KL.FM 96.7
KL.FM 96.7 (an abbreviation for "King's Lynn FM") was an independent local radio station located in King's Lynn, Norfolk, England. It broadcast from a former bank building at 18 Blackfriars Street in King's Lynn, Norfolk, England, previously the location of a small bank, on 96.7 MHz, previously used BBC Radio Norfolk frequency of 96.7 MHz FM. The station was closed as part of a merger of dozens of local stations owned by Bauer into its national Greatest Hits Radio brand.
 | |
| City | King's Lynn |
|---|---|
| Broadcast area | King's Lynn and West Norfolk |
| Frequency | 96.7 MHz |
| Slogan | The Greatest Hits for Kings Lynn and West Norfolk |
| Programming | |
| Language(s) | English |
| Format | Hot adult contemporary |
| Ownership | |
| Owner | Bauer Radio |
| History | |
First air date | 1 October 1992 |
Last air date | 31 August 2020 |
| Technical information | |
Transmitter coordinates | 52.7742°N 0.6498°E |
| Links | |
| Website | KLFM 96.7 |
History
Licence application
In 1987, Mid-Anglia Radio Limited identified King's Lynn and West Norfolk as an area poorly served by the broadcast media. An application to the Independent Broadcasting Authority for a relay transmitter to serve this area was turned down. Discussions were then opened with the West Norfolk MP, Henry Bellingham, who then wrote to the Home Office and the IBA supporting the concept of a station serving the area.
On 4 October 1990 the IBA announced that King's Lynn was one of the areas to be advertised in the first phase of local radio licences by the new Radio Authority, who assumed responsibility for licensing and regulating commercial radio in the UK on 1 January 1991.
On 4 June 1991 the licence was formally advertised, with a closing date of 24 September 1991 at 2 pm. Potential applicants had 16 weeks to put their proposals on paper and send them back. On 25 September—they announced that three applicants had applied for the licence: King's Lynn FM (Mid-Anglia Radio PLC), X-Cel FM (X-Cel FM LTD) and one other.
In December (about 12 weeks after the closing date for application forms to be sent), it was announced that Mid-Anglia Radio PLC (trading as King's Lynn FM) had won an eight-year licence to provide the area with its own independent local commercial radio station, known initially as "King's Lynn Radio" before adopting the KL.FM moniker. Two weeks of test transmissions followed commencing on 16 June 1992. Two kilowatts of power was originally used to broadcast from a transmitter at the Great Massingham transmission site; this was later increased to 3 kilowatts.
Equipment
Studio equipment originally included DAT players, a computer playout system for jingles and commercials, Technics CD players and an Audionics mixing desk. The original audio processor was an Inovonics FM 250 model. In the Summer of 2004 the old studio equipment was taken apart after 12 years of continuous use and new equipment and furniture installed. This included a Sonifex Sovereign mixing desk and a new digital playout system (RCS Master Control).
Management
Stewart Francis was the first Managing Director of the station, with Peter Kingham holding the post of Station Manager and Dave King was Programme Controller. Other people on the Board Of Directors were Martin George (Chairman), Dr Mary Archer MA, David Ball, Jean Barker OBE, David Cocks, Tony Durham MA, William Gibbs, Harry Giltrap, Patrick Sharman & Richard Winfrey.
After Mid-Anglia Radio PLC was sold to the GWR Group in 1994 KLFM's on-air name was changed to "Greatest Hits 96.7, The New KLFM"! This 'new' service played more music and had less chat.
In November/December 1996, displeased with the new format, Dave King, Paul Baker and a number of other presenters left the station and set up a 28-day Restricted Service Licence trial service. They called the station "King's Lynn Radio 105.4" and the station's tag line was "All That LOCAL Radio Should Be".
In March 1997, GWR sold a number of local commercial stations, including KL.FM, as part of a planned disposal programme following the acquisition of Classic FM. Dawe Media of Cambridge bought KL.FM for £1.1 million; Stewart Francis once again became involved with the station by becoming the new chairman. It was while Dawe Media owned the station that some equipment changes were made, including the installation of a computerised playout system (the Enco DAD).
In December 1999, Dawe Media sold KL.FM to the UKRD Group. That company, in turn, was acquired in 2019 by Bauer Radio,[1] alongside Lincs FM Group, Celador Radio & Wireless Group's Local Radio Stations.
Replacement with Greatest Hits Radio
On 27 May 2020, KLFM 96.7's owners Bauer Media announced a re-brand of the station to Greatest Hits Radio along with other local stations in their portfolio,[2] which took place on 1 September 2020.[3]
Programming
All programming was produced and presented locally. Until 2018, KL.FM had broadcast The Vodafone Big Top 40 chart show (previously The Pepsi Chart & Hit40UK) which was produced from Capital FM in London and syndicated across over 140 commercial radio stations in the UK. However, the show was withdrawn from syndication and now broadcasts solely on Heart & Capital stations.
Branding
On-air imaging has come from mainly Century 21 and Jam Creative Productions. The original jingles (July 1992-September 1993)[4] were re-sings of Century 21's 'Madison Avenue' package. Between September 1993 and August 1994 the station used TM Century re-sings of a WPLJ package.[5] The 1997-2002 jingle package was a re-sing of Jams 'Ultimate One' package (originally created for BBC Radio 1). A recent package (the '...And Now' package) was originally produced by Jam for KIMN in Denver, Colorado and re-sung for KL.FM 96.7, although these were never used on air by KL.FM.[6]
By the end of the station's life, most of KL.FM's on air branding (jingles, promotions, etc.) was produced in-house at UKRD's production department in Bristol.
Sources
- KL.FM 96.7 staff
- IBA, Radio Authority & OFCOM
- Eastern Daily Press
- Lynn News
- Hospital Radio Lynn
- Norfolk County Library Services
- KL.FM Licence Application (dated: 19 September 1991)
- KL.FM & UKRD Websites
- radiorewind.co.uk
- Sound recordings
- Guinness World Records Ltd.
References
- "BAUER MEDIA UK TO ACQUIRE UKRD GROUP". Bauer Media. Retrieved 2019-03-07.
- https://radiotoday.co.uk/2020/05/most-of-acquired-bauer-stations-to-become-greatest-hits-radio/
- Your Local Paper https://edition.pagesuite-professional.co.uk/html5/reader/production/default.aspx?pubname=&pubid=2565068f-f1b8-4da0-9c83-4e9f3754c237. Retrieved 28 August 2020. Missing or empty
|title=(help) - "JingleMad.com". Archived from the original on 2007-09-28. Retrieved 2007-07-30.
- "JingleMad.com". Archived from the original on 2007-09-28. Retrieved 2007-07-30.
- "SteveEngland.com". Archived from the original on 2007-06-24. Retrieved 2007-07-30.