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Xfm
Radio X is a British National commercial radio station focused on alternative music, primarily indie rock, and owned by Global. Radio X launched in 1989 as a pirate radio station, a licensed London-wide station in 1997 and nationally in 2015 under the rebranded nand, Xfm. The station has employed a number of personalities that have since gone on to greater fame including Russell Brand, Karl Pilkington, Ricky Gervais, Stephen Merchant, Simon Pegg, Christian O'Connell, Justin Lee Collins, Adam and Joe, Alex Zane, Tim Lovejoy, Dermot O'Leary and Josh Widdicombe. As of September 2022, the station broadcasts to a weekly audience of 1.9 million, according to RAJAR. History In 1989, the pirate radio presenter Sammy Jacob, known as DJ Sammy Jay on London's Horizon Radio and Solar Radio, set up an indie music station called Q102, which started broadcasting rock music on a part-time basis from 1 January 1989, with other hours following the soul format of another local station called C ...
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Karl Pilkington
Karl Pilkington (born 23 September 1972) is an English presenter, comedian, actor, voice-artist, producer and author. After working with Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant as producer on their XFM radio show, Pilkington became a co-host of ''The Ricky Gervais Show''. He presented the Sky travel comedy series '' An Idiot Abroad'' and the Sky 1 travel comedy series ''The Moaning of Life''. He made his acting debut in Gervais' comedy-drama series ''Derek'' and co-founded the television production company RiSK Productions alongside Gervais and Merchant. He also co-created, co-wrote, and starred in the comedy series ''Sick of It''. Early life Pilkington was born on 23 September 1972 in Sale, Greater Manchester. He grew up in the Racecourse Estate neighbourhood of Sale, and has an older sister and older brother. He has discussed having a close relationship with his parents, and has shared stories about his mother and father holding multiple jobs. However, he was never close to his ...
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Ricky Gervais
Ricky Dene Gervais ( ; born 25 June 1961) is an English comedian, actor, writer, and director. He co-created, co-wrote, and acted in the British television sitcoms ''The Office'' (2001–2003), '' Extras'' (2005–2007), and '' An Idiot Abroad'' (2010–2012). He also created, wrote and starred in ''Derek'' (2012–2014), and '' After Life'' (2019–2022). He has won seven BAFTA Awards, five British Comedy Awards, two Primetime Emmy Awards, three Golden Globe Awards, and the Rose d'Or twice (2006 and 2019). Gervais was listed in ''The Observer'' as one of the 50 funniest performers in British comedy in 2003. In 2007, he was placed at No. 11 on Channel 4's 100 Greatest Stand-Ups, and at No. 3 in their 2010 list. In 2010, he was included in the ''Time 100'' list of World's Most Influential People. Gervais initially worked in the music industry. He attempted a career as a pop star in the 1980s as the singer of the new-wave act Seona Dancing, and managed the then-unknown band Sued ...
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Russell Brand
Russell Edward Brand (born 4 June 1975) is an English comedian and actor known for his flamboyant, loquacious style and manner. Brand has received three British Comedy Awards: Best Newcomer (2006), Best Live Stand-Up (2008), and the award for Outstanding Contribution to Comedy (2011). After beginning his career as a comedian and later becoming an MTV presenter in the UK, in 2004 Brand gained a role as the host of '' Big Brother's Big Mouth'', a '' Big Brother'' spin-off. In 2007, he had his first major film role in ''St Trinian's'', and the following year he landed a major role in the romantic comedy-drama ''Forgetting Sarah Marshall''; the film led to him starring in a spin off, the rock comedy ''Get Him to the Greek'', alongside Jonah Hill in 2010. He also worked as a voice actor in the animated films '' Despicable Me'' in 2010, '' Hop'' in 2011, and ''Despicable Me 2'' in 2013, and played the title character of the 2011 remake of the romantic comedy ''Arthur''. In 2013, he ...
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Gold (British Radio Network)
Gold is a network of oldies radio stations in the United Kingdom, which was formed by the merger of the Capital Gold network and the Classic Gold network in August 2007. The station relaunched in March 2014 as a partly-automated service, broadcasting in fewer areas, after many of Gold's local AM/DAB frequencies were transferred to Smooth Radio. Most programming is broadcast from the Global Radio's studios in Leicester Square, London. As of September 2022, the network broadcasts to a combined weekly audience of 1.6 million, according to RAJAR. History The Capital Gold network started in London in 1988 on Capital Radio's AM frequency, as the Government urged radio stations to end simulcasting (broadcasting the same programmes simultaneously on AM and FM) and threatened to remove one of their frequencies if simulcasting continued. The Classic Gold network was similarly formed from the AM transmissions of the former GWR Group's station licence areas. (Many of the FM pop stati ...
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Crystal Palace Transmitting Station
The Crystal Palace transmitting station, officially known as Arqiva Crystal Palace, is a broadcasting and telecommunications site in the Crystal Palace area of the London Borough of Bromley, England (). It is located on the site of the former television station and transmitter operated by John Logie Baird from 1933. The station is the eighth-tallest structure in London, and is best known as the main television transmitter for the London area. As such, it is the most important transmitter in the UK in terms of population covered. The transmitter is owned and operated by Arqiva. History and development The station was constructed in the mid-1950s among the ruins of the Crystal Palace. The Aquarium on whose site it stands was destroyed in 1941 during the demolition of the Palace's north water tower. (John Logie Baird's earlier transmitter and TV studios were a separate development at the other end of the Palace and perished with it in 1936.) Its new tower was the tallest struct ...
