Radio stations in Dorset

Dorset has coastal communities, county towns and inland areas that should not all be treated as one city audience. A Dorset edition speaks to a broader area than a programme named only for Bournemouth or Poole. Its county name may accompany network programming shared beyond Dorset, but it still identifies the listeners for whom this edition is presented. The category should be reserved for a genuine county programme or a narrower Dorset service, not a station classified there solely because its broadcast is available in the area. A geographical link does not prescribe a musical one. Dorset listeners may be offered current popular songs, familiar melodic selections or spoken material through separate services. The differences belong in the descriptions of those programmes. A South West England label supplies the broader setting; Dorset gives a better match to an edition explicitly named for the county. Network shows do not make every local edition interchangeable, just as a county name does not guarantee that all its output is made locally. A clear distinction between audience, programme and scale keeps this category useful.