29/03/2022
Our home station, Bristol’s community radio channel B.C.F.M. marks fifteen years of broadcasting at the weekend. The first broadcasts of the multi-diverse radio station for the city came on March 27th 2007. BCFM was the product of many years campaigning and preparation – the station was formed out of a series of temporary radio stations such as Radio 19 at Barton Hill Settlement and Commonwealth Radio at Temple Meads. And in addition, many of the presenters and movers in the new channel had roots in the pirate radio movement of the eighties and nineties, before the legalisation of low power community broadcasters. “ShoutOut” began on Monday 7th June 2010 after months of negotiations and lobbying by other media, including by acclaimed gay author Darryl Bullock, who in those days was LGBTQIA events editor for listings magazine “Venue”. By September 2010, “ShoutOut” had expended from a 25 minute slot to a full hours programming. Over the last fifteen years, community radio has expanded in Bristol, and B.C.F.M. has been joined by half a dozen and more other small scale broadcasters on FM and DAB. “ShoutOut” meanwhile has expanded and is today heard on many radio stations across the region, Ireland, South Wales and internationally online. But we also remember where we began and would like to extend our thanks to B.C.F.M. for carrying the show over the years.
