Greatest Hits Radio Manchester & The North West 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
Manchester
Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The t ...
, England, owned and operated by Bauer as part of the
Greatest Hits Radio
Greatest Hits Radio is a classic hits radio network in the United Kingdom, owned and operated by Bauer.
Overview
The network launched on 5 January 2015 as the "Bauer City 2 Network", and rebranded on 7 January 2019 due to the success of Ra ...
Network. It broadcasts to
Greater Manchester
Greater Manchester is a metropolitan county and combined authority, combined authority area in North West England, with a population of 2.8 million; comprising ten metropolitan boroughs: City of Manchester, Manchester, City of Salford, Salford ...
and North West England.
History
Early years
The station began broadcasting at 5am on Tuesday 2 April 1974 as Piccadilly Radio on 261 m (1152 kHz then) AM/MW and on 97.0 MHz FM (from the same transmitter in Saddleworth that is now used by
Hits Radio Manchester
''For the Network, see Hits Radio. For the National DAB station, see Hits Radio UK.''
Hits Radio Manchester is an Independent local radio station owned and operated by Bauer as part of the Hits Radio network. It broadcasts to Greater Manchester ...
). The station was named after Piccadilly Gardens in Manchester, and Piccadilly Plaza was home to the station's first studios until 1996, when it relocated to the Castlefield area of Manchester.
Piccadilly's founding managing director was Philip Birch, who previously ran the highly influential pirate station Radio London until it closed down ahead of the
Marine Offences Act
The Marine, &c., Broadcasting (Offences) Act 1967 (c. 41), shortened to Marine Broadcasting Offences Act or "Marine offences Act", became law in the United Kingdom at midnight on Monday 14 August 1967. It was subsequently amended by the Wireles ...
in August 1967. The first presenter on air was
Roger Day
Roger "Twiggy" Day (born Roger Thomas in Cheltenham, Gloucestershire England; 29 March 1945) is a radio broadcaster and DJ who began his career in offshore radio, and was a key pioneer in commercial radio. He later presented on BBC Local Rad ...
– himself an ex-pirate radio presenter – and the first song played on air was ''
Good Vibrations
"Good Vibrations" is a song by the American rock band the Beach Boys that was composed by Brian Wilson with lyrics by Mike Love. It was released as a single on October 10, 1966 and was an immediate critical and commercial hit, topping record ...
'' by
The Beach Boys
The Beach Boys are an American Rock music, rock band that formed in Hawthorne, California, in 1961. The group's original lineup consisted of brothers Brian Wilson, Brian, Dennis Wilson, Dennis, and Carl Wilson, their cousin Mike Love, and frie ...
.
Many of Britain's best-known broadcasters started their careers at Piccadilly, including Chris Evans,
Mike Sweeney
Michael John Sweeney (born July 22, 1973) is a former Major League Baseball designated hitter and first baseman. Sweeney played his first 13 seasons in the majors with the Kansas City Royals, first as a catcher, then at first base and designated ...
,
Steve Penk
Steve Penk is a British radio and television presenter. He was born in Rusholme, Manchester. Penk has worked for various national and local UK radio stations. Aged just 16 he started his radio career at Piccadilly Radio in 1978 (subsequently r ...
Gary Davies
Gary Davies (born 13 December 1957) is a British broadcaster. From 1982 to 1993 he was a BBC Radio 1 disc jockey and a regular presenter of ''Top of the Pops''.
As of September 2022 Gary Davies can be heard on BBC Radio 2 presenting Saturd ...
,
Tim Grundy
Timothy Grundy (4 July 1958 – 1 February 2009) was an English television and radio presenter. He was born in Manchester, Lancashire.
Biography
Grundy was born to a Scottish mother and Bill Grundy, the broadcaster remembered for his expleti ...
,
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 ...
Geoff Lloyd
Geoff Barron Lloyd (born 20 April 1973) is an English radio presenter, television host, podcast host and writer, best known for his talk radio and music shows.
Early life
Lloyd was born in Withington, Manchester, England,Barrie White"Radio's ...
Nick Robinson Nicholas, Nicky or Nick Robinson may refer to:
* Nick Robinson (journalist) (born 1963), British political journalist
* Nick Robinson (paperfolder) (born 1957), British origami artist
* Nicky Robinson (rugby union) (born 1982), Welsh rugby player ...
and Karl Pilkington.
