Commercial radio station Pennine FM goes bust

Apr 17 2009 by Sam Casey, Huddersfield Daily Examiner

HUDDERSFIELD’S only commercial radio station is believed to have gone bust.

Pennine FM – formerly Home FM – was playing continuous music in a loop yesterday, mainly from the 70s and 80s, without messages from DJs or advertising.

Telephone numbers for the station, frequency 107.9, were either dead or went unanswered.

No-one was at the station’s studio at Lockwood Park.

A station insider said staff had been told the station was going off air only the day before.

It is understood company bosses are heavily in debt to Huddersfield RUFC rugby club which leased the premises to Pennine FM.

Staff at the rugby club, who were in the dark about the closure, were left in shock at the news.

Former journalist Jason McCartney, now the prospective Conservative parliamentary candidate for Colne Valley, started his broadcasting career at Huddersfield FM, which started in 1995 and went on to become Home FM.

“It’s a bit of a kick in the teeth for the town,’’ he said.

“Pennine FM was never Radio One, but fair play to them. They had a lot of people who worked very hard at what they did.

“It’s important that the town has strong local media like the Examiner covering local events, so it’s sad to see this outlet go because it means Huddersfield won’t have its own radio station.”

Home FM relaunched as The New Pennine FM after a management buyout in March last year.

It broadcast across Kirklees and Calderdale.