Wey Valley Radio goes DAB+ – and more than doubles its reach

Alton’s voice just got a lot louder. Wey Valley Radio is now on digital radio right across East Hampshire, taking its potential audience from around 25,000 people to almost 67,000.

The community station, based in Alton, is now broadcasting on DAB+ digital radio across East Hampshire – opening the station up to tens of thousands of listeners who could not previously hear it on the airwaves.

The move takes the station’s potential audience from around 25,000 people within reach of its 101.1 FM signal to 66,995 across the wider area, including Alton and the surrounding villages including Farringdon and East Tisted, right across to parts of Bordon. Wey Valley Radio is carried on the East Hampshire small-scale DAB multiplex, operated by Provincial DAB Ltd.

It means the station is now available however listeners choose to tune in: on 101.1 FM, online at weyvalleyradio.uk, and on any DAB+ digital radio at home, at work or in the car. Most cars built in the last decade have DAB+ fitted as standard, putting the station within reach of drivers right across the area.

To listen on DAB+, listeners need only retune any digital radio carrying the official Digital Radio tick mark, and look for “Wey Valley” in the station list.

DAB is free to receive. It needs no internet connection and carries no data costs, it works at home and in the car, and a battery-powered set will keep going in a power cut. More than 40 per cent of all live radio listening in the UK is now on DAB, according to industry body RAJAR.

David Way, one of the original founders of Wey Valley Radio, still presents mid-mornings on the station. He said:
“We first put Wey Valley Radio on air in 1991 on a temporary licence, with a lot of optimism, and were awarded a licence of our own the following year. To be here in 2026 – on FM, online, and now on DAB+ right across East Hampshire – is more than any of us imagined back then. What hasn’t changed is why we do it. This is Alton’s own station, made by people who live here.”

The expanded coverage follows a decision by Ofcom on 11 June 2026 to increase the multiplex’s approved coverage area from 38,000 to 66,995 adults – a rise of more than 70 per cent, and one of the biggest steps the station has taken since it returned to the airwaves in 2017.

Wey Valley Radio’s arrival on DAB caps a long and happy collaboration with its friends at Petersfield’s Shine Radio in a three-year effort to bring small-scale DAB to East Hampshire. The Petersfield and Liphook transmitters were launched in January, covering the Shine area, and the station said at the time that it hoped to see coverage extended to Alton and Selborne – and that is exactly what has now happened. The two volunteer-run stations have worked side by side throughout, together with the multiplex operator Provincial DAB Ltd and the technical and regulatory teams behind the project.

Local businesses that support the station have welcomed the move.
Jack Greenwood, marketing manager at Keith Gotts, the Alton Land Rover specialist and a sponsor of Wey Valley Radio, said:
“Wey Valley Radio plays a vital role in community life across Alton and the surrounding area, and we are proud to be among the local businesses helping to keep it on air. Expanding its reach to almost 67,000 people across East Hampshire marks an important milestone for the station and is excellent news for the wider community. After 50 years of business here, we know that strong communities are built by the people and organisations that actively support them.”

The DAB+ launch caps a busy year for the station, which marked its ninth birthday on air in June with the launch of a completely redesigned website at weyvalleyradio.uk, where listeners can catch up on shows, meet the presenters, hear local news bulletins and find out what’s on across the area.

Wey Valley Radio is a not-for-profit station run entirely by volunteers, and relies on grants, donations and local advertising to stay on air. David Way added:
“This comes down to about forty volunteers who give their time for nothing, because they think Alton deserves its own voice. DAB+ takes what they make to almost 67,000 people. The credit belongs with them.”

Wey Valley Radio is on air now on DAB+. Retune your digital radio and look for “Wey Valley”.