NE1fm
Encyclopedia
NE1fm is an FM
community radio
station based in Newcastle-upon-Tyne, England. Having launched in 2007, the station broadcasts 24 hours a day on 102.5 FM, and online via its website. The station is ran on a non-profit basis, and is owned by CBIT (Community Broadcast Initiative Tyneside Ltd), whom had previously ran a number of RSL broadcasts in the area, and besides from a Business Development Officer is operated entirely by volunteers. NE1fm was awarded a five-year community broadcast licence by Ofcom
in 2006.
NE1fm carries a wide variety of content, catering for both mainstream and niche musical genres, and also broadcasts interviews, hourly news updates, and sports, talk and comedy-based shows. NE1fm has enabled more than 100 different shows to broadcast in its time on year, with a small number of long-running shows also. The station also frequently broadcasts live music from a variety of venues across the area, and operates open access programming to allow one-off broadcasts by local volunteers and community groups.
NE1fm's name is a play on the postcode district , which covers Newcastle upon Tyne, in addition to the station's community radio status where "anyone" can broadcast and/or help out with the station's operation.
, many of which were operated by or involved founding members of NE1fm. These included ACE Radio, West End Broadcast and City FM, the latter of which ran from 13 September 2004 to 9 October 2004. Following this broadcast, an application for Ofcom
's advertised community radio license for the area was made on 19 November 2004. The application was successful, with a five-year license awarded to station operators Community Broadcast Initiative Tyneside in 2006.
Following the award of the station license, NE1fm began preparations to launch, advertising for volunteers in 2007. West End Broadcast also returned for a final three week RSL broadcast from 13 November 2005 to 3 December 2005, with many of the presenters and shows broadcast during that time becoming part of the initial NE1fm on-air schedule. In May 2007, the station ran a week of off-air rehearsal broadcasts of each show, conducted training for the benefit of inexperienced members of the team, and made a number of test broadcasts on their FM frequency (with World is Static
as the first band broadcast at the time). Following these test broadcasts, the station began to promote its launch in the local community, advertising a launch date of 8 June 2007.
NE1fm launched on 8 June 2007 with a weekend of broadcasts from Newcastle's Green Festival, resulting in the launch being conducted via an outside broadcast studio at Leazes Park
. During the weekend, the station broadcast a large amount of live music, particularly electronic music
, interspersed with interviews with festival participants and general continuity from a variety of on-air personnel. On Monday 11 June 2007, NE1fm's regular schedule commenced with the long-running alternative music show Unknown Pleasures.
, and the Newcastle stage of the AV Festival in March 2008, although broadcasts from the latter were met with problems and resulted in broadcasts ceasing before the festival's conclusion. Other festivals and outside events covered throughout the station's first year included the 2008 Irish Festival and the 2008 Eat Festival.
The station was, in November 2007, presented with a plaque by hardware chain B&Q
as part of their annual You Can Do It awards, resulting in £5,000 of funding in order to fully construct a second studio and improve the station's primitive facilities. The second studio was completed shortly thereafter. The station also during this period fell victim to attempts to steal its transmitter, resulting in two off-air stints in December 2007 and March 2008, the latter of which was covered as the headline story on local news programme North East Tonight
later that day.
In June 2008, NE1fm marked its first anniversary of broadcast with a party hosted at The Centurion bar in Newcastle's Central Station, followed by coverage of the Green Festival for the second consecutive year. Following this, the number of live events broadcast by the station increased, with many focused on niche genres of music such as soul
, reggae and country
. As a result, NE1fm became the area's chief proponent of live music and outside broadcasts. NE1fm also continued to broadcast some content relevant to ethnic minorities across the area, but ceased to do so following the launch of the Asian community station Spice FM on 98.8 FM, which also resulted in NE1fm's losing exclusivity over the Newcastle upon Tyne and Gateshead broadcast area with regard to community broadcasts.
Throughout 2008 and much of 2009, NE1fm continued to broadcast a wide variety of on-air content, with a number of long-running shows catering to audiences largely ignored by commercial radio stations in the reason. Long-running shows included The Groove Principle, a soul music show, and Alternation, a show playing a variety of alternative, indie and punk music. During this time period, however, a number of long-running shows ended their tenure on the station - either permanently or temporarily - including Ghetto Method, The Takeover, and The Hedley Show. NE1fm also occasionally broadcast breakfast and lunchtime shows, although largely focused on evening broadcasts, with largely uninterrupted music broadcast overnight and during the day.
