Signal 1 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 owned and operated by
Bauer as part of the
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 ...
network. It broadcasts to
Staffordshire and South
Cheshire.
As of September 2022, the station has a weekly audience of 172,000 listeners according to
RAJAR
Radio Joint Audience Research Limited (RAJAR) was established in 1992 to operate a single audience measurement system for the radio industry in the United Kingdom. RAJAR is jointly owned by the BBC and RadioCentre. RAJAR's predecessor was call ...
.
History
''Signal Radio'' began broadcasting at 6am on Monday 5 September 1983. The first voice on air was breakfast presenter John Evington and the first song played was ''Beautiful Noise'' by Neil Diamond. Originally, Signal Radio aired as a single full service station on 104.3 MHz and 1170 kHz (257 metres). The station's name was derived from ''Signal'', the local newspaper in the Five Town novels by Staffordshire writer
Arnold Bennett
Enoch Arnold Bennett (27 May 1867 – 27 March 1931) was an English author, best known as a novelist. He wrote prolifically: between the 1890s and the 1930s he completed 34 novels, seven volumes of short stories, 13 plays (some in collaboratio ...
.
Signal began broadcasting to south Cheshire on 96.4 FM in 1989, before opening a new frequency for the
Stafford area on 96.9 FM a year later. The two frequencies began carrying a new alternative
AOR-led service, ''Echo 96'', in October 1990. Echo continued for around a year in Stafford while the Cheshire frequency was merged with that of the short-lived
Stockport ILR station
KFM to form ''Signal Cheshire'' in 1991. By the end of the year, the Stafford service was relaunched as ''Signal Stafford'', carrying opt-out programming from the Stoke-based service.
In Staffordshire, Signal Radio began carrying a separate ''Golden Breakfast Show'' on 1170 AM in 1992 in order to provide separate services on AM and FM and avoid relinquishing frequencies. The AM opt-out gradually expanded into a full-time separate station, Signal 2.
Signal Radio was bought in 1999 by
The Wireless Group, which was subsequently acquired by UTV Media six years later for £97 million. Following the sale of its television assets, the group was latterly bought by
News Corp in September 2016.
In 2000, Signal's Cheshire service was split into two – 96.4 FM was merged with the Staffordshire service while 104.9 FM was relaunched as Imagine FM, a dedicated service for south Manchester and Cheshire, which was latterly sold onto become a wholly independent station in 2009.
Signal 1 celebrated its 30th birthday on Saturday 10 August 2013 with a special concert at Betley Court Farm in
Crewe.
On 8 February 2019, Signal 1 and the Wireless Group's network of local radio stations in Great Britain were sold to
Bauer. The sale was ratified in March 2020 following an inquiry by the
Competition and Markets Authority
The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) is the competition regulator in United Kingdom. It is a non-ministerial government department in the United Kingdom, responsible for strengthening business competition and preventing and reducing anti-com ...
.
In May 2020, Bauer announced that Signal 1 would join the
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 ...
network, while retaining its on-air branding.
Signal 1 began carrying off-peak programming from the Hits Radio network in Manchester on 15 June 2020, marking the end of networked output for the Wireless Group's local stations, produced in-house at Signal's studios in Stoke.
[Radio Today: Hits Radio networking starts on new Bauer stations]
/ref>
Signal 1 officially joined the Hits Radio network on 20 July 2020.[Bauer starts to roll out Hits and Greatest Hits to new radio stations]
Stuart Clarkson, Radio Today, 9 July 2020 Local programming was reduced to a weekday breakfast show, alongside hourly local news bulletins and peak-time traffic updates.
In November 2022 it was announced that from the following January, Signal 1's relay transmitters on 96.4 and 96.9 FM would transition to carrying 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 ...
, with the main 102.6 FM transmission - to the area where GHR broadcasts on AM via the former Signal 2
Greatest Hits Radio Staffordshire & Cheshire is an Independent Local Radio station broadcasting from studios in Shelton, Stoke-on-Trent, to Staffordshire and Cheshire. The station was owned by Wireless Group and ran a "gold format" playlist ...
- retaining Signal 1 and Hits network output.
