UKRD responds to Atlantic’s Heart switch

The sale of Atlantic FM to Global Radio and subsequent rebranding as Heart will leave UKRD’s Pirate FM as the only commercial radio station with studios in Cornwall.

Output on Atlantic FM’s transmitters will switch to programmes from Heart Devon based in Exeter from later this year, although sales staff will remain in St Agnes.

UKRD Chief Executive William Rogers told Radio Today that today was a ‘very sad day’ for local commercial radio in Cornwall. “The sell out by Atlantic’s owners to London based Global will inevitably mean job losses and programming coming from outside the county,” he said. “So much for Atlantic’s owners’ commitment to Cornwall as made in their application document to Ofcom. The staff will be gutted. What a reward for all their hardwork and effort put in over the years.”

William added that Pirate FM had no plans to change its commitment to Cornwall. He said: “We will continue to serve the county, be based in the county, employ local people and work with local businesses. We certainly won’t be moving out of Cornwall. We are proud of our Cornish roots and will continue to be a genuine part of the Cornish community. We have no intention of dumping our involvement with Cornwall like the owners of Atlantic have sadly done.”