BOB fm (Hertfordshire)

BOB fm was a radio station broadcasting to north Hertfordshire in the United Kingdom. Programming originated from studios at the Old Pump House in Knebworth Park. Launched as HertBeat in 2001, it was subsumed into Heart Hertfordshire on 31 May 2019 shortly after acquisition by media group Communicorp.

BOB fm
Broadcast areaKnebworth, Hertford, Ware, Hatfield, Hitchin, Letchworth Garden City, Stevenage, Welwyn Garden City & Watton-at-Stone
Slogan"You'll hear all sorts of stuff", "Turn your knob to BOB"
Programming
FormatAdult Hits, Top 40, Pop Music
Ownership
OwnerCommunicorp
(Shadow Radio Holdings)
History
First air date
3 March 2001 (as HertBeat FM)
Last air date
31 May 2019 (as BOB fm)
Former frequencies
106.7 MHz, 106.9 MHz
RDS: BOB_fm

History

Early Years: Radio Hertford and HertBeat

In October 1998, following seven years of lobbying of the Radio Authority Radio Hertford was granted a Restricted Service Licence to broadcast for a two-week period to Hertford and surrounding areas.[1]

The Radio Authority then invited applications to apply for a long-term Hertford licence. The Radio Hertford consortium submitted a bid to broadcast as Hertbeat FM[2] competing with a rival entrant, Stag FM, backed by The Daily Mail Radio Group.[3] Citing Radio Hertford's lobbying of the Radio Authority, trial broadcast and emphasis on local content, the HertBeat FM bid was awarded licence in February 2000. The station proposed "an imaginative, music-led service, targeted at discerning 25 to 54-year olds, with intelligent speech that emphasises local news and information."[4][5][6]

Logo of Hertbeat FM before its Jack FM incarnation

The Old Pump House at Knebworth Park was converted into a radio studio.[7] Broadcasting commenced on 3 March 2001 with the inaugural show presented by Robbie Owen, a director of the company. Amongst the original team was Steve Folland, who continued presenting at the station until November 2013.

July 2005 saw HertBeat FM owner Radio Hertford (Commercial) acquired by Shadow Radio Holdings, led by Brett Harley, resulting in a change of directors.[8]

The station continued offering locally oriented content, music and request shows using a roster of presenters through the day and night.

Jack FM

On 10 May 2010 HertBeat abruptly rebranded as Jack FM - at that time the third Jack FM licensee operating in the UK.[9][10][11] Amongst the reasons for terminating HertBeat was confusion with encroaching rival network Heart.

The Jack format was mostly automated, initially only "Jack's Breakfast" with Steve Folland surviving as a presenter-led show but later complemented with a Saturday "Interactive Brunch" topical news show presented by newsreader Chris Hubbard and a Sunday "All Eighties" music show with Brett Harley. The rest of the schedule included music, snippets from "Jack's Breakfast", news and other local content.

In common with the other UK Jack stations many links between segments were provided by the acerbic Voice of Jack, Paul Darrow, recorded at Jack FM Oxfordshire, often tailored for the local audience.[12][13][14] Unlike HertBeat, Jack FM rejected listener's requests, a stance reinforced by the brand slogan, "Playing what we want".

In November 2013, as the Jack FM period drew to a close Steve Folland departed the station, replaced by industry veteran Graham Mack.

BOB fm

The station's preparations to broadcast using DAB in addition to FM, triggered another rebranding due to lack of exclusivity of the Jack FM moniker on the DAB multiplex and potential clashes with the growing number of stations then operating as Jack FM franchises.

From January to March 2014 listeners were encouraged to suggest new names for the station. Unlike the sudden transformation to Jack FM, the plan to rename the station was trailed extensively.

The rebranding was announced on 10 March 2014. The final song played by the station as Jack FM Hertfordshire was "Things Can Only Get Better" by D:Ream, airing shortly before 0800.

At 0808 the station was transformed into BOB fm. The inaugural song was "Hit the Road Jack" by Ray Charles.

The station emulated Jack FM's automated format, with links and catchphrase "Turn your knob to BOB", provided by Voice of BOB, Jim McCabe.[15]

There was no connection to other broadcasters operating as Bob FM outside the United Kingdom.[16]

BOB fm's DAB service ceased in August 2018.[17]

Incorporation into Heart Hertfordshire

In April 2019 Shadow Radio Holdings was purchased by Communicorp.[18][19]

Earlier in the year Communicorp had acquired Watford-based Heart Hertfordshire, which broadcasts in south Hertfordshire, from Adventure Radio.[20] The takeover of BOB fm allowed Heart Hertfordshire to extend its reach throughout the county.[21] A transition began in May with Heart-style jingles, slogans and music interspersed amongst its output. Frequent trailers proclaimed "Heart is coming."

On 31 May 2019 the final live presented show, "BOB's Breakfast" with Brett Harley and Chris Hubbard ended with "Are You with Me" by Lost Frequencies. BOB fm ceased broadcasting at 4pm, handing over to Heart Hertfordshire for the station's drivetime show from Watford. The closure of BOB fm coincided with programming changes across the wider Heart radio network.[22][23] The station still retains local news, traffic updates and advertising - with Chris Hubbard continuing to head up the station's Breakfast News.

