Heart Milton Keynes (formerly Horizon Radio) 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

Milton Keynes Milton Keynes ( ) is a city and the largest settlement in Buckinghamshire, England, about north-west of London. At the 2021 Census, the population of its urban area was over . The River Great Ouse forms its northern boundary; a tributary ...

and North

Buckinghamshire Buckinghamshire (), abbreviated Bucks, is a ceremonial county in South East England that borders Greater London to the south-east, Berkshire to the south, Oxfordshire to the west, Northamptonshire to the north, Bedfordshire to the north-ea ...

. Broadcasting on 103.3FM from the Bow Brickhill transmitter, the station was part of

Global Radio Global Media & Entertainment Limited, trading as Global, is a British media company formed in 2007. It is the owner of the largest commercial radio company in Europe having expanded through a number of historical acquisitions, including Chrysa ...

Heart Network Heart is a British radio network and brand of 13 adult contemporary music, adult contemporary Independent Local Radio, local stations operated by Global Media & Entertainment, Global throughout the United Kingdom, broadcasting a mix of local an ...

. The station's flagship shows were '' Heart Breakfast with Wes Venn'' and ''Heart Drivetime with Lucy Ellis''.

History

The station was launched as Horizon Radio by Chris Pearson in October 1989 as sister station to neighbouring

Chiltern Radio Heart Dunstable (formerly 97.6 Chiltern FM) was an Independent Local Radio station based in Chiltern Road in Dunstable, Bedfordshire. History Together with sister stations 96.9 Chiltern FM, Northants 96 and Horizon Radio, the station formed th ...

and part of The Chiltern Radio Network. It was subsequently rebranded as 'Horizon Radio, The Hotter Mix' in 1992. The first song played was "The Only Way Is Up" by Yazz and the Plastic Population. The station was later re-branded as FM 103 Horizon in 1995, following the purchase of the Chiltern Radio Network by the GWR radio group, before changing back to Horizon Radio in 2006 and finally, Heart in January 2009. The name, Horizon Radio, had no real significance other than being an idea created when the station launched, due to the aerial view and 'horizon' seen from the transmitter location in Bow Brickhill, on the southeastern boundary of MK .

Sports coverage

During the 2008-09 football season, the station's predecessor Horizon Radio secured a deal with the

MK Dons Milton Keynes Dons Football Club (), usually abbreviated to MK Dons, is a professional association football club based in Milton Keynes, Buckinghamshire, England. The team competes in , the third tier of the English football league system. The ...

football club to broadcast live match commentary for both home and away matches which continued following the Heart rebrand; the Dons competing in the Coca-Cola League 1. Commentary was provided by Mike Burrows. This arrangement was not however continued into the 2009-10 season and is now broadcast on

BBC Three Counties Radio BBC Three Counties Radio is the Local BBC Radio, BBC's local radio station serving the counties of Bedfordshire, Hertfordshire and Buckinghamshire. It broadcasts on frequency modulation, FM, Digital Audio Broadcasting, DAB, digital TV and via ...

. A similar incident occurred on

Heart Ipswich Heart Ipswich (formerly SGR FM) was a radio station that evolved from Suffolk Group Radio, which was the parent company for two Independent radio stations serving the county of Suffolk in England. Overview The older of the radio stations was Rad ...

, where Ipswich Town FC used a "get-out clause" and handed over commentary rights over to

BBC Radio Suffolk BBC Radio Suffolk is the BBC's local radio station serving the county of Suffolk. It broadcasts on FM, DAB, digital TV and via BBC Sounds from studios on St Matthews Street in Ipswich. According to RAJAR, the station has a weekly audience ...

. A Heart spokesman said they were pleased with this because speech does not fit in with the Heart format.

Closure

On 21 June 2010, Global Radio announced plans to merge Heart MK with

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 ...

Heart Dunstable Heart Dunstable (formerly 97.6 Chiltern FM) was an Independent Local Radio station based in Chiltern Road in Dunstable, Bedfordshire. History Together with sister stations 96.9 Chiltern FM, Northants 96 and Horizon Radio, the station formed th ...

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 at 10:00am on 16 July 2010 following the final edition of '' Heart Breakfast with Wes Venn''.Heart slims but strengthens
, RadioToday, 21 June 2010 The station still broadcasts on 103.3 to Milton Keynes as Heart - Home counties and is no longer affiliated with Horizon Radio.

References

External links

Official website
{{coord, 52.0298, -0.7999, display=title, region:GB_scale:5000 Radio stations in Buckinghamshire Milton Keynes Radio stations established in 1989

Defunct radio stations in the United Kingdom