Journalist Paul Lockitt joined Piccadilly in 1979 and became the station's longest serving on-air employee, working as a producer, presenter and newscaster until his departure in 2017.
FM/MW split
Piccadilly Radio split into two services in 1988, with
Key 103
''For the Network, see Hits Radio. For the National DAB station, see Hits Radio UK.''
Hits Radio Manchester is an Independent local radio station owned and operated by Bauer as part of the Hits Radio network. It broadcasts to Greater Mancheste ...
broadcast on FM with a contemporary music format, while Piccadilly continued on AM, initially under its full service format, gradually adopting a 'golden oldies' music playlist as Piccadilly Gold.
In the mid-1990s, Piccadilly Gold became Piccadilly 1152 as the playlist moved away from "golden oldies" to a mix of classic and current easy-listening music. The late-night phone-in with
James Stannage
James Stannage (born 22 February 1950)James Stannage – Manchester Radio Online is an became the most popular radio talk show outside London, whilst the Dave Ward and Umberto breakfast show helped the station to become one of the biggest AM stations.
In 1994, a rival station,
Fortune 1458 Fortune 1458 was a radio station based in Trafford Park, Manchester, England.
History
The station began broadcasting in 1994 on the old BBC Radio Manchester medium wave frequency. It was seen as a direct competitor to Piccadilly 1152 as the stati ...
(later renamed 1458 Lite AM, today broadcasting as 1458
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 ...
) commenced on
BBC GMR
BBC Radio Manchester is the BBC's local radio station serving Greater Manchester.
It broadcasts on FM, DAB, digital TV and via BBC Sounds from studios at MediaCityUK in Salford Quays.
According to RAJAR, the station has a weekly audience ...
's former AM frequency. Despite heavy marketing, and many ex-Piccadilly presenters on the new station, Piccadilly 1152 remained Manchester's most popular station, other than sister station Key 103, until the late 1990s when smaller, localised FM stations in
Oldham
Oldham is a large town in Greater Manchester, England, amid the Pennines and between the rivers Irk and Medlock, southeast of Rochdale and northeast of Manchester. It is the administrative centre of the Metropolitan Borough of Oldham, wh ...
,
Warrington
Warrington () is a town and unparished area in the borough of the same name in the ceremonial county of Cheshire, England, on the banks of the River Mersey. It is east of Liverpool, and west of Manchester. The population in 2019 was estimat ...
and
Bury
Bury may refer to:
*The burial of human remains
*-bury, a suffix in English placenames
Places England
* Bury, Cambridgeshire, a village
* Bury, Greater Manchester, a town, historically in Lancashire
** Bury (UK Parliament constituency) (1832–19 ...
began to erode away Piccadilly's audience base.
Magic 1152
In 1994, Piccadilly (Key 103/Piccadilly 1152) were part of the
Transworld Radio Group Trans World Communications (or TWC for short) was the investment vehicle of businessman Owen Oyston. It operated radio stations and played a part in the Miss World Beauty Pageant.
About
Initially called The Red Rose Group because of its beginning ...
, which was bought by present owners
Bauer Radio
Bauer Media Audio UK is a UK-based radio division of the Bauer Media Group.
History
In early 2008, German magazine publisher Bauer bought the radio division of British company Emap, which had been established as East Midland Allied Press in ...
(then
EMAP
Ascential plc, formerly EMAP, is a British business-to-business media business specialising in exhibitions & festivals and information services. It is listed on the London Stock Exchange and is a constituent of the FTSE 250 Index.
History
Ric ...
). In 1999/2000, parent company EMAP re-branded the station as Magic 1152, to fall in-line with the other nine
Magic
Magic or Magick most commonly refers to:
* Magic (supernatural), beliefs and actions employed to influence supernatural beings and forces
* Ceremonial magic, encompasses a wide variety of rituals of magic
* Magical thinking, the belief that unrela ...
stations they owned across London and the north of England.
