Radio Wester Ross is the community focused radio station for the Gairloch, Loch Ewe and Lochbroom areas of Wester Ross. It broadcasts a music-led service to the communities in Wester Ross, in the Highlands of

Scotland Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...

and it is the only commercial FM radio station in its area. The station broadcasts on 106.0 and 106.6FM in the Gairloch area and on 96.8 and 102.2FM in the Ullapool and Coigach areas. The station is staffed by volunteers from across the area, from Gairloch to Ullapool and beyond, as well as from other areas of the Highlands and Islands, broadcasting locally-originated and syndicated shows from its own presenters and partner stations throughout the week. It offers a mix of local news and information as well as music varying widely from the 60s onwards. The station is owned by the community and is a registered charity operating on a not-for-profit basis.

History

The station began as Two Lochs Radio which was at one time Britain's smallest commercial radio station. In April 2008, Two Lochs Radio launched an online "Listen live" streaming service, accessible from a button on its homepage, and also in the Reciva database for Internet radios. In January 2012, Two Lochs Radio joined the large number of UK commercial and BBC stations also available via Radioplayer. It is also available via TuneIn. In 2012, Ullapool community station Lochbroom FM started to use Two Lochs Radio as its sustaining service. In 2020, broadcasting regulator Ofcom formally transferred the Lochbroom FM licence to Wester Ross Radio Ltd, the company that also holds the Two Lochs Radio licence. In April 2024, a rebranding took place with RWR - Radio Wester Ross (or RWR) being used instead of the Two Lochs Radio & Lochbroom FM names.

Programming

Radio Wester Ross's programme schedule includes daily breakfast and afternoon shows, plus a range of individual music and local interest programmes, including Gaelic broadcasts and recordings from local events, and shows from several other independent radio presenters. Following its rebranding, the station no longer broadcasts Gaelic programmes produced by CKJM-FM in

Cape Breton Cape Breton Island (, formerly '; or '; ) is a rugged and irregularly shaped island on the Atlantic coast of North America and part of the province of Nova Scotia, Canada. The island accounts for 18.7% of Nova Scotia's total area. Although ...

. The station produces its own local news bulletins, and broadcasts UK national news provided by Radio News Hub.

Awards

Two Lochs Radio was given the "Calor Scottish Business in the Community Business" award in 2004 and is a three-times winner of the Wallace Sword award for the best Gaelic magazine programme produced by a Highland community radio station. It was also nominated for the Scottish Countryside Alliance rural enterprise award in 2009.http://www.ruralgateway.org.uk/cgi-bin/item.cgi?id=2513

References

External links

* {{Coord, 57.7310, N, 5.6986, W, source:wikidata, display=title Radio stations in Scotland Mass media in Highland (council area) Radio stations in the Highlands & Islands Gairloch Radio stations established in 2003