Options
Sunny Govan Radio
Craig Kelly
Posts: 2,662 Forum Member
✭✭✭
Community radio station, Sunny Govan Radio has commenced test transmissions on 103.5 FM covering a fairly large part of Glasgow.
It is an appropriate day for the station to switch-on as the sun is shining in Glasgow today.
The test transmission consist of speech with many trails for the website and the station mission statement.
The website has not been updated, so no firm date for regular programming.
Sunny Govan Radio was awarded an Ofcom Community Radio Licence in June 2005.
It is an appropriate day for the station to switch-on as the sun is shining in Glasgow today.
The test transmission consist of speech with many trails for the website and the station mission statement.
The website has not been updated, so no firm date for regular programming.
Sunny Govan Radio was awarded an Ofcom Community Radio Licence in June 2005.
0
Comments
Hope things go well for SG :cool:
Here it is at last! Amazing signal coverage (getting it down my throat here in Shawlands), top quality sound, neat and tidy production that gets the key message across (the Real Radio influence very much at play here), listenable local voices that have obviously had the benefit of some media training........so far so good.
Given the superb signal its a fair bet that Sunny Govan will be inundated with folk looking for gigs for the pan-Glasgow exposure. How far SG choose to avail themselves of this resource will be an interesting one to watch.
Gonna be a fun weekend for those of us who love finding out how far radio signals go, that's for sure!
Analogue licences are only granted for a 12 year periiod. Even the BBC has its licence charter renewed every decade or so.
To be honest I suspect that 5 years from now the delivery and consumption of media will have changed so dramatically that analogue services of any description will be a complete irrelevance.
frank
I wouldn't hold your breath for an immediate policy.
Radio Jackie's licence expires on the 28th February 2009 - less than two years to go and no readvertisement process has been decided upon yet.
They have a daft loop on now which is very repetitive.... someone should connect a PC and playout some music to build some interest.
Good luck to them.... its taken a while but a different choice now appears on the horizon.
Sunny Govan on 103.5 FM has a coverage that dwarfs that of Awaz FM on 107.2 FM. A lot could be down to the transmitter siting but I would have thought that all small community stations would have had a similar coaverage in cities.
You have to bear in mind that there are many towns and villages in Lanarkshire for which the residents can look out of their windows and look down on you Weegies, even making out some of your landmarks as tiny wee specks and glistening lights, in a short distance from their doorstep and little more than 15 or 20 minutes drive.
This of course also causes us to have good reception of some stations down your way, including RSL's - because there really is nothing blocking it. Even Celtic Music Radio's last broadcastr in February could be heard in the car on FM in Lanark and Carstairs - and that was just 10 watts or so.
In fact, the only RSL's from Weegieville that were a concern regarding their signal strengths out my way were FM8, Go and The Hits (the latter was taking the piss!)
But will you be smiling when programming starts?
We will have to just wait and hear what the SUNNY G output will be like.
Just hope that there will not be too much swearing (like on Steg G's video) or too much 'ma man' stuff!
It'll be local and down to earth hopefully and devoid of the usual suspects who plauge secondary stations with their dreadful Clyde 1 wannabe performances.
I am looking forward to hearing Govan folk talking about their own area and playing songs that suit their audience. Shows for young folks and other age groups too. It should be a resource that has something for all of the area's people and only time will tell if it embraces that remit or gets infested with 3rd rate ILR wannabes. Lets hope for the sake of the Govan population they keep control of it themslves and use it as a community resource.
A certain amount of "ma man" stuff I can live with. Steg G is in his own right a very talented communicator who carries it off quite well. "Awrite ma man" is a friendly street phrase that young Glaswegians in particular can relate to.
As for potential swearing though, that's where the excellent coverage could turn into something of a double edged sword. SG will have to be very careful who they let on air as the large coverage will bring more listeners, and therefore more potential complaints if things go awry.
Similarly, they will also have to guard against the station becoming a mainstream hits and oldies service by default (i.e. if no one is available to do shows then they just switch to automation and bang out the hits till someone turns up). Paul Cooney in particular won't stand for it. In this market nowadays, every listener hour counts. SG's application states that the station will be 60% speech based. Any significant deviation from this will incur the attention of nearby commercial operators.
As for the loop they are running, I would tend to disagree with wavejock. Music based tests would mean that anyone tuning in and not liking the song would just tune out. What they are currently providing means that virtually everyone who tunes in instantly gets the main message.....that Govan is to get its own radio station soon.
While I tend to agree with wave's concerns about the station becoming a haven for the usual suspects, in particular would be/hasbeen/between gigs ILR merrygorounders looking for on air exposure and demo material, given that there is a schedule to be filled reliant on volunteers there may have to be an element of pragmatism in on air recruitment.
Jackie is an ILR not an access/community station so the renewal process is already well known
Really?
Radio Jackie's submission to the Future of Radio consultation would indicate not:
http://www.ofcom.org.uk/consult/condocs/radio_future/responses/jackie.pdf
Page 2 under "New Licences".
The ones with the slight fake American accent mixed with a Scottish one! :rolleyes: Its like Smashy & Nicey from that Harry Enfield show.
That said, am I right in thinking that community stations are allowed considerably more TX height than RSLs? As such, I am guessing that SG are operating on 25 watts mixed polarisation from a very good site, maybe on top of on of the high-rises in Linthouse.
Just a thought, but would it make more sense for Awaz and Ross Macfadyen's VIP On Air to look at sharing SG's site and associated costs?
Speaking of VIP, I notice that their website contains the phrase "Insight radio.......radio for the blind and partially sighted".
Could it be that Ross has decided on the catchier "Insight Radio" as the new station name for the FM launch?
Ofcom has stated in its Notes of Guidance that Community licenses will not get more than 25 Watts erp in urban areas. Erp can be in one plane, usually vertical, with the possibility of the same in the horizontal plane to enhance robustness in urban city areas where there is considerable high density housing.
Having mixed polarisation does not really extend the coverage area; it just makes the signal that more robust and stronger in the core area.
There is not an FM aerial height restriction for Community stations. However, Ofcom reserve the right to reduce erp if it is found that a geographical service like Sunny Govan does have a service area well beyond what would be deemed to to reasonable. Sunny Govan could in time, have its erp reduced from 25 Watts to a more realistic 10 Watts.
Sunny Govan is currently covering all of Glasgow, most of Renfrewshire and (according to Arthur) a large part of Lanarkshire. I can't see the commercial stations allowing this to continue considering that Sunny Govan will be playing mainstream pop and dance music amongst the chat on poverty, benefits advice and green issues.
BL, I had the same thought as you that Awaz FM and VIP On-Air should all share the same transmission site as Sunny Govan.
However, the VIP On Air site from a very tall tower block in the west of the city will provide possibly an even better signal coverage than Sunny Govan!
We may find a similar situation with Oldham Community Radio in the none-too-distant future. This station has recently started tests on 99.7fm and can be heard reasonably clearly across the whole of Greater Manchester and various other parts of North West England, even flickering through with RDS up to thirty miles away. They're on 25 watts, as far as I'm aware.