Ocean FM

From Free net encyclopedia

1 Overview
2 History
3 New Studios
4 The Gold AM and The Light FM
5 Mergers, takeovers and relaunches
6 Ocean FM today
7 FM and AM Transmtters
8 Slogans
9 References
10 Links
11 External links

Overview

Ocean FM is a British commercial radio station serving South Hampshire, West Sussex and the Isle of Wight primarily for Portsmouth and Southampton. Originally called Ocean Sound it plays Hot AC music together with hourly local news and information. The station is unusual in having two sister stations- Power FM, also serving South Hampshre and the Isle of Wight, and Capital Gold 1170/1557 AM. Power FM is a complementary station, featuring mainly contemporary pop and dance music, whilst Capital Gold is a syndicated Oldies music station, with local hourly news. Ocean FM broadcasts on 96.7 MHz and 97.5 MHz FM, DAB Digital Radio and online [1].

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History

Ocean Sound's predecessor, Radio Victory provided the first local radio service in the South of England in 1975 within its small transmission area around Portsmouth. The station was disliked my many listeners and when the Independent Broadcasting Authority re-advertised the Portsmouth licence to include Southampton and Winchester, it lost out to a new consortium called Ocean Sound Ltd. Ocean Sound proposed an expanded coverage area , taking in Southampton. Radio Victory ceased operations in 1985, a couple of weeks earlier than the expiry date of its franchise, with test transmission informing listeners of the unprecedented situation. Ocean Sound took over programme provision in 1986 from a new purpose built broadcast unit in a business park outside Fareham, Hampshire.

Ocean Sound debuted on 12 October 1986, initally with two services- Ocean Sound (West) , covering Southampton and Winchester, and Ocean Sound (East) serving Portsmouth and the surrounding area. Ocean Sound (West) used 103.2 MHz FM and 1557 kHz AM. Ocean Sound (East) used 97.5 MHz FM and 1170 kHz AM. The East service underwent a change of frequency which was inherited by Radio Victory (from 95.0 MHz to 97.5 MHz FM). Both services shared daytime output with specialist programmes broadcasting uniquely on each service- for instance on Saturday afternoons, an Isle of Wight programme with Jean-Paul Hensford would air on Ocean Sound (West), while an alternative would air on Ocean Sound (East). This was prior to the enforced termination of simulcasting programmes on FM and AM, which would see both services transformed.

The reason that two statoins launched, rather than an expanded solo station is that Managing Director, David Lucas identified a potential audience in which one was familiar with commercial radio in the East area, whilst one was not (the West area, which the majority of local listening was to BBC Radio Solent). Ocean Sound (East) sounded livelier that its West counterpart, which took on a more softer sound.

The new stations were a refreshing change, as listeners to Radio Victory lamented their lack of professionalism and a lack of a coherent, agreable sound, both of which were greatly improved. The slogan used at the time- "We're on your wavelength" suggested this.

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New Studios

Once the franchise was won, Ocean Sound needed brand-new state of the art studios in Segenswoth East, a district outside Fareham, beside the M27 motorway Hampshire. This move to base themselves outside the two major cities of Southampton and Portsmouth was a strategic one as to not appear sounding biased in favour of either city and to remove any lingering associations with Radio Victory, which was a poorly received radio station primarily focused on Portsmouth.

The following is an excerpt of an interview with Managing Director in 1982 David Lucas in an Independent Broadcasting Authority publication:

"The original plan was to have studio buildings and offices in both Portsmouth and Southampton,' says Lucas. "But that is an unnecessarily complicated way of doing the job. The important thing is for the programmes themselves to provide a strong and relevant local identity. Contribution studios have been established in both Portsmouth and Southampton to provide direct city-centre access to the airwaves for interviewees and guests"

...But Lucas, like some other radio managers, wonders whether the high standards of IBA studio specifications are always necessary. A significant proportion of studio costs comes in sound-proofing them; says Lucas.'Would it really matter if the listener heard the occasional lorry rumbling past outside? With most stations operating on close mic techniques anyway, peripheral noise can be minor'.

Once the studios were complete staff neede to be hired, almost from scratch. Sales managers and a Head of News were all recruited- ironically from Radio Victory. Construction of the new studios took under a year and finished in time for launch in 1986.

Since then a commercial radio rival based in Segensworth East, Wave 105 launched in 1998, also drawing on The Solent river as the inspiration for the name of the station.

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The Gold AM and The Light FM

1987 saw Ocean Sound undergo a massive reorgansation of its frequencies and services. The stations were:

Ocean Sound West on FM would become FM-only and simply re-named Ocean Sound.
Ocean Sound East on FM would become The Power FM
Ocean Sound on AM would become The Gold AM

with a new addition:

Ocean Sound North- The Light FM

The Gold AM launched on its medium-wave transmitters, effectively permanently separating from its FM counterpart. An all-oldies format playing 1960s and 1970s pop music, it won the right to use the name, after County Sound, a station originating from Guildford, Surrey, also selected The Gold AM, which resulted in the Surrey station adopting its First Gold Radio moniker.

