BBC Radio Guernsey celebrates 40 years on air

Radio Guernsey's first broadcast was at midday on March 16th 1982

BBC Radio Guernsey is celebrating its 40th birthday.

The first voice heard on air on 16 March 1982 was producer Peter Rouse and the first record played was Cliff Richard's Wired for Sound.

The station was officially opened by the then Bailiff Sir John Loveridge and was launched in the basement of Commerce House with just four staff.

The anniversary has been marked by a special exhibition at the Guernsey Museum, open until May 2022.

Tony Talmage was BBC Radio Guernsey's founding manager and said that when the station opened it was only given a "token" broadcast of "just an hour of the day".

"Of course I went along with this, thinking we're not going to stop at an hour a day, we're going to build this up. If I'm coming here to give Guernsey a local radio station, I want to give them a proper local radio station," he said.

Former breakfast show presenter Jim Cathcart (left) talks to founding manager Tony Talmage

Mr Talmage added that when he began he "immediately realised that I had to get the locals on side because if I couldn't do that I'd fail".

He said: "The day after we opened in March 1982 was the Guernsey general election. We were determined to show what local radio could do.

"We did a live results service that evening and of course, the island had never had this.

"They had always had to wait for the results to be printed in the press the next day and people tuned in and they were absolutely amazed at the immediate coverage of the results live and that, I think, swayed a lot of people of how useful it could be."

Felicity Quevatre, Kay Langlois and Sam Spindlow were among some of the station's earliest staff members

Felicity Quevatre was a presenter and reporter who arrived at the station a month after it went on air and said "immediately it was clear that there was a huge appetite in the local audience for more than an hour a day".

BBC Radio Guernsey has always been an important part of the community

Kay Langlois was also part of the BBC Radio Guernsey team from the start and said it was always a part of the local community and was never just about one island.

"It was always Alderney, Sark and Herm and we wanted to bring the islands together and let everybody know what everybody else is doing because actually listening to the radio is like listening in on someone else's life... whether it's in the news, whether it's what people are doing in their leisure time, what they're doing for charity.

"Some of the things that people have been through that they're prepared to talk about and share with the listeners means they're actually helping listeners to understand.... It's just being part of the community and knowing that we're all in this together," she said.

Kay Langlois and Murrary Norton interviewing in Sark

Ms Langlois said that this community spirit is still thriving.

She said: "I think it came into its own in a way during Covid, because we were hearing what people were doing for each other and you realise just how much people have got to give and how far they're prepared to go to help other people."

Radio Guernsey's programmes are available on 93.2FM, 1116MW, digital radio and live and listen again via BBC Sounds.

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