Valleys Radio (

Welsh Welsh may refer to: Related to Wales * Welsh, referring or related to Wales * Welsh language, a Brittonic Celtic language spoken in Wales * Welsh people People * Welsh (surname) * Sometimes used as a synonym for the ancient Britons (Celtic peop ...

: Radio'r Cymoedd) 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 broadcasting to the heads of the

South Wales South Wales ( cy, De Cymru) is a loosely defined region of Wales bordered by England to the east and mid Wales to the north. Generally considered to include the historic counties of Glamorgan and Monmouthshire, south Wales extends westwards ...

Valleys.Broadcast Radio MCAs maps
/ref> The broadcast area was covered by two transmitters, 999 kHz from the

Aberdare Aberdare ( ; cy, Aberdâr) is a town in the Cynon Valley area of Rhondda Cynon Taf, Wales, at the confluence of the Rivers Dare (Dâr) and Cynon. Aberdare has a population of 39,550 (mid-2017 estimate). Aberdare is south-west of Merthyr Tyd ...

transmitter, and 1116 kHz from the

Ebbw Vale Ebbw Vale (; cy, Glynebwy) is a town at the head of the valley formed by the Ebbw Fawr tributary of the Ebbw River in Wales. It is the largest town and the administrative centre of Blaenau Gwent county borough. The Ebbw Vale and Brynmawr con ...

transmitter, with the Ebbw Vale signal being the comparatively stronger of the two.

History

Owners

Wireless Group Wireless Group Limited is a radio and digital broadcasting network with headquarters in Belfast, Northern Ireland and with radio operations in the Republic of Ireland and the United Kingdom. It currently operates five stations in Ireland and ...

were offered FM frequencies for The Heads of the Valleys they wanted to share programming with neighbouring service

Swansea Sound Greatest Hits Radio South Wales (formerly Swansea Sound) is Independent Local Radio station owned and operated by Bauer Radio as part of the Greatest Hits Radio network. The station broadcasts to Swansea, Neath Port Talbot, East Carmarthenshire a ...

and relocate Swansea Sound to a new media centre in Neath. Wireless applied to extend Swansea Sound West as well and applied for a licence to broadcast from transmitters in Carmarthenshire at Llanelli Carmel and Carmarthen. But due to ownership rules the applications were refused by Ofcom. FM transmissions were not initiated in the area. On 20 March 2009, UTV Radio announced Valleys Radio was to be sold or shut down within the next 4 weeks. On Thursday 30 April 2009 at 10am, Valleys Radio ceased transmitting, after many listener messages, emotional speeches and farewells from radio producers and presenters. The final song aired was "Our last song together" by

Neil Sedaka Neil Sedaka (; born March 13, 1939) is an American singer-songwriter and pianist. Since his music career began in 1957, he has sold millions of records worldwide and has written or co-written over 500 songs for himself and other artists, collabo ...

, on the final radio show, which was called ''Mark Powell @ Breakfast''.

Presenters/Producers (over the years)

These included Gareth Williams, Karen Brown, Bernie Keith, Dafydd Phillips, Steve Powell, Patrick Downes, Tony Peters, Mark Powell, John Curtis, Keri Jones, Simon Hawkins, Jo Price, Dave Bowen, Steve Johnson, Mike Parker.

Music

The station mainly featured a strong variety of current and classic hits. The station also ran an online 'Music Academy' Songpeople - listen to new music online, watch music videos and win prizes
/ref> which allowed listeners to feedback on the music played by the station via the Valleys Radio website.

Sister Stations

Two sister stations, Swansea Sound (Now

Greatest Hits Radio South Wales Greatest Hits Radio South Wales (formerly Swansea Sound) is Independent Local Radio station owned and operated by Bauer Radio as part of the Greatest Hits Radio network. The station broadcasts to Swansea, Neath Port Talbot, East Carmarthenshire a ...

) and The Wave - which broadcast to the Swansea area are still active. Some previous and current presenters from these two stations have broadcast on Valleys Radio.

References

External links

UTV Radio

Valleys A valley is an elongated low area often running between hills or mountains, which will typically contain a river or stream running from one end to the other. Most valleys are formed by erosion of the land surface by rivers or streams over ...

Defunct radio stations in the United Kingdom Radio stations established in 1996 1996 establishments in Wales Radio stations disestablished in 2009 2009 disestablishments in Wales {{Wales-radio-station-stub