Plug the Cable in...

Whist surfing the net I found a fantastic internet radio station, also seemingly on a cable network, called "Cable Radio". Since visiting, I hardly ever listen to the others any more. Some of the DJs on there are hilarious, particularly Paul Anthony with his impressions and Geoff Carter with his "worst of the worst" and the music is diverse and includes loads of classic tracks throughout the day. I was just surprised that it isn't on your website and I was wondering if they are about to be added. I don't know how long they've been around but I've been listening for about nine months. This is a top class station and I'd love to see it on your site in the near future.

Kerry, via e-mail

Well spotted Kerry, and thanks for the info - the website is classy and I am intrigued enough to want to hear the station during the day. Perhaps Cable Radio have bagged a potentially lucrative web address, too? The site is now on our web broadcasters page and on our listen live page. Ed.

Choose any station from anywhere in the world...

Great to see this type of site - I lived in the UK for a few years and I'm glad to hear Chiltern Radio again. Hope to see a style of internet radio making it to the car someday. Since I'm now living in the U.S., perhaps satellite radio will finally bring worldwide radio to everyone

Todd, via feedback form

Maybe Chiltern Radio has changed a bit since you were here, Todd - it swapped owners in 1995. I'd like a standalone internet radio tuner that accesses all of the world's webcasting stations, like these, perhaps - Ed.

Tuesday, 26th June

Clued up about Clywd...

In the Big List, BBC Coventry and Warwickshire has now been re-named (finally) to BBC WM 'across Coventry and Warwickshire'. There was a temporary service in Wrexham and Chester called BBC Radio Deeside and formed into Radio Clwyd, which is now the North-East opt-out of Radio Wales.

I heard that in the features section that Buzz FM Birmingham had lost its licence, apparently, due to the engineers altering the broadcast signal so that the station could be picked up across more of the West Midlands, which is 'illegal' in the eyes of the RA.

Also LGR, not LTR, was the replacement for the shared WNK/LGR licence.

Rob, via e-mail

Hmm. Looks as if I'll have to update the Big List soon, then, as the Eagle stations in Cambridge and Bristol have relaunched under a different name too. Thanks for the info, Rob. Ed.

Thursday, 7th June

Devon knows...

Just a few lines to help keep your site up to date.

BBC Radio Devon have recently introduced a new transmitter for Torbay on 104.3FM. Also, the 103.4FM transmitter is better described as 'Plymouth and Devon', as Truro is in Cornwall.

Graeme, via e-mail

Thanks for the update, Graeme. Now, I wonder if one of our Lincolnshire visitors can tell me the frequency that Compass FM broadcasts on, as I've heard it may have recently launched. Ed.

Pheonix FM - check it out!

Hi, Just writing to let you know that community radio station phoenixfm.com covering Brentwood and Billericay in Essex launched its internet radio service on Friday 1st June. Presenters include snooker player Steve Davis, who hosts a regular soul music show, but the station format is a diverse mix of music from folk, classical, jazz, blues through to r&b, dance and indie, along with a number of local chat programmes devoted to sport, arts, drama, politics and general local entertainment.

phoenixfm.com has been around since 1996 and has broadcast 5 RSLs. We have been invited to apply for a pilot licence under the Access Radio scheme, but whatever the result more FM broadcasts are planned for 2002.

Paul Golder
Station Manager, via e-mail

Hope the RSL is going well! Ed.

Monday, 28th May

Flashy Revolution

Just a quick note to say that if anyone wants to see the nice Flash intro to 96.2FM The Revolution's site, they should pop along to this site. No sign of the full site as yet, but keep visiting! Ed

Who gives an RSL? Well, someone does!

I'm currently building a website which will act as a database for RSL groups across the UK. It is under construction at the moment, though I hope it will be on-line in the next couple of weeks. I would like this to be a one-stop shop for anyone requiring more information about RSL's. If any managerial or webmaster people from any existing RSL would like to publicise their service and website, please e-mail at uk.rsl@radio.fm and I will include your details!

Paul Summers, via feedback form

Saturday, 26th May

Ex-pat audiophile

Brilliant site for us audiophiles, particularly when exiled in Australia. Thanks for your one-stop links page. I look forward to receiving BBC Essex and Magic live on the net as well! Cheers.

Phil, via feedback form

At least if we can't bring you BBC Essex's full service in RealAudio, you can still hear the news from BBC Essex and the local station, Essex FM, on our live listening page. Two handy hints for our visitors: If our server is slow, there's no reason at all why you can't save the page and call it up next time you want to listen over the web. But don't forget to visit regularly, so as not to miss out on new feeds added and updated. Also, if you press the keys CONTROL and F together on any web page, you can search for a word on that page. Any word found will be highlighted. This makes it easier to find a specific station on the live listening page. Don't type more than one word into the search box, though, as this doesn't work as well. Ed.

