PrimeTime Radio was a national UK radio station. It was once part of

Saga Radio Group {{Unreferenced, date=June 2019, bot=noref (GreenC bot) The Saga Radio Group was a British radio network owned and operated by Saga Services Ltd, and aimed at an audience aged 50 and over. The first Saga station was launched in the West Midlands on ...

although it became independent in 2004. It operated as a sister station to Saga Digital radio. The line up featured a variety of presenters including David Hamilton,

Don Durbridge Don Durbridge (13 January 1939 – 9 June 2012) was a UK radio presenter who started his career on the BBC Light Programme, and subsequently worked on the British Forces Broadcasting Service, and on BBC Radio 2,. He also broadcast for many year ...

, David Allan, Dave Cash, Gavin McCoy, Tony Myatt and

Sheila Tracy Sheila Tracy (née Lugg; 10 January 1934 – 30 September 2014) was a British broadcaster, writer, musician, and singer. She began her career as a trombone player during the 1950s. in all-female bands. Biography Sheila Lugg was born in Mullion, ...

(who had been the main proponent of big band music on

BBC Radio 2 BBC Radio 2 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. It is the most popular station in the United Kingdom with over 15 million weekly listeners. Since launching in 1967, the station broadcasts a wide range of content. ...

). Music played on the station was easy and melodic from the past 6 decades. PrimeTime used

jingles A jingle is a short song or tune used in advertising and for other commercial uses. Jingles are a form of sound branding. A jingle contains one or more hooks and meaning that explicitly promote the product or service being advertised, usually t ...

("easily the best") that were reminiscent of those common in the mid-1960s (for example on the

offshore Offshore may refer to: Science and technology * Offshore (hydrocarbons) * Offshore construction, construction out at sea * Offshore drilling, discovery and development of oil and gas resources which lie underwater through drilling a well * Off ...

Britain Radio Britain most often refers to: * The United Kingdom, a sovereign state in Europe comprising the island of Great Britain, the north-eastern part of the island of Ireland and many smaller islands * Great Britain, the largest island in the United King ...

). PrimeTime radio wo
Best Digital Terrestrial Station 2004
at the

Sony Radio Awards The Radio Academy Awards, started in 1983, were the most prestigious awards in the British radio industry. For most of their existence, they were run by ZAFER Associates, but in latter years were brought under the control of The Radio Academy ...

ceremony. A further mark of its success was that, uniquely at the time for a commercial all-digital music station, its programmes were listed in full in the

BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board ex ...

's ''

Radio Times ''Radio Times'' (currently styled as ''RadioTimes'') is a British weekly listings magazine devoted to television and radio programme schedules, with other features such as interviews, film reviews and lifestyle items. Founded in May 1923 by J ...

''. The Chairman of PrimeTime Radio,

Roger De Haan Sir Roger Michael De Haan, Commander of the Order of the British Empire, CBE, Deputy Lieutenant, DL (born October 1948, Northampton) is the son of the late Sidney De Haan, who created the Saga Group, Saga group of companies, best known for selli ...

announced in November 2005 that he was withdrawing PrimeTime Radio from

DAB DAB, dab, dabs, or dabbing may refer to: Dictionaries * ''Dictionary of American Biography'', published under the auspices of the American Council of Learned Societies * ''Dictionary of Australian Biography'', published since 1949 Places * Dąb, ...

digital radio from May 2006 when its multiplex licence with

Digital One Digital One is a national commercial digital radio multiplex in the United Kingdom, owned by Arqiva. , the multiplex covered more than 90% of the population from 137 transmitters. Coverage was extended to Northern Ireland in July 2013. It conta ...

ended. It continued on Sky channel 0132, NTL channel 871 and online at primetimeradio.org (and on DAB in Greater London and Northern Ireland) for a few weeks, carrying repeats of previous programming, before being withdrawn from these services on 2 June 2006.

New Zealand

The music format at PrimeTime Radio in UK inspired the establishment (by totally different people) of a low-power FM and Internet station in the Bay of Islands in New Zealand. Primetime Radio 1ZZArchived website from 2007
/ref> offered a broadly similar format to its British predecessor, along with repeats of classic US drama and serials and evening programmes of jazz and blues. This format was more common among New Zealand broadcasters than others. The New Zealand station featured specially produced American Sixties-style jingles by Ben Freedman, who originally worked at the famous PAMS studios in Dallas. The 'callsign' 1ZZ was reminiscent of the callsigns traditionally used in New Zealand radio until the mid-80s. If the callsign system had survived, 1ZZ would have been the last possible one to be issued in the upper part of the North Island.

References

External links

Original 'launch' press release from Saga

Defunct radio stations in the United Kingdom {{UK-radio-station-stub

New Zealand

See also

References

External links