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Heart 80s
Heart 80s is a national digital radio station owned and operated by Global as a spin-off from Heart. The station broadcasts from studios at Leicester Square in London. Launched on 14 March 2017, Heart 80s is a rolling music service playing non-stop “feel good” music from the 1980s. It has its own dedicated live breakfast show, hosted by Roberto, 6–10am weekdays and 8am – noon each Saturday. At other times, the station is mostly an automated service. The station broadcasts nationally on Digital One DAB and online alongside the existing Heart extra service. Shortly after its launch it replaced Heart Extra on television platforms. On 28 August 2019, the station switched its Digital One service from broadcasting in mono using DAB to a stereo service in the DAB+ standard. The surplus capacity vacated by this move was used the following day to add another sibling, Heart 90s in DAB+. References External links * {{Decades themed radio stations 1980s File:1980s re ...
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Digital One
Digital One is a national commercial digital radio multiplex in the United Kingdom, owned by Arqiva. , the multiplex covered more than 90% of the population from 137 transmitters. Coverage was extended to Northern Ireland in July 2013. It contains a list of DAB and DAB+ radio stations operated by Bauer Media Audio UK, Global and Wireless Group. Stations carried DAB DAB+ History On 24 March 1998, the Radio Authority advertised for the first national ensemble to be broadcast on DAB, with the three national commercial services on FM and medium wave required to be included in the ensemble. This included Classic FM, Talk Radio UK (now Talksport) and Virgin Radio (now Absolute Radio). The licence was awarded to the sole applicant, GWR Group and NTL Broadcast to form Digital One. The original licence application included the following stations: Digital One was due to launch on 1 October 1999, but this was postponed until 15 November 1999. The "Classic Gold Rock" service ...
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FM Broadcasting
FM broadcasting is a method of radio broadcasting using frequency modulation (FM). Invented in 1933 by American engineer Edwin Armstrong, wide-band FM is used worldwide to provide high fidelity sound over broadcast radio. FM broadcasting is capable of higher fidelity—that is, more accurate reproduction of the original program sound—than other broadcasting technologies, such as AM broadcasting. It is also less susceptible to common forms of interference, reducing static and popping sounds often heard on AM. Therefore, FM is used for most broadcasts of music or general audio (in the audio spectrum). FM radio stations use the very high frequency range of radio frequencies. Broadcast bands Throughout the world, the FM broadcast band falls within the VHF part of the radio spectrum. Usually 87.5 to 108.0 MHz is used, or some portion thereof, with few exceptions: * In the former Soviet republics, and some former Eastern Bloc countries, the older 65.8–74 MHz band ...
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Pirate Radio
Pirate radio or a pirate radio station is a radio station that broadcasts without a valid license. In some cases, radio stations are considered legal where the signal is transmitted, but illegal where the signals are received—especially when the signals cross a national boundary. In other cases, a broadcast may be considered "pirate" due to the nature of its content, its transmission format (especially a failure to transmit a station identification according to regulations), or the transmit power (wattage) of the station, even if the transmission is not technically illegal (such as an amateur radio transmission). Pirate radio is sometimes called bootleg radio (a term especially associated with two-way radio), clandestine radio (associated with heavily politically motivated operations) or free radio. History Radio "piracy" began with the advent of regulations of the airwaves at the dawn of the age of radio. Initially, radio, or wireless as it was more commonly called at ...
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Global Media & Entertainment
Global Media & Entertainment Limited, trading as Global, is a British media company formed in 2007. It is the owner of the largest commercial radio company in Europe having expanded through a number of historical acquisitions, including Chrysalis Radio, GCap Media and GMG Radio. Global owns and operates seven core radio brands, all employing a national network strategy. Global also owns and operates one of the leading out-of-home advertising (OOH) companies in the UK through its Outdoor Division. History Global was founded by Ashley Tabor-King in 2007, with financial backing from his father Michael Tabor, and purchased Chrysalis Radio, where Global took control of the radio brands Heart, Galaxy, LBC and The Arrow. A year later on 31 October 2008 Global Radio officially took control of all GCap Media and its brands. The GCap Media name was dropped at this time. The GCap purchase gave Global the network of FM stations which GCap had operated as The One Network (many of which a ...
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Indie Rock
Indie rock is a Music subgenre, subgenre of rock music that originated in the United States, United Kingdom and New Zealand from the 1970s to the 1980s. Originally used to describe independent record labels, the term became associated with the music they produced and was initially used interchangeably with alternative rock or "Pop rock, guitar pop rock". One of the primary scenes of the movement was Dunedin, where Dunedin sound, a cultural scene based around a convergence of noise pop and jangle became popular among the city's University of Otago, large student population. Independent labels such as Flying Nun Records, Flying Nun began to promote the scene across New Zealand, inspiring key college rock bands in the United States such as Pavement (band), Pavement, Pixies (band), Pixies and R.E.M. Other notable scenes grew in Madchester, Manchester and Hamburger Schule, Hamburg, with many others thriving thereafter. In the 1980s, the use of the term "independent music, indie" (or " ...
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Alternative Rock
Alternative rock, or alt-rock, is a category of rock music that emerged from the independent music underground of the 1970s and became widely popular in the 1990s. "Alternative" refers to the genre's distinction from Popular culture, mainstream or commercial rock or pop music. The term's original meaning was broader, referring to musicians influenced by the musical style or independent, DIY ethic, DIY ethos of late-1970s punk rock.di Perna, Alan. "Brave Noise—The History of Alternative Rock Guitar". ''Guitar World''. December 1995. Traditionally, alternative rock varied in terms of its sound, social context, and regional roots. Throughout the 1980s, magazines and zines, college radio airplay, and word of mouth had increased the prominence and highlighted the diversity of alternative rock's distinct styles (and music scenes), such as noise pop, indie rock, grunge, and shoegaze. In September 1988, Billboard (magazine), ''Billboard'' introduced "alternative" into their charting ...
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