Science Fair Project Encyclopedia LBC (originally the London
Broadcasting Company) is Britain's first commercial independent
local radio station, providing a service of news and information
to London. LBC began broadcasting on October 8th 1973, days
ahead of Capital Radio. The station has had a turbulent history
and almost disappeared in the mid-1990s when the original LBC
company - then owned by Shirley Porter's Chelverton Investments
- failed to have its licence renewed. The LBC name was not used
on-air between October 1994 and July 1996. LBC was owned between
1994 and 1996 by Reuters, which for most of that time operated
the stations as London News 97.3FM and London News Talk 1152AM
Between 1996 and 2002 LBC was part of London News Radio Limited,
a company owned jointly by ITN, Daily Mail & General Trust,
Reuters and the GWR Group. This new consortium revived the LBC
name on 1152AM on 1 July 1996. At the end of 1996 the FM service
was relaunched as News Direct 97.3FM. The contents of this
article is licens