Greatest Hits Radio Bucks, Beds and Herts (formerly Mix 96) is a classic hits radio station, owned and operated by Bauer. It is 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 Rad ...

network. It was formerly known as Mix 96 prior to a rebrand by Bauer in 2020.

History

Former Logo Mix 96 launched on 15 April 1994 broadcasting on 96.2FM, it was the first radio station to gain a permanent licence to serve Aylesbury and the surrounding towns including

Thame Thame is a market town and civil parish in Oxfordshire, about east of the city of Oxford and southwest of Aylesbury. It derives its name from the River Thame which flows along the north side of the town and forms part of the county border wi ...

, Princes Risborough,

Tring Tring is a market town and civil parish in the Borough of Dacorum, Hertfordshire, England. It is situated in a gap passing through the Chiltern Hills, classed as an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, from Central London. Tring is linked to ...

and Leighton Buzzard. The launch slogan was 'Bucks Best Music' but the station now uses the strapline "Bucks Best Mix of Music". The first song to be played on the radio station was ' Dancing Queen' by

ABBA ABBA ( , , formerly named Björn & Benny, Agnetha & Anni-Frid or Björn & Benny, Agnetha & Frida) are a Swedish supergroup formed in Stockholm in 1972 by Agnetha Fältskog, Björn Ulvaeus, Benny Andersson, and Anni-Frid Lyngstad. The group ...

, played at 7:45am on the opening morning, 15 April 1994. Originally an independent, it was solely owned by local group Bucks Broadcasting Ltd. The original Chairman of Mix 96 was Richard Morris-Adams, Managing Director was Mark Flanagan, Sales Director was Erika Sorby-Firth and the Programme Controller was Keri Jones. In 1995 Erika Sorby-Firth took on the role of MD until Bucks Broadcasting was divested to Radio Investments in 2001. The current Managing Director is Max Hailey who returned to the radio station in 2013. The group invested in a number of stations throughout the UK including The Bear 102, in Stratford-upon-Avon, 107.7 The Wolf in Wolverhampton,

Arrow FM More Radio Hastings, formerly Arrow FM, is an Independent Local Radio station serving Hastings, Bexhill, Battle and surrounding areas. It is owned and operated by Total Sense Media and broadcasts from studios in Worthing, as part of a network ...

in Hastings and Surf 107 in Brighton. Fox FM increased their shareholding in Bucks Broadcasting, and were themselves wholly acquired by Capital Radio plc, leading the company to become part of Capital until they were divested to Radio Investments (later known as The Local Radio Company). The latest audience listening figures show that Mix 96 has a weekly reach of 34% (42,800). It celebrated its 20th birthday on 15 April 2014. On 27 May 2020 it was announced that Mix 96 would be closed and rebranded to Greatest Hits Radio from early September 2020. A Facebook group and online petition to save Mix 96 was created by loyal listeners which even got raised as a talking point in the Houses Of Parliament. On 1 February 2021 the previous presenters formed a new online radio station Bucks Radio which reverted to the previous mix of old and new songs with local news, weather and travel.

Present format

Its playlist is a now a syndicated feed from Greatest Hits Radio playing music from the 70’s, 80’s and 90’s. The previous format of Mix 96 had played a mixture of old classics and new music.

References

External links

* * {{Bauer Media Group * https://www.bucksherald.co.uk/news/people/mix-96-become-greatest-hits-radio-merger-which-puts-local-jobs-risk-2867000 * https://www.bucksfreepress.co.uk/news/19058220.bucks-radio-launches-replacement-mix-96/ Radio stations in Buckinghamshire Aylesbury Radio stations established in 1994 1994 establishments in England Bauer Radio