Ownership Isle of Wight Radio was founded by Islanders Jean-Paul Hansford and Stephen Oates. It was independently owned for two years before being purchased by GWR (now
Global Radio) and then by
The Local Radio Company (TLRC). The station then came under the control of a joint venture between TLRC and the
Portsmouth FC, under the name of Quadrant Media Limited, which also owned
Spirit FM in
Chichester and
107.4 The Quay in
Portsmouth. In August 2009, the station was sold in a management buyout by programme controller Paul Topping, Claire Willis, Ian Walker and Hedley Finn, making it independently owned again. In October 2012, it was announced that the station, alongside local Beacon magazine which it owns, was to merge with Media Sound Holdings, now
Total Sense Media, owner of
Splash FM,
Bright FM,
Arrow FM and
Sovereign FM, the latter two being former sister stations under TLRC. The merger involved the station's shareholders taking shares in Media Sound Holdings, with Willis and Finn joining the board. It was said that staffing would not be affected The station will be similar in scope to More Radio Retro, which TSM has operated on DAB in Sussex since 2021. ==References==