A local radio broadcasting company is launching a new FM station later this month in response to Bend’s growth, radio officials said Wednesday.

Bend Radio Group is planning to start programming on 92.7 FM on Nov. 14, bringing the number of FM stations based in Central Oregon to 15.

”The radio climate in Bend is very healthy,” said Dana Horner, chief operating officer with Bend Radio Group. ”I think we have some great radio stations here, but the market has some needs that are not being filled.”

No format for the new station has been set, but Bend Radio Group is conducting an online survey to determine what local listeners want for 92.7 programming.

Horner said there’s room for another FM station in Central Oregon, judging from the responses his company has received.

”What we’ve gotten back from the market survey is that (the listeners) are telling us a lot of the stuff they’re not getting right now,” he said. ”So yes, there’s room for the station.”

The station is owned by the Fields Pond Group, co-based in Atlanta and San Diego, Horner said. Bend Radio Group has signed a five-year operational agreement with Fields Pond, and has the option to purchase the station after that term expires.

Bend Radio currently owns and operates four stations: KMGX-FM, KSJJ-FM, KXIX-FM and KICE-AM.

A’Leah Knight, a Bend resident and wedding planner, is an avid FM-radio listener. She welcomes a new radio option.

”When we moved here in 2000, all the music being played here is a couple years behind,” Knight said. ”And that’s for all genres.”

She added that her family now goes to Internet music servers like iTunes to find what they’re missing in the national music scene.

”There’s space here for so many more stations,” Knight said. ”At the pace Bend is growing, we need to keep up with things like music around the country.”

In order to accommodate the new station, Bend Radio is moving to a new 8,100-square-foot office on Southwest Bonnett Way. The move consolidates operations formerly conducted out of two locations on Northeast Butler Market Road and Southwest Colorado Avenue that totaled 5,000 square feet, Horner said.