LBC 97.3

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**LBC 97.3**

Broadcast area	London
Slogan	Real Life, Real London
First air date	8 October 1973 (6am BST)
Frequency	97.3 MHz
Format	News/Talk
Owner	Chrysalis Group
Website	www.lbc.co.uk

LBC 97.3 is a London-based talk and phone-in radio station. It is one half of the latest incarnation of LBC, the news and speech service which was Britain's first commercial radio station when it went on air in October 1973. LBC's current format - with talk on 97.3FM and rolling news on LBC News 1152 - was established in January 2003.

1 Launch
2 Station presenters
3 Availability
4 Podcasting
5 Tony Blair appearance
6 Ken Livingstone appearances
7 External links

[edit] Launch

The launch attracted considerable attention and a sizeable audience, particularly for the pairing of the celebrated journalist Paul Callan and the writer (later national newspaper editor and TV personality) Janet Street-Porter who contrived to create a new form of radio, albeit unintentionally. The pair were pitched as co-presenters of the morning drive-time show.^[1] The intention was to contrast the urbane Callan with the less couth Street-Porter, whose accents were respectively known to studio engineers as "cut-glass" and "cut-froat".

In the event friction between the ill-assorted pair led to an entertaining stream of one-upmanship that became required listening for many Londoners, the sharper put-downs being blamed for several collisions by motorists incapacitated with laughter. The programme was the first in the the UK to combine interviews with celebrities and heavyweight political figures on the same show, blurring the line between classic British comedy and analysis of international affairs.

[edit] Station presenters

[edit] Current

Current LBC 97.3 presenters include: Nick Abbot; Steve Allen; Bill Buckley; Clive Bull; Marcus Churchill; John Cushing; Jenny Eclair; Caroline Feraday; Nick Ferrari; Chris Hawkins; Gary King; Iain Lee; James Max; Carol McGiffin; James O'Brien; Jo Parkerson; Anna Raeburn; Paul Ross; Kenny Sansom and Becky Walsh.

[edit] Occasional

Presenters used to fill in for absent regulars include: Adrian Allen; Alison Bell; Peter Deeley; Bob Johnson; Alex Thomas and Jon Holmes.

[edit] Past

Past LBC presenters include: Carol Allen; Dominic Allen; Jeremy Beadle;Therese Birch; Frank Bough; Tommy Boyd; Gyles Brandreth; Paul Callan; Douglas Cameron; Mike Carlton; Mike Carson; Andy Crane; Jamie Crick; Jono Coleman; Tim Crook; Anne Diamond; Mike Dickin; Matthew Wright; Krishnan Guru-Murthy; Boy George; Angie Greaves; Eric Hall; Brian Hayes; Bob Holness; Phillip Hodson; Adrian Love; Sue Jameson; Bryn Jones; Steve Jones; Lesley Judd; Henry Kelly; Allan King; Jenny Lacey; Richard Littlejohn; Wendy Lloyd; Mike Mendoza; Daisy McAndrew; Monty Modlin; Jane Moore; Elliot Moss; Pete Murray; Michael Parkinson; David Prever; Gill Pyrah; Angela Rippon; Valerie Singleton; Penny Smith; Julia Somerville; Dr Pam Spurr; Janet Street-Porter; Carol Thatcher; Eamon Holmes, Michael Van Straten and Sandy Warr.

[edit] Guest

People who have hosted 'one off' or temporary shows while regular presenters were away include:

Tony Blair - 13th January 2004 (see below)
Ann Widdecombe
Abi Titmuss - 23rd June 2006
Frank Dobson
Dianne Abbott
Edwina Curry

[edit] Availability

Prior to 2006 the station could be heard on:

DAB Digital Radio (Greater London area) CE London Multiplex
FM Radio 97.3 MHz (Greater London area) Croydon Transmitter
Homechoice 627
Sky Digital 0177
Online Streaming from station website

Since September 2006 LBC 97.3 has been carried on the MXR Digital multiplexs in the North East, North West, Severn Estuary, South Wales, Yorkshire and the West Midlands replacing rolling news service DNN.

[edit] Podcasting

LBC claim to be the first radio station in the world to provide full-length podcasts for all its major shows, plus podcast-only shows and other things such as backstage interviews and mp3s sent to the show.

[edit] Tony Blair appearance

On January 13, 2004, 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 10:00-11:00 show, a caller explained that he'd been denied access to his children for five years and asked what Mr Blair was planning to do about other fathers in a similar situation. The Prime Minister 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 Mr Blair and nearby Cabinet members. Mr Davis claimed the attack was in response to the Prime Minister's failure to contact him or look into the matters discussed on LBC 97.3.

[edit] Ken Livingstone appearances

A regular guest on LBC 97.3 is London Mayor Ken Livingstone, who usually appears once per month on the Nick Ferrari breakfast show. During the show he takes calls from LBC listeners and discusses points put to him by Ferrari. It's become something of a running joke that the Mayor usually arrives late, blaming it on public transport, which he's famously keen to be seen using, to the extent that Nick Ferrari actually won a bet that Livingstone would be late for his next appearance on LBC.