36-641: MFR is an Independent Local Radio station based in Inverness , owned and operated by Bauer Media Audio UK as part of the Hits Radio Network. It broadcasts to Moray , Scottish Highlands and North West Aberdeenshire . As of September 2024, the station has a weekly audience of 91,000 listeners according to RAJAR . MFR operates 97.4 FM (from the Mounteagle transmitter). The first voice heard on MFR, shortly after 6:30am on 23 February 1982,
72-644: A Post Office licence. Manx Radio is funded by a mixture of commercial advertising and a yearly £860,000 Manx Government subvention. Communications Act 2003 The Communications Act 2003 (c. 21) is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom . The act, which came into force on 25 July 2003, superseded the Telecommunications Act 1984 . The new act was the responsibility of Culture Secretary Tessa Jowell . It consolidated
108-520: A balance between freedom of speech and criminality, the Director of Public Prosecutions issued interim guidelines, clarifying when social messaging is eligible for criminal prosecution under UK law. Only communications that are credible threats of violence, harassment, or stalking (such as aggressive Internet trolling ) which specifically targets an individual or individuals or breaches a court order designed to protect someone (such as those protecting
144-476: A member. Six more former police officers, retired at the time of the offensive communications, pleaded guilty to a similar but unrelated WhatsApp group in September 2023. Such prosecutions are not without controversy since they treat encrypted messages, by their nature only visible to intended recipients, as public because they are sent using publicly available instant messaging platforms, rather than because
180-422: A public electronic communications network, such as WhatsApp , but which were not visible to an audience beyond the intended recipients. In 2022, a serving police officer and a former constable each received 12-week prison sentences for sending racist, misogynistic, ableist, and homophobic messages to a WhatsApp group . The group was uncovered as convicted murderer, and former police officer, Wayne Couzens had been
216-551: A public electronic communications network. The section replaced section 43 of the Telecommunications Act 1984 and is drafted as widely as its predecessor. The section has been used controversially to prosecute users of social media in cases such as the Twitter Joke Trial and Facebook comments concerning the murder of April Jones . Section 127 is a summary offence , so it is tried in a magistrates court with no right to jury trial. On 19 December 2012, to strike
252-599: A week took place, although the first experimental part-time split service had taken place two years earlier when Radio Forth created Festival City Radio for the duration of the Edinburgh Festival . The first station to permanently split their frequencies was Guildford's County Sound who rebranded the FM output as Premier Radio and turned the AM output into a new golden oldies station, County Sound Gold in 1988. By 1988,
288-600: A weekday regional programme and localised news, weather and peak-time travel information. The same name is used for Independent Local Radio in Ireland . Until the early 1970s, the BBC had a legal monopoly on radio broadcasting in the UK. Despite competition from the commercial Radio Luxembourg and, for a period in the mid-1960s, the off-shore " pirate " broadcasters, it had remained the policy of both major political parties that radio
324-558: A year – and to reduce the criteria for a "viable service area" with the introduction of Small Scale Local Licences (SALLIES) for villages, special interest groups and small communities. By this time the medium wave band had become unpopular with radio groups and the majority of new stations were awarded an FM licence only, even when an AM licence was jointly available. In 1994 the Radio Authority introduced regional stations (Independent Regional Radio, again usually grouped under
360-569: Is part of the Greatest Hits Radio network and changed its name to the network name in April 2023. MFR 3 launched on Monday 19 January 2015, broadcasting on DAB and online as a locally branded relay of The Hits aimed at 15-25-year-olds, with opt-outs for advertising. MFR 3 ceased broadcasting on 31 August 2017 and was replaced with a single national feed of The Hits, which was replaced ten months later with Hits Radio . In addition to
396-706: Is the collective name given to commercial radio stations in the United Kingdom. As a result of the buyouts and mergers permitted by the Broadcasting Act 1990 , and deregulation resulting from the Communications Act 2003 , most commercial stations are now neither independent (although they remain independent from the BBC ) nor local with all of the frequencies now used by Bauer or Global , and almost all of them are now relays of one of either company's national brands, with all remaining locality reduced to
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#1732782461058432-665: The IBA's ILR plans as it was felt that they were not viable. This did not prevent Radio West in Bristol getting into financial trouble and having to merge with Wiltshire Radio on 1 October 1985; nor did it prevent Centre Radio going into receivership on 6 October 1983. In 1986 the Home Office sanctioned in principle the idea that different services could be broadcast on each station's FM and AM frequency and six experiments of split programming on Independent Local Radio of up to ten hours
468-485: The IBA's time as the regulator and did not receive a commercial station until after its successor, The Radio Authority, came into being in 1991. In the late 1980s, the expansion of ILR continued at a similar rate. Under the Broadcasting Acts, the IBA had a duty to ensure that any area it licensed for radio could support a station with the available advertising revenue. Therefore, many areas were not included in
