Interesting discussions over on Media UK discussions started by broadcast engineering provider Ian Hickling. He is questioning Ofcom’s “no FM frequencies” line.
My views on the AM vs FM debate is the topic for a future opinion piece, however “no frequencies available” has been trotted out by regulators and governments since radio began. This edition in my “sound archive” series is a bit of a teaser for a forthcoming larger feature.
Here is a well produced promo from 1994 on Virgin 1215 who were lobbying for a national FM service. In this promo, recorded “off-air”, they are encouraging you to send off for a petition pack, these being the days before on-line petitions and Facebook campaigns.
This was the time when the FM broadcast band was being opened up in the 105 to 108 sub band after the police and utilities finally vacated this space.
I can’t recall how many signatures they got, and of course Virgin Radio never did get it’s national FM network, though not long after this they did win a London FM licence and then the advent of DAB arguably replaced the national FM need.
This is another item in my ‘Sound Archive’ series.
Photo Credits: “Virgin Radio in Ice” by Adam Bowie
