Diversity FM was a

community radio Community radio is a radio service offering a third model of radio broadcasting in addition to commercial and public broadcasting. Community stations serve geographic communities and communities of interest. They broadcast content that is popular ...

station based in Lancaster, north

Lancashire Lancashire ( , ; abbreviated Lancs) is the name of a historic county, ceremonial county, and non-metropolitan county in North West England. The boundaries of these three areas differ significantly. The non-metropolitan county of Lancashi ...

, which covered the Lancaster and

Morecambe Morecambe ( ) is a seaside town and civil parish in the City of Lancaster district in Lancashire, England. It is in Morecambe Bay on the Irish Sea. Name The first use of the name was by John Whitaker in his ''History of Manchester'' (1771), w ...

district. It broadcast a mixture of live and pre-recorded shows and music 24/7 on 103.5FM and via the

Internet The Internet (or internet) is the global system of interconnected computer networks that uses the Internet protocol suite (TCP/IP) to communicate between networks and devices. It is a '' network of networks'' that consists of private, pub ...

. It launched at 11am on 9 October 2007 with the first song 'I'm on my Way' from the musical 'Paint Your Wagon'. At the start of September 2011 Diversity FM launched a new website and started to play announcements on air that a change was happening on 3 October 2011 ahead of a brief re-brand and relaunch before its eventual closure. In early March it was reported that Diversity FM was to close down at the end of the month due to problems with funding. At midnight on 31 March 2012, Diversity FM was to cease its live broadcasting."'Diversity FM closes tomorrow' thevisitor.co.uk"
"'Lancaster’s Diversity FM to close next month' radiotoday.co.uk"
"'Diversity FM community radio closure threat' bbc.co.uk/news"

The presenters (a large group of the volunteers involved with the station at the time and some previous members) were unable to decide what to play as the last 'official' song and the broadcast was extended due to the presenters not wanting to end. Eventually, the last song was chosen and played at twenty nine minutes past midnight (00:29) on 1 April 2012, the song 'September' by Earth Wind and Fire marked the end of the station's live broadcasting and the station went into automation (or 'Non-Stop Diversity' as it was branded). On 27 April 2012 the transmitter was turned off. The last song (which just happened to be 'I Try' by Macy Gray) was followed by the last piece of audio heard on 103.5FM: a clip of Edmund Blackadder and Queen Elizabeth from the popular TV show 'Blackadder' reciting the end of a ransom note that read "hope you're not too miffed... byeeeeee". This was followed by the last post and a final jingle.

Notes

External links

Diversity FM on Facebook

Beyond Radio - The new community radio project
{{coord missing, Lancashire Community radio stations in the United Kingdom Radio stations in Lancashire Lancaster, Lancashire Radio stations established in 2007 Radio stations disestablished in 2012 2007 establishments in England 2012 disestablishments in England