The History of Celtic Music Radio
The initial seeds of Celtic Music Radio go back several years when regular Celtic Connections Festival-goer Bob McWilliam realised that this genre of music and the culture of Scotland was not getting the exposure it deserved, how artists were marginalised, and how there is a social gain need to support emerging new artists and to keep the culture alive.
With the possibility of Community Radio on the horizon, Bob gathered together a team of like-minded individuals to make the project a reality.
Ken Macdonald joined with his background in Scottish culture and treasurer of the Glasgow Star Folk Club. Then Mark Sheridan, Head of Department, Creative and Aesthetic Studies, University of Strathclyde, Glasgow enthusiastically embraced the project as did Alex Jenkins, a community worker whom Bob had known since the Paisley Local Radio RSLs in 1990 and 1991 and the launch of Q96 in September 1992. Next Brian McNeill, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, performer of international recognition and Head of Department, Traditional Music & Piping and Performance Studies at the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama in Glasgow supported the project.
The legal entity Celtic Music Radio Limited was registered at Companies House, Edinburgh. The company number SC271561 was registered on 4th August 2004.
The group then set about preparing for an application for a Community Radio Licence in the late summer of 2004. The application was lodged with Ofcom on 18th November 2004 with an unsuccessful decision on 15th June 2005.
Undaunted, the group decided to progress by putting into practice elements of the licence proposition using Europe’s biggest winter music festival as a showcase and trial.
In the autumn of 2005, Celtic Music Radio became an organisation member of the Community Media Association.
An Ofcom RSL (Restricted Service Licence) was arranged to tie-in with the 13th Celtic Connections festival in Glasgow during January 2006 with ‘FM 106.6 Celtic Music Radio’ becoming a reality with live broadcasts from The Glasgow Royal Concert Hall for the 22 days of the festival, which included 66 hours of ‘live’ stage performance broadcast.
A mix of individuals new to broadcasting, production and presentation joined students from the Graduate Diploma in Broadcast Journalism course at Bell College, Hamilton, Lanarkshire and students in HNC Radio Broadcasting and HNC/HND Sound Production from North Glasgow College to provide an outstanding RSL for the festival event which attracts some 100,000 attendees.
During 2006 the group consolidated its relationship with the University of Strathclyde to bring about a strong partnership which will deliver mutual rewards in educational gain and support.
The group acquired broadcast studio equipment in July 2006 which was formerly used at Lanarkshire local commercial radio station Clan FM (latterly 107 The Edge) This local station closed in November 2005. The equipment includes a Sonifex Sovereign 10 channel and 5 channel broadcast desks, associated furniture and ancillary
equipment including CTA rack and wiring.
This has made the group self sufficient for a second RSL granted for Celtic Connections 2007 when Celtic Music Radio was once again on 106.6 FM in the Glasgow area.
Following the January 2007 broadcast, Celtic Music Radio was awarded an ‘Awards for All Scotland’ National Lottery grant to enable PC based radio studio and associated equipment to enable the station to launch an Online streaming audio service on the internet.
This Online service launched on Monday 3rd September 2007 to coincide with another Ofcom RSL broadcast on 106.6 FM for the 8th Scottish International Piano Competition 2007, a festival of piano playing and music from 5th to 15th September 2007 at the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama, Glasgow and The City Halls, Candleriggs, Glasgow.
Celtic Music Radio broadcast ‘live’ the Opening Recital from the Concert Hall within the RSAMD on Thursday 6th September 2007 at 19:30.
Stage 1 and Stage 2 Recitals were broadcast online and locally in Glasgow on 106.6 FM plus on partner website www.seeglasgow.com
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The big news of 2007 was the award of an Ofcom Community Radio Licence on 11 July 2007.
Following a formal application in January 2007, the company was offered a licence to broadcast on the AM medium waveband. The reason for not broadcasting on the regular FM waveband is due to the lack of available FM frequencies in the Glasgow area.
During the summer and autumn of 2007, the station progressed with AM/MW transmission arrangements. Broadcasting on the AM medium wave band is more of a challenge in terms of aerial design and transmitter equipment and costs. FM transmission is relatively simple in that the transmitters are low power and now very compact. With FM, aerial height above ground and clear line of sight is very important; this is not the case so much with AM transmission as a good ground earth and a water table with moist surroundings are more important.
For this reason a transmission site on the banks of the River Clyde was chosen. Ofcom allocated and clear the AM frequency 1530 kHz for use. During late November 2007, the aerial system was erected and aerial ground works were completed ready for the instillation of the Redifon BT 500 mark 2 series transmitter in January 2008.
The transmitter and aerial system, which is of a top loaded monopole design, was commissioned by Ofcom engineering staff and given the all clear for Celtic Music Radio to commence regular programming transmissions on 1530 kHz at 15:30 on Wednesday 16 January 2008.
The studio base within the Hunter Centre for Entrepreneurship www.entrepreneur.strath.ac.uk, at the University of Strathclyde continues to be upgraded with the latest available technology to improve and provide the best programme content.
After four years of campaigning and trial broadcasts, Celtic Music Radio is now a full-time reality.
Celtic Music Radio on 1530 AM and Online is now on-air permanently to serve a community of interest and consumers alike.
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