107.1 Rugby FM
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| 107.1 Rugby FM | |
| Broadcast area | Rugby |
|---|---|
| Frequency | 107.1 MHz |
| First air date | August 31st 2002 |
| Format | Adult Contemporary |
| Audience share | 17.0% (September 2007, [1]) |
| Owner | CN Group |
| Website | www.rugbyfm.co.uk |
Rugby FM is an Independent Local Radio station in Warwickshire owned by the CN Group and operated as part of its South Midlands division. The station follows the 'great music, local news' format of its sister stations (branded as Touch Radio) in the area, but has retained its launch name.
[edit] History
Under the directorship of Martin Mumford, Rugby FM launched on August 31st, 2002 - former Silk FM controller Trevor Thomas was the first voice on-air, also working as the station's programme manager, before leaving to join Warwickshire neighbour The Bear 102.
The station, then owned by the Milestone Group, enjoyed considerable success, and was lauded at one point as the UK's most successful local commercial radio station in terms of audience reach - once at 44% - attributed to an emphasis on local presence and a substantially different music policy to that of its competitors. Following Mumford's departure in 2005, Julian Hotchkiss became Managing Director of Rugby FM but left a year later following the CN Group's acquisition of the station in early 2006.
In June 2007 the station, in line with other stations in the group, was permitted to increase the amount of off-site programming to eight hours per day by regulator OFCOM; as a result, Rugby FM now shares its programmes outside of breakfast and drivetime, which continue to be produced locally, with neighbouring Touch Radio stations in the south of the Midlands.
An additional request to reduce the local news provision was also approved and applied on air from July 2007.
The CN Group briefly joined forces with The Local Radio Company to network a weekly premium rate call-to-win programme, "The Big Cash Quiz". Following numerous scandals over the production techniques used by television programmes of the same nature, the show was dropped.
The on-air team now consists of Jason Moss (Breakfast), Kirsty Leahy (Networked Daytime), Mark Blackman (Drivetime) and Matt Walters (Networked Evenings)
