LBC
RDS | LBC |
---|---|
Programming | |
Format | Talk radio |
Ownership | |
Owner | Global |
LBC News | |
History | |
First air date |
|
Links | |
Webcast | Global Player |
Website | www |
LBC (originally the London Broadcasting Company) is a British
The launch of LBC also saw the beginning of Independent Radio News broadcasting, as LBC provided the service to independent local radio stations nationwide. LBC broadcast only to London until 2006, at which time it became available, via digital radio, in some other parts of the country. It has been available nationwide since 2014, with the letters now standing for Leading Britain's Conversation. LBC has a like-branded sister station, LBC News, dedicated to rolling news, travel and weather.
As of December 2023, LBC and LBC London broadcast to a combined weekly audience of 3.8 million, according to RAJAR.[2]
History
Launch and early history
The station was originally based in studios on Gough Square, off Fleet Street in the City of London. David Jessel was LBC's original breakfast presenter; he opened the station just before 6am on Monday 8 October 1973. The original station had several presenters who became household names in the British media. These include Adrian Love, Jon Snow, Peter Allen, Rosie Boycott, and Bel Mooney. For 10 years from 1975 the breakfast show AM was presented by Bob Holness and Douglas Cameron. LBC's late-evening interview and phone-in programme between 9 p.m. (later 10 p.m.) and 1 a.m. was called Nightline and at various times was hosted by Adrian Love, Robin Houston, Monty Modlyn, Jeremy Beadle and Tommy Boyd. There was also a character called 'Mr Nasty' (played by John Forrest), who argued over the telephone with children. Beadle and Forrest went on to star in the Granada Television series Fun Factory.
Bob Holness, Douglas Cameron, Peter Allen, Jon Snow, Brian Hayes and Jeremy Beadle, among others, were promoted by Ron Onions, Editorial Director of LBC Radio and IRN 1974–84.[citation needed]
Changes of ownership
Originally owned by a consortium led by the Canadian Selkirk Communications of Vancouver, British Columbia with a 47% stake, LBC was sold in 1987, beginning a turbulent commercial history. The new owners were media company Darling Downs, later renamed Crown Communications, owned by Australian entrepreneur David Haynes. Crown sold the station's original base in Gough Square near Fleet Street in the City of London and relocated to Hammersmith; and in 1989 split the station into two separate services, the news and comment station LBC Crown FM, and the phone-in London Talkback Radio on AM. The transition was not initially well received, and substantially increased costs, pushing the company into the red. In 1993, the company was sold to Shirley Porter's Chelverton Investments, after Crown fell into financial difficulties.[3]
London News Radio
On the morning of Friday, 3 September 1993, the
London News Radio operated the station from LBC's former studios in Hammersmith as London News 97.3, a rolling news and travel information service on the
Return of LBC
Reuters then brought in additional shareholders, and between 1996 and 2002 LBC was part of London News Radio Limited, a company owned jointly by
Chrysalis
In 2002, the company was bought for £23.5m by the media company Chrysalis,[7][8][9] which trumpeted its purchase with the promise that it would lift the listenership to at least one million from around 700,000 (LBC had enjoyed an audience of more than two million in the early 1980s). Production was moved to Chrysalis's base in North Kensington, and the formatting of the two frequencies was swapped, the talk format moving to FM and the news format to AM.[10]
On 13 January 2004, then British Prime Minister Tony Blair presented an hour-long phone-in show on the station, taking pre-booked calls from LBC 97.3 listeners. His appearance was part of the 'Big Conversation' initiative to promote government as being more accessible and in touch with the people. During the 10–11 am show, a caller said that he had been denied access to his children for five years and asked what Blair was planning to do about other fathers in a similar situation. Blair assured the caller he would look into his case personally. It later transpired that the caller was in fact Fathers 4 Justice member Ron Davis, who in May of that year was arrested for entering Parliament and throwing a condom containing purple powder over Blair and nearby Cabinet members. Davis said the attack was in response to the Prime Minister's failure to contact him or look into the matters discussed on LBC 97.3.[11][12][13]
In January 2006 LBC Plus launched as a paid subscription service providing podcasts;[15] eventually this became a free catch-up service.[16]
In September 2006, the LBC 97.3 station became available in some other parts of the country on the digital
Global Radio
In February 2007, Chrysalis confirmed media speculation that it was reviewing the entire radio operation at its investors' request.
In April 2007, a new marketing slogan for (what was then called) LBC 97.3 was introduced: "London's Biggest Conversation", a play on the station's initials.[21]
The radio station became involved in the
Towards the end of October 2012, the station ceased DAB broadcasts to some parts of the country as regional DAB multiplexes in England and Wales were shut down.
