Town tipped to hit the airwaves again Ambitious plan to launch new radio station in time for 2021 Bid
Paisley could have its own radio station again as a team of enthusiasts get ready to launch a bid with Ofcom.
The broadcasting regulator is issuing a new community licence for Scotland and Paisley FM is keen to get in on the act.
A previous bid in 2012 failed but the team behind Paisley FM are confident the town can hit the airways once again.
Robert McWilliam said: “We’re pleased Ofcom has come back and said we can have another go.
“The station would cover Paisley, Renfrew and Johnstone and other parts of Renfrewshire.
“We’re one of the only areas in the West of Scotland that doesn’t have a local community station.”
Ofcom has identified four areas in Scotland without a community radio station – Paisley, Caithness, Dunfermline and Orkney.
Rather than a commercial licence, Paisley FM is applying for a community one, which means the station will be not-for-profit and run by a mixture of staff and volunteers.
Robert said: “Our music will be broad, more like Radio 2 than other commercial stations. But what is more important is the speech element which will be focused on Renfrewshire.
“We’ll be talking about events, traffic, pot holes – we’ll make it really local so that people can relate to it.
“There will be training and volunteering opportunities and maybe, if it all goes to plan, there will be some remuneration, but we’ll see how it goes.”
Robert was involved in setting up Q96 radio station, which served Paisley from its studio in Lady Lane from 1992. It was a commercial radio station with local business investors, but it was sold on after four years to a corporate radio group.
The frequency, 96.3FM was last used by Xfm, which closed down in September 2015.
A crucial element of the current Ofcom application is hearing from the people of Renfrewshire.
Robert said: “These views are vital to the application process for a community radio licence.
“It gives people the opportunity to voice what they want and need from a Paisley and Renfrewshire service.
“We want to reflect the interest in the station. We’ve got a better chance of getting the licence if we have support from the community. This includes individual responses and also from organisations.
“Like any business, it’s the people who can make it happen.”
Closing date for the application is the end of July, so the team is keen to hear people’s views as soon as possible.
Javed Sattar, a director of Paisley FM who lives in Elderslie, said if the licence is awarded, they would hope to be on-air in 2018.
Robert hopes Paisley making the shortlist for the City of Culture bid will also help their application.
He added: “It gives us a boost, absolutely. Even more so, we’ll try and reflect that in our programming with the build up towards it because I’m sure Paisley is going to win it.”
If you have a view or comment on what Paisley FM should offer the Paisley and Renfrewshire area, go to Facebook and search for Paisley FM and add your comment there, or email support@paisleyfm.co.uk