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October 8, 2008

Radio phone-in pioneer LBC celebrates 35 years on air

By paulmcnally

London’s news and talk station LBC celebrates its 35th birthday today. The station was the very first commercial radio service to launch in the UK, and went on air at 6am on 8 October 1973 with the strapline: “Where news comes first.”

LBC is marking the occasion with a series of on-air montages featuring archive news clips. The station, which pioneered the radio phone-in, has also posted a series of archive audio and old photos on its website.

David Jessel was the first voice to be heard on LBC. Recalling the launch day, he said: “We went on the air with three hours stretching in front of us with no producers no reporters and no stories They said just talk about interesting things that have happened that day.”

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