Along with NE1fm's relocation, a number of programming changes also occurred during this time period. One significant change was the end of The Live Session, a weekly acoustic
broadcast that had featured and given exposure to a large quantity of local and little-known bands during NE1fm's time on-air; The Live Sessions departure, however, was intended to be brief, with the station advertising for a replacement presenter for the show. A new live music show, Hit the North (East), debuting in late 2010.. The station also began to focus areas of its programming toward younger people, with a larger amount of new music played during the day, and the launch of new on-air imaging in August 2010.
's run in the 2011 FA Trophy
, the launch of the community-focused broadcast No Excuse, and the re-branding of the weekend breakfast shows to include live music, including a variety from the 2011 Evolution Emerging line-up.
The digital presence of NE1fm was overhauled during Spring of 2011, including visibly heightened usage of their Facebook and Twitter accounts and the launch of a new website.
As of May 2011, the longest-running shows on NE1fm are Alternation, NE1 For Country, The Rock Show and The Sports Zone, all having debuted on or shortly after the launch of the station in 2007.
On 27 September 2011, station presenters Rob Davies and Gary Barnes launched an attempt to break the current world record for the longest radio broadcast by a team. The record is currently held by BBC Radio 1 DJ Chris Moyles and David Vitty, broadcasting for a total of 52 hours. Their attempt finished at midday on Friday 30 September, with their attempt lasting a total of 76 hours. The broadcast marathon also raised money for two local charities, the Sir Bobby Robson Foundation and the Childrens Heart Unit Fund at the Freeman Hospital.
NE1fm's current five-year community radio license expires on 7 June 2012.
content, with the musical genres covered by its specialist programming including alternative, dance
, hip-hop, and soul
. The majority of weekday programming is broadcast in the evening, with regular programming commencing at 7PM following three hours of "open slots" for one-off broadcasts by community projects and volunteers unable to commit to a weekly schedule. This split of content is described in detail in NE1fm's 2006 license application:
The weekday evening programming offered by NE1fm was, at the station's launch, particularly specialist, although some broadcasts now cater to more mainstream audiences, while still offering niche genres and content not catered for by NE1fm's local competitors, such as Metro Radio
and BBC Radio Newcastle
. Many broadcasts, particularly those made on Friday evenings, also feature live music and outside broadcasts from a variety of locations. On weekends, the station's output is still varied, although most of Sunday's programming is dedicated to soul with Saturday afternoons dedicated to sports via the Sportszone, one of few shows on NE1fm broadcast consistently since the station's 2007 launch. Spoken word and talk shows have also been broadcast on NE1fm, often during weekday daytimes, although some - such as sketch comedy
show The Suggestibles - have been broadcast on evenings. The NE1fm schedule is periodically revised, resulting in a significant turnover of shows and presenters relative to local commercial stations.
Although many of NE1fm's past and present presenters are local volunteers with limited broadcasting experience, a number of acclaimed individuals and shows have featured on the station since its launch in 2007. Several presenters, including Kev Atkinson and Wayne C. Macdonald, have featured on commercial radio stations previously, and a number of the DJs whom broadcast on the station, such as DJ Play, have released commercial material or are signed to major labels. Sports presenter Rob Pears also featured in television documentary
Blind Ambition, whilst a number of other presenters and shows have gained wider prominence away from the station, such as The Hedley Show through online radio. The longest-running show on NE1fm is Atomic, presented under various guises since a run on NE1fm forerunner WeB FM in 1997, while a number of shows have been broadcast on other stations also, including Spark FM and Insight Radio
. The age range covered has also been vast, from children broadcasting under supervision to senior citizens up to the age of 98. Fitting in with the station's community radio remit, no on-air presenter for NE1fm has ever been paid for their services.
The station has also broadcast segments, interviews and performances by a number of notable musicians, including singer-songwriter
Kate Nash
, dance music duo Ultrabeat
and Maxïmo Park
, the latter of which were guests on a show during the station's launch week. Representatives of local sports teams have also frequently featured on relevant programming, with those represented including Newcastle Falcons
, Blyth Spartans F.C., Gateshead F.C.
and Gateshead Thunder
. A variety of up-and-coming musicians and bands have also gained exposure via the station, and the NE1fm archive previously played live music from the 1990s that was originally broadcast on previous community projects in the area, although this has been phased out in recent times in favour of newer material.
