British radio station based in Liverpool
53°24′22″N
2°58′55″W
/
53.4062°N 2.9819°W
/
53.4062; -2.9819
Hits Radio Liverpool
, formerly
Radio City
, is an
Independent Local Radio
station based in
Liverpool
, England, owned and operated by
Bauer Media Audio UK
as part of the
Hits Radio
network. It broadcasts to
Merseyside
,
Cheshire
and parts of north
Wales
.
As of March 2024, the station has a weekly audience of 354,000 listeners according to
RAJAR
.
[1]
History
[
edit
]
Launch and early years
[
edit
]
After the introduction of the Sound Broadcasting Act in 1972 which allowed the legal operation of commercial radio in the UK, in 1974, Radio City (Sound of Merseyside) Ltd won the contract to broadcast the
Independent Local Radio
station for Liverpool and its surrounding areas, with studios originally based in
Stanley Street
in
Liverpool City Centre
.
194 Radio City began broadcasting at 5:58
a.m. on 21 October 1974, with an announcement by its founding managing director Terry Smith (
It's two minutes to six on Monday October 21st 1974. For the very first time, this is 194 Radio City broadcasting to Merseyside
).
[2]
The first song to be played on the station was
Stevie Wonder
's "
You Are the Sunshine of My Life
". As reflected in the name, the station originally broadcast on 1548
kHz
AM
, then known as 194 metres
medium wave
, from a transmitter at
Rainford
. The station was also given an
FM
frequency of 96.7 MHz, but did not begin broadcasting on FM until a few months later, after the transmitter was vandalised. In the early days of
Marcher Sound
, the evening programmes of the station were simulcasted to the fledgling station, so for a period in the 1980s, Radio City had in theory,
four
frequencies (Marcher Sound aired on 95.4
MHz
and 1260
kHz
).
Frequency split
[
edit
]
In 1989, the Conservative government enforced new regulation to enable better choice by ceasing the simulcasting of radio stations on both AM and FM. Radio City split its frequencies by continuing its top 40 format on FM under the recently introduced new name, City FM. On AM, a new talk station was launched called
City Talk 1548 AM
.
[3]
This was unusual as most stations launched 'golden oldie' stations on their former AM frequencies. The City Talk experiment proved short-lived and Radio City Gold launched in its place in 1991, later known as City Gold. The AM service rebranded as
Magic 1548
on Monday 17 March 1997.
[4]
In 1991, the company was acquired by EMAP Radio, who renamed the main FM station back to a modern version of its original name, as Radio City 96.7, the name it used until 2014. The station left its original Stanley Street base and on Tuesday 18 July 2000, the station began broadcasting from
St. John's Beacon
, which in the past was a
revolving restaurant
and viewing platform.
The City Talk format was revived when, on 9 November 2006, it was announced by
Ofcom
that Radio City had beaten competition from rival broadcasters to win a new FM licence for a talk station for the Liverpool area. The new City Talk launched on 28 January 2008 and broadcasts on 105.9
FM.
[5]
Due to poor listening figures, the station dropped most of its presenters and had a format change which meant, outside of peak listening hours such as breakfast and drivetime, the station broadcast a mix of classic hit music similar to the music played on sister station Magic 1548, although under the format change the station was not allowed to simulcast with Magic, only Radio City.
[6]
Sale to Bauer
[
edit
]
In 2007,
Emap
announced the sale of its radio and publishing divisions to
Bauer Media Group
. This was completed in 2008 and Radio City then became part of the "Big City" Network, now the
Hits Radio Network
.
In September 2014, Bauer announced it would extend the Radio City brand by reviving the name on Magic 1548 as Radio City 2 and launching a new localised version of DAB station
The Hits Radio
, known as Radio City 3. The rebrand took place on 5 January 2015, with Radio City 3 due to launch on 19 January 2015.
[7]
Radio City Talk
was not affected.
This decision was later repealed in September 2017, when the
Bauer City 3
branding was withdrawn in favour of
The Hits
across all Bauer City DAB Multiplexes. Radio City 2, which had moved to FM (swapping allocations with Radio City Talk) in December 2015, became
Greatest Hits Radio Liverpool & The North West
in January 2019.
In August 2019, following further
Ofcom
deregulation to local commercial radio stations, the station's local drivetime show was dropped in favour of networked programming from
Hits Radio
.
On 31 May 2020, sister station
Radio City Talk
ceased broadcasting as it was deemed financially unviable to continue to run due to low listening figures.
In November 2023, it was announced Radio City's weekday breakfast show - the station's sole remaining local programme - would be merged with Lancashire's
Rock FM
and simulcast across both stations.
[8]
This began in January 2024. Radio City retained local news, traffic bulletins and advertising.
[9]
Hits Radio rebrand
[
edit
]
On 10 January 2024, station owners Bauer announced Radio City would be rebranded as
Hits Radio
Liverpool from April 17, 2024, as part of a network-wide relaunch involving 17 local radio stations in England and Wales.