Ofcom complaints
  • In 2006 Hertbeat ran advertisements for Stevenage Borough Council during an election period that media regulator Ofcom determined breached rules regarding political content.[24]
  • During the 2014 Scottish independence referendum a publicity stunt, involving an on-air rant against Scots and a ban on Scottish music by presenter Graham Mack prompted almost 50 complaints to Ofcom.[25][26] Ofcom determined the complaints did not warrant investigation.[27]
  • A lively conversation in May 2018 between a caller and Graham Mack regarding a local speed camera patrol was reported to Ofcom. The investigation deemed the broadcast to be in breach of rules regarding potential to cause offence.[28][29] Graham Mack departed the station during July 2018 shortly before the Ofcom adjudication in August to become Programme Director at London-based Fix Radio.[30] Brett Harley replaced Graham Mack as host of BOB's Breakfast.

Awards

Graham Mack won "Best Radio Personality" Finalist at the New York Festivals International Radio Awards in 2017. BOB fm developed a reputation for the quality of its local news. Chris Hubbard won "Newsreader of the Year" at the Independent Radio News (IRN) Awards, having previously been twice shortlisted.[31][32] The IRN also awarded the accolade of "News Team of the Year" to the station in 2013 and 2016.[33][34] Its journalists and reports have also been shortlisted for or won several honours.[35]

References
  1. "Local Radio: Licence Awarded to HertBeat". Hertford.net. 11 March 2000. Archived from the original on 28 August 2008. Retrieved 16 March 2014.
  2. "Millionaire Backs Hertbeat". Hertford.net. 19 June 1999. Archived from the original on 28 August 2008. Retrieved 16 March 2014.
  3. "Stag FM Launches Rival Bid". Hertford.net. 12 June 1999. Archived from the original on 14 October 2008. Retrieved 16 March 2014.
  4. "Radio Authority Publishes Assessment of Hertford Licence Award". Radio Authority. Retrieved 16 March 2014.
  5. "Radio Authority Awards New Local Licence for Hertford to HertBeat FM". Radio Authority. Retrieved 16 March 2014.
  6. "Celebrating The Result!". HertBeat. Archived from the original on 17 February 2001. Retrieved 16 March 2014.
  7. "Local Radio: Building Starts". Hertford.net. 18 July 2000. Archived from the original on 14 October 2008. Retrieved 16 March 2014.
  8. "New Owner for HertBeat FM". Radio Today. Retrieved 16 March 2014.
  9. "Goodbye Hertbeat... hello Jack FM!". Welwyn Hatfield Times. 10 May 2010. Retrieved 16 March 2014.
  10. "Jack FM Launches in Hertfordshire". Jack FM/SparkNet Communications. Archived from the original on 16 March 2014. Retrieved 15 March 2014.
  11. "hertbeat stops as JACK spreads". Radio Today. Retrieved 15 March 2014.
  12. "The Radio Today Programme March 5th 2014". Radio Today. Retrieved 15 March 2014.
  13. "Is JACK fm the future of radio?". Radio Today. Retrieved 15 March 2014.
  14. "Paul Darrow obituary". The Guardian. 6 June 2019.
  15. "Voice of Bob fm, Jim McCabe". Voice of Jim. Retrieved 10 April 2019.
  16. "JACK fm Hertfordshire rebrands as BOB fm". Retrieved 13 March 2014.
  17. https://twitter.com/WohnortDAB/status/1032792958662320129
  18. "Radio Hertford (Commercial) Limited". Companies House. Retrieved 9 April 2019.
  19. "Shadow Radio Holdings Limited". Companies House. Retrieved 6 April 2019.
  20. "Connect FM and Heart Herts sold by Adventure Radio". Radio Today. 7 February 2019. Retrieved 6 April 2019.
  21. "Communicorp buys Bob FM to rebrand as Heart". Radio Today. 4 April 2019. Retrieved 6 April 2019.
  22. "Heart presenters start saying goodbye to listeners". Radio Today. 19 May 2019. Retrieved 26 May 2019.
  23. "Heart drivetime show presenters announced by Global". 20 May 2019. Retrieved 26 May 2019.
  24. "Hertbeat ads breach Ofcom rules". Radio Today. 7 August 2006. Retrieved 6 April 2019.
  25. "English local radio station tries – and fails – to get away Scot free". The Guardian. 18 September 2014. Retrieved 6 April 2019.
  26. "BOB fm bans all Scots, calls them Tossers". Radio Today. 10 September 2014. Retrieved 6 April 2019.
  27. "Ofcom Broadcast Bulletin" (PDF) (264). Ofcom. 20 October 2014. p. 52. Retrieved 6 April 2019.
  28. "Ofcom Broadcast and on Demand Bulletin" (PDF) (360). Ofcom. 28 August 2018. p. 28. Retrieved 6 April 2019.
  29. "Bob FM in breach for aggressive speed camera rant". Radio Today. 28 August 2018. Retrieved 6 April 2019.
  30. "Graham Mack goes from Bob FM to Fix Radio". Retrieved 19 July 2018.
  31. "Winners 2016". IRN News Awards. Retrieved 7 April 2019.
  32. "Winners 2015". IRN News Awards. Retrieved 6 April 2019.
  33. "2016 Winners". IRN News Awards. Retrieved 6 April 2019.
  34. "2013 Winners". IRN News Awards. Retrieved 6 April 2019.
  35. "Meet the News Team". BOB fm. Retrieved 6 April 2019.

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