At times when there is no presenter, an automated system is used playing mostly popular music
from the 1970s onwards. From 2007 until 2010, this broadcast a wide range of genres, with no playlisting and limited new music broadcast. Following the station's relocation, however, NE1fm altered the station sound to incorporate a larger quantity of new music, playing mostly new releases during the day, before playing music from a variety of decades overnight. Furthermore, in an area dominated by dance
and R&B stations, NE1fm is the only broadcaster to play indie pop, alternative rock
and other genres as part of its regular daytime output. The automated system used means that, unlike many community stations, NE1fm does not broadcast syndicated shows with little or no connection to the Newcastle and Gateshead area. Community-based programming is also occasionally broadcast during the day, and in the early years of the station a large amount of archive community programming was re-broadcast, although this is no longer the case. Hourly news updates provided by Sky News Radio
are broadcast during automated areas also, with some shows also carrying the updates during live programming. The station's current primary playout system
is OtsAV, which was originally used in conjunction with Soundbox, an archaic playout system, before becoming the sole playout system following the station's relocation.
A number of events have also been organised and broadcast by NE1fm, many as fundraisers in order to help finance the station's operation. Past events have included live band nights, ska and reggae nights, rock & heavy metal, soul nights and country music
events, which have been simultaneously broadcast on the air also. Venues which have been used by the station include Newcastle's Swallow Hotel
, The Pitcher And Piano, The Telegraph, World Headquarters, Nancy's Bordello and the Centurion Bar at Newcastle Central Station
. NE1fm has also broadcast from night clubs in the area, including Bar Beyond.
In late 2010, the station was notified that as a result of the government's comprehensive spending review, it would lose all funding from local authority, Newcastle City Council. The funding paid for an outreach worker to work with a variety of groups, including the Elders Council of Newcastle. The funding also partly funded the general operating costs of the station.
The station is based at Virginia House, a building located on the West side of Newcastle upon Tyne and occupied by The Cyrenians (formerly known as the Tyneside Cyrenians). NE1fm is based in the basement, and has two on-air studios, a live music room, and a recording studio.
FM broadcasting
FM broadcasting is a broadcasting technology pioneered by Edwin Howard Armstrong which uses frequency modulation to provide high-fidelity sound over broadcast radio. The term "FM band" describes the "frequency band in which FM is used for broadcasting"...
community radio
Community radio in the United Kingdom
In the United Kingdom, Community Radio refers to a system of licensing small, micro-local, non-profit radio stations, which started in 2002. In its early days, the pilot scheme was known as Access Radio.-History:...
station based in Newcastle-upon-Tyne, England. Having launched in 2007, the station broadcasts 24 hours a day on 102.5 FM, and online via its website. The station is ran on a non-profit basis, and is owned by CBIT (Community Broadcast Initiative Tyneside Ltd), whom had previously ran a number of RSL broadcasts in the area, and besides from a Business Development Officer is operated entirely by volunteers. NE1fm was awarded a five-year community broadcast licence 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...
in 2006.
NE1fm carries a wide variety of content, catering for both mainstream and niche musical genres, and also broadcasts interviews, hourly news updates, and sports, talk and comedy-based shows. NE1fm has enabled more than 100 different shows to broadcast in its time on year, with a small number of long-running shows also. The station also frequently broadcasts live music from a variety of venues across the area, and operates open access programming to allow one-off broadcasts by local volunteers and community groups.
NE1fm's name is a play on the postcode district , which covers Newcastle upon Tyne, in addition to the station's community radio status where "anyone" can broadcast and/or help out with the station's operation.
2004-2007: Pre-NE1fm projects and station launch
Prior to the formation of the project leading to the launch of NE1fm, a number of Restricted Service License broadcasts had taken place in Newcastle upon TyneNewcastle upon Tyne
Newcastle upon Tyne is a city and metropolitan borough of Tyne and Wear, in North East England. Historically a part of Northumberland, it is situated on the north bank of the River Tyne...
, many of which were operated by or involved founding members of NE1fm. These included ACE Radio, West End Broadcast and City FM, the latter of which ran from 13 September 2004 to 9 October 2004. Following this broadcast, an application for 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...
