was specially formed for the purpose of bidding for and securing an 8 year Sallie (small scale alternative location ) radio licence being advertised for areas within Leicestershire by the Radio Authority in August 1997.

Year 2000 Update ! 95.1 The Wall.
We are now located in the heart of Leicester City and have launched Leicester's Newest Radio Station, We have conducted two commercially and culturally successful broadcasts since May 1999 and are campaigning for a new FM radio licence for this thriving city location.

Read on here for more details about Big Dial Radio Co. and our continuing mission, with historical details, photos of events and summaries of what we do, or visit our new radio station sites by clicking their logos for more up to date stuff.

By the licence advertisement date we had already gained direct experience of designing, planning and delivering community radio services to people living within the South Leicestershire area, under the Radio Authority's Restricted Licence (RSL) facility, starting with our station in Market Harborough in 1996 and 1997. This led directly to our 3rd RSL venture in neighbouring Oadby & Wigston, in May 1997 where we collaborated with both of Leicester's hospital radio groups, raising funds for The Mayor's charities.

After conducting a superb 6 month long campaign, generating huge public support, with top quality research from Infinity Radio Consultancy, backing from UKRD and DMG Radio, and extensive support from the Leicester Mercury we submitted our licence application as

Six months later we faced disappointment when our area was totally left out of the eventual licence awards in 1998. Licences were awarded to three out of four quadrants of Leicestershire but no licence was made available to the South East Area, despite our bid, one from another local group HFM, and a bid by a corporate radio group with a neighbouring station to choose from.

With a large outside radio operator scooping up two out of the three "local" licences over the heads of local groups, we faced a problem common to many of Britain's aspiring community radio operators in seeing years of publicly supported local work count for nothing in the eyes of radio bureaucrats seemingly interested only in promoting established corporate formulas. The so-called "Sallie" radio licences offered by The Radio Authority in this period were grandly and publicly touted as being "designed to offer licence opportunities" only for local "on the ground" RSL type operators, yet inevitably most awards went to wealthy corporate operators who already owned a group of formula based format stations.

We did not give up however and our group is still campaigning for a licence in Leicester, and providing an unrivalled local radio service crammed with musical diversity.

Our aim was then, and remains now, to create a true community style station, profitable, well managed, professional and crammed with the variety, spontaneity and local public involvement so lacking in mainstream corporate radio in this country. This will empower people within the area, involving them in local radio production and presentation. We have the skills and experience to achieve and manage this idea and have not let this dream vanish. Our team includes individuals with several years proven experience in managing and advising community groups providing similar radio broadcasting in towns and cities, including winning previous full time licences.