So we all wandered off into the Fromian twilight with high hopes for the future of our local station, now all grown up and able to go out on its own on car radios, transistors and radiograms across East Somerset and West Wiltshire. Unfortunately, the best laid plans...
Day One has been a bit of a disaster. Long periods of 'dead air', programmes being abruptly terminated, sponsors messages fading out midstream and so on. One of the flagship launch shows, an ambitious production of Shakespeare's 'The Rape Of Lucrece' with Frome Drama Club, fell foul of the automated play-out system and we were denied Lucrece's tragic end by the technology.
FF-M is a great asset to the town. Run entirely by volunteers, much of its programming is very good indeed and the new frequency will enable it to reach more listeners than ever before. But in these days of multiple media choices, people are notoriously impatient and will quickly re-tune if the output is not up to scratch. Hopefully the glitches of today are merely teething problems and will quickly be cured by the radio equivalent of a dose of clove oil.
www.fromefm.co.uk
