Viking FM is moving its broadcast teams out of Hull to co-locate with Hallam FM in Sheffield.
The station’s only remaining local show (once Drive goes networked in September), Breakfast with Alex Duffy and Ellie Brennan, will be broadcast from Sheffield starting on 2nd October.
Bauer says: “The broadcast teams will move into our Sheffield studios, ensuring that they have access to the very best technology and resource and more vibrant creative environment.”
Viking FM will continue to have local news and commercial teams in the area, with any Cash For Kids fundraising continuing to go into the local regions.
Viking FM has been based at Commercial Road in Hull since it launched in 1984, and split into Viking FM on 96.9 FM and Viking Gold on 1161 AM in 1988.
All medium wave programmes are now broadcast from the North West of England as part of the Greatest Hits Radio network.
So Viking doing the same as what west fm did in 2017
Can you imagine actually having a story about something opening or starting for once in UK Radio on RadioToday instead of something we’re losing or getting cut back, seems like it would be more likely for Alan Sugar to start backing Jeremy Corbyn!
Do you mean like Scala Radio, Country Hits Radio, Heart Dance or Jack Radio?
They’re doing what they are allowed to do by Ofcom’s new ‘localness’ rules – merging all the stations in each region under one roof.
Bauer’s been doing it for a a while now. It started with TFM being merged with Metro in Newcastle, then West FM & West Sound AM moving to Glasgow (although they still have a small presence in Prestwick).
BRMB and Mercia (before both became Free Radio).
I was just giving those as an example – I just wasn’t going to list all of them.
A Viking funeral. Be assured there’s another coffin in Sheffield labelled ‘Reserved for Lincs FM’
Just heard that west sound is now ending its local radio shows In Dumfries and Galloway
Not at all surprised, I’ve been waiting for it to happen really. All this networking are leaving studios empty anyway. It doesn’t stop it being sad, all that radio history gone. What would Erik The Viking say?
Bye Viking Radio.
The broadcast teams will move into our Sheffield studios, ensuring that they will have no idea what’s going on in or around Hull, neither will they care, and will sound just like every other non – local show.”
“Another one Bites the Dust”
Keep an eye out for either Aire and Pulse co-locate or Rock/City down the line.
ILR is dead
“The broadcast teams will move into our Sheffield studios, ensuring that they have access to the very best technology and resource and more vibrant creative environment.”
But if anything happens in Hull, we won’t tell you about it, coz we’re 60 miles away…
Another Dee-saster in the making!
They are keeping a base in Hull for journalists and the sales team, it’s only the music presentation that’s moving to Sheffield.
These rules have been in place since October last year, perhaps if more people had bothered to respond to last summer’s Ofcom consultation we wouldn’t be where we are now.
Do you seriously think any of these money grabbing sods who do nothing but fill their already overflowing bank accounts at the expense of absolutely everything and everyone would take a blind bit of notice of us the public that they don’t give a toss about. Ofcom consultation what a joke! If Ofcom had any balls they would have stopped all this crap from day one. But hey I know it was just them allowing government legislation to take it’s path. Yet another bunch of Muppets who serve nobody but themselves and whoever pours money into their party fund pots!
Couldn’t agree more Neal. Why do people listen to the bland on-air sh*t anyway, or do they? I ding believe RAJARs figures anyway.
those consultations are pointless. They will still do it no matter what listeners say.
As founder MD of Viking Radio I’m very sad. Oddly enough I visited my old base at Commercial Rd only a few weeks ago and despite a very warm welcome from everyone there, especially Sam Brennan, I commented later I had a feeling it’s days as a local base were numbered. I fought hard to stop Viking merging with Pennine and my first station Hallam, and I lost, even though I eventually became MD of the combined group. Things were never the same. Those ‘guardians ‘ of localness at the Radio Authority later Ofcom have a lot to answer for, especially lost jobs and lost community content and involvement, but unsurprisingly some gamekeepers turned poacher.Goodbye public service and hello investors. Write to me at rogerdbrooks1@yahoo.co.uk.
Should be its days not it’s. Yes, I’m still grammatically pedantic. Old journalists never stop trying!
Hi Roger, (it’s been a long time and I’ll never forget how you gave me the options you did way back when!) I agree entirely. Very sad and OfCom should be ashamed. These quasi nationals should have been given other platforms and not allowed to use existing spectrum. True local stations need to be allowed to return on FM and DAB so those fine upstanding ‘guardians’ need to get their act together and make it happen. Nick Hull from Hull. Sort of.
It’s unlikely that these decisions will be reversed because of the legal implications. Who is going to pay for the reconstruction of the local studios, as Global & Bauer have followed the Ofcom rules to the letter in removing them.
It is only ofcom compulsory conditons to have a local news opt out in the regions where these stations are now or going to be networked.
However, the journalists working in these news hubs are very stretched mainly turning copy around for the several bulletins they are requireed to pre record and despatch to the various brands in their region… eg, heart capital and smooth…It is no longer journalism asi t was where we would do three to five mins per hour and read the bulletins live.. breaking local stories taking preference to the IRN copy provided to newsrooms.
There’s about 68 miles between Sheffield and Hull…but since the Bauer box tickers figure that it’s all Yorkshire, who cares? Logic wins the day.
Were they to move Liverpool’s station to Sheffield, they’d be considered certifiable…but there’s only 78 miles between the two, so that ten miles would be just a *bit* less logical, in Bauerland I suppose.
They can’t move Liverpool’s station to Sheffield, because they are in different Ofcom approved areas. It was Ofcom’s decision to make Yorkshire & Lincolnshire all one approved area. Bauer are just doing what any company would do to minimise costs.
or rather, make more profit.