Moray Firth Radio

Moray Firth Radio
City Inverness
Broadcast area Moray, Highland, Orkney and parts of NW Aberdeenshire
Slogan MFR: Your Music, Your Life
MFR 2: The Greatest Hits
MFR 3: The Hits
Frequency FM: 96.6, 96.7, 97.4, 102.5, 102.8 MHz
MW: 1107 kHz
DAB: 11B
First air date 23 February 1982
Format Hot AC
Audience share 23.8% (December 2013, )
Owner Bauer Radio
Sister stations MFR 2
MFR 3
Website www.mfr.co.uk

MFR or Moray Firth Radio is a group of Independent Local Radio stations, serving the Scottish Highlands, Moray, the Orkney islands and parts of north west Aberdeenshire. MFR is owned and operated by Bauer Radio, based at studios in the Scorguie area of Inverness, and forms part of Bauer's City network of local stations.

Station information

MFR logo used from 2001 to 2015.
MFR 2 logo.

Moray Firth Radio operates two separate services on 97.4 FM (from the Mounteagle transmitter) and 1107 AM. The first voice heard on Moray Firth Radio/MFR, shortly after 6:30am on 23 February 1982, was Dave Cochrane. The longest serving presenter on Moray Firth Radio/MFR of 33 years was Tich McCooey, leaving on 29 May 2015. On 17 February 2014, MFR launched its new slogan, Your Music, Your Life, along with a new jingle package produced by Wise Buddah. On air presenters use the slogan MFR, number one for the north of Scotland.

MFR on FM largely broadcasts contemporary and chart music-led programming alongside hourly news bulletins and traffic & sports updates. The majority of the station's output is produced and broadcast from its Inverness studios. Networked programming originates from sister stations Clyde 1 in Glasgow, Forth 1 in Edinburgh and Key 103 in Manchester. MFR FM also opts out on Saturday evening for a weekly bilingual music programme in English and Scots Gaelic,[1] which also airs on Argyll FM, Cuillin FM, Isles FM, Nevis Radio and Two Lochs Radio.

History

The station began broadcasting on 23 February 1982.[2]

Until August 2014, MFR 2 on AM and DAB aired specialist programming on Sunday - Friday evenings with automated music broadcast at all other times. In September 2014, the station axed its specialist output and began carrying programming from Bauer's 'Greatest Hits Network' of Scottish AM stations, switching to the Bauer City 2 network in January 2015. MFR 2 continues to air local news, sports coverage and traffic updates.

MFR 3 launched on Monday 19 January 2015, broadcasting on DAB and online as a locally branded relay of The Hits Radio aimed at 15- to 25-year-olds, with opt-outs for local news, traffic updates and advertising.[3]

In addition to the main services, there are two local relay stations which opt out of MFR FM to broadcast local programming produced by non-profit community groups during the evenings.

Programming

MFR's local programming on its main service originates from its Inverness studios, with networked output carried from Clyde 1 in Clydebank, Key 103 in Manchester and Forth 1 in Edinburgh. The station's main local presenters are Ginno Conti (Ginno at Breakfast), Jodie McCluskey and Dan Gilchrist (Home Run).[4]

The only syndicated programme, The Vodafone Big Top 40, is produced by Global Radio at its Capital studios in London for broadcast on 145 commercial radio stations in the UK.

MFR 2 carries most of its output from the Scottish feed of the Bauer City 2 network, with programming originating from Clydebank, Manchester, Newcastle, Dundee and Soho. The only locally produced programme is live football commentary on Saturday afternoons. MFR 3's programming consists of the Bauer City 3 network feed, combining output from Manchester, Clydebank and Soho. Both MFR2 and MFR3 also carry local news, sport and traffic bulletins, produced from the Inverness studios.

News and sport

MFR broadcasts local news bulletins hourly from 6am to 7pm on weekdays (except 2pm), from 9am to 1pm on Saturdays and from 9am to 12pm on Sundays. Headlines are broadcast on the half hour during weekday breakfast and drivetime shows, alongside sport and traffic bulletins.

National bulletins from Sky News Radio are carried overnight with bespoke networked Scottish bulletins at weekends, produced from Radio Clyde's newsroom in Clydebank.

Extended sports coverage airs under the Superscoreboard banner on Saturday afternoons on MFR with live football commentaries on Inverness Caledonian Thistle league matches under the Game On brand on MFR2 on Saturday afternoons.

References

  1. ↑ Moray Firth Radio takes Gaelic Chart Show, Radio Today, 20 September 2011
  2. ↑ "Highland radio station goes live". The Glasgow Herald. 22 February 1982. Retrieved 4 July 2016.
  3. ↑ Bauer City Network 3 launches on local DAB Radio Today, 19 January 2015
  4. ↑ MFR - DJs

Coordinates: 57°28′49″N 4°15′18″W / 57.4803°N 4.2550°W / 57.4803; -4.2550

This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the 10/28/2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.