107.1 Rugby FM
Encyclopedia
Rugby FM is an Independent Local Radio
Independent Local Radio
Independent Local Radio is the collective name given to commercial radio stations in the United Kingdom. The same name is used for Independent Local Radio in Ireland.-Development of ILR:...

 station in Warwickshire
Warwickshire
Warwickshire is a landlocked non-metropolitan county in the West Midlands region of England. The county town is Warwick, although the largest town is Nuneaton. The county is famous for being the birthplace of William Shakespeare...

 owned by Quidem Ltd and operated as part of its Midlands division. The station follows the 'great music, local news' format of its sister stations (branded as Touch Radio) in the area, but has retained its launch name.

From 2002 until 2008 it operated from studios on Spring Street in the heart of the town centre. Nowadays, along with the Touch Radio stations in Warwick, Stratford-Upon-Avon and Coventry, the station operates from a new complex based on the Holly Farm Business Park near Kenilworth.

History

Under the directorship of Martin Mumford, Rugby FM launched on 31 August 2002—former Silk FM controller Trevor Thomas was the first voice on-air, also working as the station's programme manager, before leaving to join Warwickshire neighbour The Bear 102.

The station, then owned by the Milestone Group
Milestone Group
The Milestone Group is a British Technology company. Originally a cross media proprietor who had holdings in radio, publishing and television, it now focuses on digital solutions and creates websites and mobile applications...

, enjoyed considerable success, and was lauded at one point as the UK's most successful local commercial radio station in terms of audience reach - once at 44% (RAJAR Q2 2005) - attributed to an emphasis on local presence, and presenters who were recruited on the basis of quality. They also enjoyed a substantially different music policy to that of its competitors. Following Mumford's departure in 2005, Julian Hotchkiss became Managing Director of Rugby FM but left a year later following the CN Group
CN Group
The CN Group Limited is an independent local media business based in Carlisle which operates in three different media fields.The company was formerly known as the Cumbrian Newspapers Group Ltd but changed its name to reflect the fact that is no longer primarily a newspaper publisher...

's acquisition of the station in early 2006. The group had been a minority shareholder until this point.

The CN Group acquisition had a number of far-reaching consequences on the output, notably the loss of 20 hours a day of local programming, and the studios being moved out of Rugby town centre into a regional hub in Kenilworth.

Between 2007 and 2009, the CN Group divested of its Midlands radio stations. First to go was Oak 107 FM, which went to the Lincs FM Group, who merged it with their license in nearby Hinckley. Touch FM Banbury was sold a year later to a private consortium, and was subsequently rebranded as Banbury Sound. The remaining Touch stations, with Rugby FM, were sold to Quidem Ltd in Summer 2009, with Banbury Sound picked back up in October 2010.
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