Media UK

LBC

LBC - originally the London Broadcasting Company - was the UK's first licensed commercial radio station. The speech-based station launched at 6am on 8 October 1973 with the words "This is London Broadcasting, the news and information voice of independent radio" voiced by David Jessell. (You can read an account of the first day by Ken Guy, the first newsreader (http://www.mediauk.com/article/10) elsewhere on Media UK).

The station was based at Communications House in Gough Square, just off Fleet Street in the City of London.

LBC's original weekday programme schedule was as follows:

• 0600 The Morning Show - David Jessell
• 0900 Two In The Morning - Paul Callan & Janet Street-Porter
• 1200 Open Line - Phil Jay
• 1400 At Home - with Steve Merike & Bel Mooney or Gillian Strickland
• 1630 The Afternoon Show - with Clive Roslin
• 1930 Feedback - with John Torode (not the celebrity chef of the same name!)
• 2200 Nightline - with Stewart Francis or Dennis Rookard (yes - an 8-hour show!)

After a few weeks, Dennis Rookard took over the lunchtime phone-in - replaced on weekend Nightline by Adrian Love - and Phil Jay moved to weekends.

In the 1970s and 1980s the station was mainly owned by Canadian company Selkirk Communications, but was sold to Australian media company Darling Downs (later called Crown Communications) in the mid-80s.

Under Crown Communications LBC moved to Crown House in Hammersmith Road following their frequency split.

In October 1989, LBC split into two services, LBC Crown FM and London Talkback Radio on AM.

The frequency split was not initially a success. After six months the FM service was rebranded LBC Newstalk.

Managing director Charlie Cox helped to turn round the station's fortunes, bringing in presenters such as Mike Carlton, who won a Sony Gold award for his Morning Report breakfast programme.

The station has had a turbulent history. In 1993 LBC - then owned by Shirley Porter's Chelverton Investments - failed to have its licence renewed.

The licence was won by London News Radio, a consortium led by former LBC staff and backed by Guinness Mahon.

When Chelverton Investments was on the brink of collapse following the loss of the licence, London News Radio bought LBC to ensure that the stations remained on-air until the handover in October 2004.

In turn LNR was bought by Reuters, which kept LBC's two services on air until 6am on 5 October 1994 (three days ahead of the official change of licence) when it launched London News 97.3FM and London News Talk 1152AM. In mid-1995 the names were simplified to News 97.3 and News Talk 1152 respectively.

London Radio operated from LBC's former studios in Hammersmith and employed many former LBC staff.

The LBC name was not used on-air between 5 October 1994 and 1 July 1996.

Between 1996 and 2002 LBC was part of London News Radio Limited, a company owned jointly by ITN, Daily Mail & General Trust, Reuters and GWR Group. This new consortium revived the LBC name on 1152AM on 1 July 1996. At the end of 1996 the FM service was relaunched as News Direct 97.3FM.

In mid-1996 the stations moved to the headquarters of ITN in Gray's Inn Road.

In 1999 full responsibility for programming on both stations was handed to ITN.

In 2000 the FM service became ITN News Direct 97.3FM, returning to its previous name for a few months in autumn 2002.

Since autumn 2002 LBC has been owned by Chrysalis, which relaunched LBC in January 2003 from its Bramley Road headquarters as LBC 97.3 (phone-ins and talk shows) and LBC News 1152 (rolling news).