Broadcasters at FromeFM are anxiously waiting to hear whether Ofcom will grant an FM radio licence for Frome.
The community radio station, which serves Frome and the nearby villages, hopes to obtain an FM licence to allow it to broadcast to anyone with a standard FM radio. The application has been a huge undertaking for the station – who have been working on it since April – and last week, the application for the FM licence was submitted.
The chance to apply for an FM licence only comes round every five years, so as soon as Ofcom announced an offering of licences in the South West, FromeFM were quick to respond.
“We have to demonstrate the benefits for Frome that having our own FM radio can give,” said FromeFM station manager Phil Moakes. “Lots of local groups and businesses have sent us messages of support and we would like to say a big thank you to them and to everyone who has filled in our petition. We have included extracts from many of these messages in our application.”
Local MP David Heath who regularly appears on FromeFM in the politics show ‘Constituency Matters’ was keen to voice the benefits of an FM licence for reaching more people in the community.
‘Dr Who’ and ‘Life on Mars’ writer Matthew Graham, who lives locally, is also enthusiastic to support the FromeFM application. “Community radio provides a great outlet for new writers,” he said.
The FM application went in last week, well in time for the 21st July deadline. The station now have to wait until August/September to hear whether they have been successful.
In the meantime Frome FM is busy gearing up for coverage of the Frome Festival on the internet on www.fromefm.co.uk and also say they have an exciting project underway to create an audio book with a local author – more details to be released soon.