's advertised community radio license for the area was made on 19 November 2004. The application was successful, with a five-year license awarded to station operators Community Broadcast Initiative Tyneside in 2006.
Following the award of the station license, NE1fm began preparations to launch, advertising for volunteers in 2007. West End Broadcast also returned for a final three week RSL broadcast from 13 November 2005 to 3 December 2005, with many of the presenters and shows broadcast during that time becoming part of the initial NE1fm on-air schedule. In May 2007, the station ran a week of off-air rehearsal broadcasts of each show, conducted training for the benefit of inexperienced members of the team, and made a number of test broadcasts on their FM frequency (with World is Static
World is Static
World Is Static are a female fronted rock band from County Durham in the north east of England. Formed in 2005 by award winning singer/songwriter Heather Frances & guitarist/songwriter Simon Chester...
as the first band broadcast at the time). Following these test broadcasts, the station began to promote its launch in the local community, advertising a launch date of 8 June 2007.
NE1fm launched on 8 June 2007 with a weekend of broadcasts from Newcastle's Green Festival, resulting in the launch being conducted via an outside broadcast studio at Leazes Park
Leazes Park
Leazes Park is a park in Newcastle upon Tyne, England. It lies to the west of the city centre. It is the city's oldest park, opened in 1873. It contains a lake above the course of the Lort Burn...
. During the weekend, the station broadcast a large amount of live music, particularly electronic music
Electronic music
Electronic music is music that employs electronic musical instruments and electronic music technology in its production. In general a distinction can be made between sound produced using electromechanical means and that produced using electronic technology. Examples of electromechanical sound...
, interspersed with interviews with festival participants and general continuity from a variety of on-air personnel. On Monday 11 June 2007, NE1fm's regular schedule commenced with the long-running alternative music show Unknown Pleasures.
2007-2009: First anniversary, transmitter thefts and programming expansions
Following the successful broadcast of 2007's Green Festival on the station's launch weekend, NE1fm also broadcast a number of other festivals throughout the first year of on-air operation, including the Asian-orientated Mela FestivalMela Festival
Melas are south Asian events which have spread around the world from the south Asian subcontinent. Mela means 'gathering' and can describe festival, market, trade event, religious gathering and more....
, and the Newcastle stage of the AV Festival in March 2008, although broadcasts from the latter were met with problems and resulted in broadcasts ceasing before the festival's conclusion. Other festivals and outside events covered throughout the station's first year included the 2008 Irish Festival and the 2008 Eat Festival.
The station was, in November 2007, presented with a plaque by hardware chain B&Q
B&Q
B&Q plc is a multinational DIY and home improvement retailer headquartered in Eastleigh, United Kingdom. It was founded in 1969 and is a wholly owned subsidiary of Kingfisher plc, which is listed on the London Stock Exchange....
as part of their annual You Can Do It awards, resulting in £5,000 of funding in order to fully construct a second studio and improve the station's primitive facilities. The second studio was completed shortly thereafter. The station also during this period fell victim to attempts to steal its transmitter, resulting in two off-air stints in December 2007 and March 2008, the latter of which was covered as the headline story on local news programme North East Tonight
North East Tonight
North East Tonight is a regional television news and current affairs programme, also including local sports news and local features of interest, produced by ITV Tyne Tees & Border at its studios in Gateshead, and serving the "Tyne Tees" part of the region .The remainder of the ITV Tyne Tees & Border...
later that day.
In June 2008, NE1fm marked its first anniversary of broadcast with a party hosted at The Centurion bar in Newcastle's Central Station, followed by coverage of the Green Festival for the second consecutive year. Following this, the number of live events broadcast by the station increased, with many focused on niche genres of music such as soul
Soul music
Soul music is a music genre originating in the United States combining elements of gospel music and rhythm and blues. According to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, soul is "music that arose out of the black experience in America through the transmutation of gospel and rhythm & blues into a form of...
, reggae and country
Country music
Country music is a popular American musical style that began in the rural Southern United States in the 1920s. It takes its roots from Western cowboy and folk music...
