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Free Radio Birmingham is 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 based in
Birmingham Birmingham ( ) is a city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands in England. It is the second-largest city in the United Kingdom with a population of 1.145 million in the city proper, 2.92 million in the West ...
, England, owned and operated by Bauer as part of the
Hits Radio Hits Radio is a network of 25 contemporary hit radio stations in the United Kingdom, owned and operated by Bauer Media Audio UK. As of October 2022, the network has a combined reach of 6.6 million weekly listeners according to RAJAR. Overv ...
network. It broadcasts to Birmingham and the
West Midlands West or Occident is one of the four cardinal directions or points of the compass. It is the opposite direction from east and is the direction in which the Sun sets on the Earth. Etymology The word "west" is a Germanic word passed into some ...
. As of September 2022, the station has a weekly audience of 165,000 listeners according to
RAJAR Radio Joint Audience Research Limited (RAJAR) was established in 1992 to operate a single audience measurement system for the radio industry in the United Kingdom. RAJAR is jointly owned by the BBC and RadioCentre. RAJAR's predecessor was calle ...
.


History

Launched on 19 February 1974, on 261 metres
medium wave Medium wave (MW) is the part of the medium frequency (MF) radio band used mainly for AM radio broadcasting. The spectrum provides about 120 channels with more limited sound quality than FM stations on the FM broadcast band. During the daytime ...
, (1152
kHz The hertz (symbol: Hz) is the unit of frequency in the International System of Units (SI), equivalent to one event (or cycle) per second. The hertz is an SI derived unit whose expression in terms of SI base units is s−1, meaning that on ...
) and 94.8 MHz FM, BRMB was the fourth independent local commercial radio station to begin broadcasting in Britain after
LBC LBC (originally the London Broadcasting Company) is a British phone-in and talk radio station owned and operated by Global and based in its headquarters in London. It was the UK's first licensed commercial radio station, and began to broadca ...
,
Capital London Capital London is a radio station owned and operated by the Global media company as part of its national Capital FM Network. As Capital Radio it was launched in the London area in 1973 as one of Britain's first two commercial radio stations. I ...
and
Radio Clyde Radio Clyde is a group of two Independent Local Radio stations serving Glasgow and West Central Scotland. Radio Clyde is owned and operated by Bauer, based at studios in Clydebank, West Dunbartonshire and forms part of Bauer's Hits Radio and Gr ...
. Broadcasting a mix of popular music with local news, live football coverage, information and specialist output, the station became popular amongst residents in Birmingham and later changed its main FM frequency from 94.8 to 96.4 in 1986. The original station name, BRMB, was not an initialism (contrary to popular belief – some believed it stood for Birmingham Radio, Midlands Broadcasting). Instead, the original company, Birmingham Broadcasting Ltd., wanted something that combined a US-style
call-sign In broadcasting and radio communications, a call sign (also known as a call name or call letters—and historically as a call signal—or abbreviated as a call) is a unique identifier for a transmitter station. A call sign can be formally assigne ...
with the company name – e.g. Birmingham – (BRM) and broadcasting – (B); equalling BRMB. Presenters such as
Ed Doolan Edwin Myer Doolan MBE (20 July 1941 – 16 January 2018) was an Australian born naturalised British radio presenter who was a veteran of Birmingham's first commercial radio station BRMB, and subsequently the BBC. At the BBC he presented a we ...
,
Les Ross Les Ross MBE is a British disc jockey in the West Midlands. He was born as Leslie Meakin; 7 February 1949, in Birmingham. Early life and career Ross always wanted to become a DJ and, at the age of 11, wrote to the general manager of Radio Lu ...
, Phil Upton and Tony Butler became regulars on the station – Les Ross was the UK's longest-serving breakfast show presenter, presenting BRMB's flagship weekday show from March 1976 to March 1989, followed by a second stint between August 1993 to September 2002. Former head of sport Tom Ross also found fame on the station when it began broadcasting live commentary of West Midlands football matches every Saturday afternoon –
Ian Crocker Ian Lowell Crocker (born August 31, 1982) is an American former competition swimmer, five-time Olympic medalist, and former world record-holder. During his career, he set world records in the 50- and 100-meter butterfly (long course and short ...
