103 The Eye is 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 serving

Melton Mowbray Melton Mowbray () is a town in Leicestershire, England, north-east of Leicester, and south-east of Nottingham. It lies on the River Eye, known below Melton as the Wreake. The town had a population 27,670 in 2019. The town is sometimes promo ...

and the

Vale of Belvoir The Vale of Belvoir ( ) covers adjacent areas of Leicestershire, Nottinghamshire and Lincolnshire, England. The name derives from the Norman-French for "beautiful view" and dates back to Norman times. Extent and geology The vale is a tract ...

in the East Midlands of England. It takes its name from the River Eye which flows through Melton Mowbray.

Background

"103 The Eye" was the first

station in the United Kingdom to begin broadcasting on a full five-year licence granted 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 ...

. Fifteen other stations had previously held short-term licences under the pilot scheme (originally titled "Access Radio"), but The Eye was the first station to go on air after the format was opened to general applications. Before 2004 the station had been known as "TWC", and had held a number of 28-day

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 ...

broadcasts with the aim of persuading the Radio Authority to license a new local commercial radio station to serve

Cotgrave Cotgrave is a town and civil parish in the borough of Rushcliffe in Nottinghamshire, England, some 5 miles (8 km) south-east of central Nottingham. It perches on the South Nottinghamshire Wolds about 131 feet (40 metres) above sea level. ...

, Bingham and the surrounding areas of southeast

Nottinghamshire Nottinghamshire (; abbreviated Notts.) is a landlocked county in the East Midlands region of England, bordering South Yorkshire to the north-west, Lincolnshire to the east, Leicestershire to the south, and Derbyshire to the west. The traditi ...

and north

Leicestershire Leicestershire ( ; postal abbreviation Leics.) is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in the East Midlands, England. The county borders Nottinghamshire to the north, Lincolnshire to the north-east, Rutland to the east, Northamptonshire t ...

. The station broadcasts a variety of popular music from the 1950s to the present day, plus specialist discussion and music shows. The first song broadcast after the official launch at 07:00 on 1 November 2005 was "

Eye of the Tiger "Eye of the Tiger" is a song by American rock band Survivor. It was released as a single from their third album of the same name and was also the theme song for the 1982 film ''Rocky III'', which was released a day before the single. The song ...

" by Survivor. The first presenters' voices heard were those of Cliff King and Dave Baron. News bulletins are provided by

Sky News Radio Sky News Radio is the radio arm of Sky News, owned by Sky UK. It has been operating since June 1999, providing a news bulletin service for UK commercial radio stations operators across the UK and for a number of English-speaking radio stations ar ...

. There are also local news features and local events diary broadcasts during the day. In 2006, the station moved from its original studios at Hickling Pastures to Melton Mowbray. It has since established additional studios in local schools and is one of the most prolific community radio stations broadcasting more than 100 hours of locally produced programming every week; the majority of this is broadcast live. It has won numerous awards for its work over the years, given by the Melton Times newspaper, Melton Borough Council, Alicia Kearns MP for Rutland and Melton, and the Federation of Small Businesses as can be seen on its website www.103theeye.co.uk

Rock the Vale

"Rock the Vale" was a concert organised in association with the station over the May Day bank holiday weekend. It was headlined by

Showaddywaddy Showaddywaddy are a rock and roll group from Leicester, England. They specialise in revivals of hit songs from the 1950s and early 1960s, while also issuing original material. Showaddywaddy spent 209 weeks on the UK Singles Chart, and had 10 T ...

and featured a number of tribute acts, and the final of the stations Rock Idol. Proceeds from the event went to fund the station and

Cancer Research UK Cancer Research UK (CRUK) is the world's largest independent cancer research organization. It is registered as a charity in the United Kingdom and Isle of Man, and was formed on 4 February 2002 by the merger of The Cancer Research Campaign and t ...

References

External links

Official Website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Eye, The Community radio stations in the United Kingdom Radio stations in Leicestershire Radio stations established in 2005

Background

Rock the Vale

See also

References

External links