Phoenix FM is a

community radio Community radio is a radio service offering a third model of radio broadcasting in addition to commercial broadcasting, commercial and public broadcasting. Community broadcasting, Community stations serve geographic communities and communities o ...

station serving the areas of Brentwood and

Billericay Billericay ( ) is a town and civil parish in the Borough of Basildon in Essex, England. It lies within the London Basin, east of the City of London. The town was founded in the 13th century by the Stratford Langthorne Abbey, Abbot of West Ham, ...

, United Kingdom on 98.0FM and online, covering an area of over 140,000 people.

History

The station was formed in 1996 and has been broadcasting full-time on FM since 23 March 2007, having completed twelve 28-day restricted service licence broadcasts on FM between 1996 and 2006. On 16 February 2006,

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 ...

announced that Phoenix FM, after ten years of campaigning, had been awarded a full-time Community Radio licence. Having previously set up studios in Ongar Road, The Hermitage and Hutton Poplars Lodge, Phoenix FM moved its base of operations to the Baytree Centre in early 2007 and started broadcasting full-time on 98.0 FM at 7p.m. on Friday 23 March 2007. The station moved to its current base at the Brentwood Centre in February 2012. The station's broadcasts have provided a valuable platform for local bands looking to gain airtime. Inme, who were then known under the name of Drowned, were one band whose first radio play and interviews were on the station. The station's Creative Sessions have given studio recording time to unknown and young local bands as well as featuring established recording artists such as

Republica Republica are an English alternative rock band formed in 1994. They reached the height of their popularity from 1996 to 1999. The band went on hiatus in 2001 and reunited in 2008. The Republica sound was described by the band as " technopop p ...

Imogen Heap Imogen Jennifer Jane Heap ( ; born 9 December 1977) is an English musician, singer, songwriter, record producer, and entrepreneur. She is considered a pioneer in pop music, particularly electropop, and in music technology. While attending the ...

, Turin Brakes,

Salad A salad is a dish consisting of mixed ingredients, frequently vegetables. They are typically served chilled or at room temperature, though some can be served warm. Condiments called '' salad dressings'', which exist in a variety of flavors, a ...

, Echobelly, Midway Still, Chris T-T and MJ Hibbett. Phoenix FM was also the first community radio station in the UK to provide a streaming internet service, in 2001.

DAB

Phoenix FM joined the Southend small-scale DAB multiplex on 30 April 2025, increasing its terrestrial audience by a further 800,000 listeners. East London and Essex Digital, a consortium led by Phoenix FM and including Basildon station Gateway 97.8, won the small scale DAB multiplex licence in July 2024. Phoenix FM is likely to launch on DAB in 2025, increasing its terrestrial audience by an additional 1.3 million.

Notable current and former presenters

Snooker Snooker (pronounced , ) is a cue sport played on a rectangular Billiard table#Snooker and English billiards tables, billiards table covered with a green cloth called baize, with six Billiard table#Pockets 2, pockets: one at each corner and ...

player

Ronnie O'Sullivan Ronald Antonio O'Sullivan (born 5 December 1975) is an English professional snooker player. Widely recognised as one of the most talented and accomplished players in snooker history, he has won the World Snooker Championship seven times, a m ...

, who presented the Midweek Matchzone show with Chris Hood between 2015 and 2018. *

player

Steve Davis Steve Davis (born 22 August 1957) is an English retired professional snooker player who is currently a Sports commentator, commentator, DJ, electronic musician and author. He dominated professional snooker in the 1980s, when he reached eight ...

, who presented the Interesting Alternative show from 1996 to 2021, (jointly with

Kavus Torabi Kavus Torabi (born 5 December 1971) is a British-Iranian musician, composer, record label owner and radio broadcaster. A multi-instrumentalist, he is known for his work in the psychedelic, avant-garde rock field (primarily as a guitarist). Tora ...

from 2011-2021) *

'Allo 'Allo! ''Allo 'Allo!'' is a British sitcom television series, created by David Croft and Jeremy Lloyd, starring Gorden Kaye, Carmen Silvera, Guy Siner and Richard Gibson. Originally broadcast on BBC1, the series focuses on the life of a Frenc ...

actor An actor (masculine/gender-neutral), or actress (feminine), is a person who portrays a character in a production. The actor performs "in the flesh" in the traditional medium of the theatre or in modern media such as film, radio, and television. ...

