The team behind the recreated LASER558 have obtained a licence to broadcast on DAB digital radio.
Whilst a DAB (DSP) licence is available upon application these days, it marks another station using a previously unlicensed brand name and taking it legal.
LASER558 will soon be on the relaunched Winchester DAB and the forthcoming Basingstoke DAB multiplexes.
Station Director, Steve Bannister, said: “We are very excited to be able to announce that, after forty years of being classed a ‘pirate’ radio station, LASER558 is finally broadcasting legally in the UK and that we’ll be available on DAB Radio.
“It has been a very long time coming and we know that the original LASER558 had a massive following both in the UK and across Europe.
“We’re extremely lucky that we have a very strong band of supporters and listeners who have helped to raise money through donations and by joining the LASER558 Communicator Club and we’d like to thank them for their continued support.
“We’re extremely proud to be able to bring the original sound of 1980s pirate radio to both a new generation and to those who listened forty years ago. With modern technology, those original jocks are, once again, behind the mic and entertaining.”
Osman Sen-Chadun, Director of Winchester DAB and Basingstoke DAB, welcomed the news saying, “LASER558 is very much part of the UK’s 80s pop music radio culture, and was a personal favourite whilst growing up at that time.
“Its status as a ‘pirate’ radio station planted a seed which led to many wonderful radio broadcasting careers, albeit, in some cases, via very “colourful” routes, for which I’m nevertheless thankful and proud to have been part of.
“It is a real pleasure to welcome LASER558 in its new heritage form to the first of what will hopefully be many DAB+ networks across the UK, and a privilege to be part of its new “legal” journey in 2024. It only took 40 years!”
The station added, “We’d like to thank our many listeners and welcome our new audience as well. Advertisers and sponsors wishing to be part of this historic venture can reach us through our website at laser558.live where we’ll be happy to work with you.”