504-1037: The Morning from the Forth 1 studio in Edinburgh. Northsound 1 and Tay FM will also lose their breakfast shows. This will mean no locally produced shows in the weekday schedule. It is unknown if local news and weather will remain. MFR broadcasts local news bulletins hourly from 6am to 7pm on weekdays and from 7am to 1pm on Saturdays and Sundays. Headlines are broadcast on the half hour during weekday breakfast and drivetime shows, alongside sport and traffic bulletins. National bulletins from Sky News Radio are carried overnight with bespoke networked Scottish bulletins at weekends, produced from Radio Clyde 's newsroom in Clydebank. 57°28′49″N 4°15′18″W / 57.4803°N 4.2550°W / 57.4803; -4.2550 Independent Local Radio Independent Local Radio
540-428: The UK, as well as controversially lifting many restrictions on cross- media ownership . It also made it illegal to use other people's Wi-Fi broadband connections without their permission. In addition, the legislation also allowed for the first time non-European entities to wholly own a British television company. The act has a large number of provisions, including the following: It is an offence under section 125 of
576-661: The United Kingdom. This service would be planned and regulated in a similar manner to the existing ITV service and would compete with the recently developed BBC Local Radio services (rather than the four national BBC services). The Sound Broadcasting Act received royal assent on 12 July 1972 and the Independent Television Authority (ITA) accordingly changed its name to the Independent Broadcasting Authority (IBA) that same day. The IBA immediately began to plan
612-505: The act to obtain access to the Internet when there is no intention to pay for that service. The legislation was intended to prevent the major defrauding of communications companies. Nevertheless, the individual practice of piggybacking (the illicit use of a Wi-Fi connection to access another subscriber's Internet service) was demonstrated to be a contravention of the act by R v Straszkiewicz in 2005. There have been subsequent arrests for
648-742: The banner "ILR" by most commentators) and began to license the commercial Digital Audio Broadcasting (DAB) multiplexes in October 1998. The Radio Authority was replaced by the Office of Communications ( Ofcom ) in 2004, which also replaced the ITC, the Broadcasting Standards Commission, the Radio Communications Agency and the Office of Telecommunications (Oftel). Ofcom has stated that they plan to continue
684-555: The broadcasting field (mainly due to the Annan Report ), no further contracts were awarded until 1980, when a second tranche of contracts were awarded. All stations were awarded an AM and an FM frequency, on which they broadcast the same service. In July 1981, the Home Secretary approved proposals for the creation of Independent Local Radio services in 25 more areas. However some of these areas were not licensed during
720-905: The development of Independent Local Radio, with an emphasis on digital broadcasting, and to "ensure the character" of local stations, following the mergers and loss of local identities that followed the 1990 Act. In 2005, there were 217 licensed analogue ILR and IRR services in England; 16 in Wales; 34 in Scotland; eight in Northern Ireland; and two in the Channel Islands . These are licences rather than franchises . Some licences are grouped nationally, regionally or by format to provide one service; other licences cover two or more services. There were three national analogue services. There
756-524: The final stations ending waveband simulcasting by the mid-1990s. Incremental Radio was a new type of radio licence given out by the IBA between 1989 and 1990. These were additional radio services introduced into areas already served by an Independent Local Radio station and most had to offer output not already available on ILR, such as specialist music, programmes for a specific section of the community or for smaller areas than ILR stations cover. 22 stations went on air, most of which were eventually acquired by
SECTION 20
#1732782461058792-438: The government had decided that the practice of splitting was beneficial and a quick way to increase choice for listeners. The IBA then began encouraging ILR stations to split their services and most soon complied. The usual format was to have a "gold" (oldies) service on AM and pop music on FM, although Radio City tried "City Talk" on AM before abandoning the format. By the start of the 1990s, most stations had done 'the splits' with
828-512: The identity of a victim of a sexual offence) will be prosecuted. Communications that express an "unpopular or unfashionable opinion about serious or trivial matters, or banter or humour, even if distasteful to some and painful to those subjected to it" will not. Communications that are merely "grossly offensive, indecent, obscene or false" will be prosecuted only when it can be shown to be necessary and proportionate. People who pass on malicious messages, such as by retweeting, can also be prosecuted when
864-413: The individual messages themselves are visible to the public. Andrew Tettenborn , a British legal academic, has argued that this criminalises speech which would not be illegal if spoken aloud in private conversation. The Law Commission , a public body which reviews and recommends changes to the law, recommended that Section 127 be replaced with new offences that are more targeted in their approach. This
