Q103 CAMBRIDGE

Public File

Each local commercial radio station in the UK has requirements in respect of its music and local content, such as news, speech levels etc. These requirements are set out in the station "Format", a document issued by Ofcom, the UK's radio regulator.

This Public File contains details of the elements that Ofcom regulate, such as music tracks, local news etc. It is intended to give you a better understanding of our output and what we are doing for our local community.

1. News Bulletin Schedule including which bulletins provide local news and which provide only UK-wide bulletins (together with a note of extended bulletins where relevant to Format)

Q103 broadcasts news bulletins on the half-hour between 0600 and 0900 and hourly from 0900 and 1900 on weekdays. These bulletins contain a full mix of local, national and world stories, along with sport, weather and entertainment news. At the weekend, bulletins containing local, national and world news are broadcast on Q103 between 0800 and 1300. Additional national bulletins are broadcast from 2200 through until 0500 seven days a week.

2. Recent News stories covered on air

Click here for today's news from Q103

3. Contact details for the News team

Katie Burnett, Head of News - 01223 623831

Sinead Carroll, Journalist - 01223 623831

Tom Horn, Journalist - 01223 623831

You can e-mail the news team here.

4. The programme schedule

Q103's programme schedule can be found by clicking here.

5. The average number of hours of automated programming within weekday daytimes and within daytimes on Saturdays and Sundays

There are no automated programmes on Q103 during weekday or weekend daytimes.

6. The amount of local programming per day produced by the station

All of Q103's peak time output (0600-1000 and 1300-1900 weekdays and 0800-1200 weekends)  is produced and presented from our studios in Cambridge.

Outside of these times, programming is produced at various studios, owned and operated by Q103's parent company GCap Media.

7. Ofcom Localness Guidelines and how to complain to Ofcom (or link to the relevant part of Ofcom's website)

Ofcom, the government regulator with responsibilities for local radio, has produced localness guidelines that this station adheres to. These guidelines can be read by following the link at the bottom of the page.

In addition all local radio stations have written ‘formats' that they must follow at all times. You can read ours by clicking on the link below. If you have a complaint to make about this station, in the first instance you should contact the programme controller at the address below. If you are unhappy with the response you have received, you can complain directly to the regulator, Ofcom. Their website has full details about how to do this and can be found here.

8. Station Contact details

Q103's Programme Controller is James Keen, and our address is:
Q103
The Vision Park
Histon
Cambridge CB24 9WW

9. Events/charities support or coverage

Q103 Kids is Q103's registered charity. It has been running for over 10 years - in that time, over £300,000 has been raised and distributed to community projects ranging from the purchase of minibuses for the disabled to funding play equipment for disadvantaged children.

The charity's aims are simple: to assist community projects and individuals in the station's broadcast area by offering support, expertise and influence.

Q103 also offers publicity to a wide range of local organisations and charities by providing Q103's Local Guide, daily public service announcements broadcast in our evening programming.

In 2008, Q103 has been the radio partner for the Cambridge Film Festival, the Summer in the City Comedy Marquee, the Cambridge Beer Festival, Newmarket Nights, Newmarket Carnival, Ely Pop in the Park, Saffron Walden Carnival and many other events. We also regularly visit and open charitable fairs, open days and fetes with the Q103 Thunders. In the last twelve months, we have attended approximately 200 such events in the Cambridge area.

In late 2007, Q103 staged the Cambridge Christmas Lights Switch On in Market Square and also attended Christmas Lights events in St Ives, Huntingdon and Newmarket.

10. Recent programme and/or news highlights

In June 2008, Q103 broadcast live from Wembley Stadium to cover Cambridge United's participation in the football play-off finals.

Every year Q103 broadcasts from the Cancer Research UK Race for Life at Jesus Green in Cambridge. The races this year were fully subscribed and saw 10,000 women run a 5km course. Q103 presenters compered at the event and participants' stories were broadcast on air and featured online.

In July 2008, Q103 organised and promoted the 2nd Magical Moonlight Walk, raising money for local charities.

In March 2008, Q103 broadcast its Breakfast Show from the opening of the Grand Arcade in Cambridge.

In December 2007, Q103's Giving Tree at the Grafton Centre raised over 7,000 gifts for disadvantaged children in and around Cambridge. In the same month, the Christmas Wishing Well appeal raised several hundred pounds for our station charity. 

In October 2007, Q103 staged two drive-in movie nights at Cambridge Park and Ride to raise money for local children.

11. Any other issues or areas of interest likely to impact on localness

There are no current issues that impact on the localness of the station.

12. The station's playlist

Q103 plays music from the past three decades. We sometimes play popular current tracks more frequently than other songs. For details on our current playlist, click here.

13. Technical details

Q103 broadcasts on 103 FM with a power of 1kw ERP from the Madingley mast at near Cambridge, on 97.4 FM from transmitters in Haverhill and Newmarket, on DAB digital radio (Cambridge multiplex) and online for UK listeners at q103.co.uk

You can see a coverage map for our DAB transmitter here and for our FM transmitters here.