New changes mean that Heart will now broadcast from London for 21 hours per day
It has been a busy few months in the radio industry with Ofcom announcing several changes to regulations on commercial radio.
This has allowed local commercial radio licences such as Heart and Capital to grow into national brands and reduce the amount of local content they broadcast.
You may recall that before MKFM started, Horizon Radio was the local radio station for Milton Keynes. This was rebranded to Heart in 2009 and eventually became part of a regional service across Four Counties.
The new changes announced in February mean that 21 hours per day of programming on 103.3FM will now broadcast from London with the other 10% covering a region the size of the Anglia TV area.
When MKFM was founded in 2011, we had some insight that deregulation by Ofcom would mean that local radio would change massively over the next decade and Milton Keynes could be left without a dedicated local radio station.
With the support of our local MPs, council leaders, business leaders and residents, MKFM was able to obtain a FM licence in 2015 and has been available on 106.3FM since 2015, following two years as a DAB-only station.
As radio evolves, MKFM remains focused on providing a dedicated service for Milton Keynes with:
- Local news, weather, travel and sport on-air and online
- Detailed School Closure information during bad weather
- Backing local charities and not for profit organisations
- Support and help to grow the business community in MK
- Offering a platform for local musicians to get heard
- ‘One Station, One Community’: Doing our bit to ensure MK is an inclusive society
If you haven’t heard us before then why not make the switch to 106.3FM? You can also listen to MKFM on DAB Digital Radio and online via MKFM.com, smart phones and smart speakers.
We also provide a daily news service on MKFM.com along with loads of other great local content.