Bournemouth One

What Bournemouth One does

Bournemouth One is a UK local commercial radio station serving the Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole (BCP) conurbation and east Dorset, operating under an Ofcom broadcast licence on DAB digital radio, online streaming and dedicated iOS and Android mobile applications. The station is privately held by The Best Songs on the Radio Ltd. and was founded in 2020.

Its output is fully pre-recorded rather than live, built around a defined "20/20" rolling format of approximately 20 minutes of music followed by 2 minutes of locally relevant information (news, weather, traffic, coastal and tide information, jobs, what's-on and a community noticeboard). Music programming centres on 1980s to 2020s pop and chart material with hourly "Classic One" (1960s-70s) and "New One" tracks. The broadcast pipeline uses automation software to select accurate, time-relevant data items and a mix of human announcers and AI-generated voices for continuity between speech segments. The station operates a separate local news website (news.bournemouthone.com), a WhatsApp traffic-update channel, and active social profiles on Facebook, X and Instagram.

Monetisation is driven entirely by local radio advertising sold to businesses targeting the BCP audience, with the station positioning itself as an affordable, locally focused alternative. The management team is small — Roy Martin serves as Content Director and CEO, with Lorna Child leading promotions — and no external funding, partnerships, acquisitions or advertising-client logos are disclosed.

Name

Bournemouth One

Legal name

The Best Songs on the Radio Ltd.

Website

https://bournemouthone.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2020

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

Bournemouth One is a UK Ofcom-licensed local commercial radio station broadcasting on DAB, online and mobile apps to the Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole area, delivering music plus local news, traffic and weather and selling local radio advertising.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Local Radio Broadcasting

NAICS

Radio Broadcasting Stations (51611), Radio Broadcasting Stations (516110)

SIC

Radio Broadcasting Stations (4832)

akta.pro primary industry

Digital Radio Broadcasting (DAB/DAB+, HD Radio) (MPAIAEAD)

akta.pro secondary industry

Radio Content Production & Studios (On-air Production, Imaging, Jingles) (MPAIAEAL)

Keywords

• Local radio broadcasting
• DAB+ digital radio
• Radio advertising sales
• Local news media
• Music streaming service

Headquarters

HQ city

Bournemouth

HQ country

United Kingdom

HQ region

Europe

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B and B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Infrastructure, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales

Revenue model

1. Radio Advertising: Local radio advertising sold to businesses wanting to reach the Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole audience. Described as affordable, effective and local.

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

Bournemouth One is a local commercial radio station broadcasting a rolling 20/20 format of approximately 20 minutes of music followed by 2 minutes of locally relevant information (news, weather, traffic, coastal/tide, jobs, community noticeboard, what's on) to the Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole (BCP) and east Dorset area via DAB+, online streaming and iOS/Android apps. Revenue is generated by selling local radio advertising to businesses wanting to reach the BCP audience, complemented by a local news website, mobile apps and weather/traffic guides.

Product overview

Bournemouth One is a local commercial radio station serving Bournemouth, Christchurch, and Poole. The offering consists of the core Bournemouth One Radio broadcast (available via DAB, online streaming, and mobile apps), combined with a news platform (news.bournemouthone.com), and supplementary services including weather, traffic information, and a What's On events guide. The station operates a rolling 20/20 format with approximately 20 minutes of music followed by two minutes of locally relevant speech content. Music output focuses on pop and chart music from the 1980s to 2020s, with hourly 'Classic One' (1960s-70s) and 'New One' tracks. The station is regulated by Ofcom and powered by Aiir radio website CMS. Listeners can engage through mobile apps, the Chosen One song request feature, and the community noticeboard.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Bournemouth One Radio Station

Segments2 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

AI capability2 records

Feature2 records

Scale indicators2 records

Recent moves5 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Direct peers

• Nation Radio: Wales-based independent commercial radio group operating local/regional stations with similar music-and-information formats. Comparable as a small UK commercial radio operator competing against national network brands for local ad revenue.
• Hits Radio: Bauer Media's commercial local-radio network with regionally opt-out content across the UK. Comparable to Bournemouth One as a smaller-market, music-led commercial station monetizing through local ad sales and national network fill-in.
• Original 106 (Original Group): Independent small-market UK commercial radio station serving a specific UK locality, comparable to Bournemouth One in scale, single-market focus, and dependence on local ad sales rather than network support.
• Wave 105: Bauer Media-owned commercial radio station broadcasting to the same south-coast/Dorset-Hampshire market as Bournemouth One, with a comparable local music, news and advertising proposition. It is the most direct in-market competitor for both listeners and BCP-area advertising spend.
• Greatest Hits Radio: Bauer Media's network of localized commercial stations across the UK using a hit-music-led, presenter-light format very similar to Bournemouth One's automated approach. Closely comparable on business model, distribution (DAB/local FM) and local advertising monetization.

Broad incumbents

• Capital: Global's flagship commercial pop-radio brand with regional opt-outs across major UK markets including the south. Overlaps Bournemouth One's pop format and competes for the same BCP-area listeners and advertisers, but at substantially greater scale and brand recognition.
• Heart: Global's mainstream commercial radio brand with regional opt-outs serving many of the same UK local markets as Bournemouth One. Comparable in pop/adult format and local ad positioning, but operates at national-network scale.
• Radio X: Global-owned alternative-music commercial radio brand available on national DAB. Overlaps Bournemouth One on DAB distribution and competing for the same UK radio ad budgets, but operates as a national network rather than a hyperlocal station.
• Smooth Radio: Global-owned commercial radio brand with regional stations targeting adult/melodic listeners across the UK. Competes for the same BCP-area audience segments and local advertising budgets as Bournemouth One, but with established national reach.

Regional players

• BBC Radio Solent: BBC public-service local radio station covering Hampshire, Dorset and the BCP area. Comparable audience proposition (local news, weather, traffic, community) but funded via the licence fee rather than advertising, so a non-commercial regional peer for listener-share purposes.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat3 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights5 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/BournemouthOne
• Facebookfacebook.com/BournemouthOne
• Instagraminstagram.com/bournemouthone
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/bournemouthone

Compliance1 record

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles2 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Bournemouth One