Now Liz Hurley can keep in touch with Basingstoke!

Basingstoke (population 150,000) in Hampshire UK, is a town built in the 60's to house the overflow of people from London and which is now a popular commuter town for the nation's capital city.

Famous former citizens include actress Liz Hurley and singer Tanita Tikaram but many of the good folk of Basingstoke are spread across the globe. And now they can keep in touch with their roots via the Internet with the imminent launch of Radio Basingstoke dotcom, at 1pm on Thursday 1st May.

This new radio station, a joint venture by local music management company Astrid Music Promotions and Public Relations consultant, John Hicks of Headline Promotions Press & PR, will play music of all genres round the clock and, whilst there will be some presenters, there will be less chatter and more music. Though it is funded by commercials, these will be kept to three minute segments each half hour.

Station Manager, Lee Williams said: "Radio Basingstoke is a community radio station, at the heart of our local community, with a special emphasis on supporting local musical talent."

Asked if he was confident of the future of Internet radio, Williams said: "A recent report claimed that internet radio has hit the mainstream. More than 8 million people in the UK listen to web-based radio services every week and nearly 2 million download podcasts on a weekly basis, according to a survey that suggests internet radio has hit the mainstream."

Commissioned by the industry's audience research body Rajar, the Ipsos Mori survey last autumn found that more than 12 million people have listened to the radio online and 8.1 million listen every week either through live streaming or "listen again" services.

Ipsos Mori found that 75% of users do not listen to less live radio as a result of listening again online, with 50% tuning into new shows as a result.

For Radio Basingstoke, this is good news. Williams (pictured left with John Hicks, MD of Headline Promotions, Press & PR) said: "This survey proves what we in the radio industry already knew! We are looking forward to the forthcoming launch of Radio Basingstoke on 1st May and this news is very positive for us."

Tasked more about the use of "community" in their mission statement, Williams explained that two local schools, Bishop Challoner RC School and Costello Technology College, are working on weekly shows produced by groups of students. In addition, local presenters will be featured and there will be extensive "what´s on" coverage, through the website and on-air programming. Further, local job opportunities will be featured to help jobseekers.

There are also opportunities for the general public to become involved. These range from being able to text requests to the station through to volunteering to master their new MySpace presence (www.myspace.com/radiobasingstoke). In particular, the station will heavily feature news of what is happening in the local community.

For a radio station for north Hampshire, the name Radio Basingstoke was an obvious choice. Williams discloses though that it was actually a close run thing with "Amazingstoke" until it was found that an enterprising author has already registered amazingstoke dotcom. However, he was happy for the station to adopt it as part of their logo which will soon be displayed prominently around the district.

This is not the first time Williams and Hicks have collaborated. They are co-founders of the award-winning CMR Nashville Radio (www.cmrnshville.net), Europe's leading country music radio station.

Radio Basingstoke will be found on www.radiobasingstoke.com through your PC, internet radio and many popular mobile phones.