[10]
The announcement signalled the end of the Radio City brand after nearly 50 years of broadcasting.
[11]
The station's local news and regional output will not be affected as a result of the relaunch.
Transmission
[
edit
]
The 96.7 FM signal comes from the Allerton Park transmitter in south-east Liverpool, which also transmits Hits Radio Liverpool’s sister station
Greatest Hits Radio Liverpool & The North West
on 105.9 FM as well as
BBC Radio Merseyside
on 95.8 FM.
There is also a transmitter in the
Mersey (Queensway) Tunnel
. There are
DAB
digital radio transmitters at St John's Beacon,
Billinge Hill
(in
St Helens
, which also carries
Greatest Hits Radio Greater Manchester
), and Hope Mountain (near
Wrexham
). The Billinge Hill site has the strongest digital signal.
Radio City Talk previously broadcast on Radio City’s original AM frequency from a transmitter at the former
Bebington
/
Bromborough
Power Station site until 31 May 2020, when the station closed.
Programming
[
edit
]
Regional programming is produced and broadcast from Bauer's Liverpool studios at
St Johns Beacon
on weekdays from 6-10am for
The Hits Radio Breakfast Show With Leanne & Joel.
It is broadcast on Hits Radio Liverpool and
Hits Radio Lancashire
.
[12]
[13]
Networked programming originates from
Hits Radio UK
at Bauer's London, Manchester, Newcastle and Birmingham studios.
[14]
[15]
News
[
edit
]
Bauer’s Liverpool and Manchester newsrooms broadcast local news bulletins hourly from 6am-7pm on weekdays, and from 7am-1pm on Saturdays and Sundays. Headlines are broadcast on the half hour during weekday breakfast and drivetime shows, alongside traffic bulletins.
National bulletins from
Sky News Radio
are carried overnight with bespoke networked bulletins on weekend afternoons, usually originating from Bauer's Manchester newsroom.
As Radio City, the station formerly aired sports programming, focusing largely on
Liverpool FC
and
Everton FC
. Until the end of the 2014-15 season, the station aired live match commentaries of both clubs.
[16]
Until 2020, the station aired a twice-weekly
Legends
phone-in on Monday and Thursday evenings during the football season, hosted by
John Aldridge
and
Graeme Sharp
. However due to the suspension of the 2019-20
Premier League
, the show did not air in 2020.
[17]
[18]
Notable past presenters
[
edit
]
References
[
edit
]
- ^
"Radio City - listening figures"
.
media.info
. Retrieved
9 March
2022
.
- ^
"Archived copy"
.
www.nige-194radiocity.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk
. Archived from
the original
on 5 June 2003
. Retrieved
22 May
2022
.
{{
cite web
}}
: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (
link
)
- ^
"Advert showing the new names and frequencies of City FM and City Talk in 1989"
.
The Brian Jones Radio City Tribute Website
. Archived from
the original
on 17 December 2013
. Retrieved
20 August
2013
.
- ^
Brian Jones (22 November 2014).
"194 RADIO CITY the final moments of Radio City AM"
– via YouTube.
- ^
"Ofcom awards new FM commercial radio licence for Liverpool | Ofcom"
. Archived from
the original
on 30 September 2007
. Retrieved
12 November
2006
.
- ^
Ofcom lets Bauer put music on its Liverpool all-talk station
, guardian.co.uk, 12 May 2009
- ^
"All Bauer Place radio stations to get new logos ? RadioToday"
. 11 November 2014.
- ^
"Rock FM to lose last local show as new shared breakfast show launches"
.
RadioToday
. 16 November 2023
. Retrieved
16 November
2023
.
- ^
"Rock FM to lose last local show as new shared breakfast show launches"
.
RadioToday
. 16 November 2023
. Retrieved
16 November
2023
.
- ^
"Fifteen local stations get set for Hits Radio rebrand"
.
Bauer
. 10 January 2024
. Retrieved
10 January
2024
.
- ^
"Bauer to rebrand heritage FM stations in England and Wales to Hits Radio"
.
RadioToday
. 10 January 2024
. Retrieved
10 January
2024
.
- ^
Radio City - Public File
- ^
"Rock FM to lose last local show as new shared breakfast show launches"
. Radio Today. 16 November 2023
. Retrieved
16 November
2023
.
- ^
Hits Radio Network stations drop local weekend programmes
, Radio Today, 30 May 2019
- ^
Bauer to network drivetime across 11 licences in North and Midlands
, Radio Today, 5 August 2019
- ^
Radio City to cut back football commentaries
, Radio Today, 22 July 2015
- ^
New football legends phone-in for Radio City
, Radio Today, 6 August 2015
- ^
"The Legends Phone-In podcast by Radio City 96.7"
.
External links
[
edit
]
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