huntshaw Cross]])
**95.7 MHz in [[Plymouth]] ([[Plympton]])
**95.8 MHz in [[Exeter]] ([[St Thomas, Exeter|St. Thomas]])
**96.0 MHz in [[Okehampton]]
**103.4 MHz in [[Devon]] ([[North Hessary Tor transmitting station|North Hessary Tor]])
**104.3 MHz in [[Torbay]], [[Torquay]] and the [[South Hams]] ([[Beacon Hill transmitting station|Beacon Hill]])
*[[Digital Audio Broadcasting|DAB]]:
**10C in Central and [[North Devon]]
**11C in [[East Devon]], Exeter and Torbay
**12D in Plymouth and South Devon

The station also broadcasts on [[Freeview (UK)|Freeview]] TV channel 712 in the [[BBC South West]] region and streams online via [[BBC Sounds]].

Radio Devon previously broadcast on 855 kHz in Plymouth; these transmissions ceased in 2007 and the frequency was used for a trial of [[Digital Radio Mondiale]] services, though these trials ultimately did not lead to DRM going into permanent service in the UK.<ref>[https://www.drm.org/drm-arrives-in-devon/ "DRM arrives in Devon", DRM.org, 2007-04-10]</ref><ref>[https://www.bbc.co.uk/rd/publications/whitepaper174 BBC Research and Development]</ref>

The station was broadcast on 1458 kHz in the Torbay area until the transmitter closed on 15 January 2018.<ref name="torbay">{{cite news|title=BBC confirms local radio medium wave closures|url=https://radiotoday.co.uk/2018/01/bbc-confirms-local-radio-medium-wave-closures/|access-date=10 February 2018|work=Radio Today|language=en-gb}}</ref>

The station's other [[AM broadcasting|AM]] transmissions, 801 kHz in North Devon (Barnstaple) and 990 kHz in Exeter, ceased after the 11 am news bulletin on 3 August 2021.<ref>[http://frequencyfinder.org.uk/updates_fa.html Frequencyfinder.org.uk, June 2021]</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=The 'AM death watch' thread...|url=https://forums.digitalspy.com/discussion/2120727/the-am-death-watch-thread/p208|access-date=14 August 2021|work=[[Digital Spy]] Forums|language=en-gb}}</ref> They were originally slated to cease in June 2021, but this was postponed.<ref>[https://radiotoday.co.uk/2021/04/ten-more-stations-turn-off-medium-wave-services/ RadioToday, April 2021]</ref><ref>[https://www.bbc.co.uk/reception/work-warning/news/mw-closures-2021 BBC Reception]</ref>

==Programming==
Local programming is produced and broadcast from the BBC's [[Plymouth]] studios from 6am to 2pm on weekdays and from 6am to 6pm on Saturdays and 6am to 2pm on Sundays. At all other times until 10pm (6pm on Sundays), programming is simulcast with sister stations in the [[BBC South West]] and [[BBC West]] regions. Each night from 10pm, BBC Radio Devon broadcasts the England-wide late show and from 1am, BBC Radio Devon simulcasts [[BBC Radio 5 Live]]

==Presenters==
<!--Any non-notable presenters (those without Wikipedia articles) added here are liable to be removed - if someone is considered notable (red linking is not enough), write a Wikipedia article on them first, or provide multiple reputable independent sources to show they deserve an article and are associated with the station-->
===Notable presenters===
====Current====
*[[Toby Buckland]] (Sunday mid-mornings)<ref> {{Cite web |title=BBC Radio Devon - Schedules |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/schedules/p00fzl7d |access-date=2025-01-30 |website=BBC |language=en-GB}} </ref>

====Former====
*[[Alan Dedicoat]]
*[[Judi Spiers]]
*[[Bill Buckley (radio presenter)|Bill Buckley]]
*[[Simon Bates]]

==References==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
*{{Official website}}

{{coord|50.3861|-4.1266|type:landmark_region:GB|display=title}}

{{BBC Radio}}
{{BBC Local Radio}}
{{Radio stations in South West England}}

[[Category:BBC Local Radio|Devon]]
[[Category:Companies based in Devon]]
[[Category:Radio stations in Devon]]
[[Category:Radio stations established in 1983]]
[[Category:1983 establishments in England]]