Harborough FM

Last updated

Harborough FM/HFM
Harborough FM (logo).jpg
Broadcast areaSouth Leicestershire and North Northamptonshire
Frequency 102.3 MHz
RDS HFM
Programming
Format Contemporary
Ownership
OwnerIndependent
History
First air date
February 2007
Links
Website HFM website

Harborough FM (HFM) is a community radio station covering Market Harborough, South Leicestershire and North Northamptonshire in England.

Contents

HFM was originally formed in November 1994 with the aim to provide a local FM radio station for Market Harborough and South Leicestershire as it was generally felt that the established independent local stations and the local BBC stations failed to cater for the population of South Leicestershire.

Between 1994 and 2004, the station carried out eleven successful broadcasts, the last one being in June 2004. These broadcasts were made under the Radio Authority's 'Restricted Service Licence' scheme which allowed the station to broadcast for a maximum period of 28 days.

Launch

On 15 June 2005 HFM were awarded a full-time licence by Ofcom to broadcast to Market Harborough and South Leicestershire 24 hours a day, 365 days a year.

The station launched on Saturday 10 February 2007 with a live broadcast from The Square in Market Harborough's town centre. The station was switched on by Eva Winston-Hart, a local toddler suffering from a rare form of leukemia. The first official voice on the station was that of Chris Jones, Programme Controller, and the first record played was "Are You Ready For Love" by Elton John.

HFM's programming is music-based but also focuses on community news and events. There is a daily Community Update as well as local news on the hour 8.00am - 6.00pm on weekdays, with updates at the weekends. Outside of these times, the station takes IRN (Independent Radio News)

Presenters - Past and Present

Info

Typical of HFMs community support and information is the Snowline established during the heavy snow during the first week of February 2009. Presenters give out continual updates of school, college and business closures as well as details of road and rail conditions. All the local schools contribute and HFMs' award-winning website receives over 1,000 unique visits on each such day.

HFM hosts many events in and around Market Harborough, ranging from school fetes to family fun days, late night shopping and both of the major firework displays in town. The high profile of the station is one of the major reasons for its success.

HFM also runs regular Introduction to Radio Broadcasting courses, and have gained a number of new presenters this way, as well as background staff. The courses are usually led by Graham Beeby, assisted by technical tutor djbraine & Chris Jones.

In June 2010 it was announced that HFMs' landlords would be leaving their premises, resulting in the need to search for a new location. Numerous companies came forward with offers of premises and the station is now located in new studios in Fernie House, Fernie Rd, close to the railway station.

In August 2011 HFM was awarded an extension to their licence, which enabled it to continue broadcasting to South Leicestershire and North Northamptonshire until 9 February 2017.

HFM won the "Raising The Profile Of The Town" category in the 2013 Pride In Harborough Awards. The annual event, organised by the Harborough Mail was held at the Three Swans Hotel on Friday April 26. HFM received numerous nominations for the title. Several individual presenters, including Chris Jone and Dave Irving, have been honoured in individual categories as well.

HFMs' commitment to local issues and events is reflected in the highly successful Good Old Days series of tea dances, initiated in January 2015. These events, catering to the over 65s in the Harborough area, are free to attend, and have become very popular. It is hoped that funding can be found to continue for 2016. Previously, HFM had staged two seasons of Village Voices, in which representatives of clubs and organisations in the many villages in South Leicestershire and North Northamptonshire were invited along to discuss their activities and plans. The results were later broadcast several times on HFM and on the Listen Again service.

Perhaps above all, HFMS 'localness' is the key to the stations success, with recent listener figures suggesting that the local feel of the station and its excellent local news coverage is the main reason people listen.

In August 2021 Hfm's news coverage of the murder of Fleckney pensioner Jane Hings featured in an episode of Sky Crime documentary 'Killer In My Village.'

See also

Related Research Articles

HFM may refer to:

Market Harborough Human settlement in England

Market Harborough is a market town in the Harborough district of Leicestershire, England, in the far southeast of the county, forming part of the border with Northamptonshire.

Harborough District District in England

Harborough is a local government district of Leicestershire, England, named after its main town, Market Harborough. Covering 230 square miles (600 km2), the district is by far the largest of the eight district authorities in Leicestershire and covers almost a quarter of the county. The district also covers the town of Lutterworth and villages of Broughton Astley and Ullesthorpe.

BBC Radio Northampton is the BBC's local radio station serving the county of Northamptonshire.

