KCFM (FM)
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Nation Radio East Yorkshire, Formerly GHR Hull & East Yorkshire and KCFM, is an
Independent Local Radio Independent Local Radio is the collective name given to commercial radio stations in the United Kingdom. As a result of the buyouts and mergers permitted by the Broadcasting Act 1990, and deregulation resulting from the Communications Act 2003, ...
station serving
Kingston upon Hull Kingston upon Hull, usually abbreviated to Hull, is a port city and unitary authority in the East Riding of Yorkshire, England. It lies upon the River Hull at its confluence with the Humber Estuary, inland from the North Sea and south-east ...
and the
East Riding of Yorkshire The East Riding of Yorkshire, or simply East Riding or East Yorkshire, is a ceremonial county and unitary authority area in the Yorkshire and the Humber region of England. It borders North Yorkshire to the north and west, South Yorkshire to t ...
. This new licence was advertised by
Ofcom The Office of Communications, commonly known as Ofcom, is the government-approved regulatory and competition authority for the broadcasting, telecommunications and postal industries of the United Kingdom. Ofcom has wide-ranging powers acros ...
in 2006. As KCFM, it was owned by the Lincs FM Group. In early 2019, it was sold on to
Nation Broadcasting Nation Broadcasting is a British media company headquartered in the Vale of Glamorgan, Wales. It currently owns and operates twelve Independent Local Radio stations across the United Kingdom. History Originally known as Town and Country Broa ...
, under the licensed name of Greatest Hits Radio. On 19 September 2022, the licensing name agreement ended and the station became part of the Nation Radio network. As of September 2022, the station broadcasts to a weekly audience of 75,000, according to RAJAR.


Background

KCFM was run by a local consortium – under the name of Planet Broadcasting Limited. In June 2009 a share exchange was agreed with the Lincs FM Group. Tim Jibson who was a member of the team that acquired the original Ofcom licence, was the launch director and was also the Director of Programmes until May 2009, has now moved on to the role of managing director of Adventures in Radio Ltd. Jibson had previously worked for
Viking FM Viking FM is an Independent Local Radio station based in Sheffield, England, owned and operated by Bauer as part of the Hits Radio network. It broadcasts to the East Riding of Yorkshire and Northern Lincolnshire. As of September 2022, the s ...
, and Viking Gold – subsequently known as Classic Gold, Great Yorkshire Gold, Great Yorkshire Radio, Magic 1161, Viking 2 and currently
Greatest Hits Radio Greatest Hits Radio is a classic hits radio network in the United Kingdom, owned and operated by Bauer. Overview The network launched on 5 January 2015 as the "Bauer City 2 Network", and rebranded on 7 January 2019 due to the success of Ra ...
– and
BBC Radio Humberside BBC Radio Humberside is the BBC's local radio station serving East Yorkshire and North & North East Lincolnshire. It broadcasts on FM, DAB, digital TV and via BBC Sounds from studios at Queen's Gardens in Hull. According to RAJAR, the statio ...
.


Launch

The station carried out a full month of test transmissions before launch at 6:00 a.m. on 1 August 2007. The first voice heard on-air was that of Steve Jordan who then introduced the Director of Programmes Tim Jibson. Jordan then played the first music track "''
Twist and Shout "Twist and Shout" is a 1961 song written by Phil Medley and Bert Berns (later credited as "Bert Russell"). It was originally recorded by the Top Notes, but it did not become a hit in the record charts until it was reworked by the Isley Brothers ...
''" by
The Beatles The Beatles were an English Rock music, rock band, formed in Liverpool in 1960, that comprised John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr. They are regarded as the Cultural impact of the Beatles, most influential band of al ...
. The Planet House studio building was then officially opened by the England Football Manager
Steve McClaren Stephen McClaren (born 3 May 1961) is an English former professional footballer and coach who currently serves as an assistant coach for Premier League club Manchester United, in his second spell at the club. McClaren began his coaching care ...
.


