The three FM transmitters of regional commercial station Nationaal FM have been taken off the air today because the station, which has been suffering serious financial problems, has not paid its bill to Telecom Vision International BV (TVI) for the hire of the transmitters. Nationaal FM normally broadcasts on 97.9 FM in Sneek, 104.7 FM in Leeuwarden and 97.7 FM in Terschelling, but the equipment has been taken away by bailiffs appointed by TVI. Nationaal FM has no cable frequencies.
(Source: Radio.nl)
Andy Sennitt adds: A pirate radio station on 104.7 MHz in Leeuwarden, and announcing also 97.9 FM (another of Nationaal FM’s three frequencies) has already appeared, and is using the slogan “the new free radio from Friesland”. This is currently being carried on Nationaal FM’s Web stream, which apparently relays an off-air signal. The station is playing traditional Dutch music. There is some fading and distortion, so the transmitter must be quite low powered.
Update 1530 UTC: Radio.nl says the pirate is Studio Thunder.