. As a result, NE1fm became the area's chief proponent of live music and outside broadcasts. NE1fm also continued to broadcast some content relevant to ethnic minorities across the area, but ceased to do so following the launch of the Asian community station Spice FM on 98.8 FM, which also resulted in NE1fm's losing exclusivity over the Newcastle upon Tyne and Gateshead broadcast area with regard to community broadcasts.
Throughout 2008 and much of 2009, NE1fm continued to broadcast a wide variety of on-air content, with a number of long-running shows catering to audiences largely ignored by commercial radio stations in the reason. Long-running shows included The Groove Principle, a soul music show, and Alternation, a show playing a variety of alternative, indie and punk music. During this time period, however, a number of long-running shows ended their tenure on the station - either permanently or temporarily - including Ghetto Method, The Takeover, and The Hedley Show. NE1fm also occasionally broadcast breakfast and lunchtime shows, although largely focused on evening broadcasts, with largely uninterrupted music broadcast overnight and during the day.
2009-2010: Station relocation and programming changes
In 2009, NE1fm went through its most significant period of change since its launch in 2007, relocating from the Shieldfield area of Newcastle upon Tyne to purpose-built studios at Virginia House, which are shared with the community group Tyneside Cyrenians. Although this did not affect the station's broadcast area, it marked the end of thirty months of broadcast in a church building that had not typically been designed for radio broadcast, and allowed for the station to make further changes to its operation and sound. Shortly after the move, shifts in the station's management structure also occurred, with a number of founding members quoted on the initial Ofcom application ceasing to be involved with the station. The station also updated its website after three years of limited updates, and changed its domain from www.ne1fm.com to www.ne1fm.net, with the former still available online despite the latter's official status as the station's website.Along with NE1fm's relocation, a number of programming changes also occurred during this time period. One significant change was the end of The Live Session, a weekly acoustic
Acoustic music
Acoustic music comprises music that solely or primarily uses instruments which produce sound through entirely acoustic means, as opposed to electric or electronic means...
broadcast that had featured and given exposure to a large quantity of local and little-known bands during NE1fm's time on-air; The Live Sessions departure, however, was intended to be brief, with the station advertising for a replacement presenter for the show. A new live music show, Hit the North (East), debuting in late 2010.. The station also began to focus areas of its programming toward younger people, with a larger amount of new music played during the day, and the launch of new on-air imaging in August 2010.
2011-Present: Recent developments
NE1fm saw further changes to the station schedule in the first months of 2011, removing much of the station's soul programming that had featured on Sundays since the station's launch. Programming of significance early in the year included special programmes covering Gateshead F.C.Gateshead F.C.
Gateshead Football Club are a professional Association football club, based in Gateshead, England. They currently play in the Conference National, the fifth level of the English football league system.Ian Bogie is the current manager....
's run in the 2011 FA Trophy
FA Trophy
The Football Association Challenge Trophy, commonly known as the FA Trophy, is a knockout cup competition in English football, run by and named after The Football Association and competed for primarily by semi-professional teams...
, the launch of the community-focused broadcast No Excuse, and the re-branding of the weekend breakfast shows to include live music, including a variety from the 2011 Evolution Emerging line-up.
The digital presence of NE1fm was overhauled during Spring of 2011, including visibly heightened usage of their Facebook and Twitter accounts and the launch of a new website.
As of May 2011, the longest-running shows on NE1fm are Alternation, NE1 For Country, The Rock Show and The Sports Zone, all having debuted on or shortly after the launch of the station in 2007.
On 27 September 2011, station presenters Rob Davies and Gary Barnes launched an attempt to break the current world record for the longest radio broadcast by a team. The record is currently held by BBC Radio 1 DJ Chris Moyles and David Vitty, broadcasting for a total of 52 hours. Their attempt finished at midday on Friday 30 September, with their attempt lasting a total of 76 hours. The broadcast marathon also raised money for two local charities, the Sir Bobby Robson Foundation and the Childrens Heart Unit Fund at the Freeman Hospital.
NE1fm's current five-year community radio license expires on 7 June 2012.
Content and shows
NE1fm broadcasts a wide variety of musical and spoken wordSpoken word
Spoken word is a form of poetry that often uses alliterated prose or verse and occasionally uses metered verse to express social commentary. Traditionally it is in the first person, is from the poet’s point of view and is themed in current events....
content, with the musical genres covered by its specialist programming including alternative, dance
Dance music
Dance music is music composed specifically to facilitate or accompany dancing. It can be either a whole musical piece or part of a larger musical arrangement...
