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Centre Radio (officially known as Leicester and Leicestershire Local Radio plc) was the first
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 to serve Leicestershire. It was based at Granville House, Leicester,
England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...
.


History

Centre Radio was launched on 7 September 1981 in a blaze of publicity. Several adverts were placed in the ''
Leicester Mercury The ''Leicester Mercury'' is a British regional newspaper for the city of Leicester and the neighbouring counties of Leicestershire and Rutland. The paper began in the 19th century as the ''Leicester Daily Mercury'' and later changed to its ...
'', and the station's presenters appeared at many local events preceding the launch. To build people's interest further, one of their more famous DJs,
Timmy Mallett Timothy Luke Mallett (born 18 October 1955) is an English TV presenter, broadcaster, and artist. He is known for his striking visual style, colourful glasses, loud shirts, and giant pink foam mallet, known as "Mallett's Mallet", as well as hi ...
would often rollerskate up and down London Road. Mallett presented the first breakfast show with multi-coloured hair, dressed in a dinner jacket and a bowtie which was filmed for a BBC documentary. Other presenters on Centre Radio included Tony Cook, Jay Cooper, Mark Hurrell, Alan West, John Evington, Mark Williams and Kenny Hague. In September 1983, financial problems caused by the recession and alleged overspending setting up the premises hit the fledgling station hard, but attracting listeners also proved difficult.
BBC Radio Leicester BBC Radio Leicester is the BBC's local radio station serving the counties of Leicestershire and Rutland. It broadcasts on FM, DAB, digital TV and via BBC Sounds from studios at St Nicholas Place in Leicester. According to RAJAR, the station ...
had been on air since 1967, and many listeners stayed loyal to the
BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board exam. ...
...
. On 5 October 1983, the former managing director of Centre Radio, Geoffrey Pointon, made an offer to take over Centre Radio under a consortium called Crestnote. Although Pointon’s rescue bid had widespread support from both the board and the
National Union of Journalists The National Union of Journalists (NUJ) is a trade union for journalists in the United Kingdom and Ireland. It was founded in 1907 and has 38,000 members. It is a member of the International Federation of Journalists (IFJ). Structure There is ...
, the
Independent Broadcasting Authority The Independent Broadcasting Authority (IBA) was the regulatory body in the United Kingdom for commercial television ( ITV and Channel 4 and limited satellite television regulation – cable television was the responsibility of the Cable Author ...
(IBA) blocked it, because they felt the structure of the company that owned Centre Radio would change to such an extent that Centre Radio would have to reapply for the licence. In response to the IBA’s rejection of Pointon’s bid, Centre Radio announced on the following day (6 October) that it would cease trading, appointing
Ernst & Whinney Ernst & Young Global Limited, trade name EY, is a multinational professional services partnership headquartered in London, England. EY is one of the largest professional services networks in the world. Along with Deloitte, KPMG and Pricewaterh ...
as its liquidators: regular programming ended at 1pm with the playing of Paul Young's "
Come Back and Stay "Come Back and Stay" is a song that was first recorded in 1981 by its writer Jack Lee. In 1983, singer Paul Young released his version as a single from his album, '' No Parlez'', and it became an international hit. The song reached number 4 o ...
", followed by a short news bulletin read by Tony Cook (Centre's head of news) announcing the station's closure. This was followed by continuous music until 5.30pm, when Diana Ross's "The Boss" faded into a final closing announcement. The station's licence was re-advertised and awarded to
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) o ...
, which commenced broadcasting as
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 M ...
on 7 September 1984. Leicester Sound later merged with their owner (since renamed to
Trent FM 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 ...
) and
Ram FM Ram FM was an Independent Local Radio station, which broadcast to central and southern parts of Derbyshire on 102.8 FM. The station merged with two other East Midlands stations, Trent FM Trent FM was an Independent Local Radio station wh ...
in January 2011 to form the regional station
Capital FM East Midlands Capital East Midlands was a regional radio station owned and operated by Global Radio as part of the Capital radio network, broadcasting to the East Midlands from studios in Nottingham. It launched on 3 January 2011 following the merger of Tren ...
, based in Nottingham.


References

{{Reflist


External links


History of Centre Radio
Mass media in Leicester Radio stations established in 1981 Radio stations disestablished in 1983 Radio stations in Leicestershire Defunct radio stations in the United Kingdom