Vicki Michelle * Former Brentwood and Ongar MP Sir Eric Pickles * Former leader of Brentwood

Borough A borough is an administrative division in various English language, English-speaking countries. In principle, the term ''borough'' designates a self-governing walled town, although in practice, official use of the term varies widely. History ...

Council A council is a group of people who come together to consult, deliberate, or make decisions. A council may function as a legislature, especially at a town, city or county/shire level, but most legislative bodies at the state/provincial or natio ...

The Right Honourable ''The Right Honourable'' (abbreviation: The Rt Hon. or variations) is an honorific Style (form of address), style traditionally applied to certain persons and collective bodies in the United Kingdom, the former British Empire, and the Commonwealt ...

Brandon Lewis Sir Brandon Kenneth Lewis (born 20 June 1971) is a British politician who served as Secretary of State for Justice and Lord Chancellor from September to October 2022. He previously served as Chairman of the Conservative Party from 2018 to 201 ...

, now

Northern Ireland Secretary The secretary of state for Northern Ireland (; ), also referred to as Northern Ireland Secretary or SoSNI, is a secretary of state in the Government of the United Kingdom, with overall responsibility for the Northern Ireland Office. The offi ...

and

Conservative Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy and ideology that seeks to promote and preserve traditional institutions, customs, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civiliza ...

MP for

Great Yarmouth Great Yarmouth ( ), often called Yarmouth, is a seaside resort, seaside town which gives its name to the wider Borough of Great Yarmouth in Norfolk, England; it straddles the River Yare and is located east of Norwich. Its fishing industry, m ...

. * Sonny Jay Muharrem from The Loveable Rogues who presented on Phoenix FM for two years before moving to Capital FM *

Carter USM Carter the Unstoppable Sex Machine (also known as Carter USM or simply Carter) were an English indie rock band formed in 1987 by singer Jim "Jim Bob" Morrison and guitarist Les " Fruitbat" Carter. They made their name with a distinctive style ...

guitarist A guitarist (or a guitar player) is a person who plays the guitar. Guitarists may play a variety of guitar family instruments such as classical guitars, acoustic guitars, electric guitars, and bass guitars. Some guitarists accompany themselve ...

songwriter A songwriter is a person who creates musical compositions or writes lyrics for songs, or both. The writer of the music for a song can be called a composer, although this term tends to be used mainly in the classical music genre and film scoring. ...

Les " Fruitbat" Carter * Comedian and singer Jordan Gray * The Damned

Roman Jugg *

Boxer Rebellion The Boxer Rebellion, also known as the Boxer Uprising, was an anti-foreign, anti-imperialist, and anti-Christian uprising in North China between 1899 and 1901, towards the end of the Qing dynasty, by the Society of Righteous and Harmonious F ...

drummer Piers Hewitt *

My Life Story My Life Story are an English Pop music, pop group formed in London, England, in 1984. The group's success peaked in the mid to late 1990s as part of the Britpop era. Fronted by singing, singer/songwriter Jake Shillingford, the group inherited th ...

singer Jake Shillingford * Singer/songwriter Chris T-T *

Kula Shaker Kula Shaker are an English psychedelic rock band. Led by frontman Crispian Mills, the band came to prominence during the Post-Britpop era of the late 1990s. The band enjoyed commercial success in the UK between 1996 and 1999, notching up a numb ...

drummer Paul Winter-Hart * The Others singer Dominic Masters * Former music and football agent Eric Hall * Former Essex cricketer Ian Pont

References

External links

Official sitePhoenix FM on FacebookPhoenix FM on Twitter
{{Billericay Community radio stations in the United Kingdom Radio stations in Essex Radio stations established in 1996 Billericay 1996 establishments in England