900-517: The large radio groups and absorbed into their networks. As of 2024 only a few remain independently owned and operated. The regulatory model these stations were under was a precursor to commercial radio stations licensed by the incoming Radio Authority. The Broadcasting Act 1990 provided for the abolition of the IBA and its replacement by the Independent Television Commission . The IBA continued to regulate radio under
936-496: The main services, there is a local community station which opts into MFR during the daytime, broadcasting local programming produced by a non-profit community group during the evenings. There also used to be five other community stations taking MFR: AM transmissions on 1107 kHz ceased on 11th December 2023, greatly reducing the broadcast coverage area, from the whole of the North of Scotland, including Orkney and Shetland, down to just
972-741: The new name of the Radio Authority, but with a different remit. As a "light-touch" regulator (although heavier than the ITC), the Radio Authority was to issue licences to the highest bidder and promote the development of commercial radio choice. This led to the awarding of three national contracts, known as Independent National Radio to Classic FM , Virgin 1215 (later Virgin Radio and then rebranded Absolute Radio ) and Talk Radio (later Talksport ). The Radio Authority also began to license Restricted Service Licence (RSL) stations – low-power temporary radio stations for special events, operating for up to 28 days
1008-720: The new service, placing advertisements encouraging interested groups to apply for medium-term contracts to provide programmes in given areas. The first major areas to be advertised were London and Glasgow , with two contracts available in London, one for "news and information", one for "general and entertainment". The London news contract was awarded to London Broadcasting Company (LBC) and they began broadcasting on 8 October 1973. The London general contract went to Capital Radio , who began broadcasting on 16 October 1973. In total, 19 contracts were awarded between 1973 and 1976. Due to government limits on capital expenditure and turbulence in
1044-555: The original message is subject to prosecution. Individuals who post messages as part of a separate crime, such as a plan to import drugs, would face prosecution for that offence, as is currently the case. Revisions to the interim guidelines were issued on 20 June 2013 following a public consultation. The revisions specified that prosecutors should consider: The revisions also clarified that criminal prosecutions were "unlikely": More recently, Section 127 has been used to prosecute those alleged to have sent grossly offensive messages on
1080-470: The practice. Piggybacking may also be a breach of the Computer Misuse Act 1990 . Section 125 of the act has been criticised for its vagueness, resulting in the possibility that many users of portable Wi-Fi enabled devices are inadvertently breaching it. Section 127 of the act makes it an offence to send a message that is grossly offensive or of an indecent, obscene or menacing character over
1116-523: The station was making a profit. Until August 2014, MFR 2 on AM and DAB aired specialist programming on Sunday - Friday evenings with automated music broadcast at all other times. In September 2014, the station axed its specialist output and began carrying programming from Bauer's 'Greatest Hits Network' of Scottish AM stations, switching to the Bauer City 2 network in January 2015. Since January 2019 it
MFR (radio station) - Misplaced Pages Continue
1152-414: The telecommunication and broadcasting regulators in the UK, introducing the Office of Communications ( Ofcom ) as the new industry regulator. On 28 December 2003 Ofcom gained its full regulatory powers, inheriting the duties of the Office of Telecommunications ( Oftel ). Among other measures, the act introduced legal recognition of community radio and paved the way for full-time community radio services in
1188-767: The vicinity of Inverness. Networked programming originates from Clyde 1 in Clydebank , Forth 1 in Edinburgh and Hits Radio in Manchester . Local programming is produced and broadcast from the MFR studios in the Scorguie area of Inverness on weekdays from 6-10am, presented by Jodie McCluskey. At the end of 2024, the Jodie McCluskey breakfast show will be axed and replaced with breakfast programming Boogie in
1224-676: Was Dave Cochrane. The longest serving presenter on MFR of 33 years was Tich McCooey, leaving on 29 May 2015. MFR on FM largely broadcasts contemporary and chart music-led programming alongside hourly news bulletins and peak-time traffic updates. The majority of the station's output is produced and broadcast from its Inverness studios. In recent years, MFR opted out on Saturday evenings for a weekly bilingual music programme in English and Scots Gaelic, which also aired on Argyll FM, Cuillin FM , Isles FM , Nevis Radio and Two Lochs Radio . The station began broadcasting on 23 February 1982. A year later,
1260-537: Was one national DAB multiplex (Digital One) and 47 regional DAB multiplexes, owned by 10 and operated by nine companies (each multiplex carrying multiple services). The first licensed commercial radio station in the United Kingdom is often stated to be Manx Radio , which launched in June 1964. However, since the Isle of Man is not part of the United Kingdom, Manx Radio is not considered to be an ILR station and launched with
1296-428: Was to remain under the BBC. Upon the election of Edward Heath 's government in 1970, this policy changed. It is possible that Heath's victory was partly due to younger voters upset by the UK government closing down the popular pirate radio stations. The new Minister of Post and Telecommunications and former ITN newscaster, Christopher Chataway , announced a bill to allow for the introduction of commercial radio in
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