Local Radio Station Moorlands Radio has announced it is increasing its coverage area from today (Friday 1st March).
This year the station celebrates 15 years on the air. It currently broadcasts to the Staffordshire Moorlands and South Cheshire (Leek, Biddulph Cheadle and Congleton) on FM and DAB.
Broadcast regulator OFCOM have granted the station a new commercial license to extend its coverage to Stoke and Newcastle. The extension will mean that listeners right across North Staffordshire and South Cheshire will be able to hear the station.
Commenting on the extension, Station Chairman Gary Dunn said:
“We are really pleased that we can now broadcast to a larger area. Due to the hilly nature of the Moorlands, there are parts of the Moorlands that have struggled to hear the station historically. Now being on Stoke and Newcastle transmitters, most parts of the area will be able to hear us. With the cutbacks at BBC Local Radio and the Signal name disappearing from the area, there is a real hunger for decent local radio.”
The station started broadcasting in 2009 and offers a mix of locally-based programmes featuring popular music, local interviews, phone and text-in programmes, specialist music and local sports coverage.
Station Manager Garry Bossons said:
“The team are very excited to be broadcasting across Stoke and Newcastle as well as the Moorlands. Our programmes will always be Moorlands-centric, but this additional coverage allows us to reflect a slightly wider audience in terms of the local music we play, the events we promote and the local guests that appear every day on the station. It also means listeners in some parts of the Moorlands will now hear us on DAB. We will continue to broadcast the same programmes that our existing listeners know and love and we are looking forward to welcoming lots of new listeners to the Moorlands family.”
From today (Friday 1st March) listeners will be able to pick up the station on the Stoke and Newcastle DAB multiplex.
Moorlands Radio is available on 103.7fm and 97.3fm and on DAB across the Staffordshire Moorlands, Congleton, Stoke-on-Trent, and Newcastle.
