Public File

It is a regulatory requirement that community radio stations in the UK hold a Public File.

The information and links below comprise the Public File for Radio Ninesprings.

More information about the Public File obligation can be found at: www.ofcom.org.uk

STATION NAME:
Radio Ninesprings.

CHARACTER OF SERVICE:
Local community radio service for the area of Yeovil and South Somerset focused on local and community news, local issues, public service messages

LICENCE NUMBER:
CR102137BA/1

LICENSED AREA:
Yeovil and South Somerset

FREQUENCY:
104.5 MHz (FM) Yeovil and South Somerset

103.3. MHz (FM) Wincanton and Bruton

107.6 (FM) Chard and Ilminster

STUDIO ADDRESS AND REGISTERED OFFICE:
The Little Shop, Huish Park Stadium, Lufton Way, Yeovil, Somerset BA22 8YF

PHONE:
01935 319000

STATION MANAGER: Steve Haigh

TECHNICAL MANAGER: Adrian Dening

PROGRAMME MANAGER: Steve Carpenter

SERVICE DURATION: 24 hours.

LOCALLY MADE PROGRAMMING:
Locally made programming produced within the licensed area.

LOCALLY MADE HOURS:
24 hours each day.

NEWS BULLETINS:
Local news for Yeovil and South Somerset on the half-hour between 7 am and 7 pm Monday to Friday.

UK-wide and international news on the hour 24 hours 7 days a week.

PROGRAMME SCHEDULE: CLICK HERE

Radio Ninesprings broadcasts local weather 24 hours a day.

Travel Bulletins are broadcast in our Breakfast and Drive shows as well as on Saturday mornings.

MUSIC:
Radio Ninesprings plays adult contemporary music with a wide variety of songs. Popular songs from the last 50 years are played as well as recent and current hits that highlight the best of today's music together with music performed by local artists and bands.

LOCAL INFORMATION AND SUPPORT:
Radio Ninesprings supports local charities and voluntary organisations.
To broadcast an appeal  CONTACT US.

NEWS CONTACT INFORMATION:
If you have an item of local/community news CONTACT US

If you would like us to publicise a Charity or Fundraising Event  ENTER YOUR EVENT HERE

The Office of Communications, OFCOM, is the independent regulator and competition authority for the UK communication industry with responsibilities across television, radio, telecommunications, and wireless communications services. For more information on Ofcom see their website: www.ofcom.org.uk

If you have a complaint about something you have heard on Radio Ninesprings contact our Station Manager, Steve Haigh on 07836 246678 or email: info@radioninesprings.co.uk (mark for attention of the Station Manager).

You can complain to Ofcom by phone 020 7981 3040 or email: communityradio@ofcom.org.uk

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ANNUAL REPORTS:

Resume of the Year to May 2017 to April 2018: The charitable purposes of Radio Ninesprings are to advance the education and training of the inhabitants of Yeovil and the district of South Somerset in radio production, broadcasting and media skills techniques. The company was formed on 15 April 2013 as a Community Interest Company under the name of Radio Yeovil Community Interest Company. The company registration number is 08488902. The company changed its name to Radio Ninesprings on 29 April 2016 and changed its status to a company limited by guarantee and is governed by its Memorandum and Articles of Association. Registration as a charity was obtained on 15 July 2016, registration number 1168243. 

Volunteers: Currently, 54 volunteers are registered with Radio Ninesprings who are mostly students studying media at Yeovil College. Our volunteers have engaged in various activities that have included recording the Yeovil Mayor’s Civic Service and broadcasting on FM Yeovil Show Radio. 

Achievements and Performance: Local support for Radio Ninesprings was built through attending public events with our outside broadcast van to provide the public address and record performances. 
A ‘pop-up’ radio station was run in an empty shop in the Quedam Shopping Centre, Yeovil and students studying media at Yeovil College were provided with training and work experience. Interviews were recorded and a website was built for our Oral History project marking 100 years of Westland Helicopters in Yeovil. A film telling the story of the Westland World Helicopter Speed Record was produced with the involvement of students studying film and media at Yeovil College. 

Results and Future Developments in the Business of the Company: Radio Ninesprings was awarded a 5-year FM community radio licence by Ofcom in November 2017 and plans to begin live broadcasting by May/June 2018. 

