Apple FM: Press Release

Broadcasting from the studio based at Musgrove Park Hospital Apple FM is your local Community Radio Station, we broadcast 24 hours a day, with a mix of shows across the week. Like many we have been affected by the Covid_19 pandemic but we are still broadcasting to the local community of Taunton.

Things are tough for businesses at the moment and as a community radio station we wanted to give something back. Apple FM Taunton is run entirely by volunteers and survives on donations, fund raising and revenue from adverts & sponsorship. 

But to support the community of Taunton, with the help of the Taunton Chamber of Commerce, Apple FM extended an offer to Chamber members of a free mention on the station to let their customers know what their business was doing at this difficult time. Some businesses are still trading, others have had to close, albeit temporarily. The offer was for a 30 second mention about what their business is doing during this lockdown period and we have been overwhelmed with the response. The mentions will be played out on a rotation during our normal advert spots on the hour and half hour and we will continue to play them for at least one month or until lockdown restriction are relaxed.

It is important to for people to Stay At Home, Protect The NHS and Save Lives and with more people listening to the radio during this lockdown period. Jason Freeman, Managing Director at Apple FM CIC said ‘Apple FM broadcasts to the community of Taunton and this is a way of us supporting businesses at this time.’ 

Bethan Turner, Membership and Events Manager at Taunton Chamber of Commerce said ‘In these unprecedented times, so many local businesses are having to pause their operations, change what they offer or supply, or are at the very least operating remotely. This means keeping in touch with customers is more difficult than before, particularly in those sectors that are ‘customer facing’. Having the opportunity to use local media to help keep communication routes alive is therefore of vital importance at the moment. There is real value in the being able to ‘talk’ to customers in their own home via broadcast media, and we are so delighted to have been able to offer so many of our Taunton Chamber of Commerce members the opportunity to get on air, via the strong links we have with Apple FM.

As a Taunton Chamber member organisation themselves, Apple FM have really understood the importance of keeping in touch with customers, and being a conduit for supporting business-to-customer relationships through their radio broadcasting, it has been wonderful to see them helping so many fellow member businesses at this time.