was also involved in the coverage early on. In 1988, as a response to government disapproval of the simulcasting of programming on both FM and mediumwave, a sister station was launched on the 1152 kHz frequency.
Xtra AM Xtra AM was a United Kingdom radio station which was on the air between 1989 and 1998. It was broadcast to much of Birmingham, Coventry and Warwickshire and was the 'oldies' station which took over the mediumwave frequencies of both BRMB (serv ...
became BRMB's 'gold' service, playing classic hits, while BRMB itself began to cater for a younger audience. At this stage, BRMB was part of
Midlands Radio plc Midlands Radio plc was an independent radio operator, which operated seven radio licences in Birmingham, Coventry, Leicester, Nottingham and surrounding areas in the United Kingdom. Stations owned FM *BRMB * Leicester Sound *Radio Trent *Merci ...
, which was bought out along with
Radio Trent Trent FM was an Independent Local Radio station which broadcast to Nottinghamshire. The station merged with two other East Midlands stations, Leicester Sound and Ram FM to form Capital FM East Midlands (part of Global's Capital FM Network) on M ...
,
Leicester Sound Leicester Sound was an Independent Local Radio station which broadcast to Leicestershire. The station merged with two other East Midlands stations, Trent FM and Ram FM to form Capital FM East Midlands (part of Global's Capital FM Network) on Mo ...
and
Mercia Sound la, Merciorum regnum , conventional_long_name=Kingdom of Mercia , common_name=Mercia , status=Kingdom , status_text=Independent kingdom (527–879)Client state of Wessex () , life_span=527–918 , era=Heptarchy , event_start= , date_start= , ye ...
by
Capital Radio Capital London is a radio station owned and operated by the Global media company as part of its national Capital FM Network. As Capital Radio it was launched in the London area in 1973 as one of Britain's first two commercial radio stations. I ...
in 1993. However, they sold the other stations to the
GWR Group GCap Media was a British commercial radio company formed from the merger of the Capital Radio Group and GWR Group. The merger was completed in May 2005. It was listed on the London Stock Exchange and was a constituent of the FTSE 250 Index. ...
whilst Capital kept hold of BRMB and Xtra AM. Xtra was on the air for nine years until the majority of its programming was switched to
London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...
, where it was simulcast with
Capital Gold The Capital Gold radio station started in London in 1988 on Capital Radio's AM frequency, after the Independent Broadcasting Authority had urged stations to end simulcasting (broadcasting the same programmes simultaneously on AM and FM) and t ...
. On 8 August 2008, it was confirmed that due to competition 'conflict of interests' in the West Midlands (and in other areas), BRMB would be sold by
Global Global means of or referring to a globe and may also refer to: Entertainment * ''Global'' (Paul van Dyk album), 2003 * ''Global'' (Bunji Garlin album), 2007 * ''Global'' (Humanoid album), 1989 * ''Global'' (Todd Rundgren album), 2015 * Bruno ...
, along with other West Midlands owned GCap/Global stations
Mercia FM Free Radio Coventry & Warwickshire is an Independent Local Radio station based in Birmingham, England, owned and operated by Bauer as part of the Hits Radio network. It broadcasts to Coventry and Warwickshire. As of September 2022, the stati ...
,
Wyvern FM Free Radio Herefordshire & Worcestershire (formerly Radio Wyvern) is a local commercial radio station owned and operated by Bauer as part of the Hits Radio network. It broadcasts to Herefordshire and Worcestershire. As of September 2022, the ...
,
Heart 106 Heart South Wales is an regional radio station that broadcasts to South and West Wales from studios in Cardiff Bay. The station is owned and operated by Global Radio and forms part of the expanded Heart radio network of stations. Background R ...
and
Beacon Radio Free Radio Black Country & Shropshire is an Independent Local Radio station based in Birmingham, England, owned and operated by Bauer as part of the Hits Radio network. It broadcasts to Shropshire, Wolverhampton and the Black Country. As of Sep ...
. In July 2009, the station was sold officially to a company backed by
Lloyds Development Capital Lloyds Development Capital (Holdings) Limited (LDC), is a mid-market private equity house and subsidiary of Lloyds Banking Group, established in 1981 as Lloyds Development Capital Limited. From 1999 to 2011, it was known as Lloyds TSB Developme ...
and
