FM Station Closures

[Electronpusher0]

WE already have a couple of threads recording AM radio closures but I could not find one for FM stations.
Please close if not appropriate.

Wave 105.2 stopped transmitting on the 28th March after 25 years

https://sussex.news/sussex/wave-good...-sunset/22302/

This covered the South coast.

Peter

[G6Tanuki]

Looks like it has been borged by one of the three big UK-wide radio companies. Will probably continue as part of the Greatest Hits Radio, Bauer or suchlike 'symbol-groups', the equivalent of Londis, Spar etc in the convenience-store business.

[Station X]

So it's not a transmitter closure then?

[paulsherwin]

It may have gone off air for a transitional period. Bauer bought lots of secondary local stations a couple of years ago and has been adding them to the Greatest Hits Radio pseudo-national network. Oxford's two Jack FM stations went to GHR last year.

[Beobloke]

Wave 105 has become Greatest Hits Radio on the South Coast. Some of the old presenters are still staying on - Rick Jackson is still doing the breakfast show, for example.

Bit of a shame as Wave 105 was pretty good, as local stations go. I still miss Jack FM down here, though!

[Valvepower]

Hello,

This thread kind a' bookends my recent thread regards VHF/FM being used in the early days of North European offshore pirate radio

Terry

[Sideband]

Originally Posted by paulsherwin

It may have gone off air for a transitional period. Bauer bought lots of secondary local stations a couple of years ago and has been adding them to the Greatest Hits Radio pseudo-national network. Oxford's two Jack FM stations went to GHR last year.

That's what happened the Eagle in the Surrey/Guildford area. It was re-branded and became GHR in September 2020.

[Electronpusher0]

I hadn't realised that Wave would continue transmitting as GHR, it wasn't clear from the article I found, a loss of local diversity then rather than a transmitter closure.

Peter

[paulsherwin]

Yes, Ofcom have allowed local commercial radio to largely die out over the last 20 years. The operaters are still required to produce some vaguely regionalised programming (hence GHR South Coast not GHR) but it's really just a token gesture. These are national branded networks in all but name.

[Spec-chum]

Our local Lincs FM is now DAB only, the FM transmitters are for Greatest Hits Radio like others have gone.

Just an edit to say Capitol seem to be worst here for buying up the smaller stations. You can tune across the FM band and all you hear is the same station. A bit sad because we loose variety of what to listen to.

[Beobloke]

Originally Posted by paulsherwin

Yes, Ofcom have allowed local commercial radio to largely die out over the last 20 years. The operaters are still required to produce some vaguely regionalised programming (hence GHR South Coast not GHR) but it's really just a token gesture. These are national branded networks in all but name.

I never imagined that 'Radio Active' from the 1980s would have predicted it so well:

"Coming to you locally wherever you are in the nation; this is Britain's first national, local radio station"

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Radio_...(radio_series)

[Radio Wrangler]

That URL just points to a wikipedia announcement that wikipedia does not have such a page Very appropriate to the sense of humour of that series. I fully enjoyed it.

David

[paulsherwin]

It's because the forum software doesn't parse URLs with closing brackets correctly. I've fixed it.

[Paul Stenning]

Originally Posted by paulsherwin

Yes, Ofcom have allowed local commercial radio to largely die out over the last 20 years. The operaters are still required to produce some vaguely regionalised programming (hence GHR South Coast not GHR) but it's really just a token gesture. These are national branded networks in all but name.

GHR South Wales has a supposedly local afternoon show presenter, and also has some local news, weather and travel etc (plus of course local adverts) but the rest is just GHR.

It is currently DAB only, no local FM stations lost as of now. I bet they have their eyes on Nation Broadcasting though.