Editing Channel 103

{{short description|Independent Local Radio station for Jersey}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}}
{{Infobox radio station
| name                = Channel 103
| logo                = Channel 103 2024.png
| logo_size           = 220px
| city                = [[Saint Helier|St Helier]]
| area                = [[Jersey]]
| airdate             = {{start date and age|1992|10|25|df=y}} (32 years ago)
| frequency           = [[FM broadcasting|FM]]: 103.7 MHz <small>(Jersey)</small><br />[[Digital Audio Broadcasting|DAB]]: 12A <small>(Channel Islands)</small>
| rds                 = Chnl 103
| language            = English
| format              = [[Contemporary hit radio|CHR/Pop]]
| power               = 6kW
| licensing_authority = [[Ofcom]]
| sister_stations     = [[Island FM]]<br />[[Soleil Radio]]<br />[[Midlands 103]]
| network             = [[Hits Radio Network]] (for sales purposes)
| owner               = [[Tindle Radio Group|Tindle Radio]]
| webcast             = [https://www.channel103.com/radioplayer Radioplayer]
| website             = [http://www.channel103.com Channel 103]
}}
'''Channel 103''' is an [[Independent Local Radio]] station broadcasting to the island of [[Jersey]] on 103.7 [[FM broadcasting|FM]] and [[Digital Audio Broadcasting|DAB+ digital radio]].

The station launched on 25 October 1992. Channel 103 is part of [[Tindle Radio Group|Tindle Radio]], which also owns [[Island FM]] in [[Guernsey]] and [[Midlands 103]] in [[Ireland]].<ref>{{Cite web|title=Radio in the Channel Islands|url=https://www.channelislandsradio.com/about/|access-date=2021-05-24|website=Tindle Radio|language=en-US}}</ref>

According to [[RAJAR]], the station has a weekly audience of 48,000 and a 26.2% market share as of September 2024 - the highest percentage reach of any radio station in the British Isles.<ref>{{Cite web|title=RAJAR Q2 2024: Regional and local radio facts and figures|url=https://radiotoday.co.uk/2020/05/rajar-q1-2020-regional-and-local-radio-facts-and-figures/|access-date=2021-05-24|website=RadioToday|date=13 May 2020 |language=en}}</ref>

In late 2020, Channel 103 became a part of [[Bauer Radio|Bauer]]'s [[Hits Radio Network]] for commercial sales.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Bauer Partner Stations|url=https://www.bauermedia.co.uk/more-from-bauer/bauer-partner-stations|access-date=2021-05-24|website=Bauer Media|language=en}}</ref> It remains owned by Tindle with no shared programming.

==Programming==

Channel 103's core audience is the 25-44 age group,<ref>{{Cite web|title=Ofcom {{!}} Analogue Radio Stations|url=http://static.ofcom.org.uk/static/radiolicensing/html/radio-stations/analogue/al000143ba3channel103.htm|access-date=2021-05-24|website=static.ofcom.org.uk}}</ref> playing contemporary hits - predominantly from the early 1990s to the present day.

News bulletins are presented locally from 6:30am until 6pm, Monday to Friday.

The station's weekend news service broadcasts local content, presented either from Jersey or Guernsey from 8am until noon. [[Independent Radio News|Sky News]] provides the service outside these times.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Public File|url=https://www.channel103.com/public-file/|access-date=2021-05-24|website=Channel 103|language=en}}</ref>

==Transmission==
{{Main|Frémont Point transmitting station}}From its launch in 1992 until 16 March 2021, Channel 103 broadcast from studios on Tunnell Street in [[Saint Helier|St Helier]].
[[File:Channel 103 studios Tunnell Street.jpg|alt=Channel 103's former Tunnell Street studios|thumb|Channel 103's former Tunnell Street studios]]
In 2021, the station vacated its original building and moved to a new studio complex in Britannia Place, St Helier.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Tindle Radio|url=https://www.channelislandsradio.com/news/|access-date=2021-05-24|website=Tindle Radio|language=en-US}}</ref> It continues to transmit on FM from the Arqiva mast at Frémont Point, on the north coast of the island. In September 2024 the 103.7FM signal was increased to 6kW ERP, improving reception in St Helier as well as the east coast of Jersey.

[[File:Fremont point tower, Jersey.jpg|alt=Fremont Point transmitter|thumb|252x252px|Channel 103's Frémont Point FM transmitter]]

Channel 103 began [[Digital audio broadcasting|digital radio]] transmissions, alongside those of [[Island FM]], on 1 August 2021 with the launch of the local [[Ofcom]]-licensed DAB multiplex for the Channel Islands. This service is radiated from transmitters at Les Platons (Jersey) and Les Touillets (Guernsey) and Fort Albert in Alderney.

==External links==
* [http://www.channel103.com/ Official site]

==See also==
*[[BBC Radio Jersey]]
*[[Contact 94]]

==References==
{{reflist|1}}

{{Jersey topics}}
{{Tindle}}

{{coord missing|Channel Islands}}

[[Category:Radio stations in Jersey]]
[[Category:Radio stations established in 1992]]
[[Category:1992 establishments in Jersey]]
[[Category:Adult contemporary radio stations in the United Kingdom]]


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