Cheshire's Silk Radio is 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 2 ...

serving

Macclesfield Macclesfield () is a market town and civil parish in the unitary authority of Cheshire East, Cheshire, England. It is sited on the River Bollin and the edge of the Cheshire Plain, with Macclesfield Forest to its east; the town lies south of Ma ...

and parts of East Cheshire, owned and operated by neighbouring station Chester's Dee Radio. It broadcasts a mix of current and classic hits alongside local news and sport. As of March 2024, the station broadcasts to a weekly audience of 7,000, according to

RAJAR Radio Joint Audience Research Limited (RAJAR; ) was established in 1992 to operate a single audience measurement system for the radio industry in the United Kingdom. RAJAR is jointly owned by the BBC and Radiocentre. RAJAR's predecessor was c ...

History

Silk FM launched on 25 May 1998 with special guest Sammy McIlroy, then manager of Macclesfield Town Football Club. Past presenters have included Nick Wright, Jeff Cooper, Guy Morris, Paul Allen and Trevor Thomas. The station was previously owned by The Local Radio Company before being sold to the owners of Dee 106.3 in June 2009. In January 2017 the station moved into a new studio complex at Adelaide House, Adelaide Street in Macclesfield. In November 2012, the station was granted a significant transmitter power increase, partly to combat co-channel interference from the Heart North and Mid Wales transmitter at the Moel-y-Parc transmitting station, also broadcasting on 106.9 MHz FM. The transmitter site at Sutton Common BT Tower offers a line of sight across the Cheshire plain, meaning the signal can be heard into Lancashire, Shropshire, Staffordshire, Derbyshire, Greater Manchester and Merseyside. On 25 May 2023, the station celebrated its 25th anniversary by launching on DAB on the South Cheshire Multiplex. With the transmitter being located on the roof of South Cheshire College

Community

The station awards the title School of the Week to schools within its broadcast area. Perhaps the most important awards it gives are the "Local Hero awards" which have been awarded since the stations inception. The annual Cheshire Show is one of the highlights in the Silk calendar, of which the station offers extensive coverage.

Awards

In 2008, having been short-listed for the award in the previous year, Silk won Radio Station of the Year (under 300,000) at the Sony Radio Awards. It was again short-listed for the 2009 award. In 2006, 2007 and 2008, Silk was named

Radio Academy The Radio Academy is a registered charity dedicated to "the encouragement, recognition and promotion of excellence in UK broadcasting and audio production". It was formed in 1983 and is run via a board of trustees, with a chair and a deputy chai ...

North West Station of the Year.

Programming

Some of Silk Radio's programming is produced and broadcast from its

studios. Live programming airs from 6am-7pm on weekdays, 8am-6pm on Saturdays and 8am-8pm on Sundays. Other output is automated or networked from Riverside Innovation Centre in

Chester Chester is a cathedral city in Cheshire, England, on the River Dee, Wales, River Dee, close to the England–Wales border. With a built-up area population of 92,760 in 2021, it is the most populous settlement in the borough of Cheshire West an ...

- Chester's Dee Radio.Silk 106.9 public file
/ref> Silk Radio broadcasts hourly local, and national news bulletins from Radio News Hub. The station also airs weekly sports programming and Saturday afternoons, including regular coverage of Macclesfield FC and Congleton Town.

Current Presenters

Andy Clewes - Weekday Breakfast Daz Antrobus - Afternoon Show Sam Walton - Saturday Daytime Show Mike Peters - Weekend Breakfast Dave Phillips - Sunday Brunch Mike Wain - Silk Sport

References

External links

Silk Radio Official Website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Silk FM Radio stations in Cheshire Radio stations established in 1998 Adult contemporary radio stations in the United Kingdom