Not such a burning issue for Time FM

A suspected arson attack on a piece of national maritime heritage on your patch is manna for the news teams of most local radio stations.

Unfortunately, apparently underresourced radio station Time 106.8 FM (covering Greenwich, Bexley and Dartford) didn’t get the opportunity to milk the burning of the Cutty Sark for all it’s worth.

Providing local news is part of the station’s licence agreement with Ofcom. But without a reporter, there was no-one free to do on-site reporting and offer the sort of insight only radio can in such circumstances. (“I can see a big fire and lots of smoke, and it smells like burnt wood…”)

Not only that. Time does a split bulletin with IRN and, as the Cutty Sark was a leading news story on the syndicated feed, it was forced to run with it in the national bulletin delivered by IRN. This left its local offering with a big “this day will go down in local history” shaped hole in it.

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Freddy Mayhew

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