Phil Riley Phil Riley was Chief Executive of Chrysalis Radio from June 1999 to July 2007, having played a major role in establishing Chrysalis Radio as one of the leading new entrants in the UK radio industry. Phil resigned his post after leading the successfu ...
which was named
Orion Media Orion Media was a UK commercial radio group, founded in 2009 after a management buy-in, with backing from Lloyds Development Capital. It was created from the enforced sale of several radio stations in the English Midlands previously owned by Gl ...
. On 9 January 2012, Orion Media announced that BRMB would be rebranded as Free Radio Birmingham, along with its sister West Midlands stations
Beacon A beacon is an intentionally conspicuous device designed to attract attention to a specific location. A common example is the lighthouse, which draws attention to a fixed point that can be used to navigate around obstacles or into port. More mode ...
,
Mercia la, Merciorum regnum , conventional_long_name=Kingdom of Mercia , common_name=Mercia , status=Kingdom , status_text=Independent kingdom (527–879)Client state of Wessex () , life_span=527–918 , era=Heptarchy , event_start= , date_start= , ye ...
and
Wyvern A wyvern ( , sometimes spelled wivern) is a legendary winged dragon that has two legs. The wyvern in its various forms is important in heraldry, frequently appearing as a mascot of schools and athletic teams (chiefly in the United States, Unit ...
. The BRMB brand, together with neighbouring stations Mercia, Beacon and Wyvern, were phased out on Wednesday 21 March 2012 in preparation for the rebrand, which took place at 7pm on Monday 26 March 2012. Live football commentaries on
Aston Villa Aston Villa Football Club is a professional football club based in Aston, Birmingham, England. The club competes in the , the top tier of the English football league system. Founded in 1874, they have played at their home ground, Villa Park ...
and
Birmingham City Birmingham City Football Club is a professional football club based in Birmingham, England. Formed in 1875 as Small Heath Alliance, it was renamed Small Heath in 1888, Birmingham in 1905, and Birmingham City in 1943. Since 2011, the first te ...
matches continued to be broadcast on Free Radio 80s on AM and DAB until the end of the 2014–15 season. On 6 May 2016, the station's owners, Orion, announced they had been bought by Bauer for an undisclosed fee, reportedly between £40 and £50 million. In February 2017, most of Free Radio's off-peak networked output from Birmingham was replaced by programmes originating from Bauer’s Manchester studios. In May 2019, following OFCOM's decision to relax local content obligations from commercial radio, Bauer announced Free Radio’s Birmingham breakfast show would be shared with the sister station in Shropshire and the Black Country from 8 July 2019, presented by Dan Morrissey.Free to reduce local breakfast and drive shows
Radio Today, 30 May 2019
The localised weekday drivetime shows were initially replaced by a single regional show, presented by Andy Goulding. Regional weekend afternoon shows were axed in favour of additional network programming.Hits Radio Network stations to drop local weekend programmes
Radio Today, 30 May 2019
As of 2 September 2019, further networked output replaced the weekday drivetime show.Bauer to network drivetime across 11 licences in North and Midlands
Radio Today, 5 August 2019
On 23 November 2021, Bauer announced the two ''Hits at Breakfast'' shows would be merged into one regional show across all four Free Radio licences, following the departure of Dan Morrissey. The merger was permitted under OFCOM's local content guidelines. The new ''Hits at Breakfast'' show for the West Midlands, presented by John Dalziel and Roisin McCourt, began on Monday 29 November 2021. The Birmingham station retains opt-outs for local news, traffic updates and advertising. Bauer also announced it would move Free Radio from its
Brindleyplace Brindleyplace is a large mixed-use canalside development, in the Westside district of Birmingham, England. It was named after Brindley Place, the name of the street (in turn named after the 18th century canal engineer James Brindley) around whi ...
studios in the city centre to a smaller facility at 54
Hagley Road Known as the Hagley Road in Birmingham, the A456 is a main road in England running between Central Birmingham and Woofferton, Shropshire, south of Ludlow. Some sections of the route, for example Edgbaston near Bearwood, are also the route of ...
in
Edgbaston Edgbaston () is an affluent suburban area of central Birmingham, England, historically in Warwickshire, and curved around the southwest of the city centre. In the 19th century, the area was under the control of the Gough-Calthorpe family an ...
at the end of 2021.


