The Local Radio Company's Mix 107.4 is now operating within its Format – but continues to suffer technical problems during automated and networked output. The station was warned in June 2007 for failing to broadcast adequate specialist Asian and Afro-Caribbean programming.
The regulator monitored the station again at the beginning of October to find specialist Asian and Afro-Caribbean programming being broadcast on a Sunday evening, from 19.00 to 22.00. Ofcom said: "Although there were some technical problems with the delivery of these programmes on the day we sampled, we considered the content of the programmes was broadly satisfactory in terms of delivering the station’s Format."
Ofcom continued: "During the pre-recorded ‘Asian Connection’ programme, we noted that the hourly scheduled news bulletins at 19.00 and 20.00 failed to appear, leading to three minutes of dead air on both occasions."
During the last hour of the show, from 21.00 till 22.00, Alex Dyke’s ‘Bubblegum and Cheese’ show (network output from TLRC) was inadvertently being aired by Mix 107 at the same time as the (prerecorded) ‘Caribbean Connection’ was being played out.
Technical problems have not gone un-noticed by forum users and are a regular part of TLRC network programming. Ofcom has made their ongoing concerns regarding the delivery of the station’s automated output clear to Mix 107’s management, and will continue to monitor the situation.
Mix 107 began broadcasting as the local commercial radio station for the Buckinghamshire towns of High Wycombe and Amersham in October 2001. It is one of 27 local stations in the UK owned by High Wycombe based TLRC.