, hip-hop, and soul
Soul music
Soul music is a music genre originating in the United States combining elements of gospel music and rhythm and blues. According to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, soul is "music that arose out of the black experience in America through the transmutation of gospel and rhythm & blues into a form of...
. The majority of weekday programming is broadcast in the evening, with regular programming commencing at 7PM following three hours of "open slots" for one-off broadcasts by community projects and volunteers unable to commit to a weekly schedule. This split of content is described in detail in NE1fm's 2006 license application:
The weekday evening programming offered by NE1fm was, at the station's launch, particularly specialist, although some broadcasts now cater to more mainstream audiences, while still offering niche genres and content not catered for by NE1fm's local competitors, such as Metro Radio
Metro Radio
Metro Radio is an independent local radio station based in Newcastle upon Tyne and broadcasting to Tyne and Wear, County Durham and Northumberland. The station's output is principally contemporary pop and dance music...
and BBC Radio Newcastle
BBC Radio Newcastle
BBC Newcastle is the BBC Local Radio service English metropolitan county of Tyne and Wear, broadcasting from studios on Barrack Road in Newcastle upon Tyne.- Technical :...
. Many broadcasts, particularly those made on Friday evenings, also feature live music and outside broadcasts from a variety of locations. On weekends, the station's output is still varied, although most of Sunday's programming is dedicated to soul with Saturday afternoons dedicated to sports via the Sportszone, one of few shows on NE1fm broadcast consistently since the station's 2007 launch. Spoken word and talk shows have also been broadcast on NE1fm, often during weekday daytimes, although some - such as sketch comedy
Sketch comedy
A sketch comedy consists of a series of short comedy scenes or vignettes, called "sketches," commonly between one and ten minutes long. Such sketches are performed by a group of comic actors or comedians, either on stage or through an audio and/or visual medium such as broadcasting...
show The Suggestibles - have been broadcast on evenings. The NE1fm schedule is periodically revised, resulting in a significant turnover of shows and presenters relative to local commercial stations.
Although many of NE1fm's past and present presenters are local volunteers with limited broadcasting experience, a number of acclaimed individuals and shows have featured on the station since its launch in 2007. Several presenters, including Kev Atkinson and Wayne C. Macdonald, have featured on commercial radio stations previously, and a number of the DJs whom broadcast on the station, such as DJ Play, have released commercial material or are signed to major labels. Sports presenter Rob Pears also featured in television documentary
Documentary film
Documentary films constitute a broad category of nonfictional motion pictures intended to document some aspect of reality, primarily for the purposes of instruction or maintaining a historical record...
Blind Ambition, whilst a number of other presenters and shows have gained wider prominence away from the station, such as The Hedley Show through online radio. The longest-running show on NE1fm is Atomic, presented under various guises since a run on NE1fm forerunner WeB FM in 1997, while a number of shows have been broadcast on other stations also, including Spark FM and Insight Radio
Insight Radio
Insight Radio is a British radio station owned by Royal National Institute of Blind People and was Europe's first radio station for blind and partially sighted listeners. It broadcasts 24 hours a day, 7 days a week online, on 101 FM in the Glasgow area on Freesat channel 777 and on Sky Digital...
. The age range covered has also been vast, from children broadcasting under supervision to senior citizens up to the age of 98. Fitting in with the station's community radio remit, no on-air presenter for NE1fm has ever been paid for their services.
The station has also broadcast segments, interviews and performances by a number of notable musicians, including singer-songwriter
Singer-songwriter
Singer-songwriters are musicians who write, compose and sing their own musical material including lyrics and melodies. As opposed to contemporary popular music singers who write their own songs, the term singer-songwriter describes a distinct form of artistry, closely associated with the...
Kate Nash
Kate Nash
Kate Marie Nash is an English singer, songwriter, and musician. She had a UK no. 2 hit "Foundations" in 2007, followed by the platinum selling UK number 1 album Made of Bricks. She was named Best Female Artist at the 2008 BRIT Awards....
