Isles FM is a local radio station operating from
Stornoway
Stornoway (; ) is the main town, and by far the largest, of the Outer Hebrides (or Western Isles), and the capital of Lewis and Harris in Scotland.
The town's population is around 6,953, making it the third-largest island town in Scotlan ...
in the
Outer Hebrides
The Outer Hebrides ( ) or Western Isles ( , or ), sometimes known as the Long Isle or Long Island (), is an Archipelago, island chain off the west coast of mainland Scotland.
It is the longest archipelago in the British Isles. The islan ...
, Scotland.
The station is operated entirely by a volunteer staff, from a building in the Newton area of the town. Isles FM is the trading name of Western Isles Community Radio Limited, which owns all the equipment. It has recently secured an area of land to construct a purpose-built studio near Seaforth Road in Stornoway.
History
The station was initially set up in the living room of a local minister, Reverend Stanley Bennie, and operated for a few weeks at a time under a temporary licence as a trial. After proving that the station was feasible, a permanent licence was granted by the UK
Radio Authority (now
Ofcom
The Office of Communications, commonly known as Ofcom, is the government-approved regulatory and competition authority for the broadcasting, internet, telecommunications and mail, postal industries of the United Kingdom.
Ofcom has wide-rang ...
) and the station started operating on 1 March 1998 (with the current licence dating from 3 July of the same year).
Mr Bennie ceased presenting on the station in 2000 after complaints were made over the lyrics of a song he repeatedly played,
The Bad Touch, caused offence. In 2013 the station relocated to custom-built premises in Seaforth Road, Stornoway.
Its signal is broadcast from the island's largest transmitter site,
Eitshal, with FM coverage across approximately 3/4 of the Island. The station also broadcasts live over the Internet on platforms such as Internetradiouk, and allows listeners to catch up via its replay website.
Many of the presenters are amateurs, although former presenter and current director Glenn Denny completed a VQ in Radio Broadcasting through
Moray Firth Radio, which made him the only professionally trained presenter with Isles FM. Other notable volunteers with the station include Rodney Collins, who was formerly a journalist with
Record Mirror
''Record Mirror'' was a British weekly music newspaper published between 1954 and 1991, aimed at pop fans and record collectors. Launched two years after ''New Musical Express'', it never attained the circulation of its rival. The first UK Album ...
went on to Radios 1 & 2 and was also a member of the
Radio Luxembourg team in the 1970s before becoming managing director of ILR stations in Scotland and London. One of the younger members of Isles FM, Eilidh MacLennan, moved on to work for the BBC as a presenter on Gaelic children's television,
Dè a-nis?.
Programme content
The station broadcasts a variety of content. The mixture of
Gaelic and English programming includes: specialist music, chat shows, children's programmes, and news.
Every Sunday Isles FM broadcasts two Christian acts of worship, often from Churches across the Isles or from Isles 'expats' ministering across Scotland.
It is often a source of essential information in times of severe weather and other crises, when transport off the islands by ferry or air may be unavailable, or when roads may be closed.
References
Radio stations in Scotland
Radio stations in the Highlands & Islands
Radio stations established in 1998
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