Origins
The roots of Wire FM lie in 1990 when two presenters at Warrington's Hospital Radio Station, Stephen Cooper and Philip Houltby, decided to run an RSL station for Warrington. Stephen had had previous experience of this having been involved with a Special Event Station Waves AM in Peterhead. The station was duly organised and took to the air as Warrington Festival of Music Radio (WFMR) for two weeks in May 1991. The station broadcast from a borrowed portable cabin located behind the Warrington Town Hall Gates on 1602 kHz AM.
The station was successful in both audience response and commercial respects, and further broadcasts were made in the spring of 1992 and 1993. Stephen Armstrong-Smith and David Duffy joined the management team for these broadcasts, and a 14' touring caravan was converted into a mobile studio.
During 1994, the attraction of the caravan had waned. Also, funding for the Warrington Festival of Music had decreased with its main supporter, the Warrington & Runcorn Development Corporation, having reached the end of its life. In the 1994 broadcast presenters were also heard to refer to WFMR as Warrington's Favourite Music Radio not Warrington's Festival of Music Radio anymore. The decision was made to move 'indoors', sever the link with the Festival, and move to FM. This had significant risks, as costs for FM licences were higher, and new transmitters and studio equipment had to be bought. However, the broadcast went ahead during June 1994 from a 'Community House' on Nora street in the Howley Area of Warrington, borrowed from Warrington Borough Council.
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