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Media
Two radio stations close
By CMU Editorial | Published on Monday 1 June 2009
Two more local radio stations shut down last week.
First up Southampton-based Radio Hampshire, a local FM station previously owned by Southampton Football Club, but bought by small-time local radio firm Town & Country in 2007. The closure of the station was seemingly very sudden. According to Radio Today, for a time a message on the station’s website read: “Without any prior warning to our listeners and to our advertisers Radio Hampshire was forced to switch off on 107.2 & 107.8. Sadly none of the presenters were able to say good bye and thank you to everyone for listening. The station is now been handed over to the administrators”. The closure affects local radio in Winchester also because the local station there, Dream 107.2, owned by Tindle Radio, essentially closed last November and had since been syndicated the Southampton station.
Meanwhile, further North, a bid to provide Stoke-On-Trent with an alternative commercial radio service via the area’s local digital radio network came to an end on Friday when Focal Radio went off the air. The closure of Focal was less of a surprise, following recent reports that the station had been actively inviting listeners to invest in the flagging company, and that one of its founders, prominent local radio presenter Sam Plank, was paying the rest of the staff’s wages out of his own pocket.
