GTFM

GTFM
Broadcast area
Rhondda Cynon Taf
FrequenciesFM: 95.7 MHZ
100.7 MHz
107.1 MHz
107.9 MHz
DAB+ across Cardiff, Rhondda and Cynon Valleys
Online
TuneIn Radio app
Dedicated app for mobiles
Smart speakers
Programming
LanguagesEnglish, Welsh
FormatCommunity: music and talk
Ownership
OwnerGTFM (South Wales) Ltd.
History
First air date
24 May 2002
Links
WebsiteGTFM

GTFM is a community radio station serving Rhondda Cynon Taf in south Wales. The station broadcasts locally on 107.9 FM in the Pontypridd, Taf Ely and lower Rhondda areas, 95.7 FM in Tonyrefail, 107.1 FM in Aberdare and 100.7 FM in Mountain Ash. The station is also available online via the station's website. GTFM also broadcasts on DAB+ across the Cardiff and Caerphilly areas and across the Rhondda and Cynon Valleys, from studios and offices on Pinewood Avenue in Rhydyfelin, near Pontypridd.

The station was started in 1999 by the local Glyntaff Tenants and Residents Association as a community project run by local enthusiasts. In partnership with the University of Glamorgan, it launched a full-time station GTFM 106.9 under an Access Radio experiment and following full evaluation was licensed as the first community radio station in Wales under Ofcom's changed rules in 2006.

The station's Ofcom license commits it to:

The station is also expected to provide training, encourage volunteering and deliver other social gains to the local community.

According to a local MP, Chris Bryant, GTFM is the most popular local station in the area.

Programming

Most output is locally produced, including hourly local news bulletins, peak time travel updates and regular sports coverage, plus local features and interviews and specialist programming at evenings and on weekends.

The station broadcasts in Welsh three days a week, with a weekday news bulletin in Welsh that is simulcast from BBC Radio Cymru. National bulletins from Sky News Radio in London are broadcast during off-peak hours.

References

  1. ↑ "Contact details for Charity # 1111030 - GTFM (SOUTH WALES) LTD". Charity Commission. Retrieved 10 November 2015.
  2. 1 2 Hand, RJ; Traynor, M (15 November 2012). Radio in Small Nations: Production, Programmes, Audiences. University of Wales Press. pp. 18–. ISBN 978-0-7083-2544-5.
  3. ↑ "Community radio licence: key commitments - GMFM" (PDF). OFCOM. Retrieved 10 November 2015.
  4. ↑ "Draft Community Radio (Amendment) Order 2015". UK Parliament debate. 24 March 2015.