Wednesday, 23rd May

Drop in the Ocean?

Can't find a listing for Ocean FM - do you have a frequency listing for it? We usually listen to it around the Brighton/Sussex area. Thanks.

Lisa, via e-mail

Ocean FM can be found here, under the Hampshire section. It boradcasts to 97.5 in and around Portsmouth and 96.7 in Winchester. It would be useful to have a search facility to locate stations. We did put one up courtesy of searchengine.com, but the main problem was that visitors would tend, quite reasonably, to type in FM or AM when searching for a station. This would inevitably bring up 30-odd pages all containing the word FM or AM. I've had a change of heart, though, so the search page can be found by clicking here, if you want to give it a try! Another way is to do a CONTROL+F "Find (on this page)" search on The Big List page. This will highlight any station successfully found, and give the nearest city or county, at least. Ed.

Monday, 21st May

Broadcast Nohope?

I wonder if you can tell me when we are likely to hear radios Tay, Clyde, Forth and so on over the internet again. First it was going to be early March, then April, then May - now its supposed to be June. I have all but given up now on hearing these stations back on the air again. Keep up the good work.

Ian, via e-mail from Canada

Scottish Radio Holdings had a 25% stake in the streaming provider BroadcastEurope before it fell on bad times. I imagine it is quite difficult and now more costly to arrange live audio streaming for all of their stations. Incidentally, the Forth 1 (prevously Forth FM) and Forth 2 (Forth AM) sites have been given a makeover, but do not yet feature live streaming. Ed. I've now asked the people in the know, and a reply is given below:

We, too, are impatient for streaming of 3C to begin again. The latest message I received from the person handling this for us, which arrived yesterday, said she is frantically working on getting us back up and running, but she was unable to commit to a specific date yet.

All we can say is we are doing everything we can to get back up as soon as possible and we are committed to the streaming process.

Pat Geary
Station Manager, 3C

The Editor adds: I should imagine that the guys at all of the Scottish Radio Holdings-owned stations are doing their best to organise the restart of live audio and, in this case, we may just have to wait a little longer. 3C is as important as the rest, not least because it is currently only available to those listeners with a digital radio. Stay tuned! Ed.

chalkSPORT?

Great web site. I find that most stations in the UK are poor and only talkSPORT has a variety of programmes for student-aged listeners.

Chris, via feedback form

As a fan of the old Talk Radio, I must admit I rarely tune in now. However, it's good to hear Tommy Boyd again (he's been back for a while now), but alas Gary Jacobs' show is long gone (must update our pages!). The station is fine for football fans, but a turn off for the rest of us. Ed.

Saturday, 19th May

As if by Magic?

Where can I find Magic, then? You list it as one of the live radio stations, but I cannot find it.

Anon, via feedback form

I don't think we do, but if you know which page gives this wrong information, let me know and I'll amend it. Only a few Magic stations have websites and it isn't yet possible to listen to Magic over the internet. However, Kiss 100 in London (a station which is also owned by Emap Performance, the company responsible for the Magic stations) has just launched its own site with streaming audio, so we may yet see a site for Magic 105.4. I await with baited breath, as I'm sure many of our visitors will do so too. Ed

John made himself known and pointed out that this information was given on our home page: "listen live now to more than 140 UK radio stations, from Magic to Heart, Galaxy to Capital." I have now expunged this reference. Sorry for the confusion. Ed.

BBC Radio Merseyside on the net?

Is it possible to recieve BBC Radio Merseyside over the internet?

Anon, via feedback form

Not as yet, but there might be plans by the BBC to webcast some of the larger local BBC stations over the web within the next few months, so stay tuned to this site! Ed

Thursday, 17th May

Any details about Yorkshire FM?

Whilst attending a Hospital Radio conference a few weeks ago in Birmingham I came across a company called Core Media Productions. The company made jingles and station idents for a number of radio stations around the country.

Looking through the literature that they gave me, there was a section showing radio stations that have used Core Media Productions. One of these stations was called Yorkshire FM. The station claimed to broadcast to Harrogate.

The point is, I had never heard the station before, but after some research, I have learned that it was a temporary RSL station that broadcast in the early part of 2000; it also turns out that they are applying for a permanent licence in West Yorkshire. They also have a website at yorksfm.co.uk. Barring that, I don't have any more details, any help or ideas anyone?

Jonathan, via email

Yorkshire FM was an RSL broadcasting to Leeds in January 2000. It was run by Minster FM in York and featured many of their presenters. It has since applied for the forthcoming regional licence for Yorkshire.

Thanks to Ali for filling in our feedback form and providing the above information. Ed.

Where's GWR to? (cheap Westcountry joke - Ed)

Why has the link to GWR in Bristol been changed, and not updated? Koko can't be accessed.

Anon, via feedback form

I've put back the link to GWR's own (non-koko) website in our listings. You can, of course, listen to most GWR Group stations on our live listening page, by the way. Ed.

