Erewash Sound is delighted to announce that the radio station has been relicenced to broadcast on FM until 2025.
A spokesperson for the broadcast regulator OFCOM recently confirmed that an application for a third licence term had been approved. The announcement comes as Erewash Sound prepares to mark its tenth anniversary year, sponsored by Ron Brooks Toyota in Ilkeston.
The radio station was originally licenced for five years from 6th March 2010 with a second licence term granted to run until 5th March 2020 although work to launch full time started as early as 2004, with a trial broadcast staged from the former Police Station on Wharncliffe Road in Ilkeston in 2005.
An internet-only radio service began in 2007 and ran until early 2010 to give listeners a chance of what to expect in the future.
Launched by actor Robert Lindsay at a special event held at the now former Ilkeston Co-op Buildings, full-time FM transmissions began on 96.8FM on the morning of Saturday 6th March 2010 from a studio in a former headmaster's study in B Block off Bennerley Avenue in Cotmanhay at what was then Bennerley School, latterly Bennerley Business & Enterprise College before moving to a purpose built Media Centre off Vernon Street where it remains to this day.
Run almost entirely by volunteers, the radio station has since developed an NCFE accredited training academy which has provided a depth and breadth of skills, both for radio and otherwise, whilst on-air, scores of community groups, charities and non-profit making organisations have benefitted from free publicity, raising their profile and encouraging greater support.
The radio station is also ‘award winning’, having picked up a number of business and radio industry accolades over the last four years, many of them within the last two to three years.
Speaking after receiving the confirmation from the regulator on the eve of the radio station's tenth birthday year and as the second licence term came to an end, spokesperson Ian Perry said: "It is a brilliant way to kick start our celebrations - it is almost like a bonus birthday present and we're all absolutely delighted! We've achieved so much in our first ten years of broadcasting full-time on FM, but there is still so much more to come including our exciting plans to launch a second transmitter on a second FM frequency to better serve Long Eaton and the south and south-west of the borough.
"Of course, it goes without saying that we would not be able to run our service without the dedication and hard work of our many volunteers, the support of our advertisers and sponsors, and our many listeners both on FM and on-line - we thank every single one of them, past, present and and future. Here's to the next five years!"
2025 Magnifying Glass image: credit: Marco Verch Professional Photographer - under https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/