QUAY-FM

QUAY
Broadcast area Alderney
Slogan In tune with Alderney
Frequency 107.1 MHz
First air date February 12, 2015
Format Mixed Format
Power 50 Watts.[1]
Transmitter coordinates Coordinates: 49°43′24″N 2°12′1″W / 49.72333°N 2.20028°W
Former frequencies 87.7 MHz
Owner Alderney Broadcasting Company Limited
Webcast quayfm.ci-servers.gg:1071/quay-fm
Website www.quayfm.gg

QUAY-FM is a VHF-FM broadcasting station on the island of Alderney. It holds the first (and to date, only) Community Radio licence in the Channel Islands, granted in 2014 to the Alderney Broadcasting Company (a newly-incorporated non-profit organisation, limited by guarantee).[2][3]

The scheme under which community radio stations were established in Great Britain by Ofcom did not apply to the Channel Islands, which have separate legal systems. Further legislation was thus needed to enable the establishment of community radio stations in the Islands.[4]

After representations from the QUAY-FM volunteers and the Government of Alderney,[5] this was enabled by the extension, by Order-in-Council of the relevant parts of the UK's Communications Act, 2003 to the Channel Islands.[6]

Applications were invited by Ofcom in December 2013[7] and closed in March the following year. This application round resulted in a licence being granted to the Alderney Broadcasting Company Limited, a non-profit company incorporated in Alderney, limited by guarantee (company number 1899) which was the only applicant within the Bailiwick (no applications having been received from either Guernsey or Sark).

History

The station was founded in the summer of 2000 by a number of volunteers, several of whom had backgrounds in BBC Radio, independent local radio (ILR) in the UK, and university radio.[8]

The station was originally authorised to transmit on 87.7 MHz FM under a Restricted Service Licence (RSL) issued by the UK's Radio Authority. It broadcast only during the peak summer vacation period, including Alderney Week. In 2004, a regular Christmas broadcast period was added. The station was available to be activated in times of civil emergency, which happened once during extreme weather conditions in the winter of 2010.

Since the start of 2015, QUAY-FM has broadcast year-round under a Community Radio Licence issued by Ofcom (the Radio Authority's successor licencing body).[9]

Live, year-round transmissions were commenced at 7:00 a.m. on 12 February 2015 by Tim Butler (who was one of the presenters on the very first RSL broadcasts in August 2000) presenting the Early Morning Show[10]

References

  1. ↑ "UK and Ireland FM Transmitters" (PDF). Frequency Finder UK and Ireland. Retrieved 17 February 2015.
  2. ↑ "Alderney Community Station Given Radio Licence". BBC. 12 June 2014. Retrieved 27 January 2015.
  3. ↑ "New Radio Station for the Channel Islands". Radio Today. Retrieved 27 January 2015.
  4. ↑ http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-guernsey-22523397
  5. ↑ http://alderney.gov.gg/CHttpHandler.ashx?id=74961&p=0
  6. ↑ http://www.commedia.org.uk/news/2014/06/channel-islands-get-first-community-radio-station/
  7. ↑ http://licensing.ofcom.org.uk/binaries/radio/community/thirdround/Invitation_Guernsey_December_2013.pdf
  8. ↑ Roberts, Nigel. "About". QUAY_FM. Retrieved 27 January 2015.
  9. ↑ "Ofcom Awards First Community Radio License in the Channel Islands". 12 June 2014. Retrieved 27 January 2015.
  10. ↑ http://www.itv.com/news/channel/2015-02-12/quay-fm-starts-broadcasting-year-round-from-today

External links