Radio Victory
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| Broadcast area |
Portsmouth & Isle of Wight |
|---|---|
| Frequency | 95.0 MHz VHF & 1169/1170 kHz MW |
| First air date | 14 October 1975 |
| Format | Contemporary |
| Owner | Various |
Radio Victory was the independent local radio (ILR) station for Portsmouth in southern England. It was launched on 14 October 1975 and served south Hampshire, West Sussex and the Isle of Wight initially until 1986, with various later reincarnations. It took its name from the famous historic ship HMS Victory which is preserved at Portsmouth.
Victory was one of the first 19 independent stations in the UK, all of which started broadcasting between 1973 and 1976. Its studios were based in Fratton, Portsmouth. Its FM transmitter, on 95.0 MHz, was at Fort Widley. Despite a power of only 0.2 kW, the signal reached Southampton and across the Isle of Wight quite well. The station also broadcast on Medium Wave 257m (1169 kHz, later moving to 1170 kHz) from Farlington Marshes with a power of 0.2 kW.
Victory had three managing directors throughout its life – Guy Paine, John Russell, and finally Bruce Jenkins. Housed in St Mary's Institute in Portsmouth's Fratton Road, its address was PO Box 257, Portsmouth PO1 5RT.
For most of its life, Victory transmitted from 6 am to 1 am Mondays–Fridays, 6 am to 2 am Saturdays and 7 am to midnight on Sundays. This increased to 24-hour broadcasting from the start of the Falklands Conflict. Newsreader Penny Guy broadcast news of the first UK warship casualty—the sinking of HMS Sheffield. Listeners were unaware her fiancé Derek was aboard the vessel, and she had no idea if he was alive or dead. (He survived, and they wed shortly afterwards.)
In 1985 the Independent Broadcasting Authority failed to renew the station's licence, and it ceased broadcasting on 28 June 1986 at 12 pm after 10 years and around 257 days on air, despite a local campaign to save it. Fratton Road in Portsmouth was jammed solid with traffic, drivers blaring their horns in tribute as the airwaves fell silent for the last time. Victory was the first ILR station to lose its franchise (although two others, Centre Radio and Gwent Broadcasting, went off air after going bankrupt).
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