107.8 Academy FM, Thanet’s new community radio station, will begin broadcasting at 12 noon on 5 April 2010 (Easter Monday), it has been announced. The new service will broadcast 24 hours a day from Ramsgate’s Marlowe Academy under a five year licence awarded last year by Ofcom.
The station will be managed by Pete Willson, well known to local radio audiences in Thanet, with support from Deputy Station Manager Mike Stevens, a small army of volunteers and crucially from staff and students at The Marlowe Academy, for whom this will present an outstanding opportunity to get hands-on experience in the technical, presentational and business aspects of running a real-live radio station.
The Project Director for 107.8 Academy FM is former BBC Radio One Executive Producer David Atkey, who said: “We will aim to provide an entertaining mix of music and discussion, broadcasting a range of popular and accessible programmes, designed specifically to support and embrace all that is local in Thanet. There will be significant student involvement, especially from 6 to 11pm within the evening shows, which are primarily for the youth of Thanet.”
Principal of The Marlowe Academy, Ian Johnson, commented: “Academy FM will offer an opportunity for our students to gain an insight into how to prepare and present radio programmes, how to operate equipment and generally how to run a business. The station is set up as an independent non-profit making company with and since we cannot carry advertising our students will also have a key role to play in helping generate the funds to maintain the operation.”
107.8 Academy FM Station Manager, Peter Willson said: “I am really looking forward to returning to the Breakfast slot in Thanet, to hearing from old friends and making some new ones. As a truly local radio station broadcasting from the heart of the Thanet to the whole of Thanet, 107.8 Academy FM will aim to be different and distinctive, combining humour, information, entertainment, stimulating conversation and great music. I can’t wait!”
Peter Willson, Station Manager of 107.8 Academy FM Thanet, is a Ramsgate resident and former local businessman. He was one of the founders of TLR (Thanet Local Radio), station manager for KMFM Thanet from 1997 until 2004 and programme controller for Maidstone Radio from 2004 until 2005. He has also worked for Invicta FM and presented the breakfast show on Scotland’s radio L 107.
Academy FM, Thanet, Kent
107.8 Academy FM, Thanet’s new community radio station, will begin broadcasting at 12 noon on 5 April 2010 (Easter Monday), it has been announced. The new service will broadcast 24 hours a day from Ramsgate’s Marlowe Academy under a five year licence awarded last year by Ofcom.
The station will be managed by Pete Willson, well known to local radio audiences in Thanet, with support from Deputy Station Manager Mike Stevens, a small army of volunteers and crucially from staff and students at The Marlowe Academy, for whom this will present an outstanding opportunity to get hands-on experience in the technical, presentational and business aspects of running a real-live radio station.
The Project Director for 107.8 Academy FM is former BBC Radio One Executive Producer David Atkey, who said: “We will aim to provide an entertaining mix of music and discussion, broadcasting a range of popular and accessible programmes, designed specifically to support and embrace all that is local in Thanet. There will be significant student involvement, especially from 6 to 11pm within the evening shows, which are primarily for the youth of Thanet.”
Principal of The Marlowe Academy, Ian Johnson, commented: “Academy FM will offer an opportunity for our students to gain an insight into how to prepare and present radio programmes, how to operate equipment and generally how to run a business. The station is set up as an independent non-profit making company with and since we cannot carry advertising our students will also have a key role to play in helping generate the funds to maintain the operation.”
107.8 Academy FM Station Manager, Peter Willson said: “I am really looking forward to returning to the Breakfast slot in Thanet, to hearing from old friends and making some new ones. As a truly local radio station broadcasting from the heart of the Thanet to the whole of Thanet, 107.8 Academy FM will aim to be different and distinctive, combining humour, information, entertainment, stimulating conversation and great music. I can’t wait!”
Peter Willson, Station Manager of 107.8 Academy FM Thanet, is a Ramsgate resident and former local businessman. He was one of the founders of TLR (Thanet Local Radio), station manager for KMFM Thanet from 1997 until 2004 and programme controller for Maidstone Radio from 2004 until 2005. He has also worked for Invicta FM and presented the breakfast show on Scotland’s radio L 107.
Source.