KMFM Shepway and White Cliffs Country
Encyclopedia
KMFM Shepway and White Cliffs Country is an Independent Local Radio
serving the districts of Dover
and Shepway
and the surrounding areas in Kent
, South East England
. It is part of the KMFM group of radio stations in the county, which are part of the KM Group
.
The station has been referred to by many names. Its official name is "KMFM Shepway and White Cliffs Country", however the website describes it as "KMFM Dover and Folkestone", and on air it was referred to as "Shepway's KMFM".
The station's roots extend to the 1970s, where it began as pirate radio
station Channel Radio, which only broadcast in the Dover area. Run by Dover native Eddie Austin, who previously worked at Radio Caroline
, the station was fined numerous times, but Austin maintained it until the town received its own radio license.
The station emerged as a combination of two stations broadcasting through the 1990s – "Shepway Sound" in Folkestone (broadcasting November–December 1993, and August 1994), and "White Cliffs Sound" in Dover (broadcasting May 1994 and August 1995). Austin and his group, South East Radio, applied for the licences for Shepway and White Cliffs Country in 1996 and were awarded the licence for both areas in January 1997. The new station was rebranded as Neptune Radio due to the station's proximity to the English Channel
.
The station won the UK Radio Station of the Year award twice, in 1999 and 2000, and reached approximately 30,000 listeners each week (a 24% share of the audience). After being bought by Radio Investments Ltd, its successful format was applied to its sister station
s Arrow FM in Hastings
and Sovereign Radio in Eastbourne
. A group, spearheaded by Neptune Radio disc jockey
Mark Carter, also applied for the Ashford licence under the name Ashford FM, but they did not gain the licence.
The station was purchased by the KM Group in 2001 and started programme sharing at weekends with other KM-owned stations in Kent. It was subsequently re-branded to KMFM Shepway and White Cliffs Country in 2003. The KM Group relocated the station from premises on Church Street in Dover
to their Folkestone
offices for the Kentish Express
in Sandgate Road.
The company was reawarded the licence for the station in July 2008. In April 2009, KMFM were granted permission by Ofcom
to move the studios to their building in Ashford, although the sales team remains in Folkestone.
In June 2010 the Breakfast Show was presented live from the Folkestone Multi-Cultural Festival with several guests and show crew.
Like the rest of the KMFM network, the station was relaunched in September 2010 with new jingles, schedule changes and more emphasis on music.
Until 2007 KMFM Shepway and White Cliffs Country produced its own programmes during daytimes, before it joined up with KMFM Ashford
to network all programmes other than breakfast. The stations joined together with KMFM Canterbury
and KMFM Thanet
to create an East Kent network in April 2009, before all programmes apart from weekday/Saturday breakfast and Sunday afternoons were networked across all KMFM stations in September 2009. In July 2010, Saturday breakfast and Sunday afternoons became networked.
News bulletins come from the KMFM News Centre during peak times, on the hour and every half-hour between 7am - 9am and 4pm - 6pm. Traffic and travel updates are broadcast just before the hour, and every 15 minutes between 7am - 9am and 4pm - 7pm.
Independent Local Radio
Independent Local Radio is the collective name given to commercial radio stations in the United Kingdom. The same name is used for Independent Local Radio in Ireland.-Development of ILR:...
serving the districts of Dover
Dover (district)
Dover is a local government district in Kent, England. Dover is its administrative centre. It was formed on 1 April 1974 by the merger of the boroughs of Deal, Dover, and Sandwich along with Dover Rural District and most of Eastry Rural District...
and Shepway
Shepway
Shepway is a local government district in Kent, England. It includes the towns of Folkestone and Hythe and the Romney Marsh. It is named after the Jutish lathe of Shepway; the Royal Court of Shepway, which met near Lympne at a place called Shepway Cross, was the principal court of the Cinque Ports...
and the surrounding areas in Kent
Kent
Kent is a county in southeast England, and is one of the home counties. It borders East Sussex, Surrey and Greater London and has a defined boundary with Essex in the middle of the Thames Estuary. The ceremonial county boundaries of Kent include the shire county of Kent and the unitary borough of...
, South East England
South East England
South East England is one of the nine official regions of England, designated in 1994 and adopted for statistical purposes in 1999. It consists of Berkshire, Buckinghamshire, East Sussex, Hampshire, Isle of Wight, Kent, Oxfordshire, Surrey and West Sussex...
