BBC Radio Merseyside is the BBC Local Radio service for the English metropolitan county of Merseyside, and Halton in north Cheshire. It was the third BBC local radio station, launching on 22 November 1967, initially serving the south west of historic Lancashire. According to RAJAR the station has a listenership figure of 339,000 which represents a reach audience of 20%, implying that one in five persons in Merseyside listens to the station.