Dune FM
 | |
| Broadcast area | Southport, Ormskirk and Sefton |
|---|---|
| Frequency | 107.9 MHz |
| First air date | 12 October 1997 |
| Format | Adult / Oldies |
| Audience share | 13.4% (June 2009, ) |
| Power | 100 watts . |
| Website | www.dune1079.co.uk |
Dune FM was a radio channel which broadcast from Southport between 1997 and 2012. Transmission covered the town and the surrounding borough of Sefton as well as a large part of neighbouring West Lancashire.
Origins
Dune FM originally broadcast two RSL temporary licences in 1993. At first the station covered Southport from makeshift studios at the rear of the town's Floral Hall complex, with the Transmitter on the roof of The Southport Theatre, then on the 2nd RSL from makeshift studios above the Victoria Health & Leisure club, the transmitter that time was at Greenbank High School in the Hillside area of the town.
The station then broadcast two RSLs as "Magic Dune FM" from the Studio's of Hospital Radio Ormskirk General, with a target area of the town and neighbouring West Lancashire and North Sefton, and a transmitter close to the present site of Aughton near Ormskirk.
The Radio Authority eventually advertised a small-scale local licence (known as a Sallie) for the towns of Southport and Ormskirk and the Merseyside borough of Sefton, which Dune fm won following a strong contest with 2 other consortia.
Full-time licence
The station was originally owned by local shareholders, including Steve Dickson, Broadcast Industry Mogul David Maker, Philip Hilton (a production assistant at BBC Radio Merseyside), John Cooper, a travel rep and the original owner of Blackpool's Radio Wave, John Barnett.
The studios have been on the seaside of the town for the entirety of their professional era, at an old substation building on Victoria Way, renamed The Power Station.
Changing hands
The station was sold to Forward Media in 1999, backed by venture capital finance and chaired by David Maker. This is when the station had its hey-day with the largest ever listening figures.
In 2004 the station was bought by The Local Radio Company Plc.[1] who started large scale networked programmes, which saw the local audience diminish.
In June 2008, Dune FM was bought from TLRC by NIOCOM Limited,[2] and renamed Dune 107.9.
January 2011 saw the station transferred to the ownership of Southport Radio Limited, a group headed by local DJ Jon Jessop. Essentially the same group that broadcast a number of RSL's to the town under the Southport Radio name. The station was relaunched in February 2011 under the original name of Dune FM.
Financial problems
From the takeover by Southport Radio, the station was dogged by financial problems. Issues came to a head during October 2011 when High Court enforcement officers acting for multiple creditors removed the station's broadcasting equipment forcing scratch studios to be quickly assembled to get back on-air. During March 2012, a Statutory Demand notice was published in the Southport Champion local newspaper suggesting Dune FM Limited owes a significant sum to Proud FM Limited.[3] On Monday 9 July 2012 Dune FM Ltd was wound up in the Liverpool District Registry [4]
Close-down
With the making of the Winding Up Order, the station's licence passed into the hands of the Official Receiver. Ofcom ordered the station to cease broadcasting by 2 August 2012, a deadline which was ignored by Dune's owner. On 8 August, Ofcom engineers attended the transmitter site at Gaws Hill, Ormskirk, accompanied by Dune's transmission contractor, and removed the transmission equipment. The station left the air at 12.23.
Internet radio
Dune FM is now broadcasting only on the Internet, via their website, as Coast 107.9. They recently have undergone a series of presenter changes, with many people leaving the station (Dave Van Der, Sean Saunders, John Nicoll, Nick the Lunatic, Paul Webb and Owen Thomas). Coast 107.9 now plays non-stop music for the majority of the day, with other pre-recorded shows used.
Their schedule, as of May 2014, is:
- John Jessop's Drivetime (Mon-Fri 2-6pm)
- Jon Jessop's Soul and Motown (Wednesday 7-10pm)
- Mike Swift's Country Show (Thursday 7-10pm)
- Aiden Bracken (Sunday Afternoon)