Since 2013 LBC has broadcast a consumer law show, called The Consumer Hour that focused on providing information, advice, and support to listeners on various consumer-related topics, such as personal finance, product safety, and consumer rights. The show was initially hosted by Clive Bull with listeners' questions answered by guest consumer lawyer Dean Dunham; since 2020 Dunham has solely presented the show.[citation needed]
On 30 January 2014, LBC announced its intention to begin broadcasting nationally on DAB at 7 am on 11 February 2014 under a new slogan, "Leading Britain's Conversation", with new jingles composed by David Arnold and performed by the City of Prague Philharmonic Orchestra.[24] LBC took up the slot previously occupied by Jazz FM (and briefly Birdsong), and dropped the "97.3" from the station name to reinforce the notion that it now had national coverage.[25][26]
As of December 2023, LBC and LBC London broadcast to a combined weekly audience of 3.8 million, according to RAJAR.[2] In a 2023 poll by YouGov 14% of respondents ranked LBC as a trusted news brand. A further 14% of respondents did not trust LBC. The remaining respondents were either neutral or did not answer.[27]
Presenters
As of January 2024[update], the current presenters on LBC are:[28]
- Nick Ferrari (Weekday Breakfast 7–10am)
- James O'Brien (Weekdays 10–1pm)
- Shelagh Fogarty (Weekdays 1–4pm)
- Tom Swarbrick (Weekdays 4–6pm)
- Andrew Marr (Monday-Thursday 6–7pm)
- Iain Dale (Monday–Thursday 7–10pm)
- Rachel Johnson (Sunday 7–10pm)
- Richard Spurr (Monday-Thursday 1–4am)
- David Lammy (Sunday 10–1pm)
- Ian Payne (Weekdays 4–7am)
- Matthew Wright (Weekend Breakfast 7–10am)
- Matt Frei (Saturday 10–1pm)
- Sangita Myska (Weekends 1–4pm)
- Lewis Goodall (Friday 6–9pm)
- Natasha Devon (Saturday 7–9pm)
- Nick Abbot (Friday–Sunday 10–1am)
- Clive Bull (Friday–Sunday 1–4am)
- Ben Kentish (Monday–Thursday 10pm–1am)
- Dean Dunham (Friday 9–10pm)
- Daniel Barnett (Saturday 9–10pm)
- Marina Purkiss (Cover Presenter)
- Oli Dugmore (Saturday and Sunday 4–7am)
- Paul Brand (Cover Presenter)
- Carol Vorderman (Sundays 4–7pm)
- Ali Miraj (Saturday 4–7pm and Cover)
- Henry Riley (Cover Presenter)
- Dom Joly (Cover Presenter)
- Anushka Asthana (Cover Presenter)
Podcast presenters
- Gabby Logan
- Mark Chapman
- Carol McGiffin
- Nick Abbot
- Emily Maitlis
- Jon Sopel
- Lewis Goodall
- Johnny Vaughan
References
- ^ "On this day: 1973 – Commercial radio joins UK airwaves". BBC News. 8 October 1973.
- ^ a b "Quarterly listening". RAJAR. Retrieved 11 January 2024. Updated quarterly.
- ^ New Owners For LBC, AM/FM News, February 1993.
- ^ LBC To Appeal Over Licence Decision, AM/FM News, September 1993.
- ^ Receivers In At LBC, AM/FM News, April 1994.
- ^ Eaton, Lynn (5 October 1994). "LBC signs off after 21 years". The Independent. London.
- ^ Reece, Damian (15 December 2001). "London News Radio for sale with £30m tag". The Daily Telegraph. London.[dead link]
- ^ Milmo, Dan (25 September 2002). "LBC takeover imminent". The Guardian. London.
- ^ Cassy, John (26 September 2002). "GWR confirms LNR sale". The Guardian. London.
- ^ Day, Julia (6 December 2002). "LBC goes off air in relaunch gamble". The Guardian. London.
- ^ Womack, Sarah (20 May 2004). "Estranged father confronted Prime Minister during a radio phone-in". The Daily Telegraph. Archived from the original on 12 January 2022. Retrieved 15 October 2016.
- ^ "BBC ON THIS DAY | 19 | 2004: Angry dads hit Blair with purple flour". BBC News. Retrieved 15 October 2016.
- ^ Jackson, Andy (19 May 2016). "May 19, 2004: Dads' group hits Tony Blair with purple flour during Prime Minister's Questions". BT.com. Retrieved 15 October 2016.
- ^ Deans, Jason (18 July 2005). "Flanagan quits LBC for politics". The Guardian. London.
- ^ "Paid-for podcasts boost LBC revenue". Press Gazette. 14 May 2007. Retrieved 26 April 2023.
- ^ "LBC Catch Up". lbc.audioagain.com. Archived from the original on 30 March 2019. Retrieved 27 January 2020.
- ^ "LBC Radio in DAB Expansion – potential 17 million audience" (Press release). LBC Radio. 28 July 2006.
- ^ Day, Julia (1 August 2006). "Ofcom gives nod to LBC news hub". The Guardian. London.
- ^ Tryhorn, Chris (12 February 2007). "Chrysalis joins consolidation race". The Guardian. London.
- ^ Thelwell, Emma (26 June 2007). "Chrysalis sells three radio stations". The Daily Telegraph. London. Archived from the original on 8 January 2008.
- ^ Oatts, Joanne (3 April 2007). "LBC becomes 'London's Biggest Conversation'". Digital Spy.
- ^ Aaronovitch, David (10 February 2009). "The preposterous prejudice of the anti-MMR lobby". The Times. London.
- ^ "Early Day Motion 754: MMR vaccine and the media". UK Parliament. 10 February 2009. Archived from the original on 15 August 2018. Retrieved 11 February 2009.
- ^ Jacob, Jonathan (11 February 2014). "LBC goes national – new jingle package". Earshot. Retrieved 14 February 2023.
- ^ Sweney, Mark (30 January 2014). "LBC to go national on DAB digital radio". The Guardian.
- ^ Burrell, Ian (30 January 2014). "LBC to take on Radio 5 Live with national expansion". The Independent.
- ^ Majid, Aisha (31 May 2023). "UK newsbrand trust rankings: The Sun is least-trusted and BBC and FT lead the way". Press Gazette. Retrieved 31 May 2023.
- ^ "Presenters". LBC. Retrieved 24 April 2023.