Channel Islands' DAB radio network sold to owner of Channel 103 & Island FM

The company which runs the Channel Islands' network of DAB radio transmitters has been sold to Tindle, which owns Channel 103 and Island FM.

Tindle says the sale will mean an "increased local focus" for the service, allowing for new stations, greater listener choice and benefits for local advertisers.

Digital radio launched for the first time in August 2021, having been delayed by a year because of the coronavirus pandemic, bringing more than a dozen new radio stations to listeners in the islands.

Nation Broadcasting - which is based in Wales - was awarded the licence by the communications regulator Ofcom ahead of two local companies.

Two years later, the company has been sold to Tindle, which owns several commercial radio stations in the Channel Islands as well as dozens of local newspapers in the UK.

Tindle was one of the firms which applied to run the DAB network in the region when Ofcom advertised the Channel Islands' licence.

James Keen, the company's Managing Director said: "In less than a year, DAB’s reach in the Channel Islands has grown by more than a third with one in three people now using the platform every week.

"Nation Broadcasting has delivered a large and diverse selection of radio stations to people in Jersey, Guernsey and Alderney and we look forward to building on their early success in years to come."

Jersey's competition regulator, the JCRA says the sale "will not substantially lessen competition" and Ofcom is said to be "comfortable" with the deal.

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