Heart Dunstable (formerly 97.6 Chiltern FM) 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 based in Chiltern Road in
Dunstable
Dunstable ( ) is a market town and civil parishes in England, civil parish in Bedfordshire, England, east of the Chiltern Hills, north of London. There are several steep chalk escarpments, most noticeable when approaching Dunstable from the ...
,
Bedfordshire
Bedfordshire (; abbreviated Beds) is a ceremonial county in the East of England. The county has been administered by three unitary authorities, Borough of Bedford, Central Bedfordshire and Borough of Luton, since Bedfordshire County Council wa ...
.
History
Together with sister stations
96.9 Chiltern FM,
Northants 96
Heart Northants (formerly Northants 96) was a local commercial radio station serving Northamptonshire.
The station broadcast on 96.6 FM from studios in Northampton town centre, via the transmitter located in the Kingsthorpe area. As of August ...
and
Horizon Radio, the station formed the
Chiltern Radio Network
Chiltern Radio Network (also known as Chiltern Radio Group) was the parent group of several independent local radio stations in the 1980s and 1990s. These were divided across two networks: ''The Hot FM'' and ''SuperGold''.
History
Chiltern Radi ...
, which became the Chiltern Radio Group. The Chiltern Radio Group underwent a number of ownership changes as Britain's radio ownership rules were liberalised, first becoming part of the GWR Group's Mix Network in September 1995, during which time networked programming from the group's headquarters in Bristol was introduced to off-peak hours (after 7pm).
When GWR merged with Capital Radio in May 2005 to form GCap Media, the combined group's local FM network, including Chiltern, was renamed the One Network for advertising clients, though the station was still called Chiltern on air (even returning to the heritage branding Chiltern Radio for a time). GCap was itself bought out by Global Radio in 2008, with the new owners planning to operate many of their new acquisitions under Global's existing Heart and Galaxy brands. As a result, in January 2009, Chiltern Radio was rebranded by its owners Global Radio as Heart, this move ended, after 28 years, the use of the Chiltern Radio brand name.
Network restructuring
On 21 June 2010, Global Radio announced plans to close Heart Dunstable and merge the station with
Heart Milton Keynes
Heart Milton Keynes (formerly Horizon Radio) was an Independent Local Radio station for Milton Keynes and North Buckinghamshire. Broadcasting on 103.3FM from the Bow Brickhill transmitter, the station was part of Global Radio's Heart Network. Th ...
,
Heart Northants
Heart Northants (formerly Northants 96) was a local commercial radio station serving Northamptonshire.
The station broadcast on 96.6 FM from studios in Northampton town centre, via the transmitter located in the Kingsthorpe area. As of August ...
and
Heart Bedford
Heart Bedford (formerly Chiltern Radio 96.9) was an Independent Local Radio station based in the Priory Business Park in Bedford, Bedfordshire.
History
Together with sister stations 97.6 Chiltern FM, Northants 96 and Horizon Radio, it formed th ...
as part of plans to reduce the Heart network of stations from 33 to 16. The new station, ''
Heart Home Counties
Heart Four Counties was a local radio station owned and operated by Global Radio as part of the Heart network. It broadcast to Bedfordshire, Buckinghamshire, Hertfordshire and Northamptonshire.
The station launched on Friday 16 July 2010 as a r ...
'', began broadcasting from Dunstable on 16 July 2010.
Heart slims but strengthens
, RadioToday, 21 June 2010
Notable past presenters
Past presenters included Mark Smith, Philippa Collins, Paul McKenna
Paul William McKenna (born 8 November 1963) is a British hypnotist, behavioural scientist, television and radio broadcaster and author of self-help books.
McKenna has written and produced books and multimedia products, hosted self-impro ...
, 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 ...
, Dale Winton
Dale Jonathan Winton (22 May 1955 – 18 April 2018) was an English radio DJ and television presenter. He presented the shows ''Dale's Supermarket Sweep'' from 1993 until 2001 and again in 2007, the National Lottery game show ''In It to Wi ...
, NJ Williams
Nigel Williams, sometimes known as NJ Williams is a British broadcaster and voice over artist.
Biography
Williams studied Electronic and Electrical Engineering at the University of Surrey where he became involved in the campus radio station as ...
, Martin Collins Martin may refer to:
Places
* Martin City (disambiguation)
* Martin County (disambiguation)
* Martin Township (disambiguation)
Antarctica
* Martin Peninsula, Marie Byrd Land
* Port Martin, Adelie Land
* Point Martin, South Orkney Islands
Austra ...
, Jeremy Beadle
Jeremy James Anthony Gibson-Beadle MBE (12 April 1948 – 30 January 2008) was an English television presenter, radio presenter, writer and producer. During the 1980s he was a regular face on British television, and in two years appeared ...
and Chris Moyles
Christopher David Moyles (born 22 February 1974) is an English radio and television presenter, author and presenter of ''The Chris Moyles Show'' on Radio X.
Previously he has presented ''The Chris Moyles Show'' on BBC Radio 1 from 2004 to 20 ...
.
References
External links
History of local radio in Bedfordshire
Sandy Heath mast
Zouches Farm transmitter
{{Global Radio
Radio stations in Bedfordshire
Radio stations established in 1981
Dunstable
Dunstable ( ) is a market town and civil parishes in England, civil parish in Bedfordshire, England, east of the Chiltern Hills, north of London. There are several steep chalk escarpments, most noticeable when approaching Dunstable from the ...
Defunct radio stations in the United Kingdom