, dance music duo Ultrabeat
Ultrabeat (English band)
Ultrabeat are an English electronic music group from Liverpool, England consisting of producer and vocalist Mike Di Scala and producers Ian Redman and Chris Henry. Formed in 2002, Ultrabeat first emerged with their single "Pretty Green Eyes" which reached No. 2 in the UK Singles Chart...
and Maxïmo Park
Maxïmo Park
Maxïmo Park are a British alternative rock band, formed in 2000. They are signed to Warp Records. The band consists of Paul Smith , Duncan Lloyd , Archis Tiku , Lukas Wooller and Tom English...
, the latter of which were guests on a show during the station's launch week. Representatives of local sports teams have also frequently featured on relevant programming, with those represented including Newcastle Falcons
Newcastle Falcons
The Newcastle Falcons is an English rugby union team currently playing in the Aviva Premiership. The club was established in 1877 and played under the name of Gosforth Football Club until 1990. The name was then changed to Newcastle Gosforth and the club began to play at Kingston Park stadium in...
, Blyth Spartans F.C., Gateshead F.C.
Gateshead F.C.
Gateshead Football Club are a professional Association football club, based in Gateshead, England. They currently play in the Conference National, the fifth level of the English football league system.Ian Bogie is the current manager....
and Gateshead Thunder
Gateshead Thunder
Gateshead Thunder is a professional rugby league club based in Gateshead, Tyne and Wear in England. They currently play in the Championship 1 competition, the third tier of rugby league in the United Kingdom...
. A variety of up-and-coming musicians and bands have also gained exposure via the station, and the NE1fm archive previously played live music from the 1990s that was originally broadcast on previous community projects in the area, although this has been phased out in recent times in favour of newer material.
At times when there is no presenter, an automated system is used playing mostly popular music
Popular music
Popular music belongs to any of a number of musical genres "having wide appeal" and is typically distributed to large audiences through the music industry. It stands in contrast to both art music and traditional music, which are typically disseminated academically or orally to smaller, local...
from the 1970s onwards. From 2007 until 2010, this broadcast a wide range of genres, with no playlisting and limited new music broadcast. Following the station's relocation, however, NE1fm altered the station sound to incorporate a larger quantity of new music, playing mostly new releases during the day, before playing music from a variety of decades overnight. Furthermore, in an area dominated by dance
Dance music
Dance music is music composed specifically to facilitate or accompany dancing. It can be either a whole musical piece or part of a larger musical arrangement...
and R&B stations, NE1fm is the only broadcaster to play indie pop, alternative rock
Alternative rock
Alternative rock is a genre of rock music and a term used to describe a diverse musical movement that emerged from the independent music underground of the 1980s and became widely popular by the 1990s...
and other genres as part of its regular daytime output. The automated system used means that, unlike many community stations, NE1fm does not broadcast syndicated shows with little or no connection to the Newcastle and Gateshead area. Community-based programming is also occasionally broadcast during the day, and in the early years of the station a large amount of archive community programming was re-broadcast, although this is no longer the case. Hourly news updates provided by Sky News Radio
Sky News Radio
Sky News Radio is the radio arm of the Sky News division of British Sky Broadcasting. It has been operating since June 1999, providing a news bulletin service for UK commercial radio stations operators across the UK and for a number of English-speaking radio stations across the world.The Sky News...
are broadcast during automated areas also, with some shows also carrying the updates during live programming. The station's current primary playout system
Playout
In broadcasting, playout is a term for the transmission of radio or TV channels from the broadcaster into broadcast networks that delivers the content to the audience...
is OtsAV, which was originally used in conjunction with Soundbox, an archaic playout system, before becoming the sole playout system following the station's relocation.
A number of events have also been organised and broadcast by NE1fm, many as fundraisers in order to help finance the station's operation. Past events have included live band nights, ska and reggae nights, rock & heavy metal, soul nights and country music
Country music
Country music is a popular American musical style that began in the rural Southern United States in the 1920s. It takes its roots from Western cowboy and folk music...
events, which have been simultaneously broadcast on the air also. Venues which have been used by the station include Newcastle's Swallow Hotel
Swallow Hotels
Swallow Hotels are a hotel chain managed by Crerar Management Ltd.The company is an Edinburgh-based hotel company with a portfolio of 18 hotels, operating in the three and four star sector....
, The Pitcher And Piano, The Telegraph, World Headquarters, Nancy's Bordello and the Centurion Bar at Newcastle Central Station
Newcastle Central station
Newcastle railway station , is the mainline station of the city of Newcastle upon Tyne, England and is a principal stop on the East Coast Main Line. It opened in 1850 and is a Grade I listed building...
