Black Country Radio

Black Country Radio is a community radio station based in Brierley Hill, West Midlands and serving the Black Country.

Background

Black Country Radio (BCR) started life as 102.5 The Bridge on 1st January 2008 from their humble studios at St John’s United Reform Church in Stourbridge. They are licenced throgh OFCOM to broadcast to the Black Country on 102.5 FM. Their listener demographic is 35-55 year olds with an emphasis on local news, sport, music and causes.

Merger

In 2015, 102.5 The Bridge and Black Country Community Radio (BCCR) merged to produce Black Country Radio. This allowed for the two stations to have access to additional listeners, presenters and resources which secured the long term future for both.

DAB

At this time, BCR began broadcasting on DAB. They are part of the UK-wide 'local DAB' trial, which is an effort by the regulator to make the technology available to smaller stations. Where as FM transmitters are allocated per station, DAB broadcasts from a multiplex which individual stations have to rent space on - something which generally costs tens of thousands of pounds. Small scale DAB works on the same principal but uses new technology to drive costs down. The multiplex in the BCR DAB area was won by a station in Birmingham and is licensed to match their FM coverage area. That means that, to hear BCR on DAB, listeners will need to live in or around Birmingham City Centre. The trial has recently been extended and the station hopes they can extend their DAB transmissions to the Black Country.

Relocation

One 12th December 2016, Black Country Radio began broadcasting from their new studios at the Waterfront complex in Brierley Hill which is owned by INTU. This provided two on-air studios, dedicated recording suits and a live music area.

Website & Social Media

Black Country Radio have a comprehensive website, www.blackcountryradio.co.uk and have a steady following on Facebook, Twitter and other social media.

Local roadshows

BCR use local roadshows at events to promote the station and allow their listeners to interact with the presenters. They regularly appear at Christmas light switch on events including in Dudley, Stourbridge and Halesowen and are a permanent part of the Black Country Festival. The roadshows include live music from local artists as well as national celebrities. In 2016, they helped to turn the Christmas lights on in Stourbridge with Britain's Got Talent winner, Connie Talbot and in Halesowen by Paralympian, Jordanne Whiley.