Shetland Island Broadcasting Company – SIBC – Shetlands

Although born on the Shetland Isles, Ian Anderson started his broadcasting career on Radio Caroline in 1974, before moving onto other offshore stations Radio Atlantis and Radio Northsea International. He was then in at the start of land based commercial radio in Scotland at Radio Forth.

The idea of a local radio station in his native Shetland Isles never left him though, so a company was registered on 23 September 1985 called SIBC (short for Shetland Islands Broadcasting Company). Enquires could then start with the then IBA to see if he could obtain a license. However, in those days, there was no chance of a license for such a small area. Ian was left with no alternative….

The station came on air, without a license, on 26 November 1987 broadcasting from Lerwick on 96.3 FM. There were visits and warnings in the early days, but no raids. Possibly due to its remote location, and the fact there was so little media on the Islands (even the BBC only opted out of Radio Scotland for 2.5 hours a day), the station was able to carry on uninterrupted until they did get a license in 1991.

They are still on the air today covering Shetland and beyond. It is still owned and operated by husband and wife team, Ian Anderson and Inga Walterson, and is located at Market Street, Lerwick. They generate their own programming and local news 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, including Christmas and New Year from transmitters at Bressay on 96.2 FM and Lerwick on 102.2 FM.

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