BBC Radio Northampton
BBC Radio Northampton is the BBC's local radio station serving the county of Northamptonshire. It broadcasts on FM, DAB, digital TV and via BBC Sounds from studios on Abington Street in Northampton. According to RAJAR, the station has a weekly audience of 96,000 listeners and a 7.3% share as of September 2021. Opening. The station was launched at 6:45am on 16 June 1982 on 1107 AM and 96.6 FM, with Jon Beynon's programme "Start the Day", the first piece of music being John Williams's "Superman" theme, followed by "Work That Body" by Diana Ross . The first outside broadcast followed on 17 June 1982, and the official opening was performed by the Duke of Gloucester. The station was renamed "BBC Northampton" in 1990, but then reverted to BBC Radio Northampton on 3 April 2000. Transmitters. The station has two FM transmitters, with 104.2 FM broadcast from the Boughton Green Road area of Northampton, and 103.6 FM broadcast from a mast near the village of Geddington. Listeners can tune into 104.2 in the south and west of the county (including Northampton and surrounding area), whereas 103.6 serves the north and east (including Kettering and Corby). Along  the M1, the station can be heard on 104.2 FM from Milton Keynes to Copt Oak (near Leicester). There is no longer a MW frequency, but the station went digital on DAB in March 2013. Radio Northampton was originally available on 1107 kHz MW across the county from a transmitter at Kings Heath; this was reallocated to Virgin Radio using 1233 kHz. For the north-east of the county near Oundle, the Peterborough transmitter has Radio Cambridgeshire on DAB from a NOW Digital multiplex. The transmitter at Daventry on Borough Hill has BBC National DAB, Digital One 11D and an  MXR West Midlands 12A multiplex (since August 2001). Daventry was the BBC's first Long wave transmitter, which began broadcasting on 27 July 1925. It had not been previously used by the BBC since 1978. In addition, BBC Radio Northampton also broadcasts on Freeview TV channel 734 in the BBC East Midlands region and the Western half of the BBC East region. It also streams online via BBC Sounds. DAB licence. On 11 October 2007, the DAB licence was awarded to NOW Digital. MuxCo had also bid for the licence. NOW Digital expected to start broadcasting from the three transmitters  at Northampton, Geddington and Daventry in September 2008, however transmissions eventually began on 28 March 2013 on DAB channel 10C. The line-up was identical to that of the neighbouring Herts, Beds and Bucks multiplex, consisting of local Northamptonshire stations (BBC Radio Northampton: countywide, Connect FM: Wellingborough, Kettering, Corby) and national stations (Capital, Gold and Heart: Northants, Bucks, MK, Beds and Herts regional service), along with stations aimed at the Herts, Beds and Bucks area (BBC Three Counties Radio and MKFM). From February 2015, OFCOM approved the separation of the Northamptonshire multiplex from the Hertfordshire, Bedfordshire and Buckinghamshire multiplex, resulting  in the removal of BBC Three Counties Radio, BOB fm and MKFM from the Northamptonshire multiplex, and the removal of BBC Radio Northampton from the Herts, Beds and Bucks multiplex. Sports coverage. BBC Radio Northampton airs extensive sports coverage, led by Sports Editor Graham McKechnie. Football commentators include Tim Oglethorpe, Alex Winter, Ian Benjamin and Terry Angus for Northampton Town, Peter Short for Kettering Town, Chris Barrett at Brackley/Rushden and Chuck Middleton at Corby. McKechnie commentates on Northampton Saints rugby with Lennie Newman and Ian Hunter. Northants Steelbacks cricket commentators include McKechnie, Alex Winter, Andrew Radd and Lee Daggett . Matches are covered on FM or DAB or both, with additional coverage on-line. The sports team is supplemented by News Editor Laura Cook who has a particular interest in motor sport and horse racing. The station broadcasts 3 weekly sports shows from 6 - 7PM, The Saints Show on Wednesday presented by McKechnie and Newman, focusing on a guest from Northampton Saints, The Cobblers Show/The Cricket Show on Thursday, and Friday Night Sport. Programming. Local programming is produced and broadcast from the BBC's Northampton studios from 6am - 10pm on Mondays - Saturdays and from 6am - 2 pm and 6-10pm on Sundays. Off-peak programming, including the late show from 10pm - 1am, originates from BBC Radio Norfolk, BBC Three Counties Radio and BBC Radio Essex. During the station's downtime, BBC Radio Northampton simulcasts overnight programming from BBC Radio 5 Live and BBC Radio London. ViLoR. ViLoR (Virtual Local Radio) is the name of a BBC project that uses computer virtualisation and audio-over-IP to reduce the amount of equipment at a radio station. In 2014 Radio Northampton became the first station to operate in this way. Satellite Van. Like other BBC local  radio stations Radio Northampton no longer uses a car with a pump-up mast to get reports from locations around its area and instead uses a van with a satellite dish. Notable events. Involvement in U.S. presidential inauguration. BBC Northampton operates the Twitter account "@BBCNorthampton". A tweet was sent from the Twitter account on the day after the President's Inauguration, claiming that Donald Trump had been shot, but later the BBC confirmed that the account had been hacked.