Vixen 101

Last updated

Vixen 101
Broadcast area Market Weighton, East Riding of Yorkshire
Frequency 101.8 FM
Programming
Format Community Radio for the West of Wolds
Ownership
OwnerVixen Broadcasting Ltd.
History
First air date
2009

Vixen 101 (or Vixen 87 as it was originally known) is a community radio station based in the town of Market Weighton, East Riding of Yorkshire, England.

Contents

The station has transmitted several Restricted Service Licence 28-day broadcasts and on 20 December 2007 was awarded a five-year community radio licence for the area. The station then began permanent broadcasting on 10 January 2009 on the frequency of 101.8  FM.

History

The concept for what is now Vixen 101 originated with lifelong Market Weighton resident, Paul Stellings. By the start of 2002, Stellings had 18 years of broadcasting and management experience with Radio Medica, a local hospital radio station. This, alongside involvement with other radio projects in the area, and his work with the Giant Bradley Festival Committee in Market Weighton, led to the idea to set up a temporary radio station to promote the Giant Bradley Festival and Market Weighton's local businesses, and offer local information to benefit the wider community. Stellings had a vision to also support a wide music policy, including music from as far back as the 1940s and 1950s, together with specialist music programmes rarely catered for by other broadcasters.

At that time, Market Weighton and the surrounding villages were in the midst of a government-funded regeneration project initiated through Yorkshire Forward, and managed by the Weighton Area Regeneration Partnership (WARP). With many ideas and new projects starting to take shape in the area, it seemed like the perfect time and a major step forward in this new era for the area to bring a truly local radio service to the population.

In January 2002, Stellings commenced the setup of Vixen 87, targeting a month-long broadcast starting in May 2003. Setting up a high quality, professional-sounding radio station from scratch is complex and time-consuming task and sixteen months was calculated by Stellings as being a realistic timescale to set up the station.

After initial assistance from the Council For Voluntary Service (CVS) in Beverley, Stellings called upon some experienced colleagues from hospital radio, along with members of the local Chamber of Trade, for their collective expertise in broadcasting and operating businesses. The group formed a committee and drew up an official constitution to create the organisation Market Weighton Community Radio, which would broadcast under the call sign Vixen 87.

After over a year of working with potential grant funders, recruiting volunteers, purchasing equipment, finding premises for the station and a transmitter site, building studios, working with governing bodies and regulators (including The Radio Authority (now OFCOM), The Performing Rights Society, Phonographic Performance Ltd, The Mechanical Copyright Society, and many others) the station launched on target at 8 minutes to 7am on Sunday 4 May 2003. That time of day was chosen to coincide with the first part of the station's frequency of 87.9 FM, with a national news bulletin at 7am followed by the breakfast show at 7:03am, presented by Stellings, opening with the track "Inner Smile" by the pop group Texas. [1]

On 20 December 2007, the station was awarded a five-year community radio licence for the area and began permanent broadcasting on 10 January 2009 on the frequency of 101.8 FM under the new call sign Vixen 101.

In May 2011, Vixen 101 presenters Bill Horncastle and Dave Henderson set a new world record by presenting a 53-hour-long radio show, beating the record set by Chris Moyles of Radio 1 by one hour. [2]

Presenters

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">BBC Radio York</span> BBC Local Radio service for North Yorkshire, England

BBC Radio York is the BBC's local radio station serving the county of North Yorkshire.

MFR is an Independent Local Radio station based in Inverness, owned and operated by Bauer Media Audio UK as part of the Hits Radio Network. It broadcasts to Moray and the Inverness area. Previously, it broadcast to the Scottish Highlands and South West Aberdeenshire, but this ceased on 11th December 2023 when the 1107 kHZ AM transmitter at Tarbet Ness was switched off.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rutland Radio</span> 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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Market Weighton</span> Town and civil parish in the East Riding of Yorkshire, England

Market Weighton is a town and civil parish in the East Riding of Yorkshire, England. It is one of the main towns in the East Yorkshire Wolds and lies midway between Hull and York, about 20 miles (32 km) from either one. According to the 2011 UK census, Market Weighton parish had a population of 6,429, an increase on the 2001 UK census figure of 5,212.

TMCR or Today's More Choice Radio is a community radio station based in Thorne, South Yorkshire, England, broadcasting to north-east Doncaster and parts of the Isle of Axholme in Lincolnshire.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fresh Radio</span> Former radio station covering Yorkshire and Lancashire, in England

Fresh Radio was an Independent Local Radio station broadcasting to the Yorkshire Dales in northern England on two medium wave (AM) frequencies and three FM frequencies. It was also heard online via the Fresh Radio website.

