BBC CWR

This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. Find sources: "BBC CWR" – news · newspapers · books · scholar · JSTOR (May 2025) (Learn how and when to remove this message)

BBC CWR

Coventry
Broadcast area	Coventry and Warwickshire
Frequency	FM: 94.8 (Coventry, Coleshill and Rugby) FM: 103.7 ( Leamington Spa and Stratford ) FM: 104.0 (Nuneaton) DAB: 12D Freeview: 711
RDS	BBC CWR
Programming
Language	English
Format	Local news, talk and music
Ownership
Owner	BBC Local Radio BBC West Midlands
History
First air date	17 January 1990 (original) 3 September 2005 (relaunch)
Former names	BBC Coventry and Warwickshire (2005–2020)
Technical information
Licensing authority	Ofcom
Transmitter coordinates	52°24′35″N 1°30′30″W / 52.4096°N 1.5084°W / 52.4096; -1.5084[clarification needed]
Links
Website	www.bbc.co.uk/cwr

BBC CWR (Coventry & Warwickshire Radio) is the

It broadcasts on FM, DAB, digital TV, and via BBC Sounds from studios at Priory Place in Coventry city centre.

According to RAJAR, the station has a weekly audience of 67,000 listeners as of May 2025.^[1]

In the early 1990s, BBC Local Radio underwent an expansion programme where counties and other areas without a local radio station were identified. Five stations were to launch: BBC Radio Surrey, BBC Radio Berkshire, BBC Radio Suffolk, BBC Wiltshire Sound and BBC Radio Warwickshire.^{[citation needed]}

The Radio Warwickshire working title was changed to BBC CWR by the time the station launched on 17 January 1990 as the name CWR (Coventry and Warwickshire Radio) reflected the wider area that the new station would cover, taking in the city of Coventry with the whole of the county of Warwickshire, which was then also served by BBC Radio WM. The station broadcast from a Victorian-style mansion on Warwick Road, close to Coventry railway station. Smaller studios were located in Atherstone, Nuneaton, Rugby, Stratford-upon-Avon, Leamington and Warwick.^{[citation needed]}

From day one, BBC CWR faced strong competition from the established commercial radio stations in the area.

Its studios were relocated from Warwick Road to much smaller premises on Greyfriars Road. All local programmes except breakfast with Annie Othen, the afternoon show with Bob Brolly, Poles Apart on Wednesdays, and weekend football coverage of Coventry City, were replaced with programming from Birmingham.^{[citation needed]}

In 2003, the station was re-labelled as BBC WM across Coventry and Warwickshire.^{[citation needed]}

In 2003, the then Director-General of the BBC, Greg Dyke, announced on-air that Coventry and Warwickshire would again have its own BBC Local Radio station. Describing the situation with presenter Annie Othen, Dyke said that the station would be added to the BBC's Local Radio portfolio:^{[citation needed]}

I'm very pleased to announce that we're planning to open a new radio station in Coventry – an area that's been served by BBC WM since 1995. We hope the new station will be housed in a modern, vibrant building close to Coventry Cathedral in the heart of the city. Alongside the radio studios, there'll also be an open centre to provide access to BBC Learning facilities similar to the already established centres in Blackburn, Sheffield and Stoke. Open Centres provide a valuable community role, so this is an exciting venture for the BBC.

He also said that the 1995 closure of CWR was a "mistake":^{[citation needed]}

The decision was made under different circumstances – and now we're in a position to change it.

BBC Coventry and Warwickshire relaunched as a stand-alone station on 3 September 2005 with full local programming for 15 hours a day.^{[citation needed]}

In February 2020, BBC Coventry & Warwickshire reverted to the BBC CWR name.^{[citation needed]}

The BBC initially supplied two powerful

The South Warwickshire area receives a strong signal on 103.7 MHz from a 1.4 kW transmitter located at an existing television relay site on a hill at Lark Stoke, 4.7 miles (7.5 km) west-northwest of Shipston-on-Stour and 7.5 miles (12 km) south of Stratford-upon-Avon.^{[citation needed]}

A small pocket of poor reception in Nuneaton was later resolved by adding a low-power relay transmitter on 104.0 MHz.^{[citation needed]}

BBC CWR went digital shortly after the launch of the local DAB multiplex on 31 January 2001 with NOW Digital Coventry^[2] in the Coventry area with transmissions from Samuel Vale House (central Coventry), Barwell Water Tower near Hinckley, Meriden, Leamington Spa and Daventry in Northamptonshire.

The station also broadcasts on Freeview TV channel 711 in the BBC West Midlands region and streams online via BBC Sounds.

Local programming is produced and broadcast from the BBC's Coventry studios from 6 am to 2 pm on Mondays to Fridays, and for sports coverage.^{[citation needed]}

The station usually broadcasts the whole of the Late Night programme, a programme carried by all BBC Local Radio stations (except in the case of sports coverage), which is broadcast between 10 pm and 1 am.^{[citation needed]}

During the station's overnight downtime, BBC CWR simulcasts programming from BBC Radio 5 Live.^{[citation needed]}

The station provides coverage of a range of sports, including live commentary, reports, and updates. The flagship sports programme is BBC CWR Sport (also referred to on air as Sky Blues Sport). It is broadcast mostly on Saturday afternoons (and occasionally on Sundays and weeknights). The mainstay of the coverage is live match commentary of Coventry City matches. Clive Eakin is the primary commentator as of 2001, and primary presenter from 2001 to 2023, with Rob Gurney rejoining the station as lead presenter in 2023. As of 2019, co-commentary is primarily provided by former City player Steve Ogrizovic, following his retirement as the club's goalkeeper coach, with Dave Bennett being the typical stand-in. Before this, Clive Eakin would be joined by various ex-players or managers for co-commentary.The Sound of the Sky Blues, a phone-in programme about Coventry City, airs on Mondays and Fridays.^{[citation needed]}

After their relocation to Coventry but before their 2022 liquidation, the station provided live match commentary of

• Trish Adudu (weekday afternoons)
• Steve Ogrizovic (BBC CWR Sport)

• Malcolm Boyden
• Bob Brolly (Sunday afternoons)
• Ed Doolan
• Jon Gaunt
• Jim Lee
• Alex Lester
• Stuart Linnell
• Les Ross
• Tony Wadsworth
• Wincey Willis

• BBC Radio WM
• Capital Mid-Counties
• Hits Radio Coventry & Warwickshire

• BBC CWR
• History of local radio in Warwickshire