DAB Radio For Lincolnshire?

Just been investigating this issue. Having bought a new car with DAB capability I was disappointed that in most of Lincolnshire you can only pick up the National DAB stations such as LCB, KISS, Classic FM etc. and then the BBC Radio 1,2,3,4 ,5 etc. Up towards the north of the county Humberside DAB appears to be accessible!

Looking at the website of Muxco which is the organisation that owns the licences it states that it is going to be starting to broadcast on DAB in September in Lincolnshire, initially with Lincs FM. BBC Radio Lincolnshire, and Compass FM involved. They state that they are looking for other radio stations to get involved and I have lobbed the information towards two local community radio stations, Lindsey Online and County Linx Radio to alert them to the opportunity. It would be great to see them get involved although I have no idea what the financial requirement is which is normally a big hurdle with any opportunity such as this.

More information here, but not a lot: http://www.muxco.com/multiplexes/lincolnshire/

If you are into radio, as I am, perhaps you could keep this issue in mind and ensure you jump on any bandwagon going that will allow DAB in Lincolnshire to happen. As Henry at Lindsey Online says "It has been a long time coming!"

Do You Have One? Listen Up!!

You may have heard that the service provided by the BBC Local Radio Network is be reduced in the near future, with less specialist music programmes and much more "area" broadcasting rather than local. For instance here in Lincolnshire, BBC Radio Lincolnshire will be broadcasting more "East Midlands" based programmes during any 24 hour period rather than county specific programmes. This is something that is "not good" to say the least.

What can we do about it? Simple. Tune into your local Community Radio, if you have one locally. These are stations, available over different platforms, internet, FM, AM. DAB etc. that are based in your local communities and which broadcast for them, providing lots of local news, events, sports etc.

Here in the East Lindsey area of Lincolnshire, we have Lindsey Coast Radio which at the moment is only available on the internet and can be accessed at www.lindseycoast.org.uk 24 hours a day. It is planned to widen the availability in the near future by moving to other platforms as well as remaining of the web. The station came into being in February 2011 and is now going from strength to strength. Listener numbers are increasing on a weekly basis with not only local people tuning in but also those people who come to the Lincolnshire Coast for their holidays doing the same and continuing to do so throughout the year, after they have returned home, to enable them to keep in touch with what is happening here!!

At the moment most of the live content happens in the evenings and on Sundays, which is the busiest day. The live content is expanding with Heavy Rock, Grunge, Reggae and Ska, Blues, Country, Folk and general magazine programmes all available. At all other times the station is broadcasting a mix of music to suit all tastes.

With the reduction in service from your "local" BBC radio station soon to become a reality, search out your own local Community Radio station as an alternative. You will be pleasantly surprised I am sure. All are run by vounteers and deserve your support.