BOOM FIVE YEARS ON 

Graham Dene in the 70s

If you’ve ever worked from home, you’ll know how it feels – as the demands of dull domestic matters collide with proper professional challenges.

It’s been much the same for us over the last five years as we’ve delivered our radio stations from our own back bedrooms, lofts and summerhouses across the UK and beyond. Half-way through a programme, someone hammers on the door, the Amazon van arrives or there’s a call on the landline phone.

Whilst many businesses were operating from home when we launched in 2021 owing to the Covid restrictions, we'd never envisaged having offices or studios.  In those odd days, all our conversations were much like yours – via video calls – whether with potential presenters, possible shareholders or clients we were seeking to bring on board.

Once we got underway, our presenters were more than keen to broadcast from their own homes, given getting stuck in daily traffic jams is not something we relish at our stage of life.

We planned a station where older listeners feel at home amongst friends. Presenters you know, or are experienced in the sort of radio we're all familiar with, playing a vast catalogue of music representing all the musical changes through our lives. A station for grown-ups, where we are not made to feel old - we are just us. 

We now have 35 presenters across our three stations - and yet we rarely meet. That’s why we are so looking forward to another of our occasional get togethers in London in March. That will be such an emotional night as we toast our fifth anniversary.  For us, Boom has been a chance to renew old friendships and forge new ones. It’s meant a lot personally to each of us – and we suspect you can hear that on-air.

Whilst we hoped Boom would thrive, there was no guarantee. There are now hundreds of radio stations for listeners to choose from – and each has to earn its audience. Plus, there’s the challenge of persuading sufficient clients to advertise.

Day One kicked off officially with the Beatles All You Need is Love, a fitting choice in so many ways for February 14^th 2021. During that opening day, we then showcased several of our programmes with Rod Whiting warming up to the launch from Graham Dene at 10am, then cameos from David Hamilton, Jane Markham, Les Ross, Roger Day, Andy Marriott, Graham Torrington, Anna Raeburn and Bill Bingham.

It was clear within days that Boom had struck a chord with its unrivalled variety of ‘60s and ‘70s music - so when the chance to be heard across the UK on DAB+ arose unexpectedly just a few weeks later, we seized it on March 21st 2021. Bang went our cautious plans just to try things out in a few cities for a year first - given the huge costs! Remember, we’re not part of a major media empire, just a group of old friends with a dream who put our hands in our own pockets and pensions!

Our goal was a station unashamedly for our generation. People your age - broadcasting to you. Like you, we are proud of all we have achieved in our long lives and we understand our generation’s struggles and successes - and our current worries and dreams. 

We think Boom has illustrated something else of value. That people our age are not on the scrapheap. We have something to offer. The average age of our team is over 70, whether in front or behind the mic. We have had to learn new things and push ourselves to understand all the new technology and keep our station alive, but we’ve managed it.

And we know from your messages that we have cheered or comforted many listeners and prompted several to try new things too. We remember the listener who took up geneology after hearing one of us mention it - and another who told us she'd been to her first ever gig!

Thank you for listening, whether you’ve been with us since the start – or joined us more recently.