BBC Coventry & Warwickshire

The BBC Coventry & Warwickshire studios, with the logo clearly displayed.

BBC Local Radio in the 1990s underwent an expansion programme where counties and other areas without a local radio station were identified and five stations were to launch: BBC Radio Surrey, BBC Radio Berkshire, BBC Radio Suffolk, BBC Wiltshire Sound and BBC Radio Warwickshire.

The Radio Warwickshire working title was changed to BBC CWR by the time the station launched on 17 January 1990. The name CWR (Coventry and Warwickshire Radio) reflected the wider area that the new station would cover, taking in the city of Coventry with the whole of the county of Warwickshire, which was then also served by BBC Radio WM. The station broadcast from a Victorian-style mansion on Warwick Road, close to Coventry railway station. Smaller studios were located in Atherstone, Nuneaton, Rugby, Stratford-upon-Avon and Warwick.

From day one, BBC CWR faced strong competition from the established commercial radio stations in the area. Mercia Sound had been an outstanding success since its own launch ten years earlier in 1980. Xtra AM, the AM-only sister station from Mercia Sound, also enjoyed high listenership since it split from Mercia and launched in 1989.

CWR seemed to find it difficult to compete for the very large audiences built up by Mercia and Xtra. It was, however, well respected and highly regarded with its regular audience.

The BBC, under Director-General John Birt, deemed that CWR was not sufficiently successful in audience terms to warrant its continuation, and within increasing financial constraints in February 1995 CWR was to close. Regular listeners were hugely disappointed and phoned presenter Jon Gaunt to protest about the decision.

In 1995 BBC CWR merged with neighbouring BBC Radio WM in Birmingham, was renamed BBC Coventry and Warwickshire and would operate as an opt-out service from BBC WM with the remainder of the schedule as shared programming. This had the effect of alienating local listeners, whilst paradoxically presenters from WM, such as Ed Doolan, Malcolm Boyden and Tony Butler received high listening figures and distinctions with three Sony Radio Academy Awards, including Radio Station of the Year in 1996.

Its studios were relocated from Warwick Road to much smaller premises on Greyfriars Road. All local programmes except breakfast with Annie Othen, the afternoon show with Bob Brolly, Poles Apart on Wednesdays, and weekend football coverage of Coventry City F.C. were replaced with programmes from Birmingham.

2003 saw the station re-labelled as BBC WM across Coventry and Warwickshire.

In 2003, the then Director-General of the BBC, Greg Dyke, announced on-air that Coventry and Warwickshire was again to have its own BBC Local Radio station. Describing the situation with presenter Annie Othen, Mr Dyke said that the station would be added to the BBC's Local Radio portfolio:

"I'm very pleased to announce that we're planning to open a new radio station in Coventry – an area that's been served by BBC WM since 1995. We hope the new station will be housed in a modern, vibrant building close to Coventry Cathedral in the heart of the city. Alongside the radio studios, there'll also be an open centre to provide access to BBC Learning facilities similar to the already established centres in Blackburn, Sheffield and Stoke. Open Centres provide a valuable community role, so this is an exciting venture for the BBC."

He also added that the 1995 closure of CWR was a mistake:

"The decision was made under different circumstances – and now we're in a position to change it."

BBC Coventry and Warwickshire relaunched as a stand-alone station on 3 September 2005 with full local programming for 15 hours a day.

In February 2020, BBC Coventry & Warwickshire reverted back to the 'BBC CWR' name.

The station provides coverage of a range of sports, including live commentary, reports and updates. The flagship sports programme is BBC CWR Sport (also referred on air as Sky Blues Sport). It is broadcast mostly on Saturday afternoons (and occasionally on Sundays & weeknights). The mainstay of the coverage is live match commentary of Coventry City games (home and away in the Football League, FA Cup, Football League Cup and Football League Trophy). Commentary is provided by Clive Eakin, Steve Ogrizovic and Martin Winch. A weekly Friday evening phone-in programme about the Sky Blues is presented by Stuart Linnell.

Since their relocation to Coventry, the station has provided live match commentary of Wasps RFC games (as a part of BBC Sport's national contract with Premiership Rugby). Games in the Aviva Premiership, Anglo-Welsh Cup and European Rugby Champions Cup are broadcast predominately online (and, on occasion, on DAB and FM). Coventry RUFC's matches in the RFU Championship are also covered live. Alec Blackman, John Butler and Richard Moon are all involved with rugby coverage.

Online match commentary & radio reports of Leamington F.C. and Nuneaton Borough's games are also provided. Commentary of Warwickshire County Cricket Club games can be found on air and online.

• Jon Gaunt launches the station in 2005
• Jingle package