South Coast Radio was a commercial radio station which broadcast on Medium Wave on the

South Coast of England Southern England, or the South of England, also known as the South, is an area of England consisting of its southernmost part, with cultural, economic and political differences from the Midlands and the North. Officially, the area includes G ...

between 1991 and 1998.

History

With a music policy described as "''Nice & Easy''", it was the sister station to

Southern Sound Heart Sussex (previously Southern FM, also operating as Heart Sussex for Crawley & Surrey in Crawley and Surrey) was an Independent Local Radio station which was owned by Global Radio (formerly GCap Media) and played commercial, chart-orient ...

and

Ocean Sound Heart Hampshire (formerly Ocean FM and Ocean Sound) was a British independent local radio station serving South Hampshire, West Sussex and Isle of Wight primarily for Portsmouth, Southampton, Winchester and Chichester. The station served an a ...

, later "Southern FM" and "Ocean FM" and both now "

Heart The heart is a muscular organ in most animals. This organ pumps blood through the blood vessels of the circulatory system. The pumped blood carries oxygen and nutrients to the body, while carrying metabolic waste such as carbon dioxide t ...

". The station transmitters were at

Marchwood Marchwood is a village and civil parish located in Hampshire, England, United Kingdom. It lies between Totton and Hythe on the western shore of Southampton Water and directly east of the New Forest. The population of the village in the 20 ...

near

Southampton Southampton () is a port city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire in southern England. It is located approximately south-west of London and west of Portsmouth. The city forms part of the South Hampshire built-up area, which also covers Po ...

(1557 kHz), Farlington Marshes near Portsmouth (1170 kHz),

Portslade Portslade is a western suburb of the city of Brighton and Hove, England. Portslade Village, the original settlement a mile inland to the north, was built up in the 16th century. The arrival of the railway from Brighton in 1840 encouraged rapid de ...

near

Brighton Brighton () is a seaside resort and one of the two main areas of the City of Brighton and Hove in the county of East Sussex, England. It is located south of London. Archaeological evidence of settlement in the area dates back to the Bronze A ...

(1323 kHz) and, latterly, Bexhill (945 kHz). The station's studios were originally alongside those of Ocean and

Power FM Capital South Coast was a regional radio station owned by operated by Global Radio as part of the Capital radio network. It broadcast to Hampshire from studios in Segensworth, Fareham. In 2019, Capital South Coast was replaced by Capital So ...

Segensworth Segensworth is a business park near Whiteley and Fareham in Hampshire in England. At the 2011 Census the business park was included in the Park Gate Ward of Fareham Council. Location Segensworth is located in southern Hampshire between the cit ...

, Hampshire but latterly moved to the Southern FM building in

near

. By 1994 the

Southern Radio Group The Southern Radio Group was a company which owned and operated radio stations on the south coast of England. History Southern Radio group was formed when Ocean Sound merged with Southern FM. Later, in 1992, Invicta FM and its AM services Invi ...

had been bought out by

Capital Radio Capital London is a radio station owned and operated by the Global media company as part of its national Capital FM Network. As Capital Radio it was launched in the London area in 1973 as one of Britain's first two commercial radio stations. I ...

plc. When Capital Radio took over the organisation they added an extra transmitter to the service at Bexhill, for Eastbourne and East Sussex, on 945 kHz. The test transmissions consisted of days of the sounds of seagulls. South Coast Radio continued for several years but was eventually abandoned in 1998 in favour of a relay of the Capital Gold oldies station from studios in London, although around three hours of local opt-outs per day were retained for Hampshire and Sussex. There was also a 'free' (i.e. unlicensed) radio station of the same name serving the

County Cork County Cork ( ga, Contae Chorcaí) is the largest and the southernmost county of Ireland, named after the city of Cork, the state's second-largest city. It is in the province of Munster and the Southern Region. Its largest market towns are ...

area of Ireland in the 1980s.

References

Defunct radio stations in the United Kingdom Radio stations in Sussex Radio stations in Hampshire Radio stations established in 1991 {{UK-radio-station-stub