The Lincs FM Group was the parent company of several Independent Local Radio (ILR) stations. As of Q2 2019 the group had a combined audience of 524,000. It was based in

Lincolnshire Lincolnshire (abbreviated Lincs.) is a Counties of England, county in the East Midlands of England, with a long coastline on the North Sea to the east. It borders Norfolk to the south-east, Cambridgeshire to the south, Rutland to the south-we ...

, in the UK.

History

The Lincs FM Group was formed in the early 1990s with the winning of the ILR licence for Lincolnshire. Lincs FM started broadcasting in 1992 and since then the Lincs FM Group has won and acquired licences to operate other local radio stations across the UK's Midlands and Yorkshire regions. The Lincs FM Group also had a 33% share in

Ipswich 102 Nation Radio Suffolk is an Independent Local radio station owned and operated by Nation Broadcasting. It broadcasts from Ipswich in Suffolk. As of December 2022, the station broadcasts to a weekly audience of 27,000, according to RAJAR. Histo ...

and a 51% share in the digital radio multiplexes operating DAB services in Lincolnshire and Suffolk. Lincs FM Group was purchased by Bauer Radio in February 2019; Bauer also purchased the stations of Celador Radio at the same time. KCFM was sold 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 Br ...

due to overlapping with existing Bauer asset

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 ...

; the other Lincs stations remained with Bauer. Due to further potential competition issues with Bauer's existing stations and their new purchases the group has been operating in 'hold separate' pending investigation of the sale by the Competition and Markets Authority.

Radio Stations

* Lincs FM (Lincolnshire & Newark) *

Compass FM Compass FM was an Independent Local Radio station serving Grimsby, Cleethorpes and Immingham. Last owned by Bauer Radio, the station broadcast from 2001 to 2020, when it was subsumed by Greatest Hits Radio, as part of its Yorkshire region. L ...

(North East Lincolnshire) * Trax FM (Doncaster & Bassetlaw) * Dearne FM (Barnsley, Penistone and the Dearne Valley) *

Rutland Radio Rutland Radio was an Independent Local Radio station which served the county of Rutland and the town of Stamford in Lincolnshire. It broadcast on 107.2 FM in Rutland and 97.4 FM across Stamford and launched on 13 December 1998 from Knights ...

(Stamford & Rutland) *

Ridings FM Ridings FM was a local radio station serving the Wakefield District of West Yorkshire. The station was folded into Greatest Hits Radio Yorkshire, as part of a rebrand, on 1 September 2020. Studios The station was originally based at Thornes Of ...

(the Wakefield district) *

Rother FM Rother FM was a local radio station serving Rotherham. The station was folded into Greatest Hits Radio Yorkshire, as part of a rebrand, on 1 September 2020. Studios and coverage Rother FM was originally based in Rotherham but later moved to Don ...

(Rotherham) * Suffolk First (Suffolk)

Branding

Each station's logo is green and purple as these are the company colours; these logos feature heavily in each stations merchandise. The group runs three music formats across its stations. "Hits & Memories" stations are the staple of the group, playing a wide variety of popular music from the 1960s to the present day. "Music You Love" stations lean older, with a greater percentage of songs released pre-1990 played. "Country music and more" is the format of the digital-only station Suffolk First, which plays a mixture of country music and pop music. :Hits & Memories Brand :* Lincs FM for

and Newark :* Dearne FM for

Barnsley Barnsley () is a market town in South Yorkshire, England. As the main settlement of the Metropolitan Borough of Barnsley and the fourth largest settlement in South Yorkshire. In Barnsley, the population was 96,888 while the wider Borough ha ...

, Penistone and the Dearne Valley :*

for

Rotherham Rotherham () is a large minster and market town in South Yorkshire, England. The town takes its name from the River Rother which then merges with the River Don. The River Don then flows through the town centre. It is the main settlement of ...

and the surrounding area :* Trax FM for

Doncaster Doncaster (, ) is a city in South Yorkshire, England. Named after the River Don, it is the administrative centre of the larger City of Doncaster. It is the second largest settlement in South Yorkshire after Sheffield. Doncaster is situated in ...

, Bassetlaw and Worksop (2 licences) :*

for Rutland and Stamford :The Music You Love Brand :*

for

Grimsby Grimsby or Great Grimsby is a port town and the administrative centre of North East Lincolnshire, Lincolnshire, England. Grimsby adjoins the town of Cleethorpes directly to the south-east forming a conurbation. Grimsby is north-east of L ...

, Cleethorpes and Immingham :*

for the

Wakefield Wakefield is a cathedral city in West Yorkshire, England located on the River Calder. The city had a population of 99,251 in the 2011 census.https://www.nomisweb.co.uk/census/2011/ks101ew Census 2011 table KS101EW Usual resident population, ...

district

Acquisitions

Until October 2007 the group was unique in the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and ...

in that it had grown organically through licence awards, rather than by acquisition of existing stations. As FM licences ceased advertising in the late 2000s, the group, with a desire to continue growing, made their first acquisition with

Oak 107 FM :''This is the page for the defunct CN Group station. For the service operated by Quidem see '' The New 107 Oak FM''.'' Oak 107 FM was an Independent Local Radio station owned by the CN Group and based on Prince William Road in Loughborough, ...

in October 2007 (previously owned by the CN Group). This station was sold on a few years later to rejoin its former network. This was followed by the acquisition of KCFM in June 2009, previously owned by Planet Broadcasting.

Disposals

Oak FM The New 107 Oak FM was a local radio station broadcasting in West Leicestershire and Nuneaton North Warwickshire, in the English Midlands. It was owned and operated by Quidem. History Launching on Wednesday 26 March 2008, the station was es ...

, comprising the Hinckley and Loughborough licences, was sold to Quidem in 2012. It was rebranded as Fosse 107 following the insolvency of the station * KCFM was sold to Nation Broadcasting in February 2019

Licence bid failure

In 2006, the group made a bid to win the Hull licence along with six other groups. The format for the Lincs bid was the same of that of Compass FM; this is thought to be because Lincs FM already overlaps the North East Lincolnshire area. The station went under the working title of "White Rose Radio" to reflect the white rose of

Yorkshire Yorkshire ( ; abbreviated Yorks), formally known as the County of York, is a Historic counties of England, historic county in northern England and by far the largest in the United Kingdom. Because of its large area in comparison with other Eng ...

. The group did not win the licence and lost out to

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- ...

-based KCFM. However, KCFM became part of the Lincs FM Group in June 2009.radiotoday.co.uk

References

{{Reflist

External links

lincsfmgroup.co.uk
- Group website. Radio broadcasting companies of the United Kingdom Companies based in Lincoln, England Mass media in Lincolnshire Lincoln, England Mass media companies established in 1991 1991 establishments in England 2019 mergers and acquisitions Mass media companies disestablished in 2019 2019 disestablishments in England