Cam FM Student-run radio station at the University of Cambridge and Anglia Ruskin University

Cam FM is a student-run radio station at the University of Cambridge and Anglia Ruskin University. The station broadcasts on an FM frequency of 97.2 MHz and online. It currently broadcasts from Fitzwilliam College and Anglia Ruskin University after spending its first 32 years located in Churchill College. Cam FM used to hold the world record for the longest team broadcast marathon, at 76 hours.

Wire FM was an Independent Local Radio station serving the Warrington, Widnes and Runcorn areas of Cheshire.

More FM is a New Zealand radio network that plays hot adult contemporary music. It is operated by MediaWorks New Zealand.

Ten-17 Former local radio station in Harlow, England

Ten-17 was an Independent Local Radio station, broadcast from studios at the Latton Bush Centre in Harlow. The station launched in May 1993 and served Harlow, East Herts and West Essex until its closure on 25 July 2010.

Gold (British radio network) United Kingdom oldies radio network

Gold is a network of oldies radio stations in the United Kingdom, which was formed by the merger of the Capital Gold network and the Classic Gold network in August 2007. The station relaunched in March 2014 as a partly-automated service, broadcasting in fewer areas, after many of Gold's local AM/DAB frequencies were transferred to Smooth Radio. Most programming is broadcast from the Global Radio's studios in Leicester Square, London.

Fosseway Radio Former Independent Local Radio station in Leicestershire, United Kingdom

Fosseway Radio was a local commercial radio station based in Leicestershire, and owned by Lincs FM Group. It served the south-west of that county, as well as North Warwickshire. It was based on Castle Street in Hinckley. The name of the station referred to the nearby Fosse Way, which marks the frontier of Roman Britain. It runs between Lincoln and Leicester, then on to Bath and Exeter. In Leicestershire, the best-preserved section is a 4-mile stretch close to the market town of Hinckley, from High Cross to Stoney Bridge near Sapcote.

Rutland Radio Radio station in Oakham

Rutland Radio was an Independent Local Radio station which served the county of Rutland and the town of Stamford in Lincolnshire. It broadcast on 107.2 FM in Rutland and 97.4 FM across Stamford and launched on 13 December 1998 from Knights Yard, Gaol Street in Oakham.

Radio X (United Kingdom) British alternative radio station

Radio X is a British National commercial radio station focused on alternative music, primarily indie rock, and owned by Global. Radio X launched nationally on 21 September 2015 as a rebrand of Xfm and superseded both Xfm London and Xfm Manchester.

Great Easton, Leicestershire Human settlement in England

Great Easton is a village and civil parish in the Harborough district of Leicestershire, England. The parish had a population of 558 according to the 2001 census, increasing to 671 at the 2011 census.

The Eye (radio station) Radio station

103 The Eye is a community radio station in Great Britain. The station broadcasts on 103.0 FM in Melton Mowbray and across the Vale of Belvoir and via the internet. It takes its name from the River Eye which flows through Melton.

Q Radio Belfast Radio station in Northern Ireland

Q Radio is a Northern Irish radio station. It broadcasts to Greater Belfast on 96.7 MHz FM and on DAB Digital Radio across all of Northern Ireland. From 5 April 2007, Citybeat became available on 102.5FM for North Belfast, Newtownabbey and Carrickfergus. On 2 November 2007, Citybeat launched a third FM transmitter also broadcasting on 102.5FM for Bangor. Citybeat reaches a weekly audience of 127,000 listeners in Belfast, around 22% of the adult population. It has won both Arqiva 'Station of the Year' and Sony Awards. The station was rebranded as Q Radio on-air at 6pm on Sunday 9 August 2015.

BBC East Midlands

BBC East Midlands is the BBC English Region covering Derbyshire, Leicestershire, Nottinghamshire, Rutland, southern parts of South Kesteven in Lincolnshire and some northern parts of Northamptonshire.

Takeover Radio is a community radio station broadcasting on FM to Leicester and online. It also has a sister station, that broadcasts to the Ashfield district in Nottinghamshire. Takeover Radio specialises in helping children gain experience and direct participative involvement in radio broadcasting.

Harborough Museum

Harborough Museum was opened in 1983 in the former R & W H Symington corset factory that also houses the Harborough District Council offices in the historic market town of Market Harborough. It is run by a partnership between Leicestershire County Council, Harborough District Council and Market Harborough Historical Society. Since 2014, its affairs have been overseen by a new charitable organisation, the Harborough Museum Trust.

East Devon Radio is a community radio station, based in Exmouth, Devon, United Kingdom.

TX1 Radio is an Independent Local Radio station broadcasting to the Doncaster and Bassetlaw districts of South Yorkshire and Nottinghamshire, England. It launched in 2021 following the re-branding of Trax FM and other stations as Greatest Hits Radio.

References