Phoenix Radio
Encyclopedia
Phoenix Radio 96.7 FM is a local radio station based in Halifax
Halifax, West Yorkshire
Halifax is a minster town, within the Metropolitan Borough of Calderdale in West Yorkshire, England. It has an urban area population of 82,056 in the 2001 Census. It is well-known as a centre of England's woollen manufacture from the 15th century onward, originally dealing through the Halifax Piece...

, in West Yorkshire
West Yorkshire
West Yorkshire is a metropolitan county within the Yorkshire and the Humber region of England with a population of 2.2 million. West Yorkshire came into existence as a metropolitan county in 1974 after the passage of the Local Government Act 1972....

, England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...

. It broadcasts on the FM
FM broadcasting
FM broadcasting is a broadcasting technology pioneered by Edwin Howard Armstrong which uses frequency modulation to provide high-fidelity sound over broadcast radio. The term "FM band" describes the "frequency band in which FM is used for broadcasting"...

 frequency, 24 hours a day to the Metropolitan Borough of Calderdale
Calderdale
The Metropolitan Borough of Calderdale is a metropolitan borough of West Yorkshire, England, through which the upper part of the River Calder flows, and from which it takes its name...

, and the surrounding areas and around the world online http://www.radiohosting.co.uk:8000/phoenix.m3u. It is owned and run by Phoenix Radio Ltd, which has also previously held six Restricted Service Licence
Restricted Service Licence
A UK Restricted Service Licence , is typically granted to radio stations and television stations broadcasting within the UK to serve a local community or a special event...

s (RSLs) in the past. It was awarded its full-time licence by OFCOM
Ofcom
Ofcom is the government-approved regulatory authority for the broadcasting and telecommunications industries in the United Kingdom. Ofcom was initially established by the Office of Communications Act 2002. It received its full authority from the Communications Act 2003...

, thus becoming, on 10 December 2007, Calderdale's first and only local radio station.
Finances come from a variety of sources, namely advertisements, sponsorship and through training (see below) http://www.phoenixfm.co.uk.
The station also holds summer roadshows around Calderdale http://www.phoenixfm.co.uk/roadshows.htm.

Given the full name of the station, Phoenix Radio 96.7 FM, various interchangeable names are also used, Phoenix FM, Phoenix Radio, Phoenix 96.7 FM and 96.7 Phoenix FM.

Phoenix Radio 96.7FM has more than one slogan, slogans include: 'The Sound Of Calderdale' , 'Brewed To Local Taste' and 'Your Music, Your Talk, Your Life' .
The station also broadcasts RDS text. The RDS name is PHOENIX.

History

Since its conception in 1998, Phoenix Radio 96.7 FM has had six successful broadcasts over the years on restricted service licences. Over that period of time of RSLs it had been broadcasting on two differing frequencies 106.2 FM and 107.2 FM.

In 2005, Phoenix Radio Limited was awarded a full-time license to broadcast on the 96.7 FM frequency, as a local radio station with a format that is community-based. Phoenix Radio is a member of the Community Radio Association whose code of practice is to take positive action to ensure that the needs of the listening audience is met through selective programme scheduling and by listening and acting on what the audience tells the station what they want from the local medium http://www.phoenixfm.co.uk.

The station was launched on Monday 10 December 2007 http://www.phoenixfm.co.uk/latest_updates/item/61635/title/the_people_of_calderdale/date/Dec%2010%202007%2012:00AM.htm, and officially opened by the Mayor of Calderdale. The first programme being Breakfast at 7am.

Technical and broadcast

The studios are based in the Dean Clough complex in Halifax, Calderdale. The transmitter that Phoenix Radio 96.7 FM is broadcast from is sited on Beacon Hill, Bank Top, West Yorkshire.
The station broadcasts to Calderdale and the FM signal can be reached in the surrounding areas of south Bradford
Bradford
Bradford lies at the heart of the City of Bradford, a metropolitan borough of West Yorkshire, in Northern England. It is situated in the foothills of the Pennines, west of Leeds, and northwest of Wakefield. Bradford became a municipal borough in 1847, and received its charter as a city in 1897...

, north Kirklees
Kirklees
The Metropolitan Borough of Kirklees is a metropolitan borough of West Yorkshire, England. It has a population of 401,000 and includes the settlements of Batley, Birstall, Cleckheaton, Denby Dale, Dewsbury, Heckmondwike, Holmfirth, Huddersfield, Kirkburton, Marsden, Meltham, Mirfield and Slaithwaite...

 and south-western Leeds
Leeds
Leeds is a city and metropolitan borough in West Yorkshire, England. In 2001 Leeds' main urban subdivision had a population of 443,247, while the entire city has a population of 798,800 , making it the 30th-most populous city in the European Union.Leeds is the cultural, financial and commercial...

.

