Smooth London is a regional

radio station Radio broadcasting is transmission of audio (sound), sometimes with related metadata, by radio waves to radio receivers belonging to a public audience. In terrestrial radio broadcasting the radio waves are broadcast by a land-based radi ...

owned and operated by

Global Global means of or referring to a globe and may also refer to: Entertainment * ''Global'' (Paul van Dyk album), 2003 * ''Global'' (Bunji Garlin album), 2007 * ''Global'' (Humanoid album), 1989 * ''Global'' (Todd Rundgren album), 2015 * Bruno ...

as part of the Smooth Radio network. It broadcasts to the Greater London area from

Croydon transmitting station The Croydon transmitting station is a broadcasting and telecommunications facility on Beaulieu Heights in Upper Norwood, London, England (), in the London Borough of Croydon, owned by Arqiva. It was established in 1955 and initially used a sma ...

on 102.2

MHz The hertz (symbol: Hz) is the unit of frequency in the International System of Units (SI), equivalent to one event (or cycle) per second. The hertz is an SI derived unit whose expression in terms of SI base units is s−1, meaning that one he ...

. It broadcasts a

soft adult contemporary Adult contemporary music (AC) is a form of radio-played popular music, ranging from 1960s vocal and 1970s soft rock music to predominantly ballad-heavy music of the present day, with varying degrees of easy listening, pop, soul, R&B, quiet sto ...

radio format A radio format or programming format (not to be confused with broadcast programming) describes the overall content broadcast on a radio station. The radio format emerged mainly in the United States in the 1950s, at a time when radio was compelle ...

from Global's studios in Leicester Square,

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

, and replaced 102.2 Smooth FM on 26 March 2007.

History

GMG Radio ownership

The station launched on 4 March 1990 as Jazz FM, playing mainly

soul In many religious and philosophical traditions, there is a belief that a soul is "the immaterial aspect or essence of a human being". Etymology The Modern English noun '' soul'' is derived from Old English ''sāwol, sāwel''. The earliest atte ...

and

jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, with its roots in blues and ragtime. Since the 1920s Jazz Age, it has been recognized as a m ...

music. It was relaunched in June 2005 as 102.2 Smooth FM, playing middle of the road music,

and R&B during the day and, as part of its licence requirements, focused on

music at night. On 20 October 2006, GMG Radio announced that it was requesting a change of format for 102.2 Smooth FM from Ofcom, moving the station away from its daytime soul and R&B remit which had, until that point, formed an integral part of the licence. GMG proposed an easy listening music service mixed with speech for the over 50s, coupled with an improved local news service. Ofcom approved the changes on 8 December 2006, with the condition that GMG retained the 45 hours of jazz per week that constituted part of the former licence requirement.Smooth requests Format change
Radio Today, 20 October 2006Format Change Request Form OfW 332 (Smooth FM)
Ofcom, 20 October 2006 As a result of the format change, GMG agreed to adhere to a minimum of 20% of its music during daytime being over 40 years old, to distance the station from its London rivals

Magic Magic or Magick most commonly refers to: * Magic (supernatural), beliefs and actions employed to influence supernatural beings and forces * Ceremonial magic, encompasses a wide variety of rituals of magic * Magical thinking, the belief that unrela ...

and Heart 106.2. In March 2008, GMG requested a format change to remove the 45-hour jazz commitment it has in place for 102.2 Smooth Radio. Part of the plans included a relaunch of Jazz FM from the jazzfm.com service (at the time broadcasting on DAB in

Glasgow Glasgow ( ; sco, Glesca or ; gd, Glaschu ) is the most populous city in Scotland and the fourth-most populous city in the United Kingdom, as well as being the 27th largest city by population in Europe. In 2020, it had an estimated popul ...

and online) onto a DAB multiplex in London. In a meeting on 22 April 2008 Ofcom denied GMG's request to drop its jazz commitments. GMG, under licence to

The Local Radio Company The Local Radio Company was a British media company, based in Redruth, Cornwall, that owned ten independent local radio stations in the UK. After takeover talks with UTV Media, UKRD Group and Hallwood Financial, UKRD acquired the majority sha ...

relaunched Jazz FM despite the decision. On 6 October 2008 Smooth Radio was removed from the MXR Wales and West multiplex to allow for the relaunch of Jazz FM. Although initially, Real Radio was removed, Smooth Radio was removed and Real restored on the multiplex. It replaced Jazz FM in South Wales and returned to DAB. Local programming originated from studios in

. Networked programming was syndicated from sister station

Smooth North West Smooth North West is a regional radio station owned by Communicorp UK and operated by Global as part of the Smooth network. The station broadcasts to the North West of England from studios at Spinningfields in Manchester. History GMG Radio ...

