BBC Radio Leeds

BBC Radio in Leeds Blue Plaque

The station began broadcasting at the Merrion Centre at 5.30 pm on 24 June 1968, becoming the 7th station to go on air. Initially a two-year experiment and co-funded by Leeds City Council, the station was only available in Leeds on a low powered 50 watt VHF transmitter in Meanwood Park, on 94.6 MHz.[1] Listening figures were very low as at that time, the majority of listeners still listened to radio via AM. In 1970 the station was made permanent and began broadcasting to all of West Yorkshire from the Holme Moss transmitting station and in 1972 the station started broadcasting on MW and branded itself as “the voice of West Yorkshire”.[2]

In 1974 BBC Radio Leeds, along with BBC Look North, moved to new studios in Woodhouse Lane, where it remained for thirty years until the studio was demolished in 2004.

Until the mid 1980s the station was generally on air from breakfast until teatime, with any programming after 6 pm devoted to specialist music and magazines aimed at specialist interests and at ethnic minority communities. These programmes did not broadcast all year round. In August 1986, evening programmes began on a permanent basis when the station joined with the other three BBC stations in Yorkshire to provide an early evening service of specialist music programmes on weeknights from 6 pm to 7:30 pm, extending a year later to six days a week (Wednesday to Monday) between 7 pm and 9 pm with Tuesdays reserved for local sports coverage. May 1989 saw the launch of BBC Night Network which saw the BBC Local Radio stations in the North of England broadcasting networked programming every evening from 6:05 pm (6 pm at the weekend) and midnight, extending to 12:30 am in the early 1990s, and to 1 am by the end of that decade. During this period, the station was branded as “West Yorkshire’s FM BBC Radio Leeds.”

BBC Radio Leeds' main studios are at the BBC Yorkshire buildings on St. Peter's Square in Leeds.

In 2012, the station shut down its offices and studios at the National Media Museum in Bradford, where the public was able to see programmes being broadcast. Radio Leeds also operated district newsrooms and contribution studios in Wakefield Town Hall, at Dean Clough in Halifax and at Huddersfield Town Hall. Four years later, the station reinstated an office and studio in Bradford, located in the Horton building at The University of Bradford.

BBC Radio Leeds was the home of BBC Local Radio’s networked evening show,[3] which was broadcast from the start of 2013 until local weeknight evening programming was reintroduced in autumn 2018.[4]

According to RAJAR, the station has a weekly audience of 216,000 listeners and a 4.3% share as of December 2018.[5]

The main VHF/FM transmitter is located at the Holme Moss transmitting station on 92.4 MHz, covering most of West Yorkshire. Unusually, this transmitter also transmits neighbouring services Radio Manchester and Radio Sheffield from separate directional aerials on the mast.

Radio Leeds is also carried on the Wharfedale and Luddenden relay transmitters on 95.3 MHz, from Keighley on 102.7 and from Beecroft Hill (West Leeds) on 103.9 MHz to fill in areas which are screened from Holme Moss by the topology of the area. The medium wave service on 774 kHz is transmitted from Farnley (also known as Leeds MF).

Since 2001, BBC Radio Leeds has also been carried on the Bauer Leeds DAB multiplex, and since October 2002, on the Bradford & Huddersfield Multiplex. Live streaming is available from the station's website and in 2015 the station began broadcasting throughout the BBC Yorkshire area on Freeview Channel 719.

Most of the station's programming is broadcast and produced from Leeds. Evening and weekend schedules occasionally change depending on live sport coverage.

The coronavirus pandemic caused the programming schedule to adapt to temporary workplace practices.

A BBC Radio Leeds vehicle as seen at Headingley during a one-day cricket match in 2009.

BBC Radio Leeds broadcasts live sport. Football coverage includes Leeds United, Huddersfield Town and Bradford City. Rugby league coverage includes Leeds Rhinos, Bradford Bulls, Huddersfield Giants, Wakefield Trinity Wildcats and Castleford Tigers. The station covers Yorkshire Carnegie in rugby union and Yorkshire County Cricket Club in cricket.

BBC Radio Leeds is the only station in West Yorkshire to provide live match commentary on Leeds United, Huddersfield Town and Bradford City home and away.

Managing Editor Sanjiv Buttoo
Assistant Editor Layla Painter
News Editor Michael Henderson
Sports Editor Jonathan Buchan

• Phillip Hayton
• John Helm
• Martin Kelner
• Peter Levy
• Richard Hammond

• Official website
• The history of BBC Radio Leeds