AIR Broadcasting Ltd has officially been granted a Local Digital Sound Programme Licence by Ofcom, marking a major milestone for the station’s future broadcasting plans.
The licence, issued on 15 May 2026, authorises AIR to operate as a licensed local digital radio service across the UK’s digital broadcasting network.
According to the licence documentation, AIR will provide “a music-led digital radio station featuring a mix of contemporary and familiar tracks, alongside speech content including news, information and community-focused features.”
The service will broadcast 24 hours a day, seven days a week under the service name “AIR”.
The approval represents a significant achievement for AIR Broadcasting Ltd and its associated community broadcasting initiatives, strengthening the organisation’s position within the UK radio sector.
As AIR prepares for expansion onto the Bournemouth & Poole SSDAB network alongside its FM coverage across Weymouth, Portland and towards Bridport, the station is set to become one of Dorset’s growing regional radio brands.
The expanded coverage will significantly increase AIR’s audience reach beyond its existing FM footprint in Weymouth and Portland.
Broadcasting across the Bournemouth & Poole SSDAB multiplex will bring AIR to listeners across Bournemouth, Poole, Christchurch and surrounding areas, while continued FM transmission will maintain strong coverage along the Jurassic Coast including Weymouth, Portland and west towards Bridport.
AIR is also expected to join the new Ridgeway Small Scale DAB multiplex when it launches towards the end of the year, further strengthening coverage across Dorset and expanding the station’s digital reach even further.
Combined, the potential audience footprint could exceed 500,000 people across Dorset and the south coast region, creating a major opportunity for local businesses and organisations looking to reach a wider and more diverse audience.
The expanded transmission area means AIR will effectively cover:
• Bournemouth and Poole
• Christchurch and Swanage
• Dorchester
• Weymouth and Portland
• Bridport and surrounding west Dorset communities
The move positions AIR as a strong platform for local news, music, community information and regional advertising and means AIR will now become one of the largest independent radio stations on the south coast.
Industry figures show the majority of UK radio listening now takes place via digital platforms including DAB, smart speakers and online streaming, with digital listening continuing to grow year after year. The expansion onto Small Scale DAB places AIR firmly at the forefront of the future of local radio broadcasting as FM listening gradually declines.
Jamie Lyones of AIR Broadcasting Ltd said the licence approval was an important step forward for the station and its long-term ambitions to expand community-focused broadcasting.
Now is a greater opportunity for businesses and organisations to get on board and advertise with AIR, reaching audiences across multiple Dorset towns and coastal communities through both digital and FM broadcasting.
This is also being seen as an amazing achievement for AIR and something Weymouth should be proud of. Just six months ago, AIR was operating as a cloud-run service with no physical studios and was facing closure due to spiralling debts, very limited revenue and a shortage of volunteers.
Today, the station has transformed into a growing regional broadcaster with brand new digital studios at Jeffery House in the heart of the community and a potential audience reach more than ten times larger than its current coverage area.
AIR says it hopes to help bring communities together across Dorset while also raising greater awareness of its home town of Weymouth and helping give local businesses a far wider audience reach across the county.
The station is expected to continue developing its programming, combining music, local information, news, and community content aimed at serving audiences both locally and online.
As part of its continued expansion, AIR is now also looking to recruit more paid and unpaid presenters, volunteers, media students and anyone interested in a future career in broadcasting. The station is encouraging people from across Dorset who have a passion for radio, media or journalism to get in touch and become part of AIR’s future growth.
And with AIR’s rapid growth over such a short period of time, many are already asking what comes next. From a struggling cloud-run operation to a major south coast broadcaster in just months, who knows perhaps the future for AIR could one day even be national.
For many listeners across Dorset, AIR is quickly becoming “The Sound of the South.”
