About Sonnet Radio

Sonnet Radio is a digital Radio Station available across the UK Via our Website, Alexa or Apps. Our main aim is to provide a Community Radio service for the residents of South Cheshire and the wider area of the North West. Don’t worry if you live somewhere else in the UK, you are always welcome to join our community of listeners!

The station is operated by volunteers who give their time to create, present and share the best shows for your listening pleasure! With a diverse range of programming, there really is something for everyone on South Cheshire’s Sonnet Radio.

We broadcast 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, so you can listen to us anytime you like. You can listen to Sonnet Radio via a browser, on Amazon Devices (“Alexa, Play Sonnet Radio”) Smart devices or on an app.

If you miss one of our shows, or want to listen again – no problem! All of our exclusive live shows are published on Mixcloud to listen to any time you like.

So tune in, sit back and relax with the Radio Station that thinks You are number one!

Historical

The first South Cheshire station named Sonnet Radio was originally born in October 1999 and broadcast on 106.2 FM. It broadcasted on a Restricted Service Licence (RSL) using a 25 watt transmitter, and was on the airwaves for….wait for it….16 whole days! That was the length of the licence allowed by OFCOM!

Back in those days, the internet wasn’t anything like it is today. If it was it could have carried on online. Bear in mind in 1999 Amazon was 5 years old, Google about 1, Facebook was 5 years off & you’d have to wait for another 7 years to send a Tweet! To access the internet in those days (unless you were quite rich), you were stuck with a dial up connection and a whole 56 kbps of bandwidth! Oh, and if you wanted to use the phone, you had to disconnect your computer from the modem!

So it was with sadness that the original Sonnet FM closed it’s doors in November 1999. Gone, but certainly not forgotten!

The 21st Anniversary

2020 arrived. So did Covid and the lockdown! The year Sonnet would have been 21. Now, using the powers of modern technology, the all new Sonnet Radio have dragged its spirit, and name, kicking and screaming into the 21st century!

Still based in South Cheshire, and with a new team of local presenters – the brand new Sonnet Radio is here! Now we can broadcast far and wide! The station is now on air 24/7 with regular live shows. Our new auto DJ’s ( affectionately known as ‘Sonny’ & ‘Netty’) work tirelessly to bring you the music you love.

Why ‘Sonnet Radio’ ?

Although we now think of a sonnet as being a 14 line poem. Sonnets were written & used famously by William Shakespeare. The word ‘Sonnet’ is derived from the Italian word, ‘Sonnetto’. ‘Sonnetto’ originally meant ‘little song’ or ‘little sound’. When the letters ‘FM’ were added to Sonnet (to become ‘SONNETFM’), it transmitted & showed perfectly on RDS radio systems. At the time, RDS (Radio Data System) display’s were fairly new and could display a maximum of 8 characters. RDS was available on only a few newer car and home radios in 1999S