CNFM, Q103

"For Cambridge, digital stereo..."

CNFM, Q103

CNFM, Q103

CNFM, Q103

CNFM launched on 12th February 1989 - it's name being made up of the initials oof the two major urban areas of Cambridge and Newmarket.

A moment of note for the station was in 1993 when Virgin 1215 presenter Nick Abbot, renowned for similar on-air gags, and having been begged to call them by his listeners, got permission from his bosses to call CNFM presenter Wayne Fitzgerald. Nick was on-air, Wayne was busy playing a record. We'll direct you to www.w2s.net/chris/transcr.html for the transcript and other Nick Abbot funnies, but meanwhile, back to the profile of CNFM!

The station changed it's name to Q103 in June 1994 when GWR took control of a huge swathe of UK radio stations including CNFM, and rebranded them with the now unsettlingly familiar phrase of 'today's better music mix' latterly, 'today's best mix'. Maybe people have got the message just a little bit too much - a Cambridge University student learnt two things when studying locally - 'DOVE doesn't dry your skin like soap can' and 'Q103 is a better music mix for Cambridge.' Sad really.

A year later, upon re-advertisement of it's licence, it faced competition from a consortium of 'Investors In Radio' and 'The East of England Broadcasting Company' - formed by Border Radio Holdings (Century) and CLT UK Radio (Atlantic 252 / Luxembourg) - the competing station being 'Trax FM'. The opposing bid was unsuccessful of course.

The station is designed to be a contemporary and chart music and information station for the under 40s, with music content consisting of chart hits and new releases and a maximum of 25% of music output being up to ten years old. Speech content is a paltry 10% of output, which should consist of items of local relevance. The station's licence permits specialist music programmes up to 30 hours a week outside of peak hours. Whilst operating a 24-hour service, only 13 needs to be locally orientated during weekdays, 12 hours Saturday and 8 hours of local programming on Sunday, with the rest of the day coming from the GWR Mix Headquarters.

Q103 broadcasts on two frequencies with three transmitters - 97.4 for Newmarket, 97.4 in Haverhill and 103 in Cambridge, from studios at Enterprise House on the Vision Park, Chivers Way in Histon.

The station is part of the GCap Media plc group of companies.

Information amended from the excellent Aircheck UK webpage

CNFM and Q103 Jingles

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