8 February 2023
Ofcom awards the Northampton SSDAB multiplex licence to Northampton DAB CIC
Ofcom have today announced that they have awarded the small scale DAB multiplex licence for Northampton to Northampton DAB CIC.
The consortium, made up of Northampton's community radio stations Revolution Radio, Embrace Radio and Inspiration FM will be launching later in 2023 and will provide a platform for a wealth of new and existing radio services to broadcast to the town.
Radio stations wishing to be carried on the platform are encouraged to contact the group via the website nndab.com
30 September 2022
All four local Community Radio Stations come together for a digital future for Northampton
Northampton based Ofcom Community Radio Stations, Inspiration FM, NLive Radio, Revolution Radio, and Embrace Radio are coming together to jointly bid for the local DAB MUX which is currently open for applications.
If successful it will enable all these stations and more to broadcast on DAB across the Northampton area, serving the local are with local radio services and securing a DAB future for these stations.
Martin Steers, Station Manager of NLive Radio said: “It’s great that we’ve managed to bring the stations together with a single purpose, I hope it’s a start of a good positive relationship which may lead to other opportunities of collaboration”
The joint bid will see the stations form Northampton DAB a new community based organisation to bid for, and operate what is known as a small scale DAB (SSDAB) MUX which will enable all those stations and many more to broadcast across the town.
The group are interested to hear from other existing or aspiring stations across the area, local, regional or even nationally that might be interested in broadcasting to Northampton.
Mark Dean, Joint Station Manager of Inspiration FM said: “As Northampton’s longest running community station, we’re proud to be a partner of this joint venture and look forward to the opportunities it brings to Northampton’s diverse communities”
As well as the existing four community stations, there are opportunities for other community groups and organisations to look to launch new stations to serve groups and communities that are currently underrepresented and underserved by existing stations.
This could be anything from stations of common interest to ethnic groups, and religious organisations.
Jim Byrne, Director of Embrace said “All the local stations working together makes us stronger together and a more sustainable future for us all, as a local guy I believe in the Northampton and what we can do as one town together”
The application process is being managed by regulator Ofcom, with the deadline in the middle of November, hopefully there will be an announcement made after Christmas. If successful, they will have 18 months to launch the MUX and get the service on-air.
Chris Gregg, Station Manager of Revolution Radio said: “Bringing Northampton together is part of our aim at our station, we are excited to be part of a joint bid that brings the stations of the town together”
Anyone wanting to find out more is encouraged to head to northamptondab.co.uk especially anyone that may be interested in launching a station in Northampton and want to be part of the mix of stations at launch.
16 August 2022
Local Radio Stations come together for the future of digital radio across Northampton
Local Radio stations and community organisations are being invited to come together for a joint bid for the local DAB Radio Multiplex that is currently open for applications by UK Regulator Ofcom.
The round closes in October and will see a new Small-Scale DAB (or SSDAB) platform launch across the town that will provide a way for dozens of radio stations to all broadcast on DAB to serve the people of Northampton.
Martin Steers, Station Manager of NLive Radio said “As a community focused station we are keen to bring the community together for a BID that will benefit all the local community of Northampton”
NLive Radio and Embrace, two of the local radio stations have started discussions on an entirely community owned and operated application BID for the multiplex and have invited other local stations such as Inspiration FM and Revolution Radio to join their bid for the benefit of all.
Jim Byrne, Director of Embrace said “As a local guy I believe in local radio and bringing people together to celebrate and promote Northampton”
Their vision is for the multiplex to be owned by the community, via local not for profit community focused stations so that it is run to not only provide a platform for their local stations, but other local services, and with the overall aim to benefit the Northampton community.
Paul Moore, Station Manager of Embrace Said “Embrace is one of the local radio stations in the town, and working alongside other local radio stations in collaboration makes perfect sense”
They’ve brought in the experience and expertise of Samuel Hunt from Maxxwave as technical consultant and technical provider who they have experience with providing their current FM broadcasting needs, he’s also provided support for other BIDs across the country and has a good reputation in the industry.
They are currently looking for established local community based or not for profit radio stations to join as part of their BID, but also looking for any service, local, regional, or national that might be interested in expressing an interest in broadcasting to Northampton to get in touch via This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or by heading to northamptondab.co.uk