Banbury Sound
| City | Banbury |
|---|---|
| Broadcast area | Banburyshire (northern Oxfordshire) |
| Frequency | 107.6 MHz |
| First air date | 25 February 2006 |
| Format | Contemporary |
| Audience share | 6.4% (June 2015, ) |
| Owner | Quidem |
| Website | Banbury Sound |
Banbury Sound is a Independent Local Radio station serving the Banbury and Brackley areas of north Oxfordshire. It is owned and operated by Quidem and broadcasting from studios at Honiley, Warwickshire.
History
Banbury Sound was launched as Touch FM on Saturday 25 February 2006 by former breakfast presenter Dale Collins, with the first news bulletin read by then-group editor Daniel Bruce. It was previously owned by the Cumbria-based CN Group and was their third station to adopt the Touch FM branding, alongside sister stations in Coventry and Stratford-upon-Avon. Programming was networked between the three stations outside of breakfast and drivetime.
The station changed owners on 1 April 2009, making it part of Banbury Broadcasting Company Limited - with staff members John Crutch (Station Director), Anneka Naysmith (Sales Director) and Dale Collins (Director of Programming) as partners in the buyout. Two months later, the station relaunched as Banbury Sound and introduced a full schedule of local output from its studios in the Grimsbury area of Banbury.[1]
After the station was sold again to Touch FM's new owners, Quidem, in October 2010, the station co-located to studios at Honiley in Warwickshire and re-introduced networked programming outside of breakfast.
Programming
Banbury Sound airs presenter-led local breakfast and drivetime shows on weekdays (6-10am and 3-7pm), with automated music outwith these hours. At weekends, the station carries networked programming shared with other Quidem-owned stations, including the syndicated Vodafone Big Top 40, produced by Global Radio in London.[2]
The station's local presenters are Kirsty Leahy (weekday breakfast) and Simon Alexander (weekday drivetime).[3]
News
Local news bulletins air every hour from 6am to 7pm on weekdays and from 8am to midday at weekends, with headlines and sports bulletins during breakfast and drivetime shows on weekdays.[4]