Viking FM goes to Manchester after flood

Viking FM presenters made the journey to Manchester today to continue live programmes after its Hull studio base was flooded.

The station lost power around 7.30pm Thursday night, so switched to generator back-up which lasted until 11.30pm. Broadcasting had, by that time, been re-routed to Key 103’s Manchester base, where it continued on Friday till 3pm.

Viking FM managed to stay on-air the whole time, despite being flooded and having no power.

Graham Bryce, Group Managing Director, Place, Northern England and Scotland sent this message to staff praising the work of the team: “I wanted to share a sterling example of teamwork, commitment and dedication from the Bauer Radio teams in Yorkshire last night.

“You will be aware of the severe storms and flooding affecting many parts of the east coast of the UK yesterday. The station building for Viking FM and Magic 1161 is right on the waterfront in Hull, and just after 7pm last night, started to flood. All mains power was lost by 7.30pm, which meant resorting to the back-up power.

The team had already opted-out of networked In:Demand, and instead broadcast a local In:Demand presented by Viking’s Ant Arthur. This enabled the station to provide dedicated programming which gave detailed information on the situation as it unfolded, as well as giving a platform to listeners to share stories and update each other on what was happening in their area. We also provided bulletins every 30 minutes from Hallam between 7pm-11pm, as well as social media updates and posts through the night.

“It really was local radio at its very best – embedded at the heart of the community, going above and beyond to serve its audiences.

The technical team – also working through the night – managed to re-route a studio in Manchester to the East Yorkshire transmitter, ensuring that the station remained on-air, all night, without a break. We are continuing to run all Viking programming from Manchester currently, and will be live from Hull at 3pm this afternoon. The Mission Christmas open day at the station tomorrow will go ahead as planned.

I would like to extend my thanks to all those involved last night through to this morning. Great teamwork, great communication, great result!”