BBC Radio Durham

BBC Radio Durham was a BBC local radio station set up in 1968.

Background

BBC Radio Durham was part of the BBC's original plan to have 9 sites where local radio experiments would be carried out. It is the only one of the original stations to have fully closed down.

It opened on 31 July 1968, but after the government restricted the BBC to 20 local radio stations, the corporation responded by ceasing transmissions on 25 August 1972. Its resources were transferred to Carlisle where BBC Radio Carlisle, now BBC Radio Cumbria, was formed.

It was the only one of the original stations to cover a county rather than a city. When the BBC opened Radio Newcastle which covered the north of the county and Radio Teesside (later Radio Cleveland and now BBC Tees) covered the south, it was sandwiched between the two. Although, in effect the radio station itself was moved to Carlisle to create the new service there.

County Durham is now covered by BBC Radio Newcastle and BBC Tees.

Former BBC News correspondent Kate Adie worked at Radio Durham, before joining BBC Radio Bristol in 1970. John Donaldson, perhaps less known than Kate Adie, went on from Radio Durham to become a familiar voice reading the news on BBC Radio 4.