Kiss FM is a narrowcast dance music station based in Melbourne, broadcasting on various frequencies between 87.6 and 88.0 FM in Melbourne. KISS FM broadcasts underground dance music as an independent radio service.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Real Radio XS (Digital)</span> Radio station

Real Radio XS was a classic rock independent local radio service broadcast on DAB in various parts of the United Kingdom. It was formerly part of the Rock Radio group of stations owned by GMG Radio, and whilst initially a separate station, latterly carried programming sourced from 106.1 Real Radio XS in Manchester.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Phoenix Radio</span> Radio station in Halifax

Phoenix Radio 96.7 FM is a local radio station based in Halifax, in West Yorkshire, England. It broadcasts on the FM frequency, 24 hours a day to the Metropolitan Borough of Calderdale, and the surrounding areas and around the world online. It is owned and run by Phoenix Radio Ltd, which has also previously held six Restricted Service Licences (RSLs) in the past. It was awarded its full-time licence by OFCOM, thus becoming, on 10 December 2007, Calderdale's first and only local radio station.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Galaxy (radio network)</span> Radio station

Galaxy was a radio network owned by Global Radio and broadcast across the British Isles on FM in regional areas of England and Scotland, through the digital platform with Sky and DAB and online respectively. Stations included stations: Galaxy Birmingham, Galaxy Manchester, Galaxy North East, Galaxy Scotland, Galaxy South Coast and Galaxy Yorkshire. Programming was networked throughout the stations from Leeds – excluding weekday breakfast/drivetime and weekend mornings. On Monday 28 April 2008, Galaxy was rebranded as a mainstream station by Creative Spark, with a brand new layout including a fresh logo and a completely new show schedule.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">GLOSS FM</span> Radio station in Thornbury, Gloucestershire

GLOSS FM was an online community radio station in the United Kingdom, broadcasting to Thornbury and District, South Gloucestershire. Its strapline is "Your Local Station". It originally started broadcasting to the South Gloucestershire area on 19 April 2010. It was an extension of Thornbury FM, a smaller station broadcasting to just Thornbury which had started on 19 November 2005. In November 2009, the station relocated its transmitter which increased its coverage area. After an open competition GLOSS FM was chosen as the station's new name in order to be more relevant to all listeners. GLOSS FM legally broadcast under the terms of Ofcom's Restricted Service Licence regime until the spring of 2011. This restricted the station to a maximum of two 28-day broadcasts per year in addition to its webcasts which were broadcast continually. In this year the station closed after an unsuccessful licence bid for a permanent FM frequency which was rejected by Ofcom due to "no suitable FM frequency available" in the area - an assertion which they have since indicated is not correct. After a 6 year break and several attempts to restart it, the station re-launched on 29 July 2017. The station rebranded to Thornbury Radio in November 2021.

Branch FM is a community radio station based in Dewsbury, West Yorkshire, England, which has operated since May 2007. It broadcasts on the 101.8 FM frequency, in the West Yorkshire, area on an OFCOM licence until 2017. It was one of the first Christian radio stations to be given a broadcast licence in the UK.

Hits Radio East Yorkshire & North Lincolnshire is an Independent Local Radio station based in Leeds, England, owned and operated by Bauer Media Audio UK as part of the Hits Radio network. It broadcasts to the East Riding of Yorkshire and Northern Lincolnshire. It will replace Viking FM, 40 years to the day after the station originally launched as Viking Radio.

Hits Radio Lancashire is an Independent Local Radio station owned and operated by Bauer Media Audio UK as part of the Hits Radio network. It broadcasts to Lancashire, North West England.

Hits Radio Teesside is an Independent Local Radio station for Teesside, England, based in Newcastle upon Tyne. The station is owned and operated by Bauer Media Audio UK as part of the Hits Radio network. It broadcasts to areas of County Durham and North Yorkshire.

BigglesFM is a local radio station based in Potton. It started broadcasting a full-time service on 22 April 2011.

Radio Winchcombe is an English local community radio station which broadcasts to Winchcombe and the surrounding areas.

Greatest Hits Radio Yorkshire is a radio station regional sub-network serving Yorkshire, Lincolnshire & the North Midlands as part of Bauer’s Greatest Hits Radio network. Whilst all programming is shared either across the region, or nationally, the local areas which were formerly separate stations retain local identities, with local news, travel updates, weather forecasts and advertising. It is not possible therefore to listen to a station branded "Greatest Hits Radio Yorkshire".

References

  1. ↑ "References to concept of Vixen 101" . Retrieved 28 February 2010.
  2. ↑ "Hull News item reporting on the successful record attempt" . Retrieved 6 August 2011.

53°51′51″N0°39′56″W / 53.864181°N 0.665563°W / 53.864181; -0.665563

This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.