Thanks to relatively heavy restrictions, the radio market in the UK has only been opened up to full competition within the last few years. The BBC still uses over 40% of the FM spectrum to provide just four services.
Here, I've listed all the easily available FM stations in Codsall, and a selection of the main AM stations. I don't claim this to be a full listing of services; for that, consult the UK DX club.
You may also be interested in a similar listing for Leamington Spa.
| Frequency | Station Format and notes |
|---|---|
| 88.3 | BBC Radio 2 Easy listening, with specialist country, folk and comedy shows. Established 1920s as Light Programme, adopted current name 1967. Available on LW until 1978, AM 1978-90. Faves America's Greatest Hits, Paul Gambiccini looks at US hits past and present. (Saturday 5:30pm) The News Huddlines, Roy Hudd and June Whitfield review the week's events (Thursday 9:30pm, seasonal) |
| 90.5 | BBC Radio 3 "The Envy of the World"; the classical music network with a dash of drama. Established 1946 as Third Programme, current name since 1967. Available on AM until 1992. |
| 92.7 | BBC Radio 4 Speech radio; current affairs, drama, documentaries. Established 1922, known as Home Service, current name since 1967. Also available on 198 LW; was on AM until 1978. Faves The Archers, daily documentary on the events in Ambridge, Borsetshire. (7:02pm daily except Saturday, repeated 2:02pm weekdays, omnibus 10:02am Sunday) |
| 94.6 | BBC Radio Stoke Adult oriented music and speech, from Stoke on Trent, 40 miles north of Codsall. Established 1970s, also 1503 AM. |
| 95.1 | BBC GMR Talk Speech radio from Manchester, 80 miles north. Established 1968. Surrendered AM frequency 1993. |
| 95.6 | BBC WM Primarily speech radio from Birmingham, 15 miles east. Local travel less good than they claim it to be. Established 1971 as BBC Birmingham, current name since 1981. AM frequency turned into Asian Network November 1996. Faves Ed Doolan, the consumer's friend. Hosts a phone-in aimed at solving consumer problems and airing views on the news. (9 am weekdays and Sunday) |
| 96.0 | BBC Radio Shropshire Adult music and speech from Shrewsbury, 30 miles west. Launched 23 April 1985, available on AM until 1993. Semi-oficially targetting over-45 age band in 1999. |
| 96.4 | BRMB Top 40 radio from Birmingham. Owned by the Capital Group - no syndicated programming. The letters don't stand for anything. Started January 1974, split AM to form Xtra AM in 1987. |
| 96.9 | Signal Stafford Relay of Signal One, based in Stoke. Local programming for four hours per morning. On air since April 1990, was part of Choice 96 network with Signal Cheshire during 1991 and 1992. |
| 97.2 | Beacon Radio Top 40 radio from Wolverhampton. Owned by GWR - programming 10 pm to 6 am syndicated across the group. Started 12 April 1976, promoted as Beacon FM since January 1997. Split AM to form WABC January 1989. |
| 97.6 | Radio Wyvern Top 40 radio from Hereford, 60 miles south-west. Taken over by GWR in 1997, losing its identity as a unique voice on the FM dial. Quite frankly, I do not agree that this was a valid decision by the Radio Authority, as listeners across a large swathe of the Severn Valley are now "served" by identikit GWR stations. |
| 97.9 | BBC Radio 1 Terminally hip new music network. Launched 30 September 1967, lost AM frequency June 1994. Faves Kevin Greening The DJ who took his name from his show. (Weekdays noon, Sundays 6:30. Also available on BBC Choice.) |
| 100.1 | Classic FM Playing extracts from classical pieces rather than the whole symphony, unlike Radio 3. Launched 7 September 1992, the first national commercial station and the only one on FM. Faves The Classic Countdown, the first classical chart show. Launched by Paul Gambiccinni, who returned to host it in early 1998. (Saturday 9 am) Classic Newsnight, the best 30-minute wrap on the day's events and cultural happenings. (Weekdays 6:30 pm) |
| 100.7 | Heart FM Adult contemporary station, based in Birmingham and broadcasting to the entire West Midlands. The first Chrysalis Group station to launch on 6 September 1994, around two years before the similarly titled station in London. |
| 101.6 | Centre FM Community station for south and east Staffordshire, and east Derbyshire. Broadcasts from Tamworth, 25 miles east-north-east. Launched April 1998. |
| 102.2 | Galaxy 102.2 R&B station, based in Birmingham. Choice FM launched January 1995 as the successor to the failed Buzz FM, under the same ownership as the London station of the same name. Sold to EMAP in summer 1998, rebranded under their Galaxy network in early 1999 - other stations include Leeds, Bristol and shortly in Newcastle. |
