Dales Radio is a community radio station broadcasting in the Yorkshire Dales in Northern England, to communities including Hawes, Sedbergh, Grassington, Settle, Ingleton and Leyburn. It is the largest community radio station in the United Kingdom in terms of the extent of its broadcast area, but one of the smallest in terms of population.[1]

Dales Radio
  • Broadcast from Settle
  • United Kingdom
Broadcast areaYorkshire Dales
FrequencyFM: 104.9 MHz (Settle,Grassington,Leyburn)
103.0 MHz (Ingleton)
AM: 936 kHz (Hawes)
Programming
FormatCommunity
History
First air date
11 January 2016
Links
WebcastListen Live
Websitedalesradio.co

History

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Dales Radio launched on 11 January 2016, following the closure in 2012 of Fresh Radio, a commercial radio station covering the Yorkshire Dales area. A number of presenters and staff at Dales Radio were previously involved with Fresh Radio.[2]

In 2021, the station began to expand its coverage across the Yorkshire Dales National Park. This involves installing new transmitter sites in unserved parts of the region. A new transmitter at Leyburn, on 104.9 FM, went live on 2 April 2021.[3]

Programming

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Dales Radio is a not-for-profit community radio station and aims to enhance the lives of those living in and visiting the Yorkshire Dales National Park. Much of the station's output consists of pop music and local information, with specialist music shows delivered during off-peak hours. The station's Key Commitments require it to deliver "reports on items of local interest, traffic and travel, weather, public service announcements, interviews and discussions".[4]

Transmission

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Dales Radio broadcasts from an AM transmitter previously used by commercial radio station Fresh Radio.[5] This transmits from a site in Hawes on a frequency of 936kHz with a power of 150 watts and coverage extends across the sparsely populated Yorkshire Dales National Park. The following FM transmitters are also used in populated parts of the region:[6]

Location Frequency ERP (watts)
Grassington 104.9 MHz 50
Ingleton 103.0 MHz 100
Leyburn 104.9 MHz 50
Settle 104.9 MHz 50

The station is licensed to broadcast on FM to the Hawes, Kirkby Stephen and Sedbergh areas and aims to expand into these areas as funds allow.[7]

References

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  1. ^ "About Us". Dales Radio. Retrieved 4 September 2021.
  2. ^ "Dales Radio set to launch in Yorkshire". 3 January 2016.
  3. ^ Willis, Joe (12 March 2021). "Radio station to launch FM service in lower Wensleydale".
  4. ^ "Dales Radio: Key Commitments" (PDF). Ofcom. Archived (PDF) from the original on 5 March 2021.
  5. ^ "mb21 - The Transmission Gallery". tx.mb21.co.uk. Retrieved 4 September 2021.
  6. ^ "Technical parameters for broadcast radio transmitters". Ofcom. 5 August 2021. Retrieved 4 September 2021.
  7. ^ "How To Liste To Dales Radio". Dales Radio. Retrieved 4 September 2021.
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