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Resume of the Year May 2018 to April 2019: Compensation was paid by Wessex Water for the flood event of July 2017. It meant that kit/studio furniture, damaged by the flood event, could be replaced. A studio was built and a transmitter was put up at the local football ground. A station sound - unique to Yeovilandand a computer play-out programme created. Local advertising was sold. A team of Presenters was assembled. With the help of pigeons flying to local main towns with the message that Radio Ninesprings was now on-air, the station launched at 10 am, Sunday, 30th September 2018. The on-air opening was performed by Yeovil Mayor, Cllr David Recardo. Industrial placements were given to 3x students studying B'Tec media at Yeovil College. A 16-year-old student at Preston School, Yeovil, was given his own radio show. A carol concert was recorded at St John's Church, Yeovil and broadcast on Christmas Day. A local sports show - Sports Zone - was introduced on Saturdays. A guest interview slot was introduced at 9.15 am on weekdays with all manner of issues discussed. A show featuring local bands/musical artists was introduced on Sundays from 4 - 6 pm. Local news was broadcast every hour. Parish councils and voluntary groups submitted information for a bulletin of hyper-local Community News broadcast every hour. 

Results and Future Developments in the Business of the Company: Radio Ninesprings has been granted additional FM transmitters in Chard and Wincanton. This will improve coverage on FM across the whole of South Somerset. Radio Ninesprings has submitted an 'expression of interest' in a small-scale DAB. Radio Ninesprings will make a formal application for DAB when licenses are advertised. 

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Resume of the Year May 2019 to April 2020: This report was written at the start of the Coronavirus pandemic. The radio station has put in place working arrangements to allow the station to keep broadcasting and for volunteers to not attend at the studio. Our Daytime Presenters have been provided with equipment for home working and are presenting programmes from home using remote access to the playout system. The station has achieved a great deal during its first full year of broadcasting. New programmes, including Classic Years at the Weekend, Lucky 13 and Home Run were introduced. Community News was played regularly and travel and traffic news was added to the schedule. The daily interview at 9.30 on the Breakfast Show was heavily booked with local speakers. The Mayor of Yeovil was interviewed in ‘Mayor on the Air’ each month. The station provided coverage of the local council elections with the leaders of each political party standing interviewed for broadcast. A partnership was formed with BBC Radio Somerset. Broadcast material was shared between the stations with Radio Somerset providing local news to Radio Ninesprings. Training was delivered through Yeovil College with students studying B’Tec Creative Media given work experience. An agreement was reached with landowners to site the new Chard FM transmitter at Cricket St Thomas Golf Club and the new Wincanton FM transmitter at Wincanton racecourse. Grant applications were made to town and parish councils and other funding organisations to help pay towards the new transmitters. The pandemic has, however, stalled progress on installing the new FM transmitters and we cannot be certain of a date when the new transmitters will be installed and working. 

Results and Future Developments in the Business of the Company: The radio station looks forward to the new FM transmitters in Chard and Wincanton being installed and switched on and to developing new audiences within the extended broadcast area. The extension of our broadcast area to include Chard/Ilminster and Wincanton/Bruton will provide opportunities to grow our income and generate new on-air content. To this end, we plan to establish the role of Programme Manager and role of Business Manager. Greater emphasis will be placed on building relationships with businesses, voluntary groups and community leaders, as the radio station seeks to provide an unrivalled service of community radio to Yeovil and South Somerset. 

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Resume of the Year May 2020 to April 2021; This report was written during the ongoing Coronavirus pandemic. The radio station continued to operate within Covid-19 restrictions, pretty much as normal. Presenters were provided with equipment to broadcast from home studios. The quality and range of the output was maintained throughout. Public information adverts to support the Covid-19 vaccination programme were broadcast. The station was not paid for playing the ads and the issue of non-payment for playing public service ads remains a contentious issue. Listeners praised the localness of our programmes. especially those people who live alone and view the station as a ‘friend in the room’. The Editors of parish and community magazines contributed to the Community News. Local News was broadcast in each hour. Due to Covid-19 restrictions, the 9.30 interview on the Breakfast Show was abandoned. Our partnership with BBC Radio Somerset thrived. The material was shared with BBC Radio Somerset and Somerset's other CR stations. BBC Radio Somerset continued to provide local news copy to Radio Ninesprings. A media training programme was delivered on a contract with Somerset Skills and Learning. New FM transmitters were switched on in Chard and Wincanton, extending the station's reach to the whole of South Somerset. The station was successful with grant applications to town and parish councils to contribute towards the costs of providing new transmitters. 

Results and Future Developments in the Business of the Company: The station looks forward to improving the signal strength on its FM transmitters in Chard and Wincanton and will be asking OFCOM to grant a power increase on both frequencies. The power upgrade will improve reception on FM of Radio Ninesprings and enable the station to generate new revenue streams through advertising in Chard and Wincanton. The station will seek further contracts to provide training to Somerset Skills and Learning. We expect a licencing opportunity to be advertised to operate SSDAB (Small Scale DAB) for Yeovil and South Somerset within the next two years. Radio Ninesprings will apply to run this service when the licence is advertised. 