Station information
Studios
Signal 1's studios are based on Stoke Road in the Shelton Shelton may refer to:
Places
United Kingdom
* Shelton, North Bedfordshire, in the parish of Dean and Shelton, Bedfordshire
* Lower Shelton, in the parish of Marston Moretaine, Bedfordshire
* Upper Shelton, in the parish of Marston Moretaine, Bed ...
area of Stoke-on-Trent in a building previously occupied as a warehouse. There are seven dedicated studios as well as a studio for live music recordings, previously used for Signal 2 and networked output for the Wireless Group.
Technical
Signal 1's main transmitter is at Alsagers Bank
Alsagers Bank is a village in the Borough of Newcastle-under-Lyme in Staffordshire. Population details at the 2011 census can be found under Audley Rural
Audley Rural is a parish of Staffordshire, England, located four miles to the no ...
, broadcasting on 102.6 FM. As well as covering North Staffordshire and South Cheshire, the transmitter can be received well into the North West and down into the West Midlands, due to the height of the transmitter. Signal 1 also has relay transmitters at Pye Green
Pye Green is part of Hednesford, Staffordshire, England, running from Chadsmoor and Hednesford, across the Pye Green valley and to the edge of The Chase. It is situated between the A34 and A460 roads.
The area consists mainly of mixed private an ...
, covering Stafford and the surrounding area on 96.9 FM, and at Sutton Common
Sutton Common is the name of former common land and a district and neighbourhood located in Sutton, London. The area is mostly located within the London Borough of Sutton, with some of the streets to the north and west of Sutton Common Park ...
, covering Congleton, Macclesfield and surrounding areas on 96.4 FM. All of Signal 1's transmitters carry split advertising for their specific areas, and both Sutton Common and Pye Green are BT backbone link towers.
Signal 1 also broadcasts on the local Stoke and Stafford DAB multiplex 12D.
Signal Radio Media Academy
In 2012, Signal 1 lent its name to the Signal Radio Media Academy, a course run by Stoke on Trent College as a BTEC Level 3 Extended Diploma in Radio Production. For two days a week, the course is based at the Burslem
Burslem ( ) is one of the six towns that along with Hanley, Tunstall, Fenton, Longton and Stoke-upon-Trent form part of the city of Stoke-on-Trent in Staffordshire, England. It is often referred to as the "mother town" of Stoke on Trent.
...
Campus of Stoke on Trent College where the students also run their own radio station, ''Heatwave Radio''. Teaching takes places both at the college in Burslem as well at Signal's studios in Shelton, with specialist input from the station's staff.
Outside broadcasting and events
Occasional outside broadcasts are made in a specially built OB studio on a converted bus. The station's roadshow unit has a self-contained stage and PA system on board. The Signal Radio Street Team also go out and about the area representing the station. Most Street Team members are part of the Signal Radio Media Academy and many have gone on to other roles across the network including presenting, producing and sales.
In recent years, Signal Radio has also hosted annual events for local children's charities under the ''Help a Signal Child'' banner.
Programming
All networked programming originates from Bauer’s Manchester studios.
Local programming is produced and broadcast from Bauer’s Stoke-on-Trent studios each weekday from 6-10am.
News
Bauer’s Stoke-on-Trent newsroom broadcasts local news bulletins on the hour from 6am-7pm on weekdays and between 7am-1pm at weekends, with headlines on the half hour during breakfast and drivetime on weekdays. The local bulletins are simulcast on Greatest Hits Radio Midlands in Staffordshire and Cheshire.
National bulletins from Sky News Radio
Sky News Radio is the radio arm of Sky News, owned by Sky UK. It has been operating since June 1999, providing a news bulletin service for UK commercial radio stations operators across the UK and for a number of English-speaking radio stations aro ...
in London are broadcast on the hour at all other times.Signal 1 public file
/ref>
References
External links
Signal 1
Listening Room – first 25 years of Signal Radio
Alsagers Bank transmitter, near to Newcastle-under-Lyme
Sutton Common transmitter, near Macclesfield
Pye Green transmitter, near Stafford
{{Coord, 53.0111, -2.1834, display=title
Mass media in Stoke-on-Trent
Radio stations established in 1983
Signal
In signal processing, a signal is a function that conveys information about a phenomenon. Any quantity that can vary over space or time can be used as a signal to share messages between observers. The '' IEEE Transactions on Signal Processing' ...
Bauer Radio
Hits Radio
Contemporary hit radio stations in the United Kingdom