A RADIO station that covers north Herefordshire wants to cease its medium wave service. 

Sunshine 855 has held an AM licence since 1992. However, it can only be accessed during daylight hours due to heavy interference from European, and in particular, Spanish stations. 

The application states that, during 2022/23, a survey conducted by the station showed that only a minority of listeners tune in via the AM frequency.

"Sunshine 855 maintains switching off the AM transmitter will result in only a small reduction in the proportion of listeners who will no longer be able to access the service on AM," reads the application.

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Ginny Murfin, owner of Sunshine Radio, confirmed that the request is only for Sunshine 855, and not Sunshine Herefordshire and Monmouthshire, which has never held a medium wave licence.

"The request is part of Sunshine 855’s ongoing efforts to modernise its broadcasting technology and improve the quality of its programming," she said. 

"The station will continue to broadcast on its two FM frequencies, online and soon to launch SSDAB for the area and will therefore ensure that its loyal listeners can still tune in to their favourite shows. 

"Our request is merely following in the footsteps of other radio stations.

"Local BBC stations across the country have turned off their medium wave transmitters and Absolute Radio closed down all of their medium wave transmitters earlier in the year.

"Talk Sport also requested to turn off many of their medium wave transmitters.

"It is an expensive service for very few listeners and surveys show that people listen to radio in other ways. Technology has moved on."