Lincs FM Group
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| Industry | Commercial radio |
|---|---|
| Founded | March 1991 |
| Headquarters | Witham Park, Waterside South, Lincoln, LN5 7JN |
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Area served
|
England |
| Products | 9 independent local radio stations |
| Total assets | MuxCo Lincolnshire |
| Divisions | 9 |
| Website | Lincs FM Group |
The Lincs FM Group based in Lincolnshire, in the UK is the parent company of several Independent Local Radio (ILR) stations.
The Lincs FM group started with just Lincs FM in Lincolnshire, UK but has won and acquired licences to operate other local radio stations across the UK's Midlands and Yorkshire regions.
In the early 1990s it sponsored the Lincs FM Novice Hurdle at Market Rasen Racecourse.
Budget cuts within the Lincs FM Group mean that Lincs FM, amongst others within the group, have restricted live programming. The station used to provide live radio 24/7, but now use automation (where the presenter's links between the records are all pre-recorded but made to sound live) between 2200-0600. Lincs FM has the highest output of live broadcasting. Just 3% of locally produced weekday daytime programming is automated.
Each station's logo is green and purple as these are the company colours; these logos feature heavily in each stations merchandise.
The stations previously ran two brands, the "Hits & Memories" brand which is a Soft AC format and the "Music You Love" brand which is an Easy Listening format. The group are now united in carrying the strapline "The difference is...". Both networks operate a centralised music log, and have networked off-peak shows. In the cases of the two Trax FM stations, the stations carry 24 hours a day of networked programming. KCFM, although part of the Music You Love network, carries a different music log from the other three.
Until October 2007 the group was unique in the United Kingdom in that it had grown completely by licence awards, rather than by acquisition of existing stations. As FM licences stopped being advertised in the late 2000s, the group, with a desire to continue growing, made their first acquisition of Oak 107 FM in October 2007 (previously owned by the CN Group), but this station was sold on a few years later to rejoin its former network. This was followed by the acquisition of KCFM in June 2009, previously owned by Planet Broadcasting.
In 2006, the group made a bid to win the Hull licence along with six other groups. The format for the Lincs bid was the same of that of Compass FM; this is thought to be because Lincs FM already overlaps the North East Lincolnshire area. The station went under the working title of "White Rose Radio" to reflect the white rose of Yorkshire. The group did not win the licence and lost out to Kingston upon Hull-based KCFM. However, KCFM became part of the Lincs FM group in June 2009.
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