South London Radio

Radio station


name=South London Radio
airdate= February 8, 1999
frequency=107.3 MHz
share = 0.5%
share as of = March 2008
share source = [http://www.rajar.co.uk/listening/quarterly_listening.php]
area= Lewisham (and, on-air, Bromley and Croydon
format =Contemporary|owner = Sunrise Radio Group

South London Radio is a South London-based radio station, previously known as FLR 107.3, Fusion 107.3 and Time 107.3.

Background

Despite the geography of South London Radio's coverage area, the station operates out of studios on Basildon Road on the outskirts of Plumstead, sharing its premises with sister station Time 106.8. [cite web|url=http://tx.mb21.co.uk/gallery/shooters-hill.asp|work=THE TRANSMISSION GALLERY|author=mb21|title=SHOOTERS HILL — Information about the transmission tower and a gallery of pictures]

South London Radio is owned by the Sunrise Radio Group - its current station director is Sukhi Lit.

Early History

The station began life as FLR - 'First Love Radio' - on 8 February 1999, broadcasting from studios in Astra House on the outskirts of Lewisham town centre, backed by the UKRD Group, who sold their stake in the company to Fusion Radio Holdings in April 2000. This transfer of ownership saw the station adopt a new moniker, Fusion 107.3, on 4 December that year.

Fusion Radio Holdings were purchased by the Milestone Group in April 2003, taking control of the former's similarly-named Fusion 107.9 station in Oxford, and adding a second operation to its portfolio of London-based radio stations - the first being Time 106.8, operating from studios in Plumstead.

The sale of Milestone's London assets to the Sunrise Radio Group in February 2004 saw Fusion rebranded as Time 107.3, under the directorship of former Ten-17 FM and Dream 107.7 chief Gary Mulligan, with the intention to temporarily move the operation into office space at the group's existing site in Plumstead, facilitating programming-sharing, which formed a significant part of the two stations' output for several months. Ofcom agreed to this 'co-location arrangement' in March 2006, and today, the station continues its residence outside its own service area, although the two stations no longer share programmes. [cite web|url=http://www.geocities.com/thehotw/aircheck_UKLondon.htm|title=AIRCHECK London/Middlesex|work=Aircheck UK|publisher=|author=]

Ofcom Yellow Card

On 17 August 2006, industry regulator Ofcom issued Time 107.3 with a 'yellow card', officially recognising that the station was not operating within its format obligations. Following a listener complaint, Ofcom found the station in breach of its music policy - playing a significantly higher percentage of 'current chart hits' than its 33% limit - as well as the accuracy of its 'public file', which carried misleading information as to the amount of automated programming broadcast per day. [cite web|url=http://www.ofcom.org.uk/radio/ifi/contentsampling/time1073.pdf|title=CONTENT SAMPLING REPORT|format=PDF|work=Ofcom|publisher=|author=]

Ofcom's report carried the admission from the station's management that outside breakfast, output was automated - indeed, during the latter days of Time's operation, only four hours of daily output were live, and Time's 'public file' was amended accordingly.

The 'yellow card' was lifted at the end of August 2007, after Ofcom concluded that, after further sampling, the station was now operating within its format. [cite web|url=http://www.ofcom.org.uk/radio/ifi/contentsampling/slondon.pdf|title=OFCOM CONTENT SAMPLING REPORT|format=PDF|work=Ofcom|publisher=|author=]

outh London Radio relaunch

On 20 May 2007, Time 107.3 was relaunched as South London Radio, and, with the exception of the then-breakfast presenter Jonathan Miles, an entirely new presentation line-up was introduced. Unlike its sister station Time 106.8, output is live from 6 am to 11 pm.

The station's coverage area was also altered - no longer serving Southwark, and instead, thanks to approved transmitter adjustments, moving westwards to focus on the boroughs of Lewisham, Bromley, Croydon and their conurbations.

Performance

Much like sister station Time 106.8, South London Radio has struggled badly to deliver large audiences in a cut-throat London radio market - its market share has remained small but steady at roughly 0.5% since mid-2005. Despite an adjustment in the survey area to incorporate the boroughs of Bromley and Croydon in late 2007, RAJAR figures have been largely unaffected: in the first quarter of 2008, the station reached 24,000 listeners a week, representing a 0.5% audience share. [cite web|url=http://www.mediauk.com/radio/rajar/343617/south-london-radio-107.3|title=South London Radio 107.3|work=Media UK|publisher=|author=]

Presenters

The current presenter line-up is as follows:

* Dan Davis - Breakfast and Saturday Breakfast
* Joanna Welsh - Daytime
* Tara Jay - Drivetime
* Lee Johnson - Saturday Mid-Mornings
* Joe Amflett - Saturday Afternoons and Lions Live (a phone-in for supporters of local football team Millwall FC)
* John Varnham - Soul Selection - Saturday and Sunday Evenings
* Bola Thomas - The Gospel Show
* Trevor Smith - Sunday Breakfast
* Alex Stevanovic - Sunday Mid-Mornings
* Andrew Lunan - Sunday Afternoons
* Pete Flynn - Cover Presenter
* Ben Hartley - Cover Presenter

Past presenters include:

* Amy Casey - Drivetime (now hosting 106.8 Time FM breakfast)
* Eamonn Kelly - Breakfast (now with 106.6 Smooth Radio in the East Midlands and 102.2 Smooth Radio in London)
* Tom Hogan - Afternoons (now with kmfm in West Kent and the Tindle Radio group)
* Jonathan Miles - Breakfast (now with BBC Radio Newcastle)
* Dave Moses - Mid-Mornings (now with 2-Ten FM)
* Paul Ellen - Interim Breakfast (now hosting 106.8 Time FM mid-mornings)
* Kevin Bright - Afternoons
* Neil Redding - Saturday Afternoons (now with kmfm in Ashford)
* Kenny Alan - Weekend Breakfast (formerly with Choice FM)
* Lynsey Rose - Drivetime (now working for an independent radio production company)
* Sharon Linton - Saturday Afternoons
* Ayo Johnson - Night Flow (specialist music programme broadcast on Sunday evenings)
* Eddie Matthews - Evening Show (Friday), Saturday Lunchtimes and Sunday Breakfast (now evenings and Saturday mornings on 106.8 Time FM and TV presentation)
* Doug Williams - Evening Show (Monday-Wednesday)
* Matt White - Breakfast
* Emma Feline - Drivetime
* Fiona Neerajohn - Evening Show (Monday-Wednesday & Friday)
* Lady Jane Love - Saturday Nights

References

1. Shooters Hill Transmission mast [http://tx.mb21.co.uk/gallery/shooters-hill.php]

External links

* [http://www.timefm.com/ Time FM Group website]
* [http://www.south.fm/ South London Radio 107.3 station website]