FCOT FM and previously as FCT-FM, Echo FM and Passion is a community radio station broadcast for four weeks each year from two studios at

Farnborough College of Technology Farnborough College of Technology is a college located in the town of Farnborough, Hampshire in the South East of England. Although primarily a further education college, Farnborough College of Technology also has a University Centre (Universit ...

. The station's management, presentation and production teams are entirely composed of

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and

higher education Higher education is tertiary education leading to award of an academic degree. Higher education, also called post-secondary education, third-level or tertiary education, is an optional final stage of formal learning that occurs after completi ...

students. Throughout its annual broadcast, FCOT FM operates a 24-hour

music radio Music radio is a radio format in which music is the main broadcast content. After television replaced old time radio's dramatic content, music formats became dominant in many countries. Radio drama and comedy continue, often on public radio. Mu ...

service with live

presenters A presenter is a person or organization responsible for the running of a public event, or someone who conveys information on media via a broadcasting outlet. Presenter may refer to: People * News presenter, person who presents news during a new ...

from 7am until 9pm every weekday. Originally operating a highly localised service, the station now covers the entire

Rushmoor Rushmoor is a Non-metropolitan district, local government district and borough in Hampshire, England. It covers the towns of Aldershot and Farnborough, Hampshire, Farnborough as well as Cove and North Camp. It was formed on 1 April 1974 by the ...

area with a broadcast radius of approximately fifteen miles. Echo 2012 was set to be the biggest and best yet with a refurb on everything including the logo. The station now runs 24/7 during its licence period and ran from 27 February 2012 until 30 March 2012, with new imaging, a new website and a new presenter line-up. The radio station for 2013 was renamed to "FCOT FM". It will be returning for 2018 from 16 April until 11 May with brand new presenters and logo.

History

FCOT FM was originally broadcast under the name FCT-FM, based on an abbreviation of Farnborough College of Technology where the station was, and is, based. It operated, and still operates, for four weeks per year on a

Restricted Service Licence A UK Restricted Service Licence (often called an RSL), is typically granted to radio stations and television stations broadcasting within the UK to serve a local community or a special event. Licences are granted by the broadcasting authority Ofc ...

. The station first broadcast during May 1992, with 24-hour output starting in 1995. In 1994, the station was first sponsored by

Guildford Guildford () is a town in west Surrey, around southwest of central London. As of the 2011 census, the town has a population of about 77,000 and is the seat of the wider Borough of Guildford, which had around inhabitants in . The name "Guildf ...

-based radio station

County Sound County Sound Radio was an analogue commercial radio station covering Surrey and north-east Hampshire in the United Kingdom. One of its closing forms in 2012-2014 formed Eagle Extra occupying 1566 MW following an internal split between older an ...

; having originally broadcast with 1

Watt The watt (symbol: W) is the unit of power or radiant flux in the International System of Units (SI), equal to 1 joule per second or 1 kg⋅m2⋅s−3. It is used to quantify the rate of energy transfer. The watt is named after James Wa ...

of power, from 1996 FCT-FM was awarded rights for a 15 Watt transmitter, funded by County Sound. Students also recover costs through additional sponsorship and advertising from local businesses. In the year 2000, FCT-FM was rebranded Passion; the same year, the station was nominated for the

BBC Radio 1 BBC Radio 1 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. It specialises in modern popular music and current chart hits throughout the day. The station provides alternative genres at night, including electronica, dance, ...

Student Radio Station of the Year.

Programming

2012's typical weekday's programming consists of four standard slots: * Breakfast (710am) hosted by Martin Willingham * Mid-Morning (10amnoon) hosted By Graham Cutbil-White * Bitesize (noon1pm) * Afternoon (35pm) hosted by Chris Macro * Drivetime (57pm Monday to Thursday, 45pm Friday) hosted by Michael Pritchard *(Weekly) Friday Afternoon Sports Show (1pm3pm) hosted by Tommy Anderson *(Weekly) Monday Night Football (9pm10pm) hosted by Tommy Anderson Invariably, the Breakfast, Mid-Morning, Afternoon and Drivetime shows have each had distinct on-air teams who present and produce content for the same timeslot each weekday throughout a given year's Echo run. Late Lunch programmes usually have different presenter(s) and producer(s) each weekday. Echo broadcasts a news bulletin hourly between 7am and 7pm inclusive, with information collated from both local sources and

Independent Radio News Independent Radio News provides a service of news bulletins, audio and copy to commercial radio stations in the United Kingdom and beyond. The managing director, Tim Molloy, succeeded long-term MD John Perkins in November 2009. Perkins had been ...

(IRN). From 7pm to 9pm, Echo airs a range of specialist music programmes, each focussing on particular genre. The station also broadcasts a live-music focussed programme called Echo Sessions featuring live performances by Rushmoor-based bands. Since 2011, live studio-based output on a Friday has finished at 5pm.

Academic work and weekends

The normal programming schedule is sometimes adjusted to accommodate 30–60 minute one-off programmes, produced as coursework by students of Farnborough College of Technology who are not necessarily otherwise involved in Echo. Such programmes were originally branded Lunchbox and now air as Bitesize. A significant academic link-up occurred during the final week of Echo in 2009; to cover the Rising Starz singing contest, Echo simulcast the audio from an internet TV stream produced by students of Media & Creative Arts as well as using their

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short code codes, or short numbers, are short digit sequences, significantly shorter than telephone numbers, that are used to address messages in the Multimedia Messaging System (MMS) and short message service (SMS) systems of mobile network operators. I ...

to collate votes. Finally, until the 2011 running of Echo the station operated a limited live output on Saturdays, with a Late Breakfast programme leading into sports-themed discussion show Saturday Sport. Live presenter-led output is supplemented by an automated music service overnight and at weekends.

References

External links

Farnborough College of Technology
Echo FM licensee and studio owner. {{Coord, 51, 17, 42.66, N, 0, 45, 39.08, W, region:GB, display=title Radio stations established in 1992 Radio stations in Hampshire Rushmoor