Heart North Devon (formerly Lantern FM and previously Lantern Radio) was 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 in

North Devon North Devon is a local government district in Devon, England. North Devon Council is based in Barnstaple. Other towns and villages in the North Devon District include Braunton, Fremington, Ilfracombe, Instow, South Molton, Lynton and Lynmouth ...

Technical

The station broadcast from two locations: its main transmitter at Huntshaw Cross on 96.2FM, and a relay station to cover the

Ilfracombe Ilfracombe ( ) is a seaside resort and civil parish on the North Devon coast, England, with a small harbour surrounded by cliffs. The parish stretches along the coast from the 'Coastguard Cottages' in Hele Bay toward the east and along the ...

area on 97.3FM. Both frequencies broadcast the same output.

History

The station was originally known as Lantern Radio, taking its name from the local coastline, known as "the Lantern Coast" - smugglers would lure ships onto the rocks of the North Devon coast with lanterns, causing the ships to run aground and thus be able to be plundered. Originally owned by a consortium of local businesspeople, Orchard Media (the owners of Somerset's

Orchard FM Heart Somerset (formerly Somerset's Orchard FM) was an Independent Local Radio station serving Somerset, England. Originally owned by (and officially remains licensed to) Orchard Media Ltd, the company was purchased by GWR Group in 1999, and s ...

) purchased the station during the mid-1990s, GWR Group purchased the group in 1999 and later merged with the Capital Radio Group to form GCap Media. In November 2005, it was announced that GCap's local radio stations in the South West, including Lantern FM, were to be sold, as they lay outside the company's primary target area. However, no acceptable offer was made for the stations, and the sale was abandoned. GCap was itself later taken over by

Global Radio Global Media & Entertainment Limited, trading as Global, is a British media company formed in 2007. It is the owner of the largest commercial radio company in Europe having expanded through a number of historical acquisitions, including Chrysa ...

. Initially broadcasting from studios in

Bideford Bideford ( ) is a historic port town on the estuary of the River Torridge in north Devon, south-west England. It is the main town of the Torridge local government district. Toponymy In ancient records Bideford is recorded as ''Bedeford'', ''By ...

, the station moved in 2000 to studios in Roundswell Business Park in

Barnstaple Barnstaple ( or ) is a river-port town in North Devon, England, at the River Taw's lowest crossing point before the Bristol Channel. From the 14th century, it was licensed to export wool and won great wealth. Later it imported Irish wool, bu ...

, where the station's breakfast and drivetime shows were produced until its closure. Lantern FM was rebranded on 23 March 2009 as part of Global Radio's

Heart Network Heart is a British radio network and brand of 13 adult contemporary music, adult contemporary Independent Local Radio, local stations operated by Global Media & Entertainment, Global throughout the United Kingdom, broadcasting a mix of local an ...

. By this time, the majority of the station's programming was networked from the Heart Network's main studios in Leicester Square, London.

Network restructuring

On 21 June 2010, Global Radio announced plans to close Heart North Devon and merge the station with

Heart Plymouth Heart Plymouth (formerly Plymouth Sound) was an Independent Local Radio station broadcasting to Plymouth in Devon, England. History The heritage name Plymouth Sound was a pun on the popular meaning of ''sound'' (in the audio sense) and the bay ...

Heart Exeter and Heart Torbay Heart Exeter and Torbay were part of the Heart Network of commercial local radio stations operated by Global Radio in the United Kingdom. The stations were launched on 23 March 2009, and replaced Gemini FM, which was the previous commercial r ...

and

Heart South Devon Heart South Devon (formerly South Hams Radio) was an Independent Local Radio station serving the South Hams area of Devon, England. The station began broadcasting on 1 December 1999 and until its closure, was run as a joint venture between UKRD ...

as part of plans to reduce the Heart network of stations from 33 to 16. The new regional station, ''

Heart Devon Heart South West was a regional radio station owned and operated by Global Radio as part of the Heart network. It broadcast to Devon and Cornwall from studios in Exeter. The station launched on Friday 27 August 2010 under the name 'Heart Devo ...

'', began broadcasting from Exeter on 27 August 2010.Heart slims but strengthens
, RadioToday, 21 June 2010

Notable past presenters

* Amy Cole (now

BBC Look North ''BBC Look North'' is a name used by the BBC for its regional news programmes in three regions in the North of England: *'' BBC Look North'' for the BBC North East and Cumbria region *'' BBC Look North'' for the BBC Yorkshire region *'' BBC Look ...

reporter, when it was Lantern FM.) * Andy Garland (now

BBC Radio Kent BBC Radio Kent is the BBC's local radio station serving the county of Kent. It broadcasts on FM, DAB, digital TV and via BBC Sounds from studios at The Great Hall in Tunbridge Wells. According to RAJAR, the station has a weekly audience of ...

presenter, when it was Lantern FM.)

References

External links

History of local radio in Devon

Huntshaw Cross mast

The station's format, as mandated by its broadcasting licence
( MS Word Document) {{Global Radio Companies based in Devon Radio stations established in 1992 Radio stations in Devon

Defunct radio stations in the United Kingdom Radio stations disestablished in 2010 North Devon