100.4 Jazz FM (launched as JFM 100.4) was an

independent local radio Independent Local Radio is the collective name given to commercial radio stations in the United Kingdom. As a result of the buyouts and mergers permitted by the Broadcasting Act 1990, and deregulation resulting from the Communications Act 2003, ...

station for the North West England playing

jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, with its roots in blues and ragtime. Since the 1920s Jazz Age, it has been recognized as a major ...

music. 100.4 Jazz FM played its own music from its Salford studio during the day, whereas specialist shows like ''Dinner Jazz'' and ''Legends of Jazz'' with

Ramsey Lewis Ramsey Emmanuel Lewis Jr. (May 27, 1935 – September 12, 2022) was an American jazz piano, jazz pianist, composer, and radio personality. Lewis recorded over 80 albums and received five RIAA certification, gold records and three Grammy Awards ...

were networked from London's 102.2 Jazz FM. The station was replaced by Smooth FM 100.4 in 2004.

History

In 1993, Golden Rose Communications was awarded the regional FM licence for the North West, beating ten other applications for the licence. Jazz FM was launched as JFM on 1 September 1994 and broadcast from Exchange Quays, in

Salford Salford () is a city and the largest settlement in the City of Salford metropolitan borough in Greater Manchester, England. In 2011, Salford had a population of 103,886. It is also the second and only other city in the metropolitan county afte ...

, England. It was originally known as JFM in order to try to appeal to more listeners who were put off by the "jazz" in Jazz FM. The station name reverted to Jazz FM, a decision also made to its sister London station in 1995 when Richard Wheatly became

chief executive officer A chief executive officer (CEO), also known as a central executive officer (CEO), chief administrator officer (CAO) or just chief executive (CE), is one of a number of corporate executives charged with the management of an organization especially ...

for Golden Rose Communications. Jazz FM originally played a wide variety of jazz, pandering to more

smooth jazz Smooth jazz is a genre of commercially-oriented crossover jazz and easy listening music that became dominant in the mid 1970s to the early 1990s. History Smooth jazz is a commercially oriented, crossover jazz which came to prominence in the 19 ...

during the daytime to attract the 25- to 45-year-old target market Jazz FM needed to make the station a success. The station before the

rebrand Rebranding is a marketing strategy in which a new name, term, symbol, design, concept or combination thereof is created for an established brand with the intention of developing a new, differentiated identity in the minds of consumers, investors ...

, however, played more

soul In many religious and philosophical traditions, there is a belief that a soul is "the immaterial aspect or essence of a human being". Etymology The Modern English noun ''soul'' is derived from Old English ''sāwol, sāwel''. The earliest attes ...

and softer R&B alongside jazz. In 2003, the

Guardian Media Group Guardian Media Group plc (GMG) is a British-based mass media company owning various media operations including ''The Guardian'' and ''The Observer''. The group is wholly owned by the Scott Trust Limited, which exists to secure the financial and e ...

did extensive research into the type of music the listeners in the

north-west The points of the compass are a set of horizontal, Radius, radially arrayed compass directions (or Azimuth#In navigation, azimuths) used in navigation and cartography. A compass rose is primarily composed of four cardinal directions—north, east ...

wanted to listen to. They concluded that many people were put off by the name "jazz" in the station name. As a result, 100.4 Jazz FM closed on 13 February 2004 and relaunched as 'Smooth FM' on 1 March 2004. Smooth FM 100.4 relaunched as Smooth Radio 100.4 in March 2007 at the same time as London based 102.2 Smooth FM.

Return to the airwaves

On 28 February 2008 GMG Radio's chief executive John Myers made an announcement that Jazz FM would be brought back in the North West, London and the West Midlands on DAB. Myers also said that he believed it would make more sense for there to be a dedicated radio station for jazz listeners than the commitments to play jazz on Smooth Radio 100.4, as required by the licence granted to them by Ofcom. The closure of

theJazz theJazz was a British jazz digital radio station run by GCap Media that started on Christmas Day of 2006Digital 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 conta ...

was also part of the reason for the return of Jazz FM. The relaunch of jazzfm.com, under a three-year deal with

The Local Radio Company The Local Radio Company was a British media company, based in Redruth, Cornwall, that owned ten independent local radio stations in the UK. After takeover talks with UTV Media, UKRD Group and Hallwood Financial, UKRD acquired the majority shar ...

happened on 6 October 2008.

References

External links

100.4 Smooth FM, which replaced 100.4 Jazz FM

Media UK article on 100.4 Jazz FM

( ttps://web.archive.org/web/20091022084311/http://geocities.com/thehotw/aircheck_UKLancs.htm Archived19 October 2009) {{Smooth Radio Radio stations in England Mass media in Salford Defunct radio stations in the United Kingdom Jazz radio stations in the United Kingdom Radio stations established in 1994 Radio stations disestablished in 2004 1994 establishments in England 2004 disestablishments in England

History

Return to the airwaves

See also

References

External links