Programming

All networked programming originates from Bauer’s Manchester studios. Regional programming, under the ''Hits at Breakfast'' banner, is produced and broadcast from Bauer’s Birmingham studios weekdays from 6-10am, presented by John Dalziel and Roisin McCourt.Free - Public File
/ref>


News

Bauer’s Birmingham newsroom broadcasts local news bulletins for the city hourly from 6am-7pm on weekdays, 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 Sky News Radio is the radio arm of Sky News, owned by Sky UK. It has been operating since June 1999, providing a news bulletin service for UK commercial radio stations operators across the UK and for a number of English-speaking radio stations ar ...
are carried overnight with bespoke networked bulletins on weekend afternoons, usually originating from Bauer's Leeds newsroom.


Station Information

BRMB was originally based in Aston Road North, in the
Aston Aston is an area of inner Birmingham, England. Located immediately to the north-east of Central Birmingham, Aston constitutes a ward within the metropolitan authority. It is approximately 1.5 miles from Birmingham City Centre. History Aston wa ...
area of Birmingham, near the
Spaghetti Junction Spaghetti junction is a nickname sometimes given to a complex or massively intertwined road traffic interchange that is said to resemble a plate of spaghetti. Such interchanges may incorporate a variety of interchange design elements in orde ...
. These were the former Alpha Television Studios, the home of ATV and ABC Weekend Television until 1970. The current Free Radio studios are based in the
Brindleyplace Brindleyplace is a large mixed-use canalside development, in the Westside district of Birmingham, England. It was named after Brindley Place, the name of the street (in turn named after the 18th century canal engineer James Brindley) around whi ...
development near Broad Street in Birmingham city centre. Since August 2011, local programming for the Coventry and Warwickshire station has been produced and broadcast from Birmingham. The FM signal – 10 kW ERP – is broadcast from the Sutton Coldfield transmitter, and can be received throughout a large part of the West Midlands.


Events

Free in Birmingham organises a number of annual public events including the Walkathon and the annual Live concerts at the LG Arena. The station also sponsors the
Bupa Bupa , legally British United Provident Association Limited, is an international health insurance and healthcare group with over 38 million customers worldwide. Bupa's origins and global headquarters are in the United Kingdom. Its main countrie ...
Great Birmingham Run The Great Birmingham Run is an annual half marathon road running event held in Birmingham, UK in October. Formerly known as the Birmingham Half Marathon, from 2011 it became part of the Great Run series of road races. Established in 2008, it in ...
and the Acorns Midnight Walk.