On 6 December 1987, Ocean Sound's coverange area was extended with an additional service covering the Winchester area. Entitled Ocean Sound (North)- The Light FM this would relay the Ocean Sound East service, with locally focused news, travel and programmes during the morning and early afternoon and early evening. Ocean Sound North could be heard on 96.7 MHz FM.

Ocean Sound (East), continued as before on 97.5 MHz FM, albiet now with slightly older adult contemporary pop music and comprehensive local news, whilst Ocean Sound (East) relaunched as a music-intensive youth pop station- 103.2 The Power FM on 4 December, 1988. Power FM was designed as a direct competitor to BBC Radio 1 in the area, with a heavy rotation of chart and Top 40 pop and mainstream dance, with quick hourly news and information.

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Mergers, takeovers and relaunches

Sussex radio station Southern Sound looked upon Ocean Sound as a potential takeover target, citing its location in a prosperous and commercially attractive area of England. So in 1992 a merger was agreed forming Southern Radio plc which would see further changes to Ocean Sound. The changes were as follows:

Ocean Sound and The Light FM would unite as Ocean Sound- Classic Hits (later just Ocean FM).
Power FM would continue.
The Gold AM would merge with Southern Sound's AM frequencies to create South Coast Radio.

South Coast Radio was reduced to an opt-out service from the main Sussex station, sharing output for most of the day with local news hourly and half-hourly at breakfast and drive-time. South Coast Radio would take on a much more relaxed sound with the slogan "Nice and Easy", playing mostly Easy Listening and soft Gold hits.

In 1994, Capital Radio, looking for expansion possibilites, opted to purchase Southern Radio plc, which included Ocean Sound, now re-named Ocean FM. This led to more changes, this time to the on-air sound, rather than name changes. Whilst Power FM took on Capital FM's long-established and successful highly-polished sound, Ocean FM became a more music-led station, playing heavy rotation Soft Adult contemporary hits, with its news and information sequences reduced in length, finishing with the sentence "And that's The Way It Is at <time check>".

In 1997 the Capital Radio Group along with the GWR Group sought Radio Authority approval to reduce the amount of local programming on its AM stations, affecting South Coast Radio. This would mean the station would be opting-out of a main service, based in London. So Capital Gold was launched in place of South Coast Radio, with 4 hours locally produced, usually either at breakfast or drive-time.

In 1998 Ocean FM would be a rival station to newly-launches Wave 105, a similar-sounding radio station also playing Adult contemporary music. Launched by former Ocean Managing Director David Lucas, Wave would curiously base itself in Segensworth East, a few hundred metres away from Ocean in Segensworth West. The name Wave could have been similarly inspired by Lucas who also chose Ocean and the Segensworth East location could also be a throwback to the station's early years as split services for the West and East.

Meanwhile Ocean FM would be part of a network of AC stations, including Invicta FM and FOX FM. In 2000 this was re-organised so as to be part of the Century FM Network, now playing Hot AC music and a slogan of Number One for 80s, 90s and Now!.

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Ocean FM today

Despite fiercly loyal listenership to BBC Radio Solent, direct competiton from Wave 105 and BBC Radio 2 and new services from Original 106, Win FM, The Saint (formerly SouthCity FM) and a failed revival of Radio Victory (now 107.4 The Quay), Ocean FM is nowadays a well-known brand and locally outperforms all other music stations, save Power FM. It is such a strong name that GCap Media bosses have refused to re-brand the station along radio format lines, calling it Century FM. It serves an area of England with a high proportion of commuters to London and a higher-than-average disposable income from middle-class families and people over 45. Its target age range is 25-45.

Local programmes heard on Ocean include networked Century shows Skool Daze, Pat Sharp's Evening Show as well as local DJs such as Tom Rudolph, David Perry and Pippa Head at Breakfast.

Ocean FM went digital in 2003, airing on DAB digital radio in South Hampshire and Isle of Wight along with sister stations Power FM and Capital Gold as well as competitors Wave 105, The Saint, BBC Radio Solent and new stations, Capital Disney and XFM.

Current Weekday Presenter Line-up: 1-6am Warren Hayden-Live interactive overnight show 6-9am Ocean FM Breakfast with Richard Williams 9-1pm David Perry-Including the Rewind 9@9 1-4pm Pippa Head- Including Love after Lunch 4-7.30pm Steve Randall- Drive Home 7.30-10pm Pat sharp Evening Show 10-1am James Macdonald Late Show

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