ExmouthAiR Radio

Local Radio - By Local People, For Local People

 “I’m going to start a radio station for Exmouth”, proclaimed ExmouthAiR’s brainchild Andy Green to his wife Julie one day all those years ago.

This is the story of how ExmouthAiR was born…

Julie gave me that look, Husbands – you know the one I’m talking about. Little did I know how difficult it would be to start a local radio station.

When starting a radio station, you cannot just apply for an FM licence. You must wait for invitations from Ofcom (the licensing body). You also need to prove evidence of demand and support from the community you intend to serve. The only way you can prove demand and gain support is by running trial broadcasts up to a maximum of 28 days.

Equipment is not cheap and licence fees are extremely high. Our first broadcast was in 2006 in a rented room above premises in Rolle Street with a studio desk on a table. In 2007/8/9 they were all at the sail loft at Camperdown Terrace and the rest at our current premises off Salterton Road, Exmouth.

In 2007 Ofcom opened invitations to apply for a full time FM licence, we applied and were unsuccessful. Ofcom felt the station was too new and was not established well enough, but we never gave up.

We built up a loyal team, established links within the community and after seven, two-week trial broadcasts which coincided with the Exmouth festival. The opportunity came in 2011 for us to re-apply for a full time FM licence. The application took three months to write and in 2012 we received the news that we had been awarded our full time FM licence. My wife cried with delight whilst I suddenly realised, this was now my full-time job.

We launched at midday on 29th March 2013 on 106.4FM. I remember being excited and very nervous that day.

The station has grown from strength to strength ever since and is loved by its loyal listenership receiving over 500 messages every day.

We have come a long way since 2006. We now have two fully equipped professional studios and the station has recently been awarded two additional frequencies. 95FM which serves the Sid Valley area and 94.6FM which is being well received by listeners commuting in and out of Exeter.

Find out more, listen online and more at the station’s website: www.ExmouthAiR.fm