| 102.6 | Signal One Top 40 / Contemporary station, based in Stoke on Trent. Launched 1983, spun off AM frequency as Signal Two in 1993. |
| 103.1 | Beacon Shropshire Top 40 station, taking same programming as Beacon Radio except for weekday breakfast and drivetime shows. Established summer 1987. |
| 104.1 | BBC Stoke Stafford relay, launched 1997. No specific programming. |
| 104.3 | BBC Radio Cymru Relay of Welsh language programme originating in Cardiff. The relay in Llangollen, 45 miles west, started during the second quarter of 1995; the station launched in November 1978. |
| 104.6 | BBC Hereford & Worcester Launched 14 February 1989, a mix of music and speech. Award-winning breakfast show once hosted by Jane Garvey, now of BBC 5 Live. This Kidderminster relay launched early 1997, and blocks BBC Derby on 104.5. |
| 104.9 | BBC Radio Leicester From Leicester, 50 miles east. The first BBC local station, launched October 1967; on this frequency since autumn 1988. Mix of music and talk. |
| 106.0 | Century 106 Superstation for the East Midlands, owned by the Border tv group. Based in Nottingham. Launched late 1997 as Radio 106, changed name June 1 1998. Thanks to former staff member John Rockley for his input. |
| 106.4 (?) | West Midlands Regional Radio II The Radio Authority is expected to advertise for a second West Midlands station during 1999, on or around this frequency. Coverage will be similar to the existing Heart FM. I expect the winner will begin broadcasting during 2000. |
| 107.4 | Telford FM Came into being May 3 1999, providing specific programming for Telford, about 10 miles west. Early features included "Community Service Announcements" - commercials clearly done on the cheap. In many respects like The Wolf (qv); both are aimed at a clearly-defined geographic area, play strongly on their local relevance, and have a broader playlist than their main competition. Owing to relocation, I've not had an opportunity to fully formulate an opinion on this station. |
| 107.7 | The Wolf Launched 7 October 1997, broadcasting from Wolverhampton Town Centre. Specifically for the Wolverhampton area. Positioned to concentrate on 70s and 80s music, including an 80s Sunday, since October 98. Independently owned, and the best non-BBC station on the dial. Thanks to programme controller Tim Page for his input. |
This is a selective listing of AM stations only.
| Frequency | Station Format and notes |
|---|---|
| 171 (LW) | Delta 171 Scheduled to launch during 2000. Delta 171 will use an offshore antenna, about five miles off the Dutch coast; presenters will broadcast from a studio in London, with music and commercials played out from computers in Amsterdam. Microwave links and dedicated satellite signals will be used. It sounds expensive. It sounds like a potential bugfest. But it could become an excellent station. |
| 198 (LW) | BBC Radio 4 As on 92.7 FM, apart from 30 minutes in the morning and evening. Also carries test match cricket commentaries. |
| 225 (LW) | INR 4 Frequency allocated to fourth UK independent radio service. After many years of delay, the Radio Authority expect to advertise this frequency for use "in the near future", according to rumours in summer 98. It's believed that a single transmitter, located in the Pennines near Huddersfield, would cover over 85% of the country, and around 93% of the population. |
| 252 (LW) | Atlantic 252 Launched 1 September 1989. Broadcasts from County Meath, Ireland. A high energy pop music station, owned by CLT of Radio Luxemburg fame - but their stake is up for sale. As of summer 98, reformatting to be less pop-led, and more hip and upfront. License renewed for a further ten years in late 98, taking them to 2009. |
| 279 (LW) | MusicMann / Isle of Man Not yet on air. MusicMann 279 (formerly Long Wave Radio) got the green light to broadcast on this frequency in the first quarter of 99, and expects to broadcast before the end of the year. The company is headed by Paul Ruisling, who was head of Laser 558 in the mid 80s. MM beat a number of competitors, including United Christian Broadcasters, the Isle of Man Broadcasting Company, and a group that would provide 24 hour travel information to the UK (!!!) |
| 576 | Radio 1 (Ireland) News, information and commentary from Eire. |