Salford Quays Salford Quays is an area of Salford, Greater Manchester, England, near the end of the Manchester Ship Canal. Previously the site of Manchester Docks, it became one of the first and largest urban regeneration projects in the United Kingdom fol ...

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 t ...

. In 2010 GMG announced that it would be merging its five Smooth stations in England to create a nationwide Smooth Radio service based in Manchester. The new station was launched on 4 October 2010 and could be heard both on DAB and on the locally on the FM frequencies.

Global Radio ownership

Smooth Radio's output was relocated to new owner

's Leicester Square headquarters from 1 October 2013, a move that coincided with a major overhaul of its schedule, and the closure of Smooth 70s after 21 months on air. On 4 February 2014, the ''

Radio Today Radio Today is a 24 hours radio station in Bangladesh that started airing in May 2006. It is currently available in Dhaka, Chittagong, Cox's Bazar, Khulna, Bogra, Sylhet, Mymensingh, Barishal, Kushtia, Comilla Comilla (; bn, কুমি ...

'' website reported that Ofcom had given Global permission to remove Smooth from the Digital One platform, and to replace it with a service playing music from the 1970s, 80s and 90s. Under this agreement, Smooth would continue to broadcast on its regional frequencies, but would be required to provide seven hours of local output per day.

Programming

All regional and networked programming originates from Global's London headquarters, including the Local ''Smooth Breakfast'' from 6.00am - 10am with

Jenni Falconer Jenni Falconer (born 12 February 1976) is a Scottish radio and television presenter. She appears on the ITV daytime show '' This Morning'' as a regular travel reporter and was a regular presenter of the National Lottery Draws on BBC One. She ...

and the national Smooth ''Drivetime'' with

Angie Greaves Angie Greaves (born in London) is a British radio presenter. Radio career Greaves started her media career in 1982 as a BBC Administrator at Television Centre. In 1986 she moved to London's Capital Radio, where she began working on the radio afte ...

from 4-7pm on weekdays. Smooth London also broadcasts hourly news bulletins 24 hours a day from Global's London newsroom, including networked overnight and weekend updates on the hour.

Current Presenters

* Paul Hollins * Gary King *

Kate Garraway Kathryn Mary Draper Garraway (born 4 May 1967) is an English broadcaster and journalist. In the 1990s, Garraway was a journalist for ITV News Central and later a co-presenter of ITV News Meridian. From 2000 to 2010, she co-presented GMTV. Cu ...

* Paul Phear *

* Gary Vincent *

Martin Collins Martin may refer to: Places * Martin City (disambiguation) * Martin County (disambiguation) * Martin Township (disambiguation) Antarctica * Martin Peninsula, Marie Byrd Land * Port Martin, Adelie Land * Point Martin, South Orkney Islands Austra ...

* Simon Clarke * Eamonn Kelly *

Kirsty Gallacher Kirsty Jane Gallacher (born 20 January 1976) is a Scottish television presenter and model. She began her career at Sky Sports News in 1998 and hosted '' Kirsty's Home Videos'', '' RI:SE'' and '' Simply the Best'' before returning to Sky Sports ...

Myleene Klass Myleene Angela Klass (born 6 April 1978) is a British musician, singer, presenter, model and businesswoman. She was a member of the pop group Hear'Say, and later released two solo classical crossover albums in 2003 and 2007. More recently, Klass ...

* Danny Pietroni *

Tina Hobley Tina Ellen Hobley (born 20 May 1971) is an English actress and radio presenter, best known for her long-running role as Chrissie Williams in the BBC One medical drama series ''Holby City''. Hobley left Holby City in November 2013 after 12 years. ...

Margherita Taylor Margherita Taylor (born 26 April 1972) is an English TV and radio presenter. She is a freelancer with Global Group and currently presents on stations Smooth Radio and Classic FM. Taylor studied media and communications at the University o ...

* Philip Chryssikos

Former presenters

* Andrew Castle * Anthony Davis * Russ Williams (now with

Nation Radio UK Nation Radio UK is a quasi-national radio station in the UK, broadcasting online and on DAB. It is owned and operated by Nation Broadcasting. The digital station was launched in June 2016 as Thames Radio with a line-up of former BBC and Capita ...

) * Nikki Bedi

References

External links

Smooth London

Smooth London – Public File
{{DEFAULTSORT:Smooth London Radio stations established in 2007 Radio stations disestablished in 2010 Radio stations in London

2007 establishments in England 2010 disestablishments in England