Beverley FM broadcasting to Beverley and District on 107.8FM
Fri 27th January 2017
For many of us, January 20th 2015, the day Beverley FM first started broadcasting was just as important a day as 30th September 1967 when Tony Blackburn launched Radio 1. Why? Because at last we had something which was relevant to us, something which spoke to us and something which involved us.
David Fewster is the driving force behind Beverley FM. It took a year to get a license and then a further 6-months to get on-air, during which time his team honed their presentation skills, planned the programmes and built the music library. David told Just Beverley: “I always felt Beverley and its surrounding villages was neglected by other local broadcast media, which seemed to prioritise Hull. Fortunately, many others agreed with me! We have a team of 58 volunteers who work as trustees, presenters, administrators, technical support, researchers and more. Beverley Town Council and East Riding of Yorkshire Council have been very supportive - I can’t thank them, and all our supporters, enough. “Once we started broadcasting, we were then able to offer advertising opportunities to businesses. Being local, we are able to create the right platform for our advertisers, who we know are happy with the response from our listeners, because they tell us! But because we are a community station, only 50% of our revenue can come from commercial sources; the other 50% has to come from local government grants or donations of cash or donated labour. Cashflow is a constant battle as we are not a registered charity.”
Despite the challenges of limited income, Beverley FM was able to move to new premises last year; the new premises mean they now have a second studio. This means that presenters can record programmes whilst others are broadcasting live. In the past, presenters had to either book studio times when a pre-recorded programme was going out, or record elsewhere, which may have meant reduced quality. Now every programme is of superb quality.
Local and international news, travel and sport are just as important as the music and the chat of the presenters. Beverley FM’s own music bank has 28,000 tracks, which, if played one after the other would take around 78 days to play! However, should anyone request a song, tune or piece of music which is not in the bank, jazz presenter Billy Bell has 10s of 1000s of tracks and Head of Music, Andy Fea has 105,000! There is music everywhere!
John Brien also has a vast, but eclectic musical collection. He presents a programme every Sunday called ‘My stroll through the World of Music’ where almost anything goes. His aim is to introduce all kinds of music to different people. If you’re a folk fan, there’ll be some prog rock; if you like Gilbert and Sullivan there’ll be some jazz; if you like classical there’ll be rock and roll.
John told Just Beverley: “When I first met Dave Fewster, I had this idea of playing music from anywhere in the world from any point in history and it kind of works. I had the idea when listening to some bazookie music in Cyprus. How often do you hear that on the radio? My only rule is not to let bad language sneak in - but it did once when I played ‘Money’ by Pink Floyd, so I do apologise! I like to tell stories about the music, where it has come from, where I’ve heard it, when it was written, what it was played on. I love it when people send me obscure stuff, too. I also do the Tuesday afternoon show and just love the enthusiasm - Beverley FM really does buzz!”
It is great to know that Beverley FM is one of the most successful community stations ever launched, which is because it does what it set out to do - work for the community. There are always opportunities for interested people to get involved, learn about the station and maybe even have a go at presenting. David is always on the look-out for volunteers, because everyone involved brings the spirit of Beverley and the surrounding villages to the station. If you would like to find out more, why not check out the website and complete an application form?