. NE1fm has also broadcast from night clubs in the area, including Bar Beyond.
Current Programming
The following shows are currently part of the NE1fm on-air schedule, as of May 12, 2011. The presenters that are listed are those whom appear on a weekly basis, and do not include regular or one-off guests.- AlterNation (Barry Wilson, Lee Harrison and TY McFly)
- Another Music In A Different Kitchen (Trevor Johnson)
- Celestial Navigation (Amina Evans)
- Dead Air Radio (The Dead Air Radio Team)
- Electric Soup (Ben Morris and Richard Telford)
- Everyone's Tomorrow Today (The Elders Council of Newcastle upon Tyne)
- Hit The North East (Ian Banach, John Nuttall and Lauren Archer)
- Indie Dependent (Edward Shanks and James Noton)
- Interference (Hev Johnson and Mark Earle)
- Kaos Tempo (Rahman Patterson and Rob Thompson)
- Kev and Nixxi (Kev Atkinson and Nicola Rutherford)
- The Lunchtime Special (Martin Deltrice, Leon Moat, Ken Brady, Sam Harris and Steve McGuire)
- Magic Music (Jim Bennett)
- The Music and Trivia Show (Tom Stuart and Enid Robson)
- Music From The Movies (Andy Munday)
- NE1 For Country (Sam Harris)
- NE1's Dance Anthems (Gary Barnes)
- Newcastle Beats (Simon Turner)
- No Excuse
- North East Writers (Enid Robson and Tom Stuart)
- One Step Forward (Christian Allen and Kirsty Graham)
- The Rock Show (Simon Colling)
- Rugby League Talk (Paul Clayton, Andy Side and Rob Jones)
- The Saturday Mix (Kyle Scott and Tom Ryan)
- saturday@breakfast (Graeme Fenwick)
- The Sheets (Compton McDonald)
- Soul on Sunday (Michael Bishop)
- Soul Ecstasy (Grant Taylor)
- The Sports Zone (Rob Pears)
- Sugar Sundays (Wayne C. McDonald)
- sunday@breakfast (Ron Clark and Ian Johnson)
- The Weekend Countdown (Rob Davies)
- Work Place Workdown (Dean Wears)
Former Programming
The following shows were formerly broadcast on NE1fm for a significant period of time, but have since ceased to be broadcast on the station.- Al Smith's New Stereo Adventures (Al Smith)
- Atomic (Hev Johnson and Carol Batie)
- Frequency Dip (Ian Banach and Amanda Lowson)
- Geordie Saint (Shaun Kelly)
- Ghetto Method (Sandy Duff)
- The Groove Principle (Dave Tansley)
- The Hedley Show (Dave Hedley)
- The Kanned Weekend (Dan Pye and Kev Atkinson)
- The Live Session (Laura Fitzpatrick and Alastair McGeorge)
- The Lunchtime Lick (Dean Wears and Stefan Wilkes)
- Programmed For Damage (Phoenix Dark-Knight and Graham Boyd)
- Pure Soul (Andrea and Steve Robertson)
- Soul On Sunday (Frankie Lucas)
- Unknown Pleasures (John Gibson and Alistair Ford)
Operation
NE1fm has for most of its existence been run entirely by volunteers, with no paid positions in both the station's management and its presentation hierarchy. The station's original application to Ofcom stated the intention for paid positions to appear, namely a full-time role for a Project Administrator, although as of 2010 such a role has never been created in a paid capacity, despite applications to the Ofcom Community Radio Fund. Many volunteers fulfill both on-air and off-air roles, including assisting with outside broadcasts and promoting the station. NE1fm carries limited on-air advertising, instead raising funds through its own fundraising events and donations.In late 2010, the station was notified that as a result of the government's comprehensive spending review, it would lose all funding from local authority, Newcastle City Council. The funding paid for an outreach worker to work with a variety of groups, including the Elders Council of Newcastle. The funding also partly funded the general operating costs of the station.
The station is based at Virginia House, a building located on the West side of Newcastle upon Tyne and occupied by The Cyrenians (formerly known as the Tyneside Cyrenians). NE1fm is based in the basement, and has two on-air studios, a live music room, and a recording studio.