BBC Радио Сомерсет: Местное радио Сомерсета

BBC Local Radio service for the ceremonial county of Somerset, England

BBC Radio Somerset is the BBC's local radio station serving the county of Somerset, England. It broadcasts on FM, AM, DAB, digital TV and via BBC Sounds from studios in the Blackbrook area of Taunton. According to RAJAR, the station has a weekly audience of 55,000 listeners and a 7.2% share as of December 2023.

The first BBC service for the county of Somerset was established in 1978, as an emergency measure following storms in the county.

The station proper was launched as BBC Somerset Sound on 11 April 1988, broadcasting on BBC Radio Bristol's former frequency of 1323 medium wave. It was based in studios above a café on Paul St, Taunton, run by producer in charge, Clinton Rogers and news
producer Anne Ashworth, with a smaller satellite studio in Yeovil run by district producer, Steve Haigh. The signal on 1323 MW was for many years interfered with by a radio station in Russia. In August 2002, BBC Somerset Sound moved to new premises in Park Street, Taunton, and acquired a more robust frequency of 1566 MW.

In 2007, the station relaunched as BBC Somerset, with the launch of the BBC Somerset bus in May. On 3 December of that year, the station was given BBC Radio Bristol's former frequency of 95.5 FM, and broadcasts to the whole county of Somerset (including the unitary districts of North Somerset and Bath and North East Somerset) and beyond. Listeners from as far afield as Finland have reported hearing the station clearly. BBC Somerset sometimes uses its AM frequency for cricket commentary while regular programming continues on FM. BBC Somerset began broadcasting on DAB in September 2014. BBC Somerset was for many years an 'opt out' from BBC Radio Bristol, but in May 2012, the BBC established it as a station in its own right. The BBC's Annual Report and Accounts for 2005/2006 stated: "The BBC is committed to extending its network of local radio stations to a limited number of under served areas, and BBC management is carrying out preparatory work for new stations in Somerset, Dorset and Cheshire". On 6 October 2011, the BBC announced that it intended to close BBC Somerset's 1566 MW frequency as part of its Delivering Quality First (DQF) program of cutbacks. No decision on the timing of the medium wave switch off has yet been made. In November 2017, BBC Somerset moved from the Park Street premises to a new building on the edge of Taunton in Blackbrook. The current editor of BBC Radio Somerset is Gareth Roberts, with Andrew Enever as news editor.

On 27 April 2020, the station changed its name to BBC Radio Somerset in order to fit the station name into the new jingle package. On 5 July 2020, the station switched from the BBC West feed to join BBC South West. In September 2023, the station joined again with BBC Radio Bristol sharing some programmes.

Local weekday programmes are produced and broadcast from the BBC's Taunton studios from 6am to 2pm. The weekday afternoon programme is shared with BBC Radio Bristol. Evening weekday programmes are shared across the BBC West region. The 10pm to 1am Late Show is a national programme from either London or Manchester. 6am to 2pm Saturday and Sunday programmes are broadcast across the BBC West region. Saturday sport (2pm to 6pm) is a shared programme with BBC Radio Bristol with the option to broadcast local commentaries. Saturday evenings are region wide shared programmes,

Sunday afternoons are shared with BBC Radio Bristol. After 6pm all programmes are national. Overnight, BBC Radio Somerset simulcasts BBC Radio 5 Live between 1am and 6am.

The service is broadcast across Somerset on 95.5 FM from the Mendip transmitting station located on the summit of Pen Hill, part of the Mendip Hills. The station also broadcasts on Freeview TV channel 722 in the BBC South West and BBC West regions and streams online via BBC Sounds.