Sunday 21 May 2017

Still Kicking and Alive: Medium Waves in the U.K.

Five AM community radio licences awarded. Radio Caroline returning to AM and sea waves.
Media authority Ofcom has now awarded five medium wave (AM) community radio licences. The licences are for stations serving different communities in Glasgow, West Leicestershire, Leicester, Suffolk and northern parts of Essex, and Yeovil and South Somerset. One of the licensees is seaborne pirate station Radio Caroline. - There are 220 non-commercial community radio stations in the United Kingdom. Most are on FM.  - Read more about the five radio stations below.

Ark AM (Noah’s Ark Glasgow), will be a radio station for the Muslim population living in Glasgow. The service will deliver community information, relevant local content, news and opportunities for discussion, broadcasting in English with some content in Urdu, Punjabi and other languages. The service will be speech-led, with inspirational, religious and world music.

Carillon Wellbeing Radio, will broadcast to people in and around West Leicestershire who suffer from or are at risk of developing long-term health conditions. The applicant is a long established local hospital radio group with extensive experience in broadcasting, healthcare and other relevant areas. It has a long history of providing a radio service in the area and has an existing asset base including premises and equipment.

Radio Caroline (Radio Caroline AM Broadcasting Ltd), will serve the over-45s in Suffolk and northern parts of Essex, who wish to hear album tracks from the 1960s onwards. Ofcom noted that the application was from a well-established group with a long history of providing a radio service, and was satisfied that it had demonstrated its ability to maintain that service. Plans are to broadcast from the vessel Ross Revenge on the river Blackwater.

Radio Ninesprings, will serve the population of Yeovil and South Somerset. Ofcom noted the considerable experience of the applicant group members and volunteers, which Ofcom considered would help enable Radio Ninesprings to maintain its proposed service.

Radio Seerah (Seerah Academy), will serve the diverse Muslim and wider ethnic minority communities within the broadcast area of inner-city Leicester. Ofcom considered that through a combination of stable resources, existing assets and members with a range of broadcasting and other professional experience, the applicant demonstrated its ability to establish and maintain the proposed service.
(Source:  Community Media Association UK)

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