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BBC Radio Cumbria - news archive

This is an archive of news about BBC Radio Cumbria. Some links may no longer work, due to the transient nature of the internet.

Whitehaven analogue TV switch-off nears
From Media Guardian. Posted November 13 2007, 1.07pm
The Cumbrian town of Whitehaven tonight becomes the first place in the UK to switch off its entire analogue TV signal. By Chris Tryhorn (more)

Cumbrian Town Set for Digital Switchover
From Merry Media. Posted October 16 2007, 1.26pm
The first switchover from analogue to digital television in the UK will take place at around 2am tomorrow. The location for the first switchover is Whitehaven in Cumbria with BBC Two no longer being broadcast in analogue.. (more)

Cumbrian town paves the way for television's big switchover to digital
From The Independent. Posted October 16 2007, 1.05am
Whitehaven has seen better days. The mines have long since closed; the west Cumbria town would have probably been abandoned long ago, had it not been for jobs the nearby Sellafield nuclear power station provides. Perched on subsiding cliffs, a monument to the miners declares "an end of an era". And that is just what it feels like here in Whitehaven: an outpost of old England gradually eroding into the sea. (more)

The final countdown: Cumbrian town gets set to lead TV revolution
From Media Guardian. Posted October 16 2007, 1.00am
In the early hours tomorrow, the BBC2 analogue signal will disappear in Whitehaven. By Martin Wainwright and Owen Gibson. (more)

New DAB transmitters go live
From Radio Today. Posted October 5 2007, 9.57am
New digital radio transmitters for Galashields in the Scottish Borders and Whitehaven in Cumbria have been switched on this week, extending the digital radio choice to an extra 100,000 people. The launch of DAB in Whitehaven comes at the same time as digital television switchover. (more)

Cumbrian Newspapers journalists get 5.1% pay hike
From Press Gazette. Posted September 21 2007, 12.00am
Journalists at Cumbrian Newspapers have been given an unexpected across-the-board pay rise of 5.1 per cent due to a rise in inflation in August. (more)

Abbey FM hires hairy biker
From Radio Today. Posted August 21 2007, 9.26am
The local radio station for Barrow-in-Furness in Cumbria has secured the talent of BBC television presenter Dave Myers. Known as one of the Hairy Bikers, Barrow-born Dave will co-host the Sunday afternoon show on 107.3 Abbey FM with local presenter John Little. (more)

More coverage for Digital One
From Radio Today. Posted April 16 2007, 5.10pm
Ten more areas are to get access to the UK's only national commercial digital radio multiplex, Digital One. New transmitters will be switched on in areas including North West Cumbria, Eastbourne, Chesterfield and the Yorkshire coast over the next two years. Digital One says it will give them 90% DAB coverage of the UK. (more)

Richard comes back to radio
From Radio Today. Posted March 30 2007, 1.05pm
Top Gear star Richard Hammond is returning to radio to host a series of programmes over the coming Bank Holidays on BBC Radio 2, starting with a music programme this Easter. His routes can be found in local radio, including stints at BBC Radio's Cumbria, Lancashire and Leeds. (more)

Wind of change as 25,000 Cumbrian homes prepare for the first analogue TV switch-off
From Media Guardian. Posted March 16 2007, 12.00am
Whitehaven will become a standard bearer for the digital revolution when it is the first to switch off its analogue TV signal this autumn. By Owen Gibson. (more)

Cumbria stations extend news - from Radio Today
From Breaking Radio. Posted February 24 2007, 12.26pm
Local radio in Cumbria dropped regular programming after a fatal rail accident in the county yesterday evening. Local commercial station Lakeland Rad (more)

Cumbria stations extend news
From Radio Today. Posted February 24 2007, 12.52am
Local radio in Cumbria dropped regular programming after a fatal rail accident in the county yesterday evening. Local commercial station Lakeland Radio was live into the night with on-the-scene accounts from passengers and news updates, whilst BBC Radio Cumbria broadcast local news reports every 30 minutes rather than networked bulletins from Newcastle.. (more)

Northeast applications invited
From Radio Today. Posted January 3 2007, 10.20am
Ofcom is opening the gates for applications to provide community radio stations within the North and Northeast of England. The closing date for services in the counties of Cumbria, Durham, North Yorkshire and Northumberland, and the former counties of Tyne and Wear and Cleveland is March 27th 2007. (more)

