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Harborough FM (HFM) is a
community A community is a social unit (a group of living things) with commonality such as place, norms, religion, values, customs, or identity. Communities may share a sense of place situated in a given geographical area (e.g. a country, village, tow ...
radio station Radio broadcasting is transmission of audio (sound), sometimes with related metadata, by radio waves to radio receivers belonging to a public audience. In terrestrial radio broadcasting the radio waves are broadcast by a land-based radio ...
covering
Market Harborough Market Harborough is a market town in the Harborough district of Leicestershire, England, in the far southeast of the county, forming part of the border with Northamptonshire. Market Harborough's population was 25,143 in 2020. It is the admi ...
, South
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 ...
and
North Northamptonshire North Northamptonshire is one of two local authority areas in Northamptonshire, England. It is a unitary authority area forming about one half of the ceremonial county of Northamptonshire. It was created in 2021. Its notable towns are Ketterin ...
in England. HFM was originally formed in November 1994 with the aim to provide a local FM
radio station Radio broadcasting is transmission of audio (sound), sometimes with related metadata, by radio waves to radio receivers belonging to a public audience. In terrestrial radio broadcasting the radio waves are broadcast by a land-based radio ...
for
Market Harborough Market Harborough is a market town in the Harborough district of Leicestershire, England, in the far southeast of the county, forming part of the border with Northamptonshire. Market Harborough's population was 25,143 in 2020. It is the admi ...
and South
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 ...
as it was generally felt that the established independent local stations and the local
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stations failed to cater for the population of South Leicestershire. Between 1994 and 2004, the station carried out eleven successful broadcasts, the last one being in June 2004. These broadcasts were made under the Radio Authority's 'Restricted Service Licence' scheme which allowed the station to broadcast for a maximum period of 28 days.


Launch

On 15 June 2005 HFM were awarded a full-time licence 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 ...
to broadcast to Market Harborough and South Leicestershire 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. The station launched on Saturday 10 February 2007 with a live broadcast from The Square in Market Harborough's town centre. The station was switched on by Eva Winston-Hart, a local toddler suffering from a rare form of leukemia. The first official voice on the station was that of Chris Jones, Programme Controller, and the first record played was "
Are You Ready For Love "Are You Ready for Love" is a song recorded by English musician Elton John in 1977 and first released in the UK in 1979 as the first single from the EP '' The Thom Bell Sessions''. It was written by Leroy Bell, Thom Bell and Casey James, an ...
" by
Elton John Sir Elton Hercules John (born Reginald Kenneth Dwight; 25 March 1947) is a British singer, pianist and composer. Commonly nicknamed the "Rocket Man" after his 1972 hit single of the same name, John has led a commercially successful career a ...
. HFM's programming is music-based but also focuses on community news and events. There is a daily Community Update as well as local news on the hour 8.00am - 6.00pm on weekdays, with updates at the weekends. Outside of these times, the station takes IRN (Independent Radio News)


Presenters - Past and Present

* Pete Flower * Paul Moore * John Fitzpatrick * Darren Coleman * Karen Anderson * Graham Beeby * Richard Bransby * Sam Britton * Owen Brooks * Phil Brookes * Will Challenor * Dave Charles * djbraine * Mark Evans * Darren Harte * Terry Hawke * Dave Irving * Chris Jones * Jonno * Tom Lathom * Grant Lush * Rob Maltman * Soozie Max * Moley * Noony * Richard Oliff * Liz Osborne * Dani Rust * Steve Palmer * Ian Parker * Simon Parry * Rory Rattray * Stu Reeves * Kendall Reeves-Sassoon * Becca Robertson * Gavin Samways * Nick Shaw * Nick Shelton * Sean Smith * Gordon Warren * Nina Watkins * Keith Williams * Adam Wilson * Paul Wright * Rod Watts * Dave Smith * Pat Stones * Paul Grunill * Yvonne Benson * Will Norton * Steve Watts * Phil Jesson * Dave Edwards * James Garner * Logan Reeves-Sassoon * Malcolm Noble * Gavin Samways * Ross Monro * Dale Williams * Stu Begley * Adam Simmons * Emma B * Graham Wright * Rockin' Ray * Dorthe Hawke


Info

Typical of HFMs community support and information is the Snowline established during the heavy snow during the first week of February 2009. Presenters give out continual updates of school, college and business closures as well as details of road and rail conditions. All the local schools contribute and HFMs' award-winning website receives over 1,000 unique visits on each such day. HFM hosts many events in and around Market Harborough, ranging from school fetes to family fun days, late night shopping and both of the major firework displays in town. The high profile of the station is one of the major reasons for its success. HFM also runs regular Introduction to Radio Broadcasting courses, and have gained a number of new presenters this way, as well as background staff. The courses are usually led by Graham Beeby, assisted by technical tutor djbraine & Chris Jones. In June 2010 it was announced that HFMs' landlords would be leaving their premises, resulting in the need to search for a new location. Numerous companies came forward with offers of premises and the station is now located in new studios in Fernie House, Fernie Rd, close to the railway station. In August 2011 HFM was awarded an extension to their licence, which enabled it to continue broadcasting to South Leicestershire and North Northamptonshire until 9 February 2017. HFM won the "Raising The Profile Of The Town" category in the 2013 Pride In Harborough Awards. The annual event, organised by the Harborough Mail was held at the Three Swans Hotel on Friday April 26. HFM received numerous nominations for the title. Several individual presenters, including Chris Jone and Dave Irving, have been honoured in individual categories as well. HFMs' commitment to local issues and events is reflected in the highly successful Good Old Days series of tea dances, initiated in January 2015. These events, catering to the over 65s in the Harborough area, are free to attend, and have become very popular. It is hoped that funding can be found to continue for 2016. Previously, HFM had staged two seasons of Village Voices, in which representatives of clubs and organisations in the many villages in South Leicestershire and North Northamptonshire were invited along to discuss their activities and plans. The results were later broadcast several times on HFM and on the Listen Again service. Perhaps above all, HFMS 'localness' is the key to the stations success, with recent listener figures suggesting that the local feel of the station and its excellent local news coverage is the main reason people listen. In August 2021 Hfm's news coverage of the murder of Fleckney pensioner Jane Hings featured in an episode of Sky Crime documentary 'Killer In My Village.'


See also

*
List of radio stations in the United Kingdom This is a list of radio stations in the United Kingdom. National analogue and digital (DAB) stations This list does not include stations which broadcast on numerous local digital multiplexes or MW licences to achieve near-national coverage. DA ...
*
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 ...


References


External links


HFM Website



Coverage Map
{{DEFAULTSORT:Harborough Fm Radio stations in Leicestershire Community radio stations in the United Kingdom Radio stations established in 2007 Market Harborough 2007 establishments in England