Notable past presenters

*
Ed Doolan Edwin Myer Doolan MBE (20 July 1941 – 16 January 2018) was an Australian born naturalised British radio presenter who was a veteran of Birmingham's first commercial radio station BRMB, and subsequently the BBC. At the BBC he presented a we ...
MBE Mbe may refer to: * Mbé, a town in the Republic of the Congo * Mbe Mountains Community Forest, in Nigeria * Mbe language, a language of Nigeria * Mbe' language, language of Cameroon * ''mbe'', ISO 639 code for the extinct Molala language Molal ...
(1974–1981) (deceased) *
Les Ross Les Ross MBE is a British disc jockey in the West Midlands. He was born as Leslie Meakin; 7 February 1949, in Birmingham. Early life and career Ross always wanted to become a DJ and, at the age of 11, wrote to the general manager of Radio Lu ...
MBE Mbe may refer to: * Mbé, a town in the Republic of the Congo * Mbe Mountains Community Forest, in Nigeria * Mbe language, a language of Nigeria * Mbe' language, language of Cameroon * ''mbe'', ISO 639 code for the extinct Molala language Molal ...
(1976–2002, now at
Boom Radio Boom Radio (also Boom Radio UK) is an independent, commercial, national radio station in the United Kingdom. Owned by Boom Radio Ltd, the station is aimed at baby boomers, the generation of people born between 1946 and 1964, and is the first rad ...
) *
Graham Torrington Graham Torrington (born 1960) is a British radio presenter and broadcaster. Radio work Romantica After starting out as a hospital radio presenter, Torrington joined Birmingham's BRMB in the 1980s to cover an overnight programme for Steve Denn ...
(later at BBC WM and
BBC Radio Devon BBC Radio Devon is the BBC's local radio station serving the county of Devon. It broadcasts on FM, DAB, digital TV and via BBC Sounds from studios in the Mannamead area of Plymouth. According to RAJAR, the station has a weekly audience of 1 ...
, now at
Boom Radio Boom Radio (also Boom Radio UK) is an independent, commercial, national radio station in the United Kingdom. Owned by Boom Radio Ltd, the station is aimed at baby boomers, the generation of people born between 1946 and 1964, and is the first rad ...
and North Derbyshire Radio) * John Slater (1980-1991) *
Elliott Webb Elliott Webb (born 15 April 1971 in Worcester) is an English radio presenter. Early career Webb started his career in 1989 at Radio Wyvern in Worcester where he presented the evening show. From there he briefly presented the late night show at ...
(1997–2009) (now at
BBC Hereford and Worcester BBC Hereford & Worcester is the BBC's local radio station serving the counties of Herefordshire and Worcestershire. It broadcasts on FM, DAB, digital TV and online via BBC Sounds from studios on Hylton Road in Worcester. According to RAJA ...
) *
Margherita Taylor Margherita Taylor (born 26 April 1972) is an English TV and radio presenter. She is a freelancer with Global Group and currently presents on stations Smooth Radio and Classic FM. Taylor studied media and communications at the University o ...
(now at Classic FM) * Carlos (later at Smooth Radio, now at
Heart 70s Heart 70s is a national digital radio station owned and operated by Global as a spin-off from Heart.Harriet Scott (now at
Magic Radio Magic Radio is a British digital radio station owned and operated by Bauer. The station is available on 105.4 FM in London and across the UK on Digital Radio, on the Magic Radio app, television and online. It had previously been a part of a ...
) * Paul Hollins (now at Smooth Radio) *
Jeremy Kyle Jeremy Kyle (born 7 July 1965) is an English broadcaster and writer. He is known for hosting the tabloid talk show ''The Jeremy Kyle Show'' on ITV from 2005 to 2019. He also hosted a US version of his eponymous show, which ran for two seas ...
(now at TalkTV) * Dave Jamieson (now at
Boom Radio Boom Radio (also Boom Radio UK) is an independent, commercial, national radio station in the United Kingdom. Owned by Boom Radio Ltd, the station is aimed at baby boomers, the generation of people born between 1946 and 1964, and is the first rad ...
) *