Sellafield firm fined over leak
From BBC News. Posted October 16 2006, 2.47pm
The operator of the Sellafield plant is fined £500,000 over a radioactive leak at the Cumbrian site. (more)

Frank Gillard Awards - 2006 Winners
From Merry Media. Posted September 30 2006, 12.01pm
The winners of The Frank Gillard Awards 2006 were announced at the Low Wood Hotel, Windermere, Cumbria in which host Richard Bilton handed out awards to radio stations.. (more)

Staff pledge to fight Cumbrian Newspapers pension freeze
From Press Gazette. Posted July 26 2006, 11.00pm
Staff at Cumbrian Newspapers are threatening industrial action against proposals to freeze the company's final salary pension scheme for all members of staff. (more)

Cumbrian journalists protest over pension plans
From Media Guardian. Posted July 26 2006, 2.25pm
1.30pm: Journalists at Cumbrian Newspapers in Carlisle have voted to ballot for industrial action over plans to scrap their pension scheme. By Julia Day. (more)

Industrial unrest over pension scheme freeze in Cumbria
From Press Gazette. Posted July 26 2006, 11.59am
Proposals to freeze Cumbrian Newspapers' final salary pension scheme could lead to industrial action. (more)

Patient Podcasts from Kendal
From Radio Today. Posted July 7 2006, 12.15am
Not wanting to miss the boat, Kendal Hospital Radio in Cumbria have joined the podcast revolution and decided to put audio of interviews onto their website. Ex-patients and general visitors will now be able to visit the website download and listen to the podcasts. To launch the service, interviews recorded at the Holker Garden Festival 2006 will appear, with many more features to come during the year. Kendal Hospital Radio has the most advanced radio studios in Cumbria many of the visitors that visit our site are surprised how far advanced hospital radio has become over the last 5 years. (more)

Biggest Winners and Losers
From Radio Today. Posted May 11 2006, 12.00pm
As part of our RAJAR Q1 2006 coverage, we bring you the stations with the biggest jumps in figures. The Biggest Winners in terms of Reach: - Up 8%: Fen Radio 107.5 - Up 4%: BBC Radio Wiltshire/Swindon 97.2 Stray FM Dream 100 BBC Radio Norfolk The Pulse of West Yorkshire The Biggest Losers in terms of Reach: - Down 5%: BBC Radio Ulster Orchard FM BBC Radio Cumbria 96.9 Chiltern FM (Bedford) - Down 4%: Ocean FM Northsound One 96.2 Touch FM (formerly KIX96.2fm) 99.8FM 2BR Mercia FM (more)

Rugby radio time on the move
From Radio Today. Posted May 10 2006, 9.00am
The radio signal-controlled studio clock has been accurate ever since radio began - thanks to the accurate time signal transmitted from Rugby. But from next year, the signal will be broadcast from Cumbria instead. National Physical Laboratory (NPL) is switching contracts from BT, which owns the Rugby site, to VT Communications. (more)

More Digital Radio for Penrith
From Radio Today. Posted April 16 2006, 7.15pm
The BBC and Digital One have switched on new transmitters bringing national DAB digital radio services to Penrith in Cumbria. Digital One’s transmitter boosts its existing coverage in Cumbria and brings services to a gross population of over 79,000. It is the 99th transmitter in the national commercial multiplex operator’s network. The BBC’s transmitter brings approximately 32,500 people into BBC national digital radio coverage for the first time in and around Penrith. (more)

Abbey FM appoint Manager
From Radio Today. Posted March 24 2006, 6.00am
Abbey FM, the new radio station for Barrow-in-Furness have appointed its Station Manager who will turn the winning licence application into a fully operational radio station. Andrew Turner, a formerly with TLRC-owned 99.8FM 2BR in East Lancashire has left his position at the Nelson-based station to start a new role in South Cumbria. His first task is to secure premises for the station to broadcast from, followed by recruiting staff to help launch and run Abbey FM. (more)

Cumbria and Wales switched on
From Radio Today. Posted December 19 2005, 8.27am
Digital One, the national commercial digital radio multiplex operator, has switched on two new transmitters, in Kendal and Blaenplwyf. The Kendal transmitter brings national commercial DAB digital radio coverage to more than 142,944 people in Kendal and the southern Lake District. The Blaenplwyf transmitter reaches 46,132 people around the Aberystwyth area of Wales. (more)