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 Radio launched 15 October 1981 from studios located on 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 ...

. On 1 June 1982, Chiltern expanded into

Bedford Bedford is a market town in Bedfordshire, England. At the 2011 Census, the population of the Bedford built-up area (including Biddenham and Kempston) was 106,940, making it the second-largest settlement in Bedfordshire, behind Luton, whilst ...

with studios on Goldington Road. This was joined 30 November 1986 with Northants Radio from

Northampton Northampton () is a market town and civil parish in the East Midlands of England, on the River Nene, north-west of London and south-east of Birmingham. The county town of Northamptonshire, Northampton is one of the largest towns in England; ...

, and 15 October 1989 with Horizon Radio from

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 ...

. ''The Hot FM'' network transmitted on the FM services of 97.6 Chiltern FM, 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 ...

, Horizon Radio, followed later by

Oasis Radio Heart Hertfordshire (previously known as ''Hertfordshire's Mercury 96.6'') is a local radio broadcasting, radio station owned by Communicorp UK and operated by Global Group, Global as part of the Heart (radio network), Heart network. It broad ...

Severn Sound Heart Gloucestershire (formerly Severn Sound) was a local radio station owned and operated by Global Radio as part of the Heart network. It broadcast to Gloucestershire from studios in Gloucester. The transmitter was at Churchdown Hill, just we ...

, and

Galaxy Radio Galaxy was a radio network owned by Global Radio and broadcast across the British Isles on FM in regional areas of England and Scotland, through the digital platform with Sky and DAB and online respectively. Stations included stations: Galaxy ...

. For a while

and Horizon Radio operated a slightly more edgy "Hotter Mix" format, although switched back again to the "Hot FM" for networked programming. ''

Supergold Supergold (Europe) was an oldies radio sustaining service originally operated by the Telstar Satellite Music Network (TSMN) and later by Chiltern Radio Network in the United Kingdom. Originally devised by entrepreneur and DJ Graham Kentsley, i ...

'' transmitted on the AM services of

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 ...

Northants Radio 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 ...

, followed later by

and

Invicta Radio Heart Kent (previously Invicta FM) was a local radio station owned and operated by Global Radio as part of the Heart network. It broadcast to Kent from studios at John Wilson Business Park in Whitstable. History Invicta in the 80s Originally ...

. Stations would broadcast from their own studios until 7pm, then share programmes from

overnight. In 1994, the GWR Group acquired the network, and began re-branding the stations in September 1995 - the FM stations as part of their ''Mix Network'' and gold stations as

Classic Gold Digital Network Classic Gold Digital Network was one of the biggest 'gold' (oldies) formatted radio networks in the United Kingdom, with a potential audience of 47 million. Classic Gold was broadcast on analogue and DAB digital platforms, as well as Sky channel ...

. Shared programming moved to

Bristol Bristol () is a city, ceremonial county and unitary authority in England. Situated on the River Avon, it is bordered by the ceremonial counties of Gloucestershire to the north and Somerset to the south. Bristol is the most populous city in ...

. In May 2005, the GWR Group merged with Capital Radio to form GCap Media, which was further bought out by

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 ...

in 2008, and eventually became the Heart Radio network.

Presenters

Original DJs and presenters included Paul McKenna, Paul 'Mad Dog' O'Reilly,

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 Austral ...

, Tony West,

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 ...

, Tony Lloyd, and Louie Martin. Networked presenters included

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 Denni ...

, Chris Moyles, Emma Scott, Steve Power, Tim Allen, Tom Stewart, Simon Clarke, Neale James, Treva Ellis, and Laura Penn. Other presenters included Paul Garner who did a comedy and unsigned music show, David Francis on the late show and Dave Sanders who hosted a Sunday show consisting of mostly album tracks.

Network news

Chiltern Radio Network ran the satellite news service Network News between 5 July 1991 and 1 April 1996 as a competitor to

Independent Radio News Independent Radio News provides a service of news bulletins, audio and copy to commercial radio stations in the United Kingdom and beyond. The managing director, Tim Molloy, succeeded long-term MD John Perkins in November 2009. Perkins had been ...

. The service provided hourly national news bulletins to not only Chiltern stations, but other broadcasters including

Virgin Radio Virgin Radio launched in the United Kingdom in 1993. In 2008, Virgin Radio UK was sold to TIML, a subsidiary of The Times of India group, and the name was changed to Absolute Radio; the Virgin Radio name was not included in the sale. In 2001, ...

, Radio Luxembourg, Choice FM, and

Radio Maldwyn Radio is the technology of signaling and communicating using radio waves. Radio waves are electromagnetic waves of frequency between 30 hertz (Hz) and 300 gigahertz (GHz). They are generated by an electronic device called a transmitt ...

. Network News was joint led by Paul Chantler (then Group Programme Director of the Chiltern Radio Network) and Jon Davies, journalist who had been a key part of ITN Radio News. The service closed with the acquisition of Chiltern Radio by the GWR Group, which was a shareholder in IRN.

References

External links

Chiltern Radio - The Legacy Site
- historical information, photos & audio {{DEFAULTSORT:Chiltern Radio Network Defunct radio stations in the United Kingdom Former British radio networks Radio broadcasting companies of the United Kingdom News agencies based in the United Kingdom 1981 establishments in the United Kingdom Companies established in 1981 1994 mergers and acquisitions