Loan signals boost for local radio stations
Four South Yorkshire radio stations are to invest in transmitter technology after securing a £50,000 business loan from Finance Yorkshire.
Trax FM and sister stations Rother, Dearne and Ridings FM, which broadcast from studios in Doncaster, plan to use the cash on a new transmission system.
The stations, which are part of Lincs FM Group and cover Doncaster and Bassetlaw, Rotherham Borough, Barnsley, Penistone and the Dearne Valley and Wakefield, Pontefract, Castleford, Featherstone, Normanton and Knottingley, previously received funds from Finance Yorkshire to improve its studios.
Its latest investment means the stations will no longer have to lease a transmitter. The new equipment will be in the centre of Doncaster.
Lincs FM Group chief executive Michael Betton said having the transmitter under the stations’ control will help the station to further improve its programming and services, which currently attract a combined weekly audience of more than 200,000 listeners.
He said: “We believe radio, and especially local radio, has a fantastic future – it’s very compatible with modern day life and it performs a key role in cementing local communities. We provide a really local service which results in listeners having great enthusiasm for the area in which they live.”
Finance Yorkshire’s David Ward said Trax FM has “gone from strength to strength” since launching in September 1999. He said: “With our support, Trax FM has the ambition and ability to attract additional commercial interest and further grow its audience share.”
The European-backed fund has made a number of deals since the start of the year. It reached its £100m milestone in January with a £175,000 seedcorn investment in paint company Renu-TPS .
It has also invested in marketing firm Ludo Studio, production company Televideo , metalworking business Laser & Fabrications , uniform retailer The Business Wear Company , Leeds Brewery and JBC Industrial Services since the start of the year.