Programming

Programming on the station includes a wide variety of music genres from the 1950s to current chart and new music from local, national and international artists, studio-based chat involving the local community, interviews with local people, local organisations to politicians and well-known personalities, as well as highlighting issues which affect the local community such as housing, education, sport, disabilities and local recruitment availability.

Weekday daytime programmes carry mainly 1950s through to contemporary & new music and studio-based chat.
The two prime time programmes on Phoenix Radio 96.7 FM are 'The Bigger Breakfast' http://www.phoenixfm.co.uk/bigger_breakfast_adi_fran.htm http://www.phoenixfm.co.uk/bigger_breakfast_kevin.htm and 'Drivetime' http://www.phoenixfm.co.uk/drivetime_nick_phelps.htm http://www.phoenixfm.co.uk/drivetime_tuesday.htm http://www.phoenixfm.co.uk/drivetime_rob_bray.htm. These programmes also include local traffic and travel reports.

Specialist programmes are usually broadcast on weekday evenings and at weekends. These programmes include local bands music, brass bands, jazz
Jazz
Jazz is a musical style that originated at the beginning of the 20th century in African American communities in the Southern United States. It was born out of a mix of African and European music traditions. From its early development until the present, jazz has incorporated music from 19th and 20th...

, soul
Soul music
Soul music is a music genre originating in the United States combining elements of gospel music and rhythm and blues. According to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, soul is "music that arose out of the black experience in America through the transmutation of gospel and rhythm & blues into a form of...

, dance
Dance music
Dance music is music composed specifically to facilitate or accompany dancing. It can be either a whole musical piece or part of a larger musical arrangement...

, children's & teenagers, blues
Blues
Blues is the name given to both a musical form and a music genre that originated in African-American communities of primarily the "Deep South" of the United States at the end of the 19th century from spirituals, work songs, field hollers, shouts and chants, and rhymed simple narrative ballads...

, heavy metal
Heavy metal music
Heavy metal is a genre of rock music that developed in the late 1960s and early 1970s, largely in the Midlands of the United Kingdom and the United States...

, Irish, multi-cultural programmes, punk
Punk rock
Punk rock is a rock music genre that developed between 1974 and 1976 in the United States, the United Kingdom, and Australia. Rooted in garage rock and other forms of what is now known as protopunk music, punk rock bands eschewed perceived excesses of mainstream 1970s rock...

 and local sport
Sport
A Sport is all forms of physical activity which, through casual or organised participation, aim to use, maintain or improve physical fitness and provide entertainment to participants. Sport may be competitive, where a winner or winners can be identified by objective means, and may require a degree...

 http://www.phoenixfm.co.uk/programmes.htm.

Throughout the night Sunday/Monday to Friday/Saturday, hits from across the decades are played. However, on Saturday nights through to Sunday morning, specialist dance music programmes are broadcast under Phoenix FM's dance music brand 'Saturday Essential' Saturday Essential Presenters are Claire Hunter, Graeme Park, Rob Bray.
http://www.phoenixfm.co.uk/saturday_essential.htm.

'Saturday Essential' replaced the Specialist Bouncy and Bassline House genre show which was broadcast between 8pm until 10pm Saturday nights by Local Halifax DJ Marc Smith. In which local DJs were given the chance to play a DJ set on his show.

Training

With support from the European Social Fund
European Social Fund
The European Social Fund is the European Union’s main financial instrument for supporting employment in the Member States as well as promoting economic and social cohesion. ESF spending amounts to around 10% of the EU’s total budget....

 and the Learning and Skills Council
Learning and Skills Council
The Learning and Skills Council was a non-departmental public body jointly sponsored by the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills and the Department for Children, Schools and Families in England...

, Phoenix Radio Ltd were able to set up a radio-based training scheme for young people aged 16–25, the Phoenix Radio Empower Project, offering the Youth Achievement Award.

Through this training Phoenix went from being an unknown quantity to gaining much support and interest both locally and nationally. Phoenix Radio then became recognised as the first in the country to develop CD-Rom
CD-ROM
A CD-ROM is a pre-pressed compact disc that contains data accessible to, but not writable by, a computer for data storage and music playback. The 1985 “Yellow Book” standard developed by Sony and Philips adapted the format to hold any form of binary data....

 based portfolios for the Youth Achievement Award.

The Phoenix Radio Empower Project was the result of a long-term plan to support the community of Calderdale, in particular the younger people, when the station was off-air (outside RSLs). The Phoenix Radio Empower Project was designed to bring together inclusion and empower young people. Phoenix Radio Limited is now contracted with Entry 2 Employment (e2e) to continue this programme http://www.phoenixfm.co.uk.

Phoenix Radio also provides training for people in community groups who are not familiar with technical skills on radio equipment as well as developing their IT skills. The station aims to build bridges and bridge gaps throughout Calderdale.

External links

The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.  The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.
 
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