Tom Binns Christopher Thomas Binns (born 1970) is a British comedian, best known for his character Hospital Radio DJ Ivan Brackenbury. Career Binns was nominated at the Edinburgh Festival for the Edinburgh Comedy Award 2007 for his hospital radio DJ ch ...
* Tim Shaw (later at
Rock FM Rock Radio is a former British radio network. Rock Radio or Rock FM may also refer to: *Rock FM (Spanish radio station) *Rock FM (British radio station), based in Preston, Lancashire * Rock FM 91.9, a radio station based in Johannesburg, South Af ...
) *
Mark Crossley Mark Geoffrey Crossley (born 16 June 1969) is a football coach and former professional footballer. As a player, he was a goalkeeper from 1988 until 2011 and he has previously played for numerous clubs in England's top flight, notably for Notti ...
(now at
Absolute Radio Absolute Radio is a British National radio station owned and operated by Bauer as part of the Absolute Radio Network. It broadcasts nationally across the UK via Digital audio broadcasting and on 1215 kHz MW. History 1993–1997: Virg ...
) *
Graeme Smith Graeme Craig Smith (born 1 February 1981) is a South African cricket commentator and former cricketer who played for South Africa in all formats. In 2003, he was appointed captain of the national team, taking over from Shaun Pollock. He held th ...
(later at Real Radio North West, now at Captial Liverpool) *
Robin Banks Robin Banks is a TV presenter, narrator and radio DJ originally from Kilkenny, Ireland. Career He was the narrator of the British/European version of the popular Discovery Channel show '' MythBusters'', from season 2 to the present day. He ...
* James Merritt (now at
Virgin Radio UK Virgin Radio UK is a national Hot Adult Contemporary radio station in the United Kingdom that launched on 30 March 2016, owned by Wireless Group which is itself a subsidiary of News Corp. It is the second incarnation of Virgin Radio in the UK: t ...
) * Ed Nell (later at
Free Radio Black Country & Shropshire Free Radio Black Country & Shropshire is an Independent Local Radio station based in Birmingham, England, owned and operated by Bauer as part of the Hits Radio network. It broadcasts to Shropshire, Wolverhampton and the Black Country. As of S ...
, now at
BBC Radio Nottingham BBC Radio Nottingham is the Local BBC Radio, BBC's local radio station serving the county of Nottinghamshire. It broadcasts on frequency modulation, FM, Digital Audio Broadcasting, DAB, digital TV and via BBC Sounds from studios on London Road ...
) * Jo Russell (now at
Gem A gemstone (also called a fine gem, jewel, precious stone, or semiprecious stone) is a piece of mineral crystal which, in cut and polished form, is used to make jewelry or other adornments. However, certain rocks (such as lapis lazuli, opal, a ...
) *
John Howard John Winston Howard (born 26 July 1939) is an Australian former politician who served as the 25th prime minister of Australia from 1996 to 2007, holding office as leader of the Liberal Party. His eleven-year tenure as prime minister is the s ...
(later at BBC Radio 4) *
Sam and Mark Sam Nixon and Mark Rhodes, known collectively as Sam & Mark, or simply Smark, are an English popular music and television presenting duo. They previously competed on the second series of ''Pop Idol'' in 2003, where they finished third and s ...
(now at
CBBC CBBC (initialised as Children's BBC and also known as the CBBC Channel) is a British free-to-air Public service broadcasting in the United Kingdom, public broadcast children's television channel owned and operated by the BBC. It is also the bran ...
) *
Adrian Juste Adrian Juste (born 21 April 1947 in Kirby Muxloe, Leicestershire, England) is an English disc jockey and radio presenter who had a Saturday lunchtime programme on BBC Radio 1 from 1978 to 1994. After attending Guthlaxton Grammar School in Wigs ...
(1974–1977) (Later with
BBC Radio 1 BBC Radio 1 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. It specialises in modern popular music and current chart hits throughout the day. The station provides alternative genres at night, including electronica, dance, ...
)


References


External links


Free




{{DEFAULTSORT:Free Birmingham Bauer Radio Hits Radio Radio stations established in 1974 Radio stations in Birmingham, West Midlands