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Resume of the Year May 2021 to April 2022; The radio station continued to operate within the Covid-19 restrictions between May 2021 and April 2022. Our Presenters had equipment provided to set up home studios to avoid travel to the radio station to broadcast. The quality and range of the output was maintained throughout. Presenters used Team Viewer to access our Myriad play-out system and other recorded audio was sent as MP3 files to upload. Public information adverts were broadcast to continue our support for the Covid-19 vaccination programme. The station was not paid for playing the ads and the issue of non-payment for playing public service ads remains a contentious issue. A new Community Show was introduced each Thursday from 7 to 9 pm with local people talking about issues relevant to Yeovil and South Somerset. As in previous years, the radio station was praised for the localness of its programmes, especially by those people who live alone and view the station as a ‘friend in the room’. Parish and community magazines continued to submit local stories and information from their areas to include in Community News. Local News was broadcast on the half-hour from 7 am to 7 pm Monday to Friday. Our partnership with BBC Radio Somerset continued to build. There was regular sharing of broadcast material with BBC Radio Somerset and Somerset's seven other local CR stations. BBC Radio Somerset continued to provide local news copy to Radio Ninesprings. A learning project in partnership with the High Sheriff of Somerset’s Crimebeat Fund is currently in progress with students at Strode College. 

Results and Future Developments in the Business of the Company; The station looks forward to improving the signal strength on FM in Yeovil, Chard and Wincanton and will submit an application to OFCOM for a power increase on 104.5 - 103.3 - 107.6 FM. The improved reception will enable the station to generate new revenue streams through advertising in areas where FM reception could be better. We expect that OFCOM will advertise a licencing opportunity to operate SSDAB (Small Scale DAB) for Yeovil and South Somerset within the next eighteen months. Radio Ninesprings will apply to run the service when the licence is advertised.

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Resume of the Year May 2022 to April 2023; 

The station continued to thrive with the quality and range of the output maintained throughout the period. A project was developed with students studying media at Strode FE College making public service messages to promote anti-crime initiatives funded through the High Sheriff of Somerset’s Crimebeat Fund. A partnership was formed with the Business Club at Yeovil Town Football Club, where our studio and main transmitter (104.5 FM) are based. The partnership generated advertising and programme sponsorship. Our radio car was entered in the South Somerset Carnival Circuit and took part in carnival parades held in Chard, Ilminster and Wincanton. A grant was given by Somerset Council to produce a Business Plan to launch a service of Democracy Radio for Somerset. The project is in development and further meetings are planned with Somerset Council to explore running Democracy Radio on SSDAB. Interviews broadcast in The Community Show with local people and voluntary groups provided news clips for our Local News that runs on the half-hour, 7 am to 7 pm, Monday to Friday. The station continued to win recognition for the localness of its programming, especially from people who live alone and view the station as a ‘friend in the room’. Parish and community magazines continued to submit local information and items of local news from their areas. Broadcast material was shared with BBC Radio Somerset and Somerset’s other CR stations. BBC Radio Somerset continued to provide a service of local news copy to Radio Ninesprings. Our Presenters continued to work from home studios, using Team Viewer to access our Myriad play-out system. We started home working during the Covid restrictions and, as it had worked so successfully, we saw no reason to change this way of working when the restrictions were lifted.

Results and Future Developments in the Business of the Company; OFCOM is due to advertise a licence opportunity to operate SSDAB (Small Scale DAB) for Yeovil and South Somerset in 2024. Radio Ninesprings will apply to run the service when the licence is advertised.

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May 2023 to April 2024

The year was one of consolidation for Radio Ninesprings. Given a weakening 
local economy, the aim was for the station to end the period in much the same 
position as the year had started. However, with shop and other business
closures, our advertising revenues were down on the previous year. Income 
remains a major concern with the increased costs of running the radio station. On 
recruitment, two new presenters joined the station, each having
broadcasting experience and settling in quickly to host their new evening 
shows. A project with students studying media at Strode FE College making 
public service messages to promote anti-crime initiatives was launched on-air. 
Our programming continued to win praise for its localness, especially from 
people living alone and view the station as a ‘friend in the room’. We 
entered our radio car in the South Somerset Carnival Circuit for a second 
year, taking part in parades in Chard, Ilminster, and Wincanton. One of our 
new shows – the People’s Play List broadcast on Monday from 7 to 9 pm has
generated the station's highest number of listener interactions. Interviews were broadcast 
on The Community Show and these provided clips for our Local News bulletins. A 
programme of carols, introduced by the Vicar of Yeovil, was broadcast on 
Christmas Day. The Editors of community magazines submitted information and 
items of local news. We continued to share broadcast material with BBC Radio Somerset and other CR stations. Digital engagement continued to grow, with evidence showing that 
greater numbers of people now listen to Radio Ninesprings on smart speakers.

Results and Future Developments in the Business of the Company; OFCOM 
has advertised a licence to operate SSDAB for Yeovil (Round Six). Radio 
Ninesprings has applied for the licence and is awaiting a decision. Currently, 
opportunities are being advertised for other radio stations to take space on the 
Yeovil SSDAB.