107.1 Rugby FM

107.1 Rugby FM was an Independent Local Radio station in Warwickshire. At the time of closure, it was owned and operated by Quidem and broadcast from studios at Honiley, Warwickshire.

107.1 Rugby FM
Broadcast areaRugby
Frequency107.1 MHz
Programming
FormatAdult Contemporary
Ownership
OwnerQuidem
History
First air date31 August 2002
Technical information
Transmitter coordinates52.3750°N 1.2685°W / 52.3750; -1.2685
Links
Websitewww.rugbyfm.co.uk

History

Under the directorship of Martin Mumford, 107.1 Rugby FM launched on 31 August 2002—former Silk FM controller Trevor Thomas was the first voice on-air, also working as the station's programme manager, before leaving to join Warwickshire neighbour The Bear 102.

The station, then owned by the Milestone Group, enjoyed considerable success, and was lauded at one point as the UK's most successful local commercial radio station in terms of audience reach - once at 44% (RAJAR Q2 2005) - attributed to an emphasis on local presence, and presenters who were recruited on the basis of quality. They also enjoyed a substantially different music policy to that of its competitors. Following Mumford's departure in 2005, Julian Hotchkiss became Managing Director of Rugby FM but left a year later following the CN Group's acquisition of the station in early 2006. The group had been a minority shareholder until this point.

From 2002 until 2008, the station was based at studios on Spring Street in the heart of the town centre. The CN Group acquisition had a number of far-reaching consequences on the output, notably the loss of 20 hours a day of local programming, and the studios being moved out of Rugby town centre into a regional hub in Kenilworth.

Between 2007 and 2009, the CN Group divested of its Midlands radio stations. First to be sold was Oak 107 FM, which went to the Lincs FM Group, who merged it with their licence in nearby Hinckley. Touch FM Banbury was sold a year later to a private consortium, and was subsequently rebranded as Banbury Sound. The remaining Touch stations, with Rugby FM, were sold to Quidem Ltd in Summer 2009, with Banbury Sound picked back up in October 2010 and Oak FM picked up in 2012.

In September 2019, Quidem announced it had entered a brand licensing agreement with Global, citing financial losses.[1] Two months later, following permission from Ofcom to change the station's format,[2] it was confirmed Rugby FM would merge with its sister Quidem-owned stations and launch as Capital Mid-Counties on 2 December 2019.[3] Rugby FM ceased broadcasting at 7pm on Friday 29 November 2019.

In December 2019 a local online community radio station manned by volunteers, Daventry Radio set up a second station Rugby Radio which merged into Rugby And Daventry RADio. The team of 30 volunteers produce a mix of pre-recorded and live programmes hyper-focused on the communities surrounding the two towns.

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References
  1. Quidem enters brand licensing agreement with Global, Radio Today, 2 September 2019
  2. Ofcom approves format changes for Quidem stations, Radio Today, 14 November 2019
  3. Global confirms Capital FM to replace Quidem stations, Radio Today, 27 November 2019
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