Kiss 102 was a dance music radio station based in

Manchester Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The ...

, England.

History

The frequency was originally issued to Sunset 102 Radio - The Kickin FM but that suffered some financial problems. In May 1993, the Radio Authority made a decision to prematurely terminate Sunset's licence, apparently accusing the station of providing inaccurate information about its financial and management affairs. In August 1993 the station reportedly had its transmission facilities withdrawn by NTL for non-payment. Following a brief return to the air the liquidator was called in and Sunset's frequency finally fell silent. The liquidator was later to re-apply on behalf of Sunset Radio for its re-advertised licence. Faze FM won the re-advertised licence for Manchester. Like Sunset, Faze FM's remit was to broadcast dance music, licensing the brand name "Kiss" from London station

Kiss 100FM Kiss is a British digital radio station owned and operated by Bauer as part of the Kiss Network. It is primarily aimed at the 15-34 age group and broadcasts nationally to the UK on DAB Digital Radio, as well as on FM in London, Bristol and ...

and the station launched as Kiss 102 on the 16 October 1994. The licence win was spearheaded by Eugene Perera's Level Broadcast and included shareholders

UKRD The UKRD Group Ltd was a British media company that owned 15 commercial radio stations in the United Kingdom. The name originates from UK Radio Developments. Since its acquisition in March 2019, it has been run as a subsidiary of Bauer Radio. H ...

, Eastern Counties Newspaper Group and 3i. The format was the brainchild of two highly experienced UK radio programmers - Managing Director, Guy Hornsby and Programme Director, Mike Gray who first worked together at the original

BBC Radio London BBC Radio London is the Local BBC Radio, BBC's local radio station serving Greater London and its surrounding areas. The station broadcasts across the area and beyond, on the 94.9 FM broadcasting, FM frequency, Digital Audio Broadcasting, DAB, ...

where they produced the station's highest profile presenters

Tony Blackburn Anthony Kenneth Blackburn (born 29 January 1943) is an English disc jockey, singer and TV presenter. He first achieved fame broadcasting on the pirate stations Radio Caroline and Radio London in the 1960s, before joining the BBC, on the BBC ...

and

Robbie Vincent Robbie Vincent (born 9 June 1947) is an English radio broadcaster and DJ. As a champion of jazz, funk and soul music in the UK during the late 1970s he made an important contribution both live in clubs and on radio. In 1995 he was voted Independ ...

. Kiss 102 station won awards for its coverage of social issues and is acknowledged by writers like Dave Haslam and commentators such as Tony Wilson as helping to prolong and grow dance music in

. The station achieved a 10 per cent reach at its height (RAJAR, Q2, 1997), giving heritage station Key103 its first serious commercial competitor in the city. Unusually for a small UK radio station aimed at the youth market, it had a dedicated news service (at one point providing a news-reading service to its sister station in London

Kiss 100 Kiss is a British digital radio station owned and operated by Bauer as part of the Kiss Network. It is primarily aimed at the 15-34 age group and broadcasts nationally to the UK on DAB Digital Radio, as well as on FM in London, Bristol an ...

), a nightly entertainment magazine sponsored by

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers '' The Observer'' and '' The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the ...

, and was noted by Independent Radio News for its coverage of the 1996

Provisional Irish Republican Army The Irish Republican Army (IRA; ), also known as the Provisional Irish Republican Army, and informally as the Provos, was an Irish republican paramilitary organisation that sought to end British rule in Northern Ireland, facilitate Irish reu ...

bombing of the city and also for its policy of linking sport and music for example with the Manchester United Red Cafe and the

Manchester Giants The Manchester Giants are a British professional basketball team based in Manchester, England. The franchise was established in 2011, and admitted to the top-tier British Basketball League in 2012. The team's formation was led by a consortium ...

shows. It was also noteworthy for its policy of social integration, led by the influence of the

club Club may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * ''Club'' (magazine) * Club, a '' Yie Ar Kung-Fu'' character * Clubs (suit), a suit of playing cards * Club music * "Club", by Kelsea Ballerini from the album ''kelsea'' Brands and enterprises ...

scene which brought about sponsorship of such events as the

Manchester Mardi Gras Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of City of Salford, Salford to ...

during its years of greatest expansion. In common with other specialist music stations it handed over many hours of output to club DJs, artists and music producers who had little or no experience of radio presentation leading to ground-breaking - if at times anarchic - entertainment from groups like

Fat City Records In nutrition, biology, and chemistry, fat usually means any ester of fatty acids, or a mixture of such compounds, most commonly those that occur in living beings or in food. The term often refers specifically to triglycerides (triple es ...

Autechre Autechre () is an English electronic music duo consisting of Rob Brown and Sean Booth, both from Rochdale, Greater Manchester. Formed in 1987, they are among the best known acts signed to UK electronic label Warp Records, through which all of Au ...

and

808 State 808 State are an English electronic music group formed in 1987 in Manchester, taking their name from the Roland TR-808 drum machine. They were formed by Graham Massey, Martin Price and Gerald Simpson. They released their debut album, '' Newb ...

DJs/presenters

* David Dunne *

Graeme Park Graeme Park is an historic site and National Historic Landmark at 859 County Line Road in Horsham, Montgomery County, Pennsylvania. It is owned by the Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission and operated by the non-profit group, The Frien ...

Marcus Intalex Marcus Julian Kaye (14 July 1971 – 28 May 2017), better known by his stage name Marcus Intalex, was an English drum and bass producer, DJ and musician. He additionally made house and techno music under the pseudonym Trevino. Between 1993 an ...

Nemone Nemone Metaxas (born 3 November 1972 in Chester, Cheshire), often billed simply as Nemone, is an English DJ, radio presenter and television presenter/producer. She is also a trained psychotherapist practising in West and Central London. She is ...

Dominic Byrne Dominic Anthony Byrne (born 10 November 1972) is a British newsreader and presenter. He currently works on the Chris Moyles Breakfast show on Radio X, having previously worked as the newsreader for Capital London on the Capital FM Breakfast ...

The Haçienda The Haçienda was a nightclub and music venue in Manchester, North West England, which became famous during the Manchester years of the 1980s and early 1990s. It was run by the record label Factory Records. The club opened in 1982, eventually ...

Mark Ovenden Mark may refer to: Currency * Bosnia and Herzegovina convertible mark, the currency of Bosnia and Herzegovina * East German mark, the currency of the German Democratic Republic * Estonian mark, the currency of Estonia between 1918 and 1927 * Finn ...

* Matt Thompson

References

External links

Media UK: Kiss 102/Galaxy Manchester listingNorth West Radio: Kiss 102 Memories
{{Kiss Network Dance radio stations Defunct radio stations in the United Kingdom Radio stations established in 1994 Radio stations in Manchester 1994 establishments in England