Six months ago, on 5 May 2026, Marcher Vibe went out on DAB for the first time. Today we’re on kitchen radios, in vans and cars, and in offices, shops and factories across Wrexham, Chester, the Wirral, Liverpool and North Wales. On top of that, an average of 7,400 people a month listen online, through the website, the app and smart speakers. Not bad for a new independent station run out of Wrexham.
Here's how the first half-year has gone, the numbers we can share, and the ones we can't share until next summer.
We’re on DAB+ on the MuxCo 10D multiplex, alongside a group of other local and regional stations. That gets us onto radios across Wrexham, Chester, the Wirral, Liverpool and much of Northeast Wales, which is a big patch for an independent station run out of Wrexham.
Until May, hearing us meant a phone, a laptop or a smart speaker. Now you can just switch on the car, the bedroom or kitchen radio.
Reception isn’t perfect everywhere. It can drop out in the valleys and in old buildings with thick walls, and the hills around Llangollen and the Ceiriog Valley are the worst for it. If you’re in a blackspot, let us know through the contact page and we’ll pass it on.
7,400 people a month online, and counting
Going on DAB hasn’t emptied the online stream. Since May, an average of 7,400 people a month have listened to Marcher Vibe through the website player, the app and smart speakers, and that figure doesn’t include a single DAB listener.
Every one of them went looking for us, with thousands of other stations a tap away. With no big radio group behind us, we don’t take that for granted.
If you’re one of the 7,400 who have tuned in, thank you. Whether you’ve got the No-Repeat Workday on at your desk or you’re with Dave Lee on the Breakfast Show, please keep pressing play.
Why the DAB figures won’t land until August 2027
So how many people listen on DAB? Nobody knows yet, us included.
A DAB radio doesn’t send anything back. There’s no counter on the one in your kitchen. Official UK radio figures come from RAJAR, the industry body that’s been measuring radio listening since 1992.
RAJAR uses listening diaries. Every week, Ipsos recruits more than 2,000 people around the UK to log what they hear a quarter of an hour at a time, on paper or online. It takes months of those diaries to build up enough data from our area for a reliable number, so our first RAJAR figures for DAB will be published in August 2027. We will share these here and on our socials when they come out, whatever they say.
Still can’t find us? Retune once
Some DAB Radios don’t pick up new stations on their own. If Marcher Vibe isn’t in your list, run a full scan once. Depending on the make, it might be called “Auto Tune”, “Full Scan” or “Auto Search”. When it’s done, scroll down to find Marcher Vibe. You’ll only need to do that once.
Most car head units find us automatically once you’re in range. If yours hasn’t, look in the menu for “Station Update” or “Rescan”.
The one catch is that we’re DAB+. Radios from about 2015 onwards usually handle it, but an older set might only do original DAB. A DAB+ radio costs under £30 now, which is less than a round in some Chester pubs.
If you get stuck, there’s a step-by-step guide on our DAB page.
Where do you listen?
Six months in, I’d love to know where Marcher Vibe actually gets played. We’re picturing kitchens and lorry cabs, cars and maybe a salon in Rhos, but we’d rather hear it from you.
Text MARCHER and where you’re listening to 88440, or leave it in the comments on our Facebook page. We read the best ones out on the Breakfast Show, weekdays 7 till 10. You can listen online, on DAB+, on the Marcher Vibe app, or just say “Alexa, play Marcher Radio”.