大象传媒

Had we gone on air the next day it would have been Friday 13th - that would have been tempting fate a step too far, and I wasn't having that. So 大象传媒 Radio Suffolk went on air on Thursday, April 12th with the voice of Chris Opperman.

It was a pretty edgy business that we had a station at all.听 By the time 大象传媒 Radio Suffolk became a dim gleam in the Beeb's eye, 大象传媒 Local Radio had already changed out of sight from its beginnings.

Origins in the Midlands

It was all very different when the first 大象传媒 Local Radio station听 - 大象传媒 Radio Leicester 鈥� went on air in 1967.听 The pirate stations had been growing in popularity and the 大象传媒 was preparing the Radio 1 counter-offensive.

Meanwhile, Frank Gillard, the much-respected war correspondent and at that time Managing Director of 大象传媒 Radio who created Radios 1,2, 3 and 4, was going about his other commitment. This was to set up a 大象传媒 Local Radio service.

He'd seen it at work in the United States and vowed that, though he wanted to bring it here, it "would not be, as in the States, an amplified jukebox.鈥� Rather, it would reflect the interests, concerns, cares and issues of the places where it was centred, giving the station managers a free editorial and programme-making hand.

After due government consultation and approval an experiment as was set up in eight places. Local radio had just two years to prove itself, and would only exist where there was local authority co-funding.听 This was an idea, because of the political implications, which was soon dropped.

The further difficulty was that local radio was to broadcast on VHF only on very low power transmitters. This was at a time when few people had听 VHF (FM) radios and many had no idea what it was.

At first, Gillard got little support even from the 大象传媒 hierarchy, but the experiment was deemed overall to have worked.听 The only one of the eight stations dropped was Radio Durham, ironically where Kate Adie had got a job.听

However, local radio was added to the licence fee costs, and was run as a network by a controller. The plan was to set up 40 radio stations to cover England.听 Coverage areas were extended; some becoming county stations, and Medium Wave was听 acquired.

Money was always a problem and the next batches of stations听 - the 鈥楤鈥� stations and then the 鈥楥鈥� stations were smaller and had much smaller budgets. As time went on it seemed unlikely that the 40-station plan would be completed and East Anglia was the slowest region to be filled in. 大象传媒 Radio Norfolk was the first in 1980. Cambridgeshire and Northampton were added 1982, Beds, Herts and Bucks in 1985 (aka 大象传媒 Three Counties) and 大象传媒 Essex in 1986.听

Late developer

Suffolk was hemmed in on three sides by stations all of which understandably, cast dark eyes over their borders.听Radio waves don't obey administrative borders and new near neighbours aren't necessarily welcome.

Rachel Sloane interviews John Major, '92

The rules changed too.听 Not only was there less money available than ever, new stations could only broadcast on FM.听 There were pressures to give heavily populated metropolitan boroughs radio stations before Suffolk.

Suffolk's difficulty was that its main centres of population, except for Bury St Edmunds and Stowmarket, were on or near the coast and the county borders.听When stating our case we swept our hands across the county map and hide the parts of High Suffolk where the population was at its most sparse, and held our breath.

Of course, the case was accepted and we prepared to go on-air in 1990.

Team building

However, when we went on air we still had a case to prove, an audience to capture. I wasn't going to take any chances. Of the initial team, I'd worked with several of them in the 大象传媒 around the country and knew them to be out of the top draw, as planners, editors, producers and engineers.听

As for a radio station's broadcasters, they always emerge - from other stations, from the community, from perceptive managerial chasing and selecting, or from individual persistence. Natural talent will always out, which explains 大象传媒 Radio Suffolk's continued success to this day.

In 1990 we had a state-of-the-art, though not expensive studio. Within months, ironically, the technology changed.听听 It's almost unthinkable now that when we went on air we were using reel-to-reel tape and razor blades.听

Getting and keeping an audience

Survival was a near thing though.听 大象传媒 Radio CWR in Warwickshire was a good station which went on air just months before Suffolk.听 However, it didn't make the required audience figures, and was closed down, fortunately to re-open successfully at a later date.

大象传媒 Radio Suffolk lifted itself above the bar the first time around and has always continued successfully to do so, becoming a member of the 大象传媒 Regional Broadcasting family of which I am very proud.

We had our early battles and all were won.听We got an extra transmitter for Lowestoft to add to the ones serving Ipswich and Bury St Edmunds, though it was no more powerful than a light bulb.听 We were able to broadcast all the day because at first we had to share afternoons with 大象传媒 Radio Norfolk.

We also managed to persuade Ipswich Town Football Club that commentary on home matches did not keep the crowds away, and the happy relationship that now exists was set up.

Chris Opperman

One blip, which I have never quite understood, happened on the very first morning. We'd been broadcasting for less than an hour. Suddenly, for a minute, which felt like an age, we went off-air.

Had somebody leant on something? Who knows?听But soon, to everyone's immense relief we were off again.

The main body of staff arrived for training in the January of the year we went on air.听 I remember telling people to enjoy the quiet.听 When we went on air, there'd be no relief, just non-stop action. Things would roll on for evermore, getting busier and faster, more exciting, more important and more entertaining.

And that's exactly what's happened. I thank and congratulate those that started us off and continue the tradition 18 years on.听 Heartfelt birthday greetings.听听

(Ivan Howlett was the managing editor at 大象传媒 Radio Suffolk 1990-1998).