The company that owns Your Harrogate radio station has had its small-scale DAB multiplex licence for Wetherby and Harrogate revoked after mounting transmission costs made the venture economically unviable.
But Your Harrogate will continue to broadcast on the local DAB multiplex for North Yorkshire, with no disruption for listeners.
Nick Hancock, who is content director and one of the co-owners of Your Harrogate, told the Stray Ferret:
“This is really a back-end issue. It’s a bit like renting a house for ages and then having the chance to buy it. The small-scale DAB multiplex licence for Wetherby and Harrogate would have meant we owned it.
“The local DAB multiplex actually has better signal strength and better coverage, so the listener won’t notice any difference. It was just an ownership issue.”
The regulator, Ofcom, awarded the licence in 2022 to Wetherby and Harrogate Local DAB Limited, which is owned by Your Harrogate directors Nick Hancock and Adam Daniel, plus Alan Everard from Wetherby Community Radio and Mark Oldfield, chairman of Harrogate Hospital Radio.
The company, which operates as Your Harrogate, said it had £25,000 set aside to launch the multiplex. In its application it said:
“Our transmission proposal is one that is realistic, compliant, and economically viable.”
Small-scale DAB multiplex licences cost just £500 per year, as well as a non-refundable £500 application fee. But other expenses, described by Mr Hancock as “transmission costs”, escalated in the intervening period, ultimately making the project unviable.
Ofcom may revoke a licence if it believes a service will not launch within 18 months of an award, and after it heard Your Harrogate could not continue with its plans, it exercised this option.
In a statement, it said it would consider re-advertising the Wetherby and Harrogate multiplex licence “should we receive any expressions of interest”.
But Mr Hancock said:
“We were the only people who applied for the licence in the first place, so I’d think it’d be unlikely Ofcom will advertise it again, to be honest.”
Your Harrogate launched in February 2021 to fill the gap in local radio left by Stray FM, where Mr Hancock had been a well-known presenter. Stray, which had covered the district since 1994, rebranded when owner Bauer Media announced it was making it part of the national network Greatest Hits Radio.
Digital audio broadcasting (DAB) radio allows the bundling of a number of radio stations together in a multiplex. Each multiplex can then be broadcast using an individual frequency from a transmitter. A DAB radio can then single out each radio service from the multiplex for the listener.
This bundling into multiplexes allows for more radio stations and requires less power to broadcast, making it more cost-effective. But it can also give lower-quality sound and the signal can drop out more frequently.
Read more:
- Your Harrogate set to launch tomorrow
- Harrogate district to get new local radio station
- Harrogate radio station Stray FM to close
Harrogate and Wetherby to get dedicated radio service
Ofcom is to offer Harrogate and Wetherby a DAB radio licence.
The communications regulator said today organisations would be able to bid for the licence, which will enable listeners to tune in on digital radio, in the coming months.
Harrogate and Wetherby is one of 25 licence areas included in the latest round of Ofcom’s roll-out of small-scale digital licences.
At the end of last year, in a previous phase of the rollout, five organisations bid for the digital licence in Leeds.
Currently only Greatest Hits Radio in the Harrogate district has an FM licence.
Other stations such as Harrogate Community Radio, Your Harrogate and Harrogate Hospital Radio are available online, via an app and or smart speakers.
Read more:
- Bookings coming in fast for Harrogate Christmas Market
- Outdoor Shakespeare theatre heads to Harrogate this summer
Harrogate Community Radio said it would look into the financial situation before deciding whether to bid but it was excited about the opportunity. Board member Charley Christopher said:
“It’s definitely something we’re looking into but we would need support from others. There may be grants available that we could look into. It is exciting for us and potentially another platform to expand into.”
Your Harrogate presenter Nick Hancock said it intended to bid for the licence. He added:
“It’s great that all our efforts, as well as those of many others, for this to come to Harrogate and Wetherby, have been rewarded.”
Your Harrogate set to launch tomorrow
Your Harrogate is set to launch its online radio service tomorrow with familiar faces from Stray FM.
The show on Monday at 8am and promises to offer the “best of life in Harrogate.”
Currently Your Harrogate is only available online and people can listen on their phones through an app or through a smart speaker.
Your Harrogate will launch with an all-male lineup who are all former DJs on Stray FM, which closed last year.
Read more:
- How local is Stray FM’s replacement station?
- Stray FM broadcasts its final shows before national take-over
Nick Hancock will be on breakfast duty and promises to set listeners up for their day with local weather, travel and school news.
Pete Egerton will be on daytimes, Ricky Durkin on weekday afternoons, Alex Cann on weeknights, Will Smith on weekends and David Whittle on weekend afternoons.
Stray FM broadcast its final show at the end of August ahead of a merger with national station Greatest Hits Radio.
Bauer Media, the owners of Greatest Hits Radio, promised to keep the show as local but there have been complaints on social media that it has not delivered.
The full line up is as below:
Weekdays
6am Early Breakfast
7am Nick Hancock
10am Pete Egerton
2pm Ricky Durkin
6pm Alex Cann
Saturdays
7am Ricky Durkin
10am Will Smith
1pm David Whittle
Sundays
7am Alex Cann
10am Nick Hancock
1pm David Whittle
A new radio station covering the Harrogate district’s community news, weather and travel is set to begin broadcasting in March.
Your Harrogate Radio is being launched by the website Your Harrogate and will be available online, on smart speakers and through its app.
Former Stray FM presenter Nick Hancock, who set up Your Harrogate last year, said he received countless requests to launch a radio station.
He said:
“So many people have messaged me or come up to me in the street and said they really miss having their own local radio station and asked me to do something about it, so now I have!”
“I know from being on air during the first lockdown how many people use the radio for company and to cheer them up a bit during such challenging times”.
Read more:
- Take a look back at the most popular stories in the Harrogate district in 2020.
- Harrogate conservative peer says local radio license should be re-advertised to maintain local coverage.
Mr Hancock, who will host the breakfast show, said listeners will hear a broad range of music from classic tunes of the 80s and 90s to modern day.
He said the heavy snowfall last Friday was another sign that the district was in need of a radio station providing live coverage.
Stray FM was rebranded as Greatest Hits Radio in September.