Minster FM launched at 6 am on Saturday 4 July 1992 by presenter Daragh Corcoran and the first song played was 'Saturday in the Park' by Chicago. The station launched exactly nine years to the date after BBC Radio York started broadcasting and at the time, had a live, locally presented schedule 24 hours a day. This continued until the launch of Yorkshire Coast Radio in November 1993 when programmes between 10pm and 6am were broadcast on both stations. Minster FM now broadcasts up to eighteen hours a day of local programming solely for its coverage area. The remainder of the day is automated.
Transmitters
The station broadcasts on 104.7 FM from the Acklam Wold transmitter, near Leavening, on the Yorkshire Wolds. In 1996 the station added a transmitter to cover the Thirsk and Northallerton area using a signal on 102.3 FM from Calvert's Carpets in Thirsk. In 2005, station owners The Local Radio Company secured a specific licence for the area and launched Minster Northallerton on that frequency. TLRC was later taken over by UKRD, and in 2009, the new owners merged this station with its stations based in Darlington and Durham to form Star Radio. However in 2017, UKRD announced that it would hand back the Star Radio licences to the regulator Ofcom and also asked Ofcom to transfer the Northallerton licence to Minister FM. Ofcom confirmed the transfer of the Northallerton licence to Minster on 4 April 2017. and therefore 102.3 is once again broadcasting Minster FM along with a transmitter covering the Northallerton area on 103.5. As of 17 December 2014, Minster FM started broadcasting on DAB digital radio, under the name 'More Minster'. It is broadcast on the North Yorkshire DAB multiplex from various locations within Yorkshire, including Bilsdale, Acklam Wold, Hildebrand Barracks and Oliver's Mount. More Minster carries Minster FM programmes in the morning and through the day, but during the evening, the DAB schedule differs from the FM version, broadcasting its own dedicated programming.
Awards
In 2009 Minster FM was one of three stations to be nominated for The Arqiva Station of the Year - the station lost out to Lincs FM 102.2 in Lincolnshire. In 2017, drivetime presenter Harry Whittaker received a nomination for ‘Best New Show’ at the UK ARIAS and 'Best Entertainment Programming' at the 2018 O2 media Awards In 2019, Minster FM won the 'Charitable Business Award' at the Yorkshire Choice Awards 2019.
Programming
The majority of Minster FM's programming is produced and broadcast from its York studios. Live presenter-led programming airs from 4 am to 10 pm on weekdays, 6 am to 8 pm on Saturdays and 6 am to 7 pm, with automated non-stop music broadcast overnight. The sole syndicated programme on the station, produced by Salford-based Chris Country Radio, airs on Sunday evenings.
News
Minster FM broadcasts hourly local news bulletins from 6 am to 6 pm on weekdays and from 8 am to 1 pm at weekends. On weekdays, headlines and sports bulletins are broadcast on the half hour during breakfast and drivetime shows. During the station's early years, Minster FM's local news output was not produced in-house but contracted out to Yorkshire Television's regional news serviceCalendar. Local news is now produced by the station's own news team. At all other times, syndicated national bulletins from Sky News Radio are broadcast on the hour.
