Vision FM began test transmissions in April 2006 on 103.5FM for 2 weeks before going off air, to return on a full Sunday rota on 101.8FM a few weeks later.

Vision FM was bought on air due to the lack of decent house music on the West Midlands radio scene. Other stations were catering for reggae or dance of a ‘Clubland’ type, nothing was on air for the ‘older’ dance music lovers. It was also there to fill a void left in the life of a DJ who had spent years on air, yet hadn’t broadcast since the closure of Groove 99.7FM in 2002.

It was decided that Vision FM would come on air with an aim of pleasing both the older dance fans and also venture into the Bassline genres too, so as to give the younger listeners something they could associate with. Of the launch on 101.8FM things soon started to go nice and smoothly and the phone was quite busy from a fairly early point, which showed we were doing something right, but the lease on the studio was always intended to be short term due to the nature of the place and also the nature of pirate radio.

The struggle with studios was to prove to be the downfall of Vision FM in the long term but there was also another problem. Another station in Birmingham had decided to return on their old frequency of 101.8 after years off air, giving Vision FM problems in that direction. The other station refused to move frequency so Vision FM moved their transmitter to a higher point and increased the power, actually being heard in Birmingham yet upsetting the other station who eventually started making phone calls to the Vision FM management and issuing severe threats.

It was decided to move frequency and avoid further animosity, so without the time needed to broadcast the frequency move, Vision FM moved down the dial to 92.3, instantly losing a following of listeners. The first few weekends on 92.3 were quiet, a large signal yet not many people would tune around at the time down around BBC Radio 3 and Radio 4, as that wasn’t where they would expect to find dance or house music.

By this time Vision FM had been moving studio every weekend just to be on air and this was taking it’s toll on the management and the sound of the station too, with some DJ’s not finding the studios so shows sometimes never materialised. A decision to stay off air (after broadcasting from a garden shed) was soon met with a new permanent studio.

Work on the studio started straight away and the following weekend Vision FM fired up the main transmitter and linked the studio in, everything was going great for at least 20 minutes until the link system from the studio to the main transmitter broke down. After problems every week, this proved to be the final straw and Vision was taken off air on that same night never to be heard again to this day.

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Audio

Vision FM – 101.8 – Dudley – Andy Hicks – Test Transmission – 14/4/06 137 mins
Vision FM – 101.8 – Dudley – Chris Knight & Richie Gold – 16/4/06 160 mins
Vision FM – 101.8 – Dudley – Andy Hicks – 17/4/06 125 mins
Vision FM – 101.8 – Dudley – Johnny B & Chris Roberts – 23/4/06 144 mins
Vision FM – 101.8 – Dudley – Chris Roberts – 23/4/06 83 mins
Vision FM – 101.8 – Dudley – DJ Ollie & Andy Hicks – 29/4/06 234 mins
Vision FM – 92.3 – Dudley – DJ Hagga & TRG – 28/5/06 115 mins
Vision FM – 92.3 – Dudley – Chris Knight & Richie Gold – 28/5/06 142 mins
Vision FM – 92.3 – Dudley – Johnny B – 28/5/06 122 mins