2ND January 1995
On 2nd January 1995 Coastline 105.8 FM launched a 28 day RSL broadcast, bringing the "local" back to local radio for Dover and the surrounding areas.
In January 1995 the Coastline FM group came together to broadcast a 28 day RSL to Dover and the surrounding areas. Headed by lnvicta FM presenter Mark Stafford (who had been one of the regular presenters on all three of those early RSL's), the team also Included other former Invicta presenters Stephen Wright. Bob Le Roi and Jerry Wright and the cream of the up and coming local radio talent from South East Kent. A total on-air staff of 27 was assembled for the Coastline Project. 17 members of which had previously appeared on-air on Shepway Sound or White Cliffs Radio.
The aim of the Coastline FM RSL was not only to produce local awareness of the group's future plans but also to provide a month of quality local broadcasting for the people of Dover . Musically the broadcast offered an alternative to lnvicta FM by pursuing a format of Adult oriented Pop & Soft Rock aimed at the 20 to 50 age range. Unlike previous RSLS In the area Coastline FM adopted a policy of avoiding the youth market and positively discriminated against heavy dance music and teen pop hits. Coastline's on-air music slogan was “Quality Pop & Quality Rock”.
The station's "quality" watchword also extended to our news coverage. The Coastline News Team was headed by Dominic King, now the afternoon news editor at KFM. It also Included Caroline Feraday who was an experienced ILR news reporter (and is now at Capital in London ) and Rebecca Shallcross, daughter of well-known Parliamentary TV reporter Brian Shallcross, who is also now part of the KFM news team. This talented team allowed Coastline FM to produce high quality local news programming throughout the RSL period.
In addition to this Coastline FM was also keen to provide strong local sports coverage during the station's programming. The station's Saturday afternoon “Coastline Sports” show was heavily biased towards Dover Athletic, who are the leading football team In South Kent and have for several years been on the verge of promotion to full Football League status.
Local Music was featured exclusively in the station's Sunday evening local music show and In addition to this listeners were given an insight into the behind-the-scenes world of Dover 's local music scene with many interviews with the areas leading musicians.
The Coastline FM RSL captured the imagination of the people of the Dover District who responded with not only very strong listener support but also by advertising on the station. Coastline FM not only brightened up an otherwise cold and dull January but also proved conclusively that a high quality local radio service along similar lines would be welcomed by the people of Dover and the surrounding area.
Copyright East Kent Radio Ltd 2004