Spirit FM host: ‘We need West Sussex to help us’

A former Spirit FM presenter has said the station needs the support of West Sussex residents after doubt was cast on the station’s future.

The station, which is based in Chichester, was bought by media giants Bauer Media in 2019 and will now join Bauer’s ‘Hits Radio Brand Network’.

As part of the move, Spirit FM will rebrand as ‘Greatest Hits Radio’, after playing into homes and cars across West Sussex as Spirit FM since 1996.

Steve Freegard has been working in local radio since he was 15 and hosted Friday and Saturday nights with Spirit FM until this week.

He has set up a petition to save the station and has already received 6,346 signatures at the time of writing.

He said: “We need West Sussex to help and get behind us. I posted on my own personal Facebook literally without thinking and obviously I don’t know what would happen.

“We have probably got about 30 days to be able to save the station. If we can get our local MP involved and we really need to link up with some of the other stations.”

Chichester MP Gillian Keegan has since written to the minister responsible for media to ask for support.

Steve added: “We don’t know what is going to happen but we can read between the lines and see what happened with Heart.”

Heart’s owners Global Radio cut 40 breakfast shows last year putting hundreds of jobs at risk, something Steve fears could happen to Spirit

Bauer Media confirmed the change does mean a number of jobs will be put into consultation and freelance contracts will be reviewed.

For many, Spirit FM is much more than a radio station and has put time into championing local causes.

Steve added: “The dedication of a lot of local stations like Spirit that do so much for the local community is a risk. All the presenters live locally and everything we do is to help the local community.

“It’s at the core of what we are about, local people and local businesses. All that is going to be lost if we don’t do something about it.”