station and crimean war monument midsomer norton . somer valley fm broadcast area midsomer norton radstock and westfield frequency 97.5 mhz first air date 2008 format community radio owner somer valley community radio limited somer valley fm is a local community radio station in north east somerset that serves midsomer norton radstock westfield and surrounding areas . it was launched in 2008 . contents 1 ownership and structure 2 coverage 3 history 4 content 5 references 6 external links ownership and structure edit the station is owned by somer valley community radio limited 1 a not for profit organisation that exists for community benefit . it has two employees and averages 200 regular volunteers . 1 the company s board of directors has ultimate responsibility for every aspect of the running of somer valley fm . 1 there are four directors dom chambers graeme king mark kenny and chris watt . 2 somervale school in midsomer norton has a permanent seat on the board 3 currently filled by deputy head mark kenny . the station is located in the grounds of somervale school next to a crimean war obelisk monument built in 1866 by the owners of norton house a mansion that formerly stood on the site . 4 coverage edit the station broadcasts on 97.5 fm 3 as well as online . its target area covers radstock midsomer norton westfield paulton peasedown st john kilmersdon clutton shoscombe stratton on the fosse downside chilcompton farrington gurney gurney slade litton ston easton chewton mendip and timsbury . 5 somer valley fm is the only broadcaster focusing exclusively on this region . in 2011 local market research company cognisant research carried out an audience survey for the station . this found that 48.1 per cent of people living in the station s broadcast area have heard of the station and just above 16 per cent listen at least once a week . 6 history edit the station originally grew from a schools radio project organised in somervale school in 2006 . this led to the station s first broadcast on a restricted service licence rsl in august that year . this resulted in an application for a full community license which ofcom awarded in 2007 . the station launched on the internet on 20 october 2008 and began fm transmission on 12 january 2009 . 3 the idea for the station came from local councilor chris watt and somervale school s mike gormen and mark kenny who saw the value to school students of learning about radio production . the original board of directors was mark kenny mike walker and chris watt . 7 having successfully achieved funding for the project somervale s dilapidated old caretakers house which adjoins the school was redeveloped as a radio station with three on air studios and good production facilities . in july 2008 the directors appointed dom chambers from a background in ilr and bbc as the station manager . the station launched with a grant awarded by the rda 8 which was match funded by bath and north east somerset council . in november 2008 rupert kirkham was appointed to lead production and school s radio training . 9 in the same month dom chambers was invited to join the board of directors . . 10 somervale school continues to support somer valley fm with sponsorship and the use of its property in return for educational services provided to its students . the station has also sponsorship arrangements with education across the region including norton hill school city of bath college and writhlington school . somer valley fm is now a commercially oriented community station providing opportunities for the commercial community to raise awareness of products and services with a local customer base . the station is funded by a combination of advertising sponsorship grant funding media training and commissioned programmes . 9 in march 2011 the station were highly commended at the chairman of bath and north east somerset business awards in the not profit category . 11 in may 2011 the station had a breach recorded against its license by ofcom after a request show asked listeners to pick songs even though it wasn t being broadcast live . ofcom had received complaints from two listeners who had discovered that the jukebox hour on 28 february 2011 at 5pm had been recorded prior to broadcast but the presenter was still inviting listeners for song requests . the station offered its unreserved apologies that it inadvertently may have misled the listener and said that as a result of the incident it has tightened its procedures . 12 10 in july 2011 station manager dom chambers was elected to the national council of the community media association cma which looks after the interests of community media nationally . 13 in november 2011 somer valley fm were awarded young volunteer team of the year at the chairman of bath & north east somerset council s annual community awards . 14 in november 2012 somer valley fm along with three ways school in bath were highly commended in the youth team of the year category at the chairman of bath & north east somerset council s annual community awards . 15 in november 2013 the radio academy named somer valley fm as south west station of the year . in december 2013 somer valley fm manager dom chambers was appointed chair of the community media association cma content edit the station is on air 24 hours a day seven days a week offering between ten and twelve hours of live programmes during weekdays . 9 references edit a b c somer valley fm pdf . ofcom . retrieved 15 january 2013 . viagra sale online canadian health & care . somervalleyfm.co.uk . retrieved 2013 01 03 . a b c community radio goes live . this is somerset . 2009 01 14 . retrieved 2013 01 03 . midsomer norton monument and st chad s well . images of england . english heritage . retrieved 30 january 2010 . somer valley fm1 393 likes 13 talking about this . somer valley fm . facebook . retrieved 2013 01 03 . community radio station attracting 16 % of residents . this is somerset . 2011 08 18 . retrieved 2013 01 03 . http www.ofcom.org.uk static radiolicensing community commitments cr113.pdf http www.evaluationtrust.org system files evaluationreportrr.pdf a b c where can i buy viagra online canadian drugstore . somervalleyfm.co.uk . retrieved 2013 01 03 . a b cialis order no prescription pharmacy pdf . somervalleyfm.co.uk . retrieved 2013 01 03 . pair hailed for work in community . this is somerset . retrieved 15 january 2013 . station in breach over live claim radio today with rcs . radiotoday.co.uk . 2011 05 23 . retrieved 2013 01 03 . cma council community media association . commedia.org.uk . 2012 09 10 . retrieved 2013 01 03 . somerset volunteers recognised for their positive contribution at awards . this is somerset . 2011 12 01 . retrieved 2013 01 03 . somer valley fm radio reporters paralympic event creative featured showcase my quest bath and ne somerset . myquestbathnes.org.uk . 2012 09 02 . retrieved 2013 01 03 . external links edit official website coordinates 51 17 n 2 29 w 51.28 n 2.48 w 51.28 ; 2.48 retrieved from https en.wikipedia.org w index.php title somer valley fm & oldid 716480908 categories radio stations established in 2008radio stations in somersetcommunity radio stations in the united kingdommidsomer nortonradstockhidden categories use dmy dates from february 2012use british english from february 2012coordinates on wikidata navigation menu personal tools not logged intalkcontributionscreate accountlog in namespaces article talk variants views read edit view history more search navigation main pagecontentsfeatured contentcurrent eventsrandom articledonate to wikipediawikipedia store interaction helpabout wikipediacommunity portalrecent changescontact page tools what links hererelated changesupload filespecial pagespermanent linkpage informationwikidata itemcite this page print export create a bookdownload as pdfprintable version languages add links this page was last modified on 22 april 2016 at 00 21 . text is available under the 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