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Media
GaydarRadio to close
By Chris Cooke | Published on Monday 7 January 2013
Gaydar is shutting down its radio service aimed at the gay community, with the DAB licenses the service has used in the London and Brighton areas being given to a Manchester-based community radio service called Gaydio.
Beginning as an online radio station in 2001, GaydarRadio subsequently appeared on DAB, winning both awards and a sizable loyal audience. But Gaydar owner QSoft Consulting says that making an online/digital-only radio station commercially viable is incredibly challenging, and operating the radio service is preventing it from fully investing in its core online dating business.
Gaydio began short-term broadcasts in Manchester in 2006, before becoming a full-time FM set up in 2008, the UK’s first FM service aimed at the gay community. Most of the output on its new DAB frequencies will be the same as the Manchester station, though with a few local opt-outs.
Confirming the closure of GaydarRadio, QSoft CEO Trevor Martin told reporters: “Everyone associated with GaydarRadio should be immensely proud of what the station has achieved. The station has devoted an extraordinary amount of time to help social causes within the LGBT community as well as supporting talent within the music industry. The transfer of the DAB licences to Gaydio will ensure that the time and money invested in GaydarRadio will continue to live on and be supported in an appropriate way, with the support of the Gaydio FM licence”.
While Toby Whitehouse, Station Director and Co-Founder of Gaydio, added: “This is great news for the UK’s LGBT community as this will create a unified and stronger programming opportunity on the FM, DAB and online broadcasting platforms. Gaydio and GaydarRadio have shared many similarities in terms of the programming mix and our dedication to promoting LGBT causes. We are really excited to be the forging the biggest LGBT media outlet in the UK”.