. It is part of the KMFM group of radio stations in the county, which are part of the KM Group
KM Group
The KM Group, formerly known as the Kent Messenger Group until 2008, is a multimedia company based in the county of Kent in South East England...
.
The station has been referred to by many names. Its official name is "KMFM Shepway and White Cliffs Country", however the website describes it as "KMFM Dover and Folkestone", and on air it was referred to as "Shepway's KMFM".
History
KMFM Shepway and White Cliffs Country launched on 29 September 1997 as Neptune Radio, broadcasting on 96.4 and 106.8 FM after a month-long trial concluded earlier that same morning.The station's roots extend to the 1970s, where it began as pirate radio
Pirate radio
Pirate radio is illegal or unregulated radio transmission. The term is most commonly used to describe illegal broadcasting for entertainment or political purposes, but is also sometimes used for illegal two-way radio operation...
station Channel Radio, which only broadcast in the Dover area. Run by Dover native Eddie Austin, who previously worked at Radio Caroline
Radio Caroline
Radio Caroline is an English radio station founded in 1964 by Ronan O'Rahilly to circumvent the record companies' control of popular music broadcasting in the United Kingdom and the BBC's radio broadcasting monopoly...
, the station was fined numerous times, but Austin maintained it until the town received its own radio license.
The station emerged as a combination of two stations broadcasting through the 1990s – "Shepway Sound" in Folkestone (broadcasting November–December 1993, and August 1994), and "White Cliffs Sound" in Dover (broadcasting May 1994 and August 1995). Austin and his group, South East Radio, applied for the licences for Shepway and White Cliffs Country in 1996 and were awarded the licence for both areas in January 1997. The new station was rebranded as Neptune Radio due to the station's proximity to the English Channel
English Channel
The English Channel , often referred to simply as the Channel, is an arm of the Atlantic Ocean that separates southern England from northern France, and joins the North Sea to the Atlantic. It is about long and varies in width from at its widest to in the Strait of Dover...
.
The station won the UK Radio Station of the Year award twice, in 1999 and 2000, and reached approximately 30,000 listeners each week (a 24% share of the audience). After being bought by Radio Investments Ltd, its successful format was applied to its sister station
Sister station
In broadcasting, sister stations or sister channels are radio and/or television stations operated by the same ownership....
s Arrow FM in Hastings
Hastings
Hastings is a town and borough in the county of East Sussex on the south coast of England. The town is located east of the county town of Lewes and south east of London, and has an estimated population of 86,900....
and Sovereign Radio in Eastbourne
Eastbourne
Eastbourne is a large town and borough in East Sussex, on the south coast of England between Brighton and Hastings. The town is situated at the eastern end of the chalk South Downs alongside the high cliff at Beachy Head...
. A group, spearheaded by Neptune Radio disc jockey
Disc jockey
A disc jockey, also known as DJ, is a person who selects and plays recorded music for an audience. Originally, "disc" referred to phonograph records, not the later Compact Discs. Today, the term includes all forms of music playback, no matter the medium.There are several types of disc jockeys...
Mark Carter, also applied for the Ashford licence under the name Ashford FM, but they did not gain the licence.
The station was purchased by the KM Group in 2001 and started programme sharing at weekends with other KM-owned stations in Kent. It was subsequently re-branded to KMFM Shepway and White Cliffs Country in 2003. The KM Group relocated the station from premises on Church Street in Dover
Dover
Dover is a town and major ferry port in the home county of Kent, in South East England. It faces France across the narrowest part of the English Channel, and lies south-east of Canterbury; east of Kent's administrative capital Maidstone; and north-east along the coastline from Dungeness and Hastings...
to their Folkestone
Folkestone
Folkestone is the principal town in the Shepway District of Kent, England. Its original site was in a valley in the sea cliffs and it developed through fishing and its closeness to the Continent as a landing place and trading port. The coming of the railways, the building of a ferry port, and its...
offices for the Kentish Express
Kentish Express
The Kentish Express is a weekly newspaper serving southern Kent. It is published in four editions - Ashford, Folkestone, Hythe and the Romney Marsh, and Tenterden. It is owned by the KM Group and is published on Thursdays.-History:...
in Sandgate Road.
