And asks for local support in its quest
Wandsworth Radio is applying to communications regulator Ofcom to broadcast on FM across the borough. The community radio station, which began broadcasting on the internet and on radio listening apps in January 2015, has built a volunteer force of nearly 200 local people.
Wandsworth Radio Director Jason Rosam said, “Our volunteers are incredible and they want to be heard by a wider audience. If we won the FM licence more local people would be able to listen to our local news, sport and arts programmes and our drama, comedy and specialist music shows dedicated to the people of the greatest borough in London, Wandsworth.”
Around 3,500 listeners tune into the station every month and the station reports that the number is growing as the station produces more live outside broadcasts from community events, such as the Get Active Wandsworth Festival in King George’s Park, Battersea Park’s Live at the Bandstand and a number of Wandsworth Arts Fringe events. A week before the Tooting by-election the station held a hustings event with the main candidates at Tooting Market which was broadcast live.
Wandsworth Radio hopes to gain support for its application from local politicians, charities, groups and businesses who have all featured on the station as part of its news coverage of the area. Volunteer journalists provide a daily local news programme (Wandsworth Tonight) a weekly Sports show and a daily arts and culture offering (ArtsWatch). After gaining experience at Wandsworth Radio some volunteers have gone on to be employed by the BBC and at commercial radio stations.
The deadline for community radio licence applications is 25th October. Wandsworth Radio expects the competition to be fierce as FM licences come up rarely in London with these being the first in five years. The capital is the most crowded radio market in Europe with very few spaces left on the FM bandwidth.
Ofcom says, “We offer applicants guidance on the availability of suitable frequencies in different parts of the area, explain the importance of selecting an appropriate transmission site, provide details of the funding restrictions which apply to community radio services, and set out how we will assess applications.”
If you’d like to support Wandsworth Radio and its application to broadcast on FM you can send an email of support to info@wandsworthradio.com or contact the team online at WandsworthRadio.com You can also LIKE the Wandsworth Radio fan page on Facebook and they are always looking of new volunteers.
August 16, 2016