Radio Wave 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 serving Blackpool,

The Fylde The Fylde () is a coastal plain in western Lancashire, England. It is roughly a square-shaped peninsula, bounded by Morecambe Bay to the north, the Ribble estuary to the south, the Irish Sea to the west, and the foot of the Bowland hills ...

and surrounding areas. It broadcast from studios in the Layton area of Blackpool via a specially constructed transmitter atop

Blackpool Tower Blackpool Tower is a tourist attraction in Blackpool, Lancashire, England, which was opened to the public on 14 May 1894. When it opened, Blackpool Tower was the tallest man made structure in the British Empire. Inspired by the Eiffel Tower in ...

. Following its sale to Bauer Radio, the station was closed and merged with the

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 ...

network in September 2020.

History

In the late 1980s, local businessman John Barnett started lobbying the radio industry regulator for a distinct

(ILR) licence for the Blackpool and Fylde area. The licence was awarded in 1992 and Radio Wave began broadcasting at 7 am on 25 May 1992 with an introduction from its founder. The first presenter on-air was Neil Sexton and the first record played was " The Best" by

Tina Turner Tina Turner (born Anna Mae Bullock; November 26, 1939) is an American-born Swiss retired singer and actress. Widely referred to as the " Queen of Rock 'n' Roll", she rose to prominence as the lead singer of the Ike & Tina Turner Revue before ...

. The official launch took place on a specially erected stage in front of a live audience on the promenade by Blackpool Tower and featured

Les Dawson Leslie Dawson Jr. (2 February 1931 – 10 June 1993) was an English comedian, actor, writer, and presenter, who is best remembered for his deadpan style, curmudgeonly persona and jokes about his mother-in-law and wife. Early life Les Dawson w ...

and Derek Batey, together with other local celebrities. In its first year of broadcasting, the station won a

Sony Radio Academy 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 ...

''Gold Award'' and was commended in the ''Local Station of the Year'' category. In August 1996, Radio Wave was confirmed by RAJAR as the most listened-to radio station in the area, ahead of fourteen other stations which were available including

BBC Radio 1 BBC Radio 1 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. It specialises in modern popular music and current chart hits throughout the day. The station provides alternative genres at night, including electronica, dance, ...

, which had half the number of listeners locally. In 2000, John Barnett received an

MBE Mbe may refer to: * Mbé, a town in the Republic of the Congo * Mbe Mountains Community Forest, in Nigeria * Mbe language, a language of Nigeria * Mbe' language, language of Cameroon * ''mbe'', ISO 639 code for the extinct Molala language Molal ...

for services to radio broadcasting. He later became the station's chairman.

Transmission area

Radio Wave's studios were based on Mowbray Drive in the Layton area of Blackpool, with the signal coming from the top of the

. The station could be heard from

Fleetwood Fleetwood is a coastal town in the Borough of Wyre in Lancashire, England, at the northwest corner of the Fylde. It had a population of 25,939 at the 2011 census. Fleetwood acquired its modern character in the 1830s, when the principal lando ...

in the Wyre district, in the northwest corner of the Fylde, Preston to the east and

Southport Southport is a seaside town in the Metropolitan Borough of Sefton in Merseyside, England. At the 2001 census, it had a population of 90,336, making it the eleventh most populous settlement in North West England. Southport lies on the Iris ...

, west-southwest of Preston. Radio Wave could also be received as far north as Shap Fell in

Cumbria Cumbria ( ) is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in North West England, bordering Scotland. The county and Cumbria County Council, its local government, came into existence in 1974 after the passage of the Local Government Act 1972. C ...

Station rebrand

On 8 February 2019, Radio Wave and the Wireless Group's local radio stations were sold to

Bauer Radio Bauer Media Audio UK is a UK-based radio division of the Bauer Media Group. History In early 2008, German magazine publisher Bauer bought the radio division of British company Emap, which had been established as East Midland Allied Press in ...

. 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 ...

. On 27 May 2020, it was announced that Radio Wave will join Bauer's

network.Most of acquired Bauer stations to become Greatest Hits Radio
Stuart Clarkson, Radio Today, 27 May 2020 On 13 July 2020, local programming outside weekday breakfast was replaced by networked output from the GHR network, with Radio Wave retaining its own branding.Bauer starts to roll out Hits and Greatest Hits to new radio stations
Stuart Clarkson, Radio Today, 9 July 2020 On 1 September 2020, the station merged with six local stations in the North West of England and North Wales, forming Greatest Hits Radio North West. The station's local breakfast show was dropped and replaced by a regional afternoon show. Localised news bulletins, traffic updates and advertising are retained as opt-outs. The station's Blackpool studios were closed.

References

External links

Part One video of the launch of Radio Wave on 25 May 1992

Part Two video of the launch of Radio Wave on 25 May 1992
{{Greatest Hits Radio Radio stations in Lancashire Mass media in Blackpool Radio stations established in 1992 Bauer Radio Greatest Hits Radio Defunct radio stations in the United Kingdom