The company was reawarded the licence for the station in July 2008. In April 2009, KMFM were granted permission by Ofcom
Ofcom
Ofcom is the government-approved regulatory authority for the broadcasting and telecommunications industries in the United Kingdom. Ofcom was initially established by the Office of Communications Act 2002. It received its full authority from the Communications Act 2003...
to move the studios to their building in Ashford, although the sales team remains in Folkestone.
In June 2010 the Breakfast Show was presented live from the Folkestone Multi-Cultural Festival with several guests and show crew.
Like the rest of the KMFM network, the station was relaunched in September 2010 with new jingles, schedule changes and more emphasis on music.
Programming
The station currently broadcasts locally to Dover and Shepway (from Ashford) during weekday breakfast. All other output is networked across the KMFM network.Until 2007 KMFM Shepway and White Cliffs Country produced its own programmes during daytimes, before it joined up with KMFM Ashford
KMFM Ashford
KMFM Ashford is an Independent Local Radio serving the borough of Ashford and the surrounding areas in Kent, South East England. It is part of the KMFM group of radio stations in the county, which are part of the KM Group.-History:...
to network all programmes other than breakfast. The stations joined together with KMFM Canterbury
KMFM Canterbury
KMFM Canterbury is an Independent Local Radio serving the City of Canterbury and the surrounding areas in Kent, South East England. It is part of the KMFM group of radio stations in the county, which are part of the KM Group.-History:...
and KMFM Thanet
KMFM Thanet
KMFM Thanet is an Independent Local Radio serving the Isle of Thanet and the surrounding areas in Kent, South East England. It is part of the KMFM group of radio stations in the county, which are part of the KM Group.-History:...
to create an East Kent network in April 2009, before all programmes apart from weekday/Saturday breakfast and Sunday afternoons were networked across all KMFM stations in September 2009. In July 2010, Saturday breakfast and Sunday afternoons became networked.
News bulletins come from the KMFM News Centre during peak times, on the hour and every half-hour between 7am - 9am and 4pm - 6pm. Traffic and travel updates are broadcast just before the hour, and every 15 minutes between 7am - 9am and 4pm - 7pm.
Networked presenters
- Nigel Ansell
- Tony BlackburnTony BlackburnTony Blackburn is an English disc jockey, who broadcast on the "pirate" stations Radio Caroline and Radio London in the 1960s and was the first disc jockey to broadcast on BBC Radio 1 in 1967. In 2002 he was the winner of the ITV reality TV programme I'm a Celebrity.....
- Adam Dowling
- Neil Faraday
- Si Kennett
- Bob Mower
- Kirstyn Reed
- Mike Russell
- Myma SeldonMyma SeldonMyma Seldon is a British television and radio presenter and voiceover artist.-Background:Seldon was born 9 August 1979. She has a 2:1 English/Philosophy B.A. from Leeds University...
- Benedict SmithBenedict SmithBenedict Smith is a disc jockey who formerly presented The Big Drive Home on Hertbeat FM every weekday between 4-8pm before it became a franchise of Jack FM. He presents The Saturday Show on the KMFM network and breakfast on KMFM Maidstone...
- Andy Walker
- John "Webbo" Webster
Former presenters
- Eddie Austin
- Dave "Davey B" Bethall
- Mark Carter
- Spencer Cork
- Vanessa Elms
- Nigel HarrisNigel MacArthurNigel MacArthur, also known as Stuart Russell and Nigel Harris, is a freelance broadcaster in Kent on Radio Caroline, EKR and KMFM.-Career:...
- Louis Hurst
- Emma Lee
- Johnny LewisJohnny Lewis (DJ)Johnny Lewis is a DJ who has broadcast across numerous radio stations in his career including Radio Caroline and the KMFM stations.-Early Years:...
- Toby Mackenzie
- Paul Pearson
- Neil Redding
- benedict SmithBenedict SmithBenedict Smith is a disc jockey who formerly presented The Big Drive Home on Hertbeat FM every weekday between 4-8pm before it became a franchise of Jack FM. He presents The Saturday Show on the KMFM network and breakfast on KMFM Maidstone...
- Tim Stewart
- Richard Walters
- Rob Wills
- Adam Wolstenholme
- Jonathan "LJ" Young