The idea of a corporate "Magic" brand of stations was seen to be beneficial when selling air time to national advertisers. This change in name also coincided with the 25th birthday of Piccadilly Radio. The station was branded as "Piccadilly 1152 – the magic of Manchester" during the transition. Except for a short spell in 2000 – when Key 103 was briefly renamed Piccadilly Key 103 – the Piccadilly brand was finally retired.
In December 2001, EMAP decided that it was more economical for the Magic network to share off-peak programmes. Magic 1152, in line with the other seven Magic AM stations in northern England, began networking 10am2pm, and 7pm6am by carrying programming from
Magic 105.4
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 ...
in London. During these hours, it was simply known as Magic, although there were local commercial breaks, and local news on the hour.
In January 2003, after a sharp decline in listening, the station ceased networking with the London station, and a regional northern network was created with the Manchester station providing networked output at weekends while sister station
Magic 1152
Greatest Hits Radio North East is a local radio broadcasting, radio station serving North East England, as part of Bauer Radio, Bauer’s Greatest Hits Radio network.
History
Great North Radio (also known as G.N.R) was formed in March 1989 ...
in Newcastle provided weekday programming.
From July 2006, more networking was introduced across the Northern Magic AM network, with local output reduced to a daily four-hour breakfast show, local news and advertising. In April 2012, Magic 1152, inline with the majority of other Magic North stations, dropped local weekend breakfast shows.
Between March 2013 and December 2014, weekday breakfast was syndicated with
Magic 1548
Greatest Hits Radio Liverpool & The North West is an Independent Local Radio station based in Liverpool, England, owned and operated by Bauer as part of the Greatest Hits Radio network. It broadcasts to Merseyside, North West England, Cheshir ...
in
Liverpool
Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the 10th largest English district by population and its metropolitan area is the fifth largest in the United Kingdom, with a popul ...
and
Magic 999
Greatest Hits Radio (Lancashire) is an Independent Local Radio station based in Manchester, England, owned and operated by Bauer as part of the Greatest Hits Radio network. It broadcasts to Lancashire and North West England.
As of June 2022, t ...
On 5 January 2015, Magic 1152 was rebranded as Key 2, as Magic FM in London went national on DAB. The station formed part of the Bauer City 2 network. All programming was now networked with the other Bauer AM stations in the North although local news, weather and travel continue to be broadcast as opt-outs during the day.
In June 2018, following the relaunch and rebrand of Key 103 as
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 ...
, the station was rebranded again as Key Radio, retaining the former local identity in a secondary capacity.
Greatest Hits Radio
On 7 January 2019, Key Radio rebranded as Greatest Hits Radio Manchester.
Following the sale of The Revolution in October 2020, the service is also broadcast on 96.2 FM from a transmitter in
Oldham
Oldham is a large town in Greater Manchester, England, amid the Pennines and between the rivers Irk and Medlock, southeast of Rochdale and northeast of Manchester. It is the administrative centre of the Metropolitan Borough of Oldham, wh ...
, primarily serving the
Oldham
Oldham is a large town in Greater Manchester, England, amid the Pennines and between the rivers Irk and Medlock, southeast of Rochdale and northeast of Manchester. It is the administrative centre of the Metropolitan Borough of Oldham, wh ...
,
Rochdale
Rochdale ( ) is a large town in Greater Manchester, England, at the foothills of the South Pennines in the dale on the River Roch, northwest of Oldham and northeast of Manchester. It is the administrative centre of the Metropolitan Borough ...
and
Tameside
The Metropolitan Borough of Tameside is a metropolitan borough of Greater Manchester in England. It is named after the River Tame, Greater Manchester, River Tame, which flows through the borough, and includes the towns of Ashton-under-Lyne, Aud ...
areas of Greater Manchester.
In February 2021, Bauer announced it would close GHR's medium-wave service on 1152 kHz, marking the end of 47 years of broadcasting on the former AM frequency for Piccadilly Radio. The AM transmitter ceased broadcasting on 28 April 2021.
On 17 June 2021 Bauer announced the purchase of Imagine Radio from Like Media Group, with the existing Imagine service slated to be replaced by GHR services for Stockport and North Cheshire and the Peak District and Derbyshire Dales.RadioToday.co.uk, June 2021 /ref> Consequently, Greatest Hits Radio can now be heard on FM in the southern parts of Greater Manchester.