Isles FM

The station was initially set up in the living room of a local minister, Reverend Stanley Bennie, and operated for a few weeks at a time under a temporary licence as a trial.{{Cite news |date=26 October 2022 |title=Death of Rev Stanley Bennie |url=http://www.hebrides-news.com/death-of-rev-stanley-bennie-261022.html |access-date=21 March 2024 |work=Hebrides News}} After proving that the station was feasible, a permanent licence was granted by the UK Radio Authority (now Ofcom) and the station started operating on 1 March 1998 (with the current licence dating from 3 July of the same year).{{Cite web |title=Ofcom {{!}} Analogue Radio Stations |url=http://static.ofcom.org.uk/static/radiolicensing/html/radio-stations/analogue/al100768ba1islesfm.htm |access-date=21 March 2024}} Mr Bennie ceased presenting on the station in 2000 after complaints were made over the lyrics of a song he repeatedly played, The Bad Touch, caused offence.{{Cite news |last=Page |first=Cara |date=20 May 2000 |title=Radio Rev Gets Boot Over Raunchy Song |url=https://www.thefreelibrary.com/RADIO+REV+GETS+BOOT+OVER+RAUNCHY+SONG.-a062228731 |access-date=21 March 2024 |work=Daily Record |pages=167}} In 2013 the station relocated to custom-built premises in Seaforth Road, Stornoway. Its signal is broadcast from the island's largest transmitter site, Eitshal, with FM coverage across approximately 3/4 of the Island.{{Cite web |title=Analogue Broadcast Radio Measured Coverage Area (MCA) Maps {{!}} Isles FM |url=http://static.ofcom.org.uk/static/radiolicensing/mcamaps/al100768.pdf |access-date=21 March 2024}} The station also broadcasts live over the Internet on platforms such as Internetradiouk, and allows listeners to catch up via its replay website.

Many of the presenters are amateurs, although former presenter and current director{{Cite web |title=Glenn DENNY personal appointments |url=https://find-and-update.company-information.service.gov.uk/officers/M1QQdW8RZRBjTtP9CsVU3_DjoFY/appointments |access-date=21 March 2024 |website=Companies House}} Glenn Denny completed a VQ in Radio Broadcasting through Moray Firth Radio, which made him the only professionally trained presenter with Isles FM. Other notable volunteers with the station include Rodney Collins, who was formerly a journalist with Record Mirror went on to Radios 1 & 2 and was also a member of the Radio Luxembourg team in the 1970s before becoming managing director of ILR stations in Scotland and London.{{Cite web |title=Rodney Collins {{!}} Islands FM 107.9 |url=https://www.islandsfm.org/presenters/rodney-collins |url-status= |access-date=21 March 2024}} One of the younger members of Isles FM, Eilidh MacLennan, moved on to work for the BBC as a presenter on Gaelic children's television, Dè a-nis?.

The station broadcasts a variety of content. The mixture of Gaelic and English programming includes: specialist music, chat shows, children's programmes, and news.{{Cite web |date=March 2008 |title=Station Format {{!}} Isles FM {{!}} Ofcom |url=http://www.ofcom.org.uk/static/radiolicensing/analogue/formats/al100768.doc |access-date=21 March 2024}} Every Sunday Isles FM broadcasts two Christian acts of worship, often from Churches across the Isles or from Isles 'expats' ministering across Scotland.

It is often a source of essential information in times of severe weather and other crises, when transport off the islands by ferry or air may be unavailable, or when roads may be closed.

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{{Radio in Scotland}}

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Category:Radio stations in Scotland

Category:Radio stations in the Highlands & Islands

Category:Radio stations established in 1998

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