Neptune Radio
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Neptune Radio was a local radio station in Dover, Kent, England (96.4 FM in Folkestone, 106.8 FM in Dover), which began broadcasting at 7:00 AM on 29 September 1997, after a month-long trial concluded earlier that same morning. The station emerged as a combination of two stations broadcasting through the 1990s – "Shepway Sound" in Folkestone, and "White Cliffs Sound" in Dover – but rebranded as Neptune Radio due to the station's proximity to the English Channel. The station won the UK Radio Station of the Year award twice, in 1999 and 2000, and reached approximately 30,000 listeners each week.
[edit] History
The station's roots extend to the 1970s, where it began as pirate radio station Channel Radio, which only broadcast in the Dover area. Run by Dover native Eddie Austin, who was also one of the founding members of Invicta FM, Kent's commercial wide station and previously worked at Radio Caroline, the station was fined numerous times, but Austin maintained it until the town received its own radio license.
Neptune Radio began broadcasting in 1997 from one of the oldest buildings in Dover, and was a truly local station, with attendance at numerous local events. After being bought by Radio Investments Ltd., its successful format was applied to its sister stations 107.8 Arrow FM in Hastings and 107.5 Sovereign Radio in Eastbourne. A group, spearheaded by Neptune Radio disc jockey Mark Carter, also applied for the Ashford licence under the name Ashford FM, but they did not gain the licence.
In 2001, the Kent Messenger bought Neptune Radio and moved the station to Folkestone (though the Dover offices were maintained for news reports). However, in 2003, the station was a rebranded as KM-fm Dover & Folkestone; some programming from then on, mainly evenings and weekends, was networked with other KM-fm stations, with news broadcast from a hub in Canterbury.
