Perth FM’s managing director, Mark Page, recently offered the license to broadcast in Perth on 106.6 to Heartland FM (HFM). The Heartland board decided to accept the offer subject to certain requirements being fulfilled by the Perth radio station.
Most of these have been met but it is understood that there are still a few issues remaining regarding the siting of equipment which are expected to be resolved within the next week or so.
It has been reported in some web based forums and media sites that this is a merger between both stations. A statement on the issue by the Heartland FM Board of Governors denies this and declares that, although the wording from Ofcom mentions “co-locating and sharing of programming”, this is not a reality as Perth FM has no output and Heartland will always be based in Highland Perthshire with a relay system in place to cover Perth.

Extending Local Profile
The station’s scheduled output will remain the same and, rather than being swamped by Perth, HFM will be bringing Highland Perthshire to the county town, raising the profile of the area and providing a larger platform for issues concerning this part of the Big County.
Heartland has been broadcasting on 106.6 since noon on Thursday 17 February.
Once the details have been finalised with Mark Page, Heartland hopes to make this a permanent situation and to continue providing a local service, as per Ofcom guidelines, but to a wider Perthshire audience as well as providing training in all aspects of broadcasting and programming.
Heartland FM has been on air since 1992. It is the longest serving community owned, volunteer run station in the UK providing a wide range of programmes and is open to new volunteers all the time.