Stafford FM is a local community radio station serving Stafford, Staffordshire,

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

. It broadcasts on 107.3 FM and online. The station was one of two to apply in 2014 for an FM

community radio Community radio is a radio service offering a third model of radio broadcasting in addition to commercial and public broadcasting. Community stations serve geographic communities and communities of interest. They broadcast content that is popula ...

licence to cover Stafford. The other was BFBS. On 3 October 2014, Ofcom announced that both applications had been successful and that 5-year full-time licences will be awarded.

History

1990s

There have been a number of volunteer-run radio broadcasting projects in the area at intervals over nearly 20 years, and many of the volunteers have taken part in several of them. An experimental project called the Stafford Broadcasting Society, organised by the late Robert Leighton (an electronics engineer and part-time presenter on Radio Caroline) carried out a restricted service licence (RSL) broadcast in the mid-1990s, using a transmitter near Hopton.

2001-2003

Stafford FM was first set up in 2001 to do 28-day RSL FM trials, serving Stafford and the surrounding area from studios in Gaol Mews and a transmitter near Hopton. It aimed to gain a permanent small-scale commercial radio licence from the then regulator, the Radio Authority. A total of four RSLs at six-month intervals were carried out between 2001 and 2003. By then the Radio Authority had been replaced by Ofcom, which announced that no more small-scale

commercial radio Commercial broadcasting (also called private broadcasting) is the broadcasting of television programs and radio programming by privately owned corporate media, as opposed to state sponsorship. It was the United States′ first model of radio (a ...

licences were going to be handed out, so the project was put on ice indefinitely. Between 2003 and 2012, Super Radio was in operation. Broadcasting by streaming on the internet, the station kept local radio in Stafford going.

2011-2012

Stafford FM re-emerged as a community station in 2011, launching online. At the time, the station was based in studios on Marston Road, Stafford. While at the Marston Road studios, the station held three RSL licences, using a transmitter at the same Hopton site as the earlier project. This was in an attempt to gain a community radio licence for the town.

XL FM

As a result of having to leave the studio building in December 2012, Stafford FM went off air for a time, until, on Sunday 3 February 2013, the station re-launched as XL FM. This was branded under a re-structuring, and the station promised a variety of shows and a wide range of music. However, it was announced on 19 August 2013 that the station would revert to its original name.http://www.staffordshirenewsletter.co.uk/XL-FM-reverts-original-Stafford-FM/story-20158361-detail/story.html XL FM reverts to original Stafford FM name , Staffs Newsletter

Stafford FM now

Stafford FM broadcast its eighth and final FM trail (RSL) for 28 days from Monday 31 March 2014 on 87.7 FM, using a transmitter at Mount Street in the town centre. After being awarded a full-time community FM licence from the broadcasting regulator (Ofcom) in October 2014, the station commenced full-time broadcasting on 107.3 FM at noon on Saturday 25 April 2015. Stafford FM broadcast from a studio in Mount Street, near to Stafford Market until April 2017 when the station re-located to Crabbery Street to a new broadcast centre with three studios and additional facilities. In 2020 it was confirmed that Stafford FM had been granted a 5 year extension on their licence through until 2025. As well as the mainstream daytime programming, the station carries specialist programming during the evening, and covers local sport, including reports on Stafford Rangers FC, Brocton FC and Stafford Town FC. It is funded by advertising, sponsorship, grants and donations. The station is structured as a company limited by guarantee and is run by the board of directors who are all volunteers.

Steering Group

Stafford FM has a steering group and a listener panel.

Current daytime line up

*Stafford's Own Breakfast Show - 06:30 - 10:00 - Presented by Stu Haycock *The Mid Morning Show - 10:00 - 14:00 - Presented by Jason Hardy *Drive Time - 14:00 - 18:00 - Presented by Ian 'Big E' Keeley As well as the daytime shows, the station broadcasts specialist programming during the evening and weekends.

References

External links

www.staffordfm.co.uk

www.media.info/radio/stations/stafford-fm
2011 establishments in England Community radio stations in the United Kingdom Radio stations established in 2011 Radio stations in Staffordshire Stafford