Your Station

Isle of Wight Radio was awarded the licence to broadcast to the Isle of Wight by the old Independent Broadcasting Authority (which later became the Radio Authority and is now OFCOM) in 1989. The capital needed to launch the station was raised entirely from local investors and the station went to air on 15 April 1990 . It was the first “incremental” station – part of the IBA's new tier of small scale commercial radio stations.

After two years running as an independent the station was bought by the fast expanding GWR radio group (based in Bristol). Under their stewardship the station began to turn around the financial problems of the early years and by the time the station was sold on to the Local Radio Company (TLRC) in 1996 the company was in profit.

TLRC helped take the station into the next phase of its development and in 1998 Isle of Wight Radio was awarded an FM licence by the Radio Authority. That same year, with record profits and revenue growth, Isle of Wight Radio was nominated as Station of the Year at the prestigious Sony Radio Awards and at the Commercial Radio Awards (the KPMG Awards).

2004 was a landmark year for Isle Of Wight Radio. In January we were named Radio Station Of The Year for the South and South East at the Radio Academy Awards. We were also shortlisted for the Sony Radio Awards and were nominated as Station Of The Year at the NTL Commercial Radio Awards. 

Since that initial Radio Academy Award Isle of Wight Radio has continued to wow the judges at all the industry's major awards. We've now won the South's Radio Academy Award FOUR years in a row and in March 2007 received our third successive Sony nomination for Station of the Year. 

In April 2007 Isle of Wight Radio celebrates its 17th birthday.