Released on the Kool London FB page:

Koolfamily
It is with great regret & deep sadness but hopefully the right move for the future and longevity of “KOOL”
Suzy & myself have come to the decision to retire from Radio & pass the ownership and Running of Kool on, we are not just walking away from Kool out right, we will be kept on working with the new owners for a minimum of 5 years in the background with no say in the everyday running of Kool or the Dj / MC Rota, but helping with advice & promoting the station
Myself personally feel that at 64 years old I can’t contribute to Kool, Jungle & DnB the way I have in the past keeping up with all the new talent, going to events and being involved as much as I was in the past, also I’m not in the best of health and don’t have the energy like I once did also Suzy struggles with her Diabetes daily
We will be turning off on the 1st of January 2023 for a month to relocate to the new studio and give the new team time to meet everyone and sort out the Rota, also get in place new Websites, Socials, and start promotion for relaunch
The new owners will be the Rinse Group … Genius will be running the station and will be taking Kool to the Next Level he has a excellent track record in his achievements in radio & music also has first class knowledge of Kool & myself as we worked together putting Kool & Rinse on back in the day he was a big Kool listener and took inspiration from Kool and the way we run the station his love for Kool is 100% that’s why we have Chosen Gee to get Kool to the Next level
We must say a big love and thanks to those who have helped with the running of Kool over the past few years Tentun, Dan Darkness,Jack knife, Old skool & Uno for helping us out they all helped to keep Kool going over the pass few years and would not been possible without them
A big special thanks to all our listeners over the past 31 years it’s truly been unbelievable the amount of Love and respect the Station and ourselves have had from the listeners has been second to none, and how faithful as listeners you have been & total respect to all our DJs MCs that have been a part of Kool over the past 31 years and became household names like Brockie, Det, Ragga Twins, Bryan G, Skibadee R.I.P, Shabba, Funky Flirt,Dj Ron and so many more the list is endless 100% love & respect for your support
it really has been life changing, this is not the end this is a new beginning for Kool, So god willing we will see you all in February 2023 with
- Kool The Next Level -
under new ownership
Thank you
Eastman & Suzy G

The right choice for Kool to be taken over by Geeneus who can take the station to the next level as he's done with Rinse.

Sad but Eastmans not young and he's done a huge amount for the scene. Time to retire, trust me, he's sweat blood and tears keeping Kool going. Can't say I'm not quite upset. Big up everyone connected, and I know there's one or two on here.

Makes no sense why they’ve put it back on 94.6 a month before they’re switching off then.

Also how can it be a pirate radio station in 2023 when they’ve just told everyone who the new owner is and Gee is doing bigger things than pirate radio now days.

Why not? Going out properly

XXL wrote: ↑Mon Dec 19, 2022 3:26 pm Makes no sense why they’ve put it back on 94.6 a month before they’re switching off then.

Also how can it be a pirate radio station in 2023 when they’ve just told everyone who the new owner is and Gee is doing bigger things than pirate radio now days.

Rinse fm 2

Unless it's going to be online only how can a long running ( legal) for the last 12 years run a pirate at the same time

kool fm will be around for a long time, online kool pointless tbh, its getting harder to get the right blocks in london, same here in birmingham plenty 10 story blocks here, the day of 19 story blocks are gone now. [ new locks camras etc ] unless you know the right people lol; we will see....

Not sure how they can keep the Kool vibes going to be honest. It's a combination of of so many things that made Kool such an amazing station, a community even. Make one too many changes and it's just any other station. I hope and pray that it's managed in a sympathetic way. I know the person who will be in charge has done some great things and has a lot of love for Kool. East and Susie did an amazing job at picking the right personalities and talent, many whom have gone on to do great things, famous even.

I'm struggling to see the logic of publically naming someone who runs a legal station (who has done for over 10 years now) as the person to take up the reigns of a long standing pirate to move them to "the next level"

To me, that's code speak for "In 2023 Kool is potentially going online only & later on down the legal route" - Obviously there's no confirmation of that, but I'm just purely saying what I see as the obvious thing/for such an arrangement with the Rinse group to be feasible. All will be revealed as time goes on, no doubt.....

Anyway, whatever path Kool do decide to go on in the future, nobody can deny their top table/iconic/G.O.A.T status in London pirate radio history & the impact they've made in the Jungle/DnB scene in London/the UK. People like Eastman & Suzy (and the other names mentioned/associated with Kool that we all know) have made one hell of a contribution & fully deserve to take a bow/have their flowers.

Good luck to Kool for the next chapter of their amazing story. With Geenius now in the driving seat, I'm pretty confident they will be in very good hands for the future.

I didn't know that name was in the public domain yet! But yes, fingers crossed it will thrive for many years. Kool will be going legal in the future, although I don't know whether online or actual radio yet. I'm sure Rinse won't be doing this for charity

oldskoollondon wrote: ↑Mon Dec 19, 2022 9:37 pm I didn't know that name was in the public domain yet!.....

It's right there in Eastman's statement bro.....

Seen.. was meant to be cut out, but there you go lol

Salute salute Eastman and all Kool family
The most well earned retirement.
Im hopeful Kool will survive - my one worry is keeping "the sound" - there are other Jungle/DnB stations but I only listen to Kool really as the DJs are on the whole coming from a particular angle. Would be great if it kept that more 'jungle' flavour

As an aside Ive never understood how Rinse functions financially with no adverts.

Select have just gone onto the Trial London DAB+ multiplex. In the next couple of years small scale DAB will be rolled out in London and the southeast. London will be split into separate north, south, east, west minimuxes so lots of capacity for more stations over a smaller area.

Rinse & Kool may want to go down this path to be on the same platform as the big boys, or might just pin everything on online, apps and video streaming.

The current tx on 94.6 feels like a final hurrah for what had been the most legendary pirate of the last 30 years.

Rinse are on London trial and quite possibly Kool will be next. Wish them all the best. Moving forward on the next chapter. Agreed why not go out with a bang on 946 before they cease to broadcast on fm as a pirate. Salut the original Kool team

putting kool on dab+ will cost doe. im sure the original manament will not do this, it is kool fm for a reason i remember smuft from kool many years ago, im sure kool will return on fm prob a new freq select was a pirate aswell so they know the score & they new kool was close; only time will tell,,,

mixfm wrote: ↑Tue Dec 20, 2022 9:14 pm putting kool on dab+ will cost doe. im sure the original manament will not do this, it is kool fm for a reason i remember smuft from kool many years ago, im sure kool will return on fm prob a new freq select was a pirate aswell so they know the score & they new kool was close; only time will tell,,,

Small scale DAB costs considerably less than going on one of the large multiplexes which Centreforce have done.

Already mentioned is that Rinse are already on Trial London at 64kbps DAB+. This could be split into two 32kbps streams for Kool and Rinse.

My prediction is London wide DAB like centreforce. Trial is pretty sketchy outside zone 3.