Broadcasters at FromeFM are holding their breath and crossing their fingers and toes while they wait to hear whether Ofcom will grant an FM radio licence for Frome. The chance to apply for an FM licence only comes round every 5 years, so as soon as Ofcom announced an offering of licences in the South West, FromeFM were quick to respond.
“We have to demonstrate the benefits for Frome that having our own FM radio can give” said FromeFM Station manager Phil Moakes. “Lots of local groups and businesses have sent us messages of support and we would like to say a big thank you to them and to everyone who has filled in our petition. We have included extracts from many of these messages in our application.”
Local MP David Heath who regularly appears on FromeFM in the politics show ‘Constituency Matters’ was keen to voice the benefits of an FM licence for reaching more people in the community.
‘Dr Who’ and ‘Life on Mars’ writer Matthew Graham, who lives locally, is also enthusiastic to support the FromeFM application. “Community radio provides a great outlet for new writers.”
The FM application went in earlier this week, well in time for the 21st July deadline. It is likely that we won’t hear until August/September whether we have been successful. Keep your fingers crossed!
In the meantime we are busy gearing up for coverage of the Frome festival on the internet on http://www.fromefm.co.uk/ and we have an exciting project underway to create an audio book with a local author. Watch this space.