VERY RADIO ACTIVE!
MIDLOTHIAN COMMUNITY RADIO STATION MAKES
WAVES FOR 12 MONTHS
Black
Diamond 107.8 FM, Midlothian’s Community Radio Station,
celebrates 12 months of successfully broadcasting everyday, without a break on
29th, March 2008.
BDFM
which is one of over 133 community radio stations’ established in the UK and awarded
an 5 year FM broadcast licence by OFCOM, the Government’s broadcasting
regulator. Black Diamond was one of the first four new Community radio stations
in Scotland to start broadcasting. The station currently broadcasts 24 hours a day and seven days a week . More
than 15 hours live presenter output per day to a potential audience of 360,000
listeners across Midlothian and south Edinburgh, parts of East Lothian and surprisingly East Fife
Chair
of the parent body Midlothian Community Media Association
John
Ritchie, said:
“That
is the first year of broadcasting under our belt, this has been completed on a
shoestring budget, principally due to the incredible contribution of time and
effort by our fantastically altruistic volunteers, of whom I am expressly proud
and humbled. We
are a community based, not for profit station, a new concept in the broadcast World,
and we look forward to continuing in the coming years to delivering radio for
the people of Midlothian, through a large team of
volunteer presenters. Being a completely voluntary staffed organisation. We
have not always managed to take on board or implement some peoples ideas, as we
have always endeavoured to satisfy the majority opinion rather than the
individual, and by doing so we have served the democratic principles of the
Community, and furthered the tenets and
conditions of our Community Licence . Due to these circumstances, we have
unfortunately lost a few people along
the developing path, to be accurate less than 10%. However, we have been amazed
that these few people have been replaced, by multiples of enthusiastic
volunteers. We have also had excellent contributions from several professional
individuals, for whose advice and guidance we at Black Diamond FM will always
be very grateful. This
first year has been a steep learning curve for all involved, we thought
creating a studio, buying the equipment and putting up a transmitter was difficult but actually providing a seven day quality service with a spectrum mix of programmes to suit all tastes
while meeting the requirements of all the regulatory bodies has been a challenge. We
are making great strides forward, on a daily basis. We have been helped by many
different groups of people, including the staff and members of the Newbattle
Community Learning Centre, Midlothian Council and the people of the Community of Midlothian, as
well as a range of funders who provided help with setting up and other costs. We are now in a position to
reciprocate this assistance by providing the best information service for Midlothian and the South of Edinburgh. We now have a large,local
and loyal listenership, which is of primary important to us. We have also created a fairly substantial,
interested, international audience worldwide on the internet. By doing so we
are now furthering the international reputation of Midlothian throughout the World.
Black
Diamond 107.8 FM Community radio is successfully bringing a new dimension to
community life in Midlothian, providing a communication level that was not
possible before the creation of Midlothian Community radio station, it is already showing benefits and we will continue to entertain, inform and
energise the Community of Midlothian.”
Milestones
The
awarding of a 5 year Community Radio FM broadcasting licence in February 2006;
Funding
obtained From the Awards for All ,Communities Scotland and Midlothian Council
On air
music service from March 2007
Receiving
our Broadcast Funding grant from OFCOM
Going
live with presenters in May 2007-
Day-time
presenters take on 2-3 hour programmes to
build the audience
Community
events promoted and service providers come on air to explain what they do for Midlothian
Music through the night with news on the hour
every hour from IRN
Web-site
established including facility to go live round the world- www.blackdiamondfm.com Chris Mackrell a teenager from Bonnyrigg becomes webmaster
The
What’s New Crew establishes the 7pm-8pm slot for young people
Sunday
special –Colin McCall and his Heart of the Matter team, bring news from the schools
and other community and faith organisations
Schedule
covers wide-ranging spectrum of musical tastes from country, Scottish music
through to soul, jazz and dance music as well as the spoken word.
Fully
trained presenters providing over 5000 hours live broadcasting per year;
· 50
volunteers engaged – all trained in skills such as programming, reporting,
presenting, technical support;
· Volunteer
Presenters from 17-80 years of age
· Programmes
which reflect community interest such as local bands/local sport/community
news/local history.
· BDFM
works with Community Planning Partnership to broadcast a series of interviews
and programmes. To inform and involve all parts of the Community
· To
help found the Scottish Community Broadcast Network
· For
further details contact John Ritchie on 0131 663 4811 or [email protected]
Notes
to editors:
· Community
radio, is a new broadcasting phenomenon sanctioned and robustly by the
Government and regulated by OFCOM.
· Community
radio stations do not seek to make money – they provide a community service
while seeking to provide training and broadcasting opportunities for local
volunteers.
· Community
Radio is there to provide a communication tool and an informational springboard
for the community for which it is responsible.
· Community radio output is designed to cover
community issues, and for example, to give local community groups an opportunity
to get their message out to the whole Community with little effort. The station
itself at this time, is rooted in the community (at Newbattle Community
Learning Centre) Newtongrange, but future development may see other stations
being centred in other communities to provide a unique Midlothian focused
educational & entertainment programming.
· Black
Diamond FM 107.8 and live on the world wide web on
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