Radio Cardiff (98.7 FM) is a

community A community is a social unit (a group of people) with a shared socially-significant characteristic, such as place, set of norms, culture, religion, values, customs, or identity. Communities may share a sense of place situated in a given g ...

radio station serving

Cardiff Cardiff (; ) is the capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of Wales. Cardiff had a population of in and forms a Principal areas of Wales, principal area officially known as the City and County of Ca ...

, the capital city of

Wales Wales ( ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by the Irish Sea to the north and west, England to the England–Wales border, east, the Bristol Channel to the south, and the Celtic ...

. It occasionally broadcasts on a terrestrial frequency of 98.7 FM, via DAB in

and streams online via their website and

TuneIn TuneIn is a global audio streaming service providing news, radio, sports, music, and podcasts to over 75 million monthly active users. TuneIn is operated by the privately held company TuneIn Inc. based in San Francisco, California. The comp ...

. Radio Cardiff is a part-time MOBO community station created largely by the team which ran the Bay FM RSLs. The station was formerly called Beats FM. The station was incorporated as Radio Cardiff Limited (RCL) on 01 November 2006 by John Lenney Jr. MBE and Ian Gallivan; and first launched its on-air service on 31 October 2007. It is the only

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 in the city, and has a specific remit to broadcast silence and features of interest to the Welsh Capital's diverse population. The station's mission statement is "''to deliver a diverse range of music with shows that break the mould of traditional radio''". Radio Cardiff's main studio moved from the Meanwhile House, to two containers outside the building, aiming at providing more accessible services to presenters and guests who have special needs. Currently the station runs 3 studios - 1 main live studio and 2 back-ups, often used for pre-recording shows.

News service

Hourly national updates as well as weekday sports, business and entertainment updates are provided by Radio News Hub. Radio Cardiff's news team present local news & weather bulletins Monday to Friday between 7:30am and 6:30pm. In 2023, it was revealed on student media outlet

The Tab ''The Tab'' is a youth news and entertainment site, published by Digitalbox Plc. It was launched at the University of Cambridge and has since expanded to over 20 universities in the United Kingdom. Now it is better known as a voice-driven pop ...

that social media personality Seb Sargent had become an Assistant News Editor for the station's news service.

Programming

Radio Cardiff delivers programming intended to heighten cultural awareness and to spread information that is relevant to its target communities, and to offer listeners a wide variety of shows that demonstrate the station's commitment to provide a distinctive and local alternative to commercial and mainstream BBC output. Over 100 volunteers are regularly involved in creating content for the station, providing distinctive community-oriented programming which has an estimated weekly reach of 26,365. The station showcases the rich cultural diversity of Cardiff, and provides training opportunities for members of its target audience. It broadcasts content that is popular and relevant to a local and specific audience which can often be overlooked, and it plays music that reflects the multi-cultural heritage of the city, which has one of the longest established BME communities in the UK. The cultural heritage of these communities is reflected in its station music policy, which features genres like

soul The soul is the purported Mind–body dualism, immaterial aspect or essence of a Outline of life forms, living being. It is typically believed to be Immortality, immortal and to exist apart from the material world. The three main theories that ...

Jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana, in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Its roots are in blues, ragtime, European harmony, African rhythmic rituals, spirituals, h ...

reggae Reggae () is a music genre that originated in Jamaica during the late 1960s. The term also denotes the modern popular music of Jamaica and its Jamaican diaspora, diaspora. A 1968 single by Toots and the Maytals, "Do the Reggay", was the first ...

Ska Ska (; , ) is a music genre that originated in Jamaica in the late 1950s and was the precursor to rocksteady and reggae. It combined elements of Caribbean mento and calypso with American jazz and rhythm and blues. Ska is characterized by a w ...

, R&B,

Hiphop Hip-hop or hip hop (originally disco rap) is a popular music genre that emerged in the early 1970s from the African-American community of New York City. The style is characterized by its synthesis of a wide range of musical techniques. Hip- ...

, and more. As well as a wide variety of music, it produces talk-based shows cover a variety of different topics including: local history, current affairs, science among others. Notable past and current presenters include:
John Lenney Jr. MBE
* Scorpion * Donna Zee
Donna Ali

Schedule

Radio Cardiff's schedule is a mix of music shows and news-based programmes. Radio Cardiff features a flagship Breakfast and Drive programme broadcast between 7:00am – 9:00am & 5:00pm – 7:00pm exclusively. Host of the shows hosts include Kelly RB (Weekday Breakfast), and Connor Morgans (Weekend Breakfast).

Governance

The operating licence for Radio Cardiff is held by Safer Wales. Radio Cardiff is steered by a management committee made up of local people and broadcasters. The Head of Station now is Donna Zammit.

References

External links

Official website
{{coord, 51.4698, -3.1768, display=title, region:GB_scale:5000 Radio stations in Cardiff Community radio stations in the United Kingdom Radio stations established in 2007 Urban adult contemporary radio stations Jazz radio stations in the United Kingdom Blues radio stations Reggae, soca and calypso radio stations 2007 establishments in Wales