Editing Dune FM

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{{Use British English|date=August 2015}}
{{More citations needed|date=March 2009}}
{{Infobox radio station
| name         = Dune FM
| logo         = Dune wiki logo.png
| city         =
| area         = [[Southport]], [[Ormskirk]] and [[Metropolitan Borough of Sefton|Sefton]]
| branding     =
| airdate      = 12 October 1997
| last_airdate = 8 August 2012
| frequency    = 107.9 [[megahertz|MHz]]
| format       = Adult / Oldies
| power        = 100 watts
| website      = {{URL|http://www.dune1079.co.uk}}
}}

'''Dune FM''' was an [[Independent Local Radio]] station serving [[Southport]], [[Metropolitan Borough of Sefton|Sefton]] and surrounding areas between 1997 and 2012.

== Origins ==
Dune FM originally broadcast two [[Restricted Service Licence|RSL]] temporary licences in 1993. The first RSL was broadcast from makeshift studios at the rear of the town's Floral Hall complex, with the transmitter on the roof of The Southport Theatre. The second broadcast saw the station move to a new base above the Victoria Health & Leisure club, with the transmitter at Greenbank High School in the Hillside area of the town.

The station then broadcast two RSLs as "Magic Dune FM", with a target area of the town and neighbouring [[West Lancashire]] and North [[Metropolitan Borough of Sefton|Sefton]], and a transmitter close to the present site of Aughton near Ormskirk.

The Radio Authority eventually advertised a small-scale local licence for the towns of Southport and Ormskirk and the Merseyside borough of Sefton, which attracted three bids, including the winning Dune FM consortium.

== Full-time licence ==
Dune FM was originally owned by local shareholders, including Steve Dickson, David Maker, Philip Hilton, John Cooper, and the founder of Blackpool's [[Radio Wave 96.5|Radio Wave]], John Barnett. The station found a permanent home at a former substation building on Victoria Way, renamed ''The Power Station''.

== Changing hands ==
Dune FM was sold to [[Forward Media]] in 1999, backed by venture capital finance and chaired by David Maker, at a time when the station claimed its highest listening figures.

In 2004, the station was bought by [[The Local Radio Company]] Plc.<ref name="cr-TRLC_Purchase">{{Cite web |url=http://radiotoday.co.uk/news.php?extend.74 |title=Radio Today with United Radio..: TLRC buys Dune FM |access-date=7 February 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080602114420/http://www.radiotoday.co.uk/news.php?extend.74 |archive-date=2 June 2008 |url-status=dead }}</ref> who introduced networked programming. In June 2008, Dune FM was bought from TLRC by NIOCOM Limited,<ref name="cr-NIOCOM_Purchase">{{Cite web |url=http://radiotoday.co.uk/news.php?extend.3471 |title=Radio Today with United Radio..: Cheshire FM boss buys Dune |access-date=7 February 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080612144659/http://www.radiotoday.co.uk/news.php?extend.3471 |archive-date=12 June 2008 |url-status=dead }}</ref> and renamed Dune 107.9.

January 2011 saw the station transferred to the ownership of Southport Radio Limited, a group headed by local DJ Jon Jessop and including many of the original group who ran RSL broadcasts under the 'Southport Radio' moniker. The station relaunched again in February 2011 under the original name of Dune FM.

==Financial problems==
Around the time of the buyout, the station had been suffering from financial problems. In October 2011, [[High Court enforcement officer]]s acting for multiple creditors removed the station's broadcasting equipment from its studios, forcing makeshift facilities to be quickly assembled to get back on-air. During March 2012, a Statutory Demand notice was published in the Southport Champion newspaper, claiming Dune FM Limited owed a significant sum to Proud FM Limited.<ref name="Statutory Demand - March 2012">{{Cite web |url=http://www.southport.gb.com/southport/news_list/What%27s_the_future_for_Dune_107_9_-51233375.htm |title=What's the future for Dune 107.9? |access-date=23 March 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131110092622/http://www.southport.gb.com/southport/news_list/What%27s_the_future_for_Dune_107_9_-51233375.htm |archive-date=10 November 2013 |url-status=dead }}</ref> On Monday 9 July 2012 Dune FM Ltd was wound up in the Liverpool District Registry<ref name="Winding Up Order - July 2012">{{cite web|url=http://www.london-gazette.co.uk/issues/60209/notices/1631398/|title=DUNE FM LTD|website=www.london-gazette.co.uk}}</ref>

==Closure==
Following the winding-up order, the station's licence passed into the hands of the official receiver. OFCOM ordered the station to cease broadcasting by 2 August 2012, a deadline which was ignored by Dune's owner. Six days after the deadline, OFCOM engineers attended the transmitter site at Gaws Hill, Ormskirk, accompanied by Dune's transmission contractor, and removed the transmission equipment. The station went off air at 12.23pm.

The station now exclusively broadcasts online as [http://www.coast1079.com/ Coast1079], using the same format and personalities with similar branding.

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20120621082329/http://www.dune1079.co.uk/ Official website], archived in June 2012

{{DEFAULTSORT:Dune FM}}
[[Category:Radio stations in Lancashire]]
[[Category:Radio stations in Merseyside]]
[[Category:Radio stations established in 1997]]
[[Category:Radio stations disestablished in 2012]]
[[Category:1997 establishments in England]]
[[Category:2012 disestablishments in England]]
[[Category:Defunct radio stations in the United Kingdom]]
[[Category:Southport]]