Seahaven FM is the local radio station covering

Eastbourne Eastbourne () is a town and seaside resort in East Sussex, on the south coast of England, east of Brighton and south of London. It is also a non-metropolitan district, local government district with Borough status in the United Kingdom, bor ...

Lewes Lewes () is the county town of East Sussex, England. The town is the administrative centre of the wider Lewes (district), district of the same name. It lies on the River Ouse, Sussex, River Ouse at the point where the river cuts through the Sou ...

Newhaven Newhaven is a port town in the Lewes district of East Sussex, England, lying at the mouth of the River Ouse. The town developed during the Middle Ages as the nearby port of Seaford began drying up, forcing a new port to be established. A ...

Peacehaven Peacehaven is a town and civil parishes in England, civil parish in the Lewes (district), Lewes district of East Sussex, England. It is above the chalk cliffs of the South Downs about east of Brighton city centre, on the A259 road. It is the ...

Polegate Polegate is a town and civil parishes in England, civil parish in the Wealden District, Wealden District of East Sussex, England, United Kingdom.OS Explorer map Eastbourne and Beachy Head Scale: 1:25 000. Publisher:Ordnance Survey – Southampt ...

and Seaford in

East Sussex East Sussex is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Kent to the north-east, West Sussex to the west, Surrey to the north-west, and the English Channel to the south. The largest settlement ...

. Working from studios in Seaford under an

Ofcom The Office of Communications, commonly known as Ofcom, is the government-approved regulatory and competition authority for the broadcasting, internet, telecommunications and mail, postal industries of the United Kingdom. Ofcom has wide-rang ...

Community Radio Licence, on a not-for-profit basis. The station began broadcasting full-time on 96.3Mhz in January 2011. Initially covering

, Seaford and parts of

. In 2019 coverage was enhanced improving the signal to the existing area and could also extending it to most of the county town of

. At the end of November 2020 an extension was approved by

which enabled the station to cover all of

which includes

and

Pevensey Pevensey ( ) is a village and civil parishes in England, civil parish in the Wealden District, Wealden district of East Sussex, England. The main village is located north-east of Eastbourne, one mile (1.6 km) inland from Pevensey Bay. The ...

on 95.6Mhz.

Programming and Music Policy

2020 saw the start of the 8th decade where music was specifically made for teenagers. The station's policy is to showcase the best of this music. Starting in the 1950s with the birth of Rock n' Roll and all the favourites of the 60s, 70s, 80s, 90s, 2000s including the best melodic music of the present day. Always keen to get in to the community the station and its presenters can be seen from time to time out and about. Daytime from 6am to 7pm is music based, and in the evenings the station broadcasts a variety of shows from specialist music shows to community-based talk shows enabling local people from all walks of life can have their say. The station is run largely by local volunteers and includes a number of former professional radio people.

Norman Baker Norman John Baker (born 26 July 1957) is a Liberal Democrats (UK), Liberal Democrat politician in the United Kingdom who was the Member of Parliament (United Kingdom), Member of Parliament (MP) for Lewes (UK Parliament constituency), Lewes in ...

, the former MP for the Lewes constituency is one of the station's presenters.

History

The station started streaming on the web on 1 Feb 2008 and completed two short-term FM

Restricted Service Licence A UK Restricted Service Licence (often called an RSL) is typically granted to radio stations and television stations broadcasting within the UK to serve a local community or a special event. Licences are granted by the broadcasting authority Ofcom ...

(RSL) broadcasts one in March and the other in August 2008, it also provided facilities for two other RSL broadcasts by other groups. In November 2008 Seahaven FM was one of the 48 stations in the South East who took part in the second round of applications to Ofcom for a Community Radio Licence. The station was successfully awarded the licence in September 2009 and announced it on its streaming service at 09:09 on the 09/09/09. It took a further 16 months to complete the work to launch the station full-time on FM. The launch took place on Sunday 9 January at 12:00 noon and the full-time schedule started at 7 am on Monday 10 January 2011. In 2020 Ofcom approved an improvement in coverage on 96.3FM in the Newhaven/Peacehaven/Seaford/Lewes area, and on the 30 November 2020 the station began broadcasting to the Eastbourne/Polegate/Pevensey area on 95.6FM.

Today

Seahaven FM covers about 40% of the whole of the population of East Sussex and broadcasts along the south coast from

bringing a uniquely local radio service to the area. Created by and for local people working and living in the area. Entertaining and promoting all that is best about the area which is notable for its temperate climate and high sunshine levels and known locally as the Sunshine Coast.

References

External links

Seahaven FM's Website
Radio stations in Sussex Community radio stations in the United Kingdom Seaford, East Sussex {{UK-radio-station-stub