| 603 | Frequency now vacant Formerly used by Cheltenham Radio, an adult music format from Cheltenham racecourse, 80 miles south west. Launched as CD-603 in early 1993, known as Boss 603 during 1994-5. Independently owned. Frequency used by BBC Gloucestershire 1988-92. The group won an FM license in June 1998, ceased transmissions on this frequency after a move to FM in late 1998. Future use is not clear. |
| 612 | Radio 2 (Ireland) The national popular music station of the Republic. |
| 630 | BBC Three Counties Radio Mainly speech-based radio for Bedfordshire, Hertfordshire, Buckinghamshire. From Luton, Beds, 90 miles south-east. Station on air since 1970s, renamed from Radio Bedfordshire in 1992. |
| 648 | BBC World Service Relay from Orford Ness, on the Suffolk coast, 120 miles east. |
| 657 | BBC Radio Clwyd Local variant of BBC Wales for the north west of the principality. From Mold, 50 miles north-west. Established November 1978. Transmitter may be replaced by FM frequency soon. |
| 693 909 | BBC Five Live National news and sport station. Features local talent Sybil Ruscoe daily, and the only live commentary of Premier League football. Established 28 March 1994; frequency used by Radio Five - a youth and sport station - between 27 August 1990 and 27 March 1994; prior to that, the AM frequency of Radio 2. |
| 756 | Radio Maldwyn Adult station, based in Llandiddrod Wells, 60 miles west. On air July 1995, independently owned. Frequency used by BBC Shropshire 1985-94. |
| 810 | BBC Scotland Speech based station from central Scotland, 200 miles north. Carries Gaelic programming 75 minutes per day. Airing since November 1978. Alumini include Eddie Mair of Radio 4, and Alan Robb, now of BBC Five Live. |
| 828 837 | BBC Asian Network Established November 1996 as spin-off from nightly programming. Broadcasts from Leicester (837) and Birmingham (828). Shared shows for about 10 hours per day. |
| 855 | Sunshine Radio Adult radio from Ludlow, 45 miles south-west. Started summer 1993, following pirate transmissions during mid-80s. |
| 873 1107 1143 | AFN Station of the American Armed Forces network, Germany. Only heard after dark. |
| 882 | BBC Radio Wales Based in Cardiff, music and speech since 1978. |
| 990 1017 | WABC Oldies station for Wolverhampton (990) and Shropshire (1017). Owned by GWR group. AM frequency of Beacon Radio until January 1989. Now broadcasting syndicated programming for all but 3 hours per day, as part of GWR's "Classic Gold" network. |
| 1053 1089 | Talk Radio National speech station, launched 14 February 1995 as Talk Radio UK (the talk of the nation) with "shock jocks" including Caesar the Geezer (ex Capital) and Samantha Meah (ex WM). Re-launched October 1995 with Simon Bates (ex Radio 1) and Johnathan King (pop impressario). Re-launched again April 1996 as Talk Radio (there's a good argument for listening) and found a voice as sensible debate on the day's issues. January 98 schedule featured Kirsty Young of Channel 5 over breakfast, Scott Chisholm formerly of Sky tv, Tommy Boyd formerly of children's tv and Anna Raeburn the agony aunt. Main owners CLT (of Radio Luxemburg and Atlantic 252) sold to the Mirror Group, led by Kelvin McKenzie after a protracted battle in November 98. Boyd and Young were sacked, with former newspaper hacks and a drivetime sports show taking their slots. Station announced a tie-up with Sky Sports after the takeover, prompting suggestions that they might replace IRN as news providers. Frequencies were used by Radio 1 until summer 1994. |
| 1152 | Capital Gold Birmingham Oldies station from Birmingham. BRMB's AM frequency until circa 1990. Renamed from Xtra AM on June 1 1998, at which point local programming came down to 3 hours a day plus up to 10 hours a week of sport. |
| 1215 | Virgin Radio Launched 30 April 1993 on Radio 3's old frequencies, formerly owned by Richard Branson's Virgin group. National rock station with heavily restricted play list. Abortive bid by Capital Radio beaten by their own DJ Chris Evans in December 1997. Heavy male bias apparent in the programming, so not my favourite. Evans' breakfast show simulcast on satellite station Sky 1 since October 98, without any station IDs. |
| 1413 | Norway 1 Prime music and speech station for Norway. Only heard during darkness. |
| 1440 | RTL Oldies German language station, only audible here during dark hours. Plays oldies, with some classical music. |
| 1512 | Radio Vlanderen Internation / Radio Netherlands A facility near the Belgian coast that broadcasts programs from the Belgian community and the excellent Radio Netherlands. |
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