Delta FM
| Broadcast area | East Hampshire South West Surrey North West Sussex |
|---|---|
| Frequency | 97.1, 101.6, 101.8 and 102.0 MHz |
| First air date | January 1990 |
| Format | Local radio playing a mix of current and classic hits |
| Audience share | 7.9% (June 2009, [1]) |
| Owner | Tindle Radio |
Delta FM was a United Kingdom local radio station, broadcasting to East Hampshire, South West Surrey and North West Sussex. The station provided local news, community information, and specialist music programming to the towns of Alton, Petersfield, Haslemere, Liphook, Bordon, Four Marks, Hindhead and Midhurst.
The station broadcast 24 hours a day from its studio centre in Bordon, Hampshire. These studios were opened at the end of 2005 and were equipped with the latest broadcasting technology. Delta originally operated two separate studios, one in Prospect Place, Alton, and another in Weyhill, Haslemere.
The original Delta Radio first broadcast in January 1990. It was the brainchild of County Sound CEO, Mike Powell who successfully lobbied the Radio Authority for permission to put separate programming for the Haslemere district on what was originally intended to be a relay transmitter for Guildford's County Sound. The station was launched by County Sound's Terry Mann, formerly Programme Director of Radio 210, Reading.
After County Sound merged with Radio Mercury to form Allied Radio, Delta Radio was closed down by its new owners in 1992 and the transmitter went back to being a relay. However, when Mike Powell's UKRD Group won the Guildford licence (after it came up for renewal), Delta Radio was relaunched in 1996. Wey Valley Radio had already been operating as a full-time service in nearby Alton and Four Marks since 1992. This station was launched as a "community" station by David Way and Paul Mann after years of campaigning for such a licence and is still the licence holder today. It was acquired by UKRD in 1994.
The decision to merge the two stations together operationally was made in 1998 and the Wey Valley service was renamed Delta, and then in 2000, the Haslemere licence (which had previously been a part of the Surrey and North East Hampshire franchise) was merged with the Alton licence to finally form a single radio station.
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