Sovereign FM - History

History

The station began its life as "Sovereign Radio"; founded by Sussex radio entrepreneurs Mark Briggs and Matthew Wheeler, who established trial broadcasts in December 1992 and the summer of 1993. They located the second broadcast on board an old ferry from the Shetland Islands called the Earl of Zetland which was temporarily moored in Sovereign Harbour. Some of the original presenters included Gavin Lawrence, Paul Martin, Terry James and Zora Suleman.

The radio trials were part of a campaign to demonstrate viability to the Radio Authority (a legacy regulator now part of Ofcom) to advertise a full licence. The full licence was eventually awarded in 1994 to a group which included many of the original team. It was later acquired by The Local Radio Company in 2000 and was, for 12 months, once again managed by co-founder Mark Briggs, who also managed neighbouring sister stations Arrow FM in Hastings and Neptune Radio in Dover / Folkestone.

Media Sound Holdings acquired the station from The Local Radio Company in June 2009 along with Arrow FM, which serves Hastings; both stations were operating at a loss. This adds to the two stations, Splash FM and Bright FM which Media Sound Holdings acquired in April 2008.

In October 2009, the station relaunched as Sovereign FM. The station is now branded as a "feel good" station, like the other three stations owned by Media Sound Holdings.

In November 2010, Ofcom approved Media Sound Holdings's application to share all programmes across their four stations Arrow FM, Bright FM, Sovereign FM and Splash FM, given that the stations "already share all programming outside of breakfast, so these changes will not substantially alter the character of the service."