Radio Victory - History

History

Victory was one of the first 19 independent stations in the UK, all of which started broadcasting between 1973 and 1976. Its studios were based in Fratton, Portsmouth. Its FM transmitter, on 95.0 MHz, was at Fort Widley with only 0.2 kW but the signal reached Southampton and all over the Isle of Wight quite well. It also broadcast on Medium Wave 257m (1169 kHz, later moving to 1170 kHz) from Farlington Marshes with 0.2 kW.

Victory had three managing directors throughout its life - Guy Paine, John Russell, and finally Bruce Jenkins. Housed in St Mary's Institute in Portsmouth's Fratton Road, Its address was PO Box 257, Portsmouth PO1 5RT. For most of its life it transmitted from 6 am to 1 am Mondays–Fridays, 6 am to 2 am Saturdays and 7 am to midnight on Sundays. This increased to 24-hour broadcasting from the start of the Falklands Conflict. Newsreader Penny Guy broadcast news of the first UK warship casualty—the sinking of HMS Sheffield. Listeners were unaware her fiancé Derek was aboard the vessel, and she had no idea if he were alive or dead. (He survived - they wed shortly afterwards).

The Independent Broadcasting Authority didn't renew its licence in 1985 so the station ceased broadcasting on 28 June 1986 at 12 pm after 10 years and around 257 days on air despite a local campaign to save it. Fratton Road was jammed solid with traffic blaring their horns in tribute as the airwaves fell silent for the last time. Victory was the first ILR station to lose its franchise (although two others, Centre Radio and Gwent Broadcasting, went off air after going bankrupt).

The station was replaced by Ocean Sound which was given a licence for a larger coverage area including Southampton.

The name of Victory, as a radio station for the Portsmouth area, was re-invented in 1994 to mark the city's 800th birthday and the 50th anniversary of D-Day (the city was the world's focus for this, hosting many events including a dinner for world leaders in the Guildhall). Victory FM was set up by Mark Samways with the help of Kevin Huffer. Alex Bentley, the city's Lord Mayor during the set-up period, was most encouraging and helped by arranging for the council to provide space for the studios in the civic offices for a peppercorn rent. This first outing for the new service acquired a 28-day broadcast licence, called an Restricted Service Licence RSL), from the Radio Authority.

It returned to the air twice more as Victory FM—over the Christmas period of 1994 and again in 1995 to mark VE Day's 50th anniversary. The studios for this period were located in the Anchor House, North End and were loaned by the owners the Bradford and Bingley Building Society. The building had been empty since the Hampshire Building Society closed for business.

The name Radio Victory was kept alive by predominantly the same team, broadcasting from a studios in Twyford Avenue, Stamshaw; this time broadcasting on cable TV and with occasional temporary FM licences for special occasions such as their own launch on cable at Christmas 1995 and to cover the Special Olympics. A total of six 28-day RSL FM broadcasts were made from 1994 to 1998.

When Greater Portsmouth was re-issued with its own ILR franchise, Radio Victory won the bid. It returned to the airwaves on 19 September 1999 on 107.4 FM. The station was acquired by TLRC at the end of 1999, so the 2000 saw a massive change of personnel. It would seem that, without the key members who took the station from 28-day RSL to full time FM licence, it was unable to compete in the RAJAR ratings against now established local rivals like Ocean FM and Wave 105. The station later relaunched as Victory 107.4 and 107.4 The Quay, allying itself closely to Portsmouth Football Club (PFC) who from Autumn of 2009 became the sole owners. During 2010 PFC sold the station to Celador's radio arm and the frequency became part of a regional station called Breeze. The local studios in Twyford Avenue used since 1999 were closed.