British radio station
Hits Radio Manchester
, formerly
Key 103
, is an
Independent Local Radio
station owned and operated by
Bauer Media Audio UK
as part of the
Hits Radio
network. It broadcasts to
Greater Manchester
.
As of March 2024, the station has a weekly audience of 289,000 listeners according to
RAJAR
.
[1]
History
[
edit
]
Piccadilly Radio
[
edit
]
Originally known as
Piccadilly Radio
, the station commenced broadcasting from studios at Piccadilly Plaza in Manchester city centre at 5am on Tuesday 2 April 1974 - the fifth
Independent Local Radio
station to launch and the first of its kind in northern England. The first presenter on air was
Roger Day
and the first song played on air was "
Good Vibrations
" by
The Beach Boys
.
In early 1987, due to a nationwide reorganisation of the FM band, Piccadilly moved its VHF (FM) frequency from 97 to 103 FM. A year later, the Government and the
IBA
began encouraging all ILR stations with multiple frequencies to provide split programming in order to increase listener choice and competition.
Key 103
[
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]
Piccadilly split its services into two on Saturday 3 September 1988. Key 103 launched at midday on 103 FM while the original Piccadilly Radio service continued on 1152 AM.
The first presenters on air were
Tim Grundy
and
Rebecca Want
. Other presenters included Peter Baker, Adrian Bell, Tony Michealides, Stu Allan. The first jingle package was produced by Stowe Bowden Wilson and featuring voiceovers from
Steve Coogan
.
[2]
The first song played upon launch was
Alive and Kicking
by
Simple Minds
.
Positioning itself as
Music, not music
, Key 103 aimed at an upmarket audience with a mix of
AOR
and chart music and high-end specialist output including arts and business programming, comedy and weekly jazz, folk and classical music shows.
[3]
The station later opted for a more mainstream format with presenters from Piccadilly 1152 (later
Piccadilly Gold
) switching to the FM station, and in 1990, the station was rebranded as
Piccadilly Key 103
. The Piccadilly branding was gradually dropped during the 1990s.
In 1994, the station's owners
Transworld Radio Group
were bought by
EMAP
. Two years later, both Key 103 and its AM sister station moved from the Piccadilly Plaza studios to new headquarters at Castle Quay in
Castlefield
.
[4]
Hits Radio Manchester
[
edit
]
On 18 April 2018, station owners Bauer Media announced Key 103 would be rebranded and relaunched as
Hits Radio Manchester
, a
CHR
-led music station aimed at 25-44 year olds on Monday 4 June 2018.
[5]
The station was merged with The Hits Radio to provide a single national service across the UK on DAB, Freeview and online - as
Hits Radio UK
[6]
In Manchester, Hits Radio continues to provide local news & information, traffic bulletins and advertising on its local platforms - 103 FM, DAB and online.
[7]
The
Key 103
branding was phased out from Friday 25 May 2018 as the station entered a transition period ahead of the launch of Hits Radio at 6am on Monday 4 June 2018. The first song played on air - decided by an online poll via the
Manchester Evening News
- was "
Greatest Day
" by
Take That
.
The former Key branding was retained by the sister AM station, which rebranded as Key Radio on the same day as the launch of Hits Radio Manchester.
[8]
The following January, the Key branding was retired when the station rebranded as
Greatest Hits Radio Manchester
.
Technical
[
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]
The station broadcasts on the analogue frequency 103
FM
via a transmitter at
Saddleworth
, from where broadcasting commenced upon the launch of Piccadilly Radio on 2 April 1974.
The
DAB
signal is broadcast from transmitters located at
Winter Hill
and
City Tower, Manchester
on the
CE Manchester
multiplex. With the addition of Sutton Common, near Macclesfield, the DAB signal has a reliable coverage area that includes Greater Manchester, South Lancashire, most of Cheshire, parts of North East Wales and Merseyside, with much better reception than the FM frequency can provide as 103.0 suffers from co-channel interference from other stations on nearby frequencies.
In May 2016, two additional digital transmitters were launched at Littleborough and Saddleworth.
Programming
[
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]
Programming airs via Bauer’s London headquarters or studios in Birmingham, Liverpool, Manchester and Newcastle.
[9]
Hits Radio UK
opts out from Manchester's local service for national news bulletins, traffic updates, relevant information and advertising on its national DAB and TV platforms.
[10]
News
[
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]
As of April 2019, Bauer's Manchester newsroom airs hourly local news bulletins on the hour from 6am-7pm on weekdays and 7am-1pm at weekends.
[11]
Headlines air at 30 minutes past the hour during
Hits Radio Breakfast
on weekdays, alongside regular traffic bulletins at breakfast and drive.
Syndicated national bulletins from
Sky News Radio
in London are carried overnight. Bespoke networked bulletins also air on weekend afternoons, produced from Bauer's Leeds newsroom.
Presenters
[
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]
Notable current presenters
[
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]
Notable past presenters
[
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]
References
[
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]
- ^
"RAJAR"
.
www.rajar.co.uk
. Retrieved
30 June
2022
.
- ^
A History of Piccadilly Radio Jingles (Part One): 1974 ? 1990
, East of the M60, 15 July 2015
- ^
From the Heart of Manchester for 25 Years: Key 103
, East of the M60, 22 August 2013
- ^
The soundtrack to Mancunian lives - Key 103 is a Manchester institution with a fascinating history
, Manchester Evening News, 18 April 2018
- ^
Bauer to launch new national radio station
Archived
2018-04-19 at the
Wayback Machine
, Bauer Media, 18 April 2018
- ^
Key 103 to become Hits Radio as part of major rebrand
, Prolific North, 18 April 2018
- ^
Key 103 to rebrand as Hits Radio and go national
, Radio Today, 19 April 2018
- ^
Key 2 on AM and DAB rebrands as Key Radio
, Radio Today, 4 June 2018
- ^
Hits Radio - Public File - Manchester
- ^
Bauer to launch new national radio station
Archived
2018-04-19 at the
Wayback Machine
, Bauer Media, 18 April 2018
- ^
Hits Radio Manchester public file
External links
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]
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