Programming

As KCFM, the station played a variety of music, ranging from the 1960s to current chart hits. Its final line-up of daytime presenters was Sean Gerard, Tim West and Matt Hutchinson; the latter remaining into the GHR era as the sole local host. KCFM provided coverage of local news and sport – including commentaries of
Hull City Hull City Association Football Club is a professional football club based in Hull, East Riding of Yorkshire, England, that compete in the . They have played home games at the MKM Stadium since moving from Boothferry Park in 2002. The club's t ...
and the two Super League teams –
Hull Kingston Rovers Hull Kingston Rovers are a professional rugby league club based in Kingston upon Hull, Yorkshire, England, that competes in the Super League, the top tier of British rugby league. The club has won five league championships, and one Challeng ...
and
Hull F.C. Hull Football Club, commonly referred to as Hull or Hull F.C., is a professional rugby league football club established in 1865 and based in West Hull, East Riding of Yorkshire, England. The club plays in the Super League competition and were ...
– along with updates of
ice hockey Ice hockey (or simply hockey) is a team sport played on ice skates, usually on an ice skating rink with lines and markings specific to the sport. It belongs to a family of sports called hockey. In ice hockey, two opposing teams use ice hock ...
, amateur rugby league and other local sports.


Technical


Transmission

The station broadcasts on 99.8
MHz The hertz (symbol: Hz) is the unit of frequency in the International System of Units (SI), equivalent to one event (or cycle) per second. The hertz is an SI derived unit whose expression in terms of SI base units is s−1, meaning that one he ...
FM. Its transmission area covers the City of Kingston upon Hull and the neighbouring towns of
Beverley Beverley is a market town, market and minster (church), minster town and a civil parishes in England, civil parish in the East Riding of Yorkshire, England, of which it is the county town. The town centre is located south-east of York's centre ...
,
Driffield Driffield, also known as Great Driffield, is a market town and civil parish in the East Riding of Yorkshire, England. The civil parish is formed by the town of Driffield and the village of Little Driffield. By road, it is north-east of Leeds ...
and
Goole Goole is a port town and civil parish on the River Ouse in the East Riding of Yorkshire, England. The town's historic county is the West Riding of Yorkshire. According to the 2011 UK census, Goole parish had a population of 19,518, an increa ...
in East Yorkshire and
Barton-upon-Humber Barton-upon-Humber () or Barton is a town and civil parish in North Lincolnshire, England. The population at the 2011 census was 11,066. It is situated on the south bank of the Humber Estuary at the southern end of the Humber Bridge. It is s ...
in North Lincolnshire – from a transmitter mast on top of the Humber Bridge's north pier. KCFM is also available via DAB, launching on that platform in October 2016. In early 2019 KCFM moved DAB multiplexes from the Lincolnshire multiplex to Bauer's Humberside multiplex offering a better fit with its FM distribution, albeit only in mono owing to space limitations.


Studios

A purpose built studio complex was constructed at "Planet House" on Hedon Road in Hull. Studio Design was carried out by Bob Corn of the Corn Tarrant Partnership – Technical Installation by Radio Studio Services – which is headed up by Richard Lawley. The station is now based at Parkgate House, Hesslewood Country Office Park, Hessle.


Branding

KCFM's first
jingle A jingle is a short song or tune used in advertising and for other commercial uses. Jingles are a form of sound branding. A jingle contains one or more hooks and meaning that explicitly promote the product or service being advertised, usually t ...
package were re-sings of a
KVIL KVIL (103.7 FM, ''Alt 103.7'') is a commercial radio station dual-licensed to Highland Park and Dallas, Texas. It is owned by Audacy, Inc. and it serves the Dallas/Fort Worth Metroplex in North Texas. The station's studios are located along ...
package produced by radio ident company
TM Studios Jones Radio Networks & Jones Media Group were branches of Jones International before being sold to Triton Media Group. JRN and JMN provide local radio stations with satellite-delivered formats. They also offer other services to local radio such a ...
in Dallas, Texas, USA.jinglemad.com
A custom made
news News is information about current events. This may be provided through many different Media (communication), media: word of mouth, printing, Mail, postal systems, broadcasting, Telecommunications, electronic communication, or through the tes ...
jingle A jingle is a short song or tune used in advertising and for other commercial uses. Jingles are a form of sound branding. A jingle contains one or more hooks and meaning that explicitly promote the product or service being advertised, usually t ...
was also commissioned. In late 2010, KCFM aired new jingles made by the UK based jingle company S2Blue. The station's last jingle package was produced by Audio Sweets and matched the rest of the Lincs FM group of stations.


References


External links

*
Licence award

Yorkshire Post article
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kcfm Radio stations in Yorkshire East Riding of Yorkshire Mass media in Kingston upon Hull Radio broadcasting companies of the United Kingdom Nation Broadcasting Radio stations established in 2007