Alfasound and Beacon Radio

The Beacon Radio jingles were made by Alfasound until 1989, when the rules on not having American Jingles were lifted.

From mid-1989 onwards, Beacon aired only JAM jingles made in Dallas starting with the Turbo Z package, then Kiis 90 in 1991. A mix of Q95 Detroit, Z100 New York and WCBS New York were aired from 1993 and were replaced by Arizona's Q92 in 1996. All of these 'Latest Hits, Greatest Memories' jingles were dropped by current owners of the station, GWR Group, in 1997.

Classic hits am'er WABC also had JAM from it's start in 1990.

Alan, via email

Thanks for the extra info, Alan. Ed

Big drop in the city

Big City Radio (Wireless Group) has now been removed and replaced by Real Radio (Guardian Media Group) - this seems to be in test mode at the moment with jingles and music only. The voice-overs indicate that this will be part of a networked broadcast "across the North of England" with the same programmes going out on the other Emap multiplexes in East and West Yorkshire, Manchester, Liverpool, and so on. Do you know what happened to Big City Radio and why it was dropped? Their mix of music was a lot better than Real Radio's!

Keep up the good work...

Mark, via email

I hear there were cost issues involved with The Wireless Group's decision to pull Big City from Emap's digital radio multiplexes. GWR were also to launch a new station on the Emap multiplexes too, though I'm not sure of the type of service they were due to offer. Big London still broadcasts on digital radio in London, however. Ed

Is Harlow's Mercury FM going to be part of Essex FM?

Is 101.7 Mercury FM actually going to have its own website or is it merging with Essex FM?

Anon, via feedback form

No, Mercury will stay as a separate station as far as I'm aware. If it was to merge with nearby Essex FM, I'm sure this would have been done at the time that Ten17 was rebranded as Mercury FM. As to whether Harlow's Mercury will get its own koko site, Beacon in Shropshire doesn't have one yet either and I would imagine that adding another Mercury site to the front page of koko might confuse visitors, so perhaps Ecast Ventures (GWR Group's online venture) decided not to produce a site for Harlow. EdUPDATE: Actually, Harlow's Mercury FM site can be accessed through the radio section of Essex FM's koko site. Just click on the Essex FM site on the map on the front page of koko, then on the radio section and you'll see an image link for Mercury FM over on the right.

Saturday, 31st March

What no web addresses?

Why do you not put the radio stations web addresses up - I was looking for 102.8 Ram FM.

Ahh, but we do! You need to go to the directory part of the site and click on the map. We only have live audio links on the "listen live" page. Most of the audio links are kept separate from the main directory as it makes it easier for me to check and modify the links. Ed.

received via feedback form

What happened to Mercury in Harlow?

Whilst browsing yesterday, I noticed that you have 96.6 Mercury FM listed, but on checking the koko.com site, it seems to be 101.7 Mercury FM in Harlow, Essex. You are right though to say that 96.6 is in South Herts and, as far as I can tell, will be the last one to go live. The Mercury stations are a little confusing unless you know which one you are looking for.

Robert, via feedback form

The Mercury you mention on the koko.com site is 96.6 Mercury FM covering South Herts, but you have brought up an important point: Where is the site for Mercury FM in Harlow? Have koko overlooked the station? Did the team at koko at some point sit down and make a conscious decision not to produce a site for 101.7 Mercury FM? More likely, the site will be up at a later date. Perhaps, though, there are plans to merge the station with either Essex FM or Mercury in St. Albans? Does anyone know? At time of writing, 2CRFM, Northants FM and 96.6 Mercury FM do not have active links for live audio: the speaker images are there, but are not clickable. Ed.

Steve from the koko site for South Herts has kindly replied that the 101.7 Mercury FM site is within the Essex FM site as the service area for 101.7 Mercury FM is within that of Essex FM. He has passed on my comments about the lack of an audio link for 96.6 Mercury FM to the programmers in London.

Sunday, 25th March

When are the Beeb going to broadcast local live audio?

Hi, any news on whether the Century stations plan to have live audio? Also, I wish the BBC local stations would revert to a live feed rather than just playing the latest news broadcast. Still, I suppose it is small progress. I hope that Radio York provide an audio service in due course as I originally come from there and it's great to hear news from that part of the country, although Radio Leeds goes some way to making up for this. However, it's great that Stray FM can now be heard over the web. Keep up the good work.

Robert, via feedback form

It's a shame the BBC don't offer a couple of their larger local stations outside of London on the web - stations like BBC WM in Birmingham, GMR in Manchester and so on. I agree with your comments - if BBC London Live can be made available on the internet, why can't other stations? As for the Century stations, the only website up at the moment is for 105.4 Century FM in the North West, so it may be while yet before we'll be hearing these stations over the web. Ed.

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