Greatest Hits Radio
Greatest Hits Radio is a classic hits radio network in the United Kingdom, owned and operated by Bauer. The stations generally air networked programming, alongside local news and travel.
The network launched on 5 January 2015 as the "Bauer City 2 Network", and rebranded on 7 January 2019.
As of 13 July 2020, the network consists of 35 local radio stations in England and Scotland, as well as a national DAB station in areas not served by a local Bauer-owned station.
Origins
The stations forming the Greatest Hits Radio network are predominantly sister stations to the corresponding Hits Radio network station. Many were originally set up as a 'Gold' counterpart when stations were instructed by the Independent Broadcasting Authority to cease simulcasting their services on both FM and AM in the late 1980s. The main exception to this was FM station West Sound in Dumfries and Galloway.In Northern England, the stations were rebranded as Magic in 1997 – a station brand first used by Radio Aire upon the launch of their AM station in July 1990. The stations gradually began to form a network merging most of their schedule, and by March 2013, the only local content consisted of three regional breakfast shows on weekdays, serving the North West, the North East and Yorkshire.
In Scotland, local programming on AM stations was largely retained until networking outside of weekday breakfast and specialist shows was introduced in June 2009. In July 2013, the remaining local output was axed, leading to a fully networked schedule known as The Greatest Hits Network.
In September 2014, Bauer Radio announced it would rebrand the Magic stations under localised identities, based on the main FM station names. Magic's AM network closed with the London equivalent, Magic 105.4 FM, launched nationwide on DAB.
The relaunch took place on Monday 5 January 2015. Initially, the two networks serving Scotland and northern England were replaced by one carrying programming from both nations over all stations, with some peak time opt-outs. Further split programming for the two nations was reintroduced the following year.
Developments
On 7 December 2015, Radio City 2 in Liverpool swapped frequencies with sister station Radio City Talk on 105.9 FM and reintroduced local programming at peak times.In April 2018, Northsound 2 ceased analogue broadcasting on 1035 AM, becoming the first commercial radio station in Scotland – and the first local Bauer-owned station – to broadcast only on digital platforms.
On 4 June 2018, Key 2 in Manchester was rebranded as Key Radio, in tandem with Key 103's relaunch as Hits Radio.
On 7 January 2019, Greatest Hits Radio replaced the Bauer City 2 branding due to the success of Radio City 2 in Liverpool. Local station identities in Northern England were rebranded to GHR, with Scottish stations retaining their local brands. Greatest Hits Radio also became available on FM across the West Midlands for the first time. Greatest Hits Radio UK began broadcasting across most of the UK on DAB using various local multiplexes.
Network expansion
In May 2020, Bauer announced 48 local radio stations in England and South West Wales will rebrand and join the Greatest Hits Radio network, following the acquisition of licences from UKRD, Wireless Group, Lincs FM Group and Celador.Most of the stations will be merged and carry networked output, alongside a regional Drivetime show on weekdays and localised news, travel and advertising.
On 13 July 2020, the former Wireless Group and Celador-owned stations joined the Greatest Hits Radio network. In total, 19 stations will carry local breakfast shows and voicetracked programming whilst retaining separate branding until the full relaunch on 1 September 2020.
On 16 July 2020, Bauer announced Radio Aire would switch from the sister Hits Radio Network and rebrand as Greatest Hits Radio, merging with twelve stations in Yorkshire and Lincolnshire.
Stations
UKRegion | Station | Broadcast area |
National | Greatest Hits Radio UK | United Kingdom |
East of England | The Beach | Great Yarmouth / Lowestoft |
East of England | Dream 100 FM | Colchester |
East of England | North Norfolk Radio | Cromer / Sheringham |
East of England | Radio Norwich 99.9 | Norwich |
East of England | Town 102 | Ipswich |
The Midlands | Greatest Hits Radio West Midlands | Herefordshire / Worcestershire / West Midlands |
The Midlands | Peak FM | North Derbyshire |
The Midlands | Signal 2 | Stoke-on-Trent |
The Midlands | Signal 107 | Wolverhampton / Shrewsbury / Telford |
North East England | Greatest Hits Radio North East | County Durham / Northumberland / Tyne and Wear |
North East England | Greatest Hits Radio Teesside | County Durham / North Yorkshire / Teesside |
North West England | Greatest Hits Radio Lancashire | Lancashire |
North West England | Greatest Hits Radio Liverpool, North West & North Wales | Cheshire / Merseyside / North Wales |
North West England | Greatest Hits Radio Manchester | Greater Manchester |
North West England | Radio Wave 96.5 | Blackpool |
North West England | Tower FM | Bolton / Bury |
North West England | Wire FM | Warrington / Runcorn |
North West England | Wish FM | Wigan / St. Helens |
Scotland | Clyde 2 | Glasgow / West of Scotland |
Scotland | Forth 2 | Edinburgh / Lothians / Fife |
Scotland | Moray Firth Radio | Scottish Highlands / Moray / Orkney |
Scotland | Northsound 2 | Aberdeen / Aberdeenshire |
Scotland | Tay 2 | Tayside |
Scotland | West Sound | Ayrshire |
Scotland | West Sound | Dumfries and Galloway |
South of England | The Breeze | Basingstoke & North Hampshire |
South of England | The Breeze | North Dorset |
West and South West of England | The Breeze | Bath, Bridgwater, Bristol, Taunton, West Somerset, Warminster, Frome, Westbury, North Somerset and Trowbridge |
West and South West of England | The Breeze | Bridgwater, Sedgemoor, Taunton, West Somerset |
West and South West of England | The Breeze | Yeovil, South Somerset and West Dorset |
West and South West of England | The Breeze 105.5 | Torbay and South Devon |
Yorkshire | Greatest Hits Radio East Yorkshire | East Riding of Yorkshire / North Lincolnshire |
Yorkshire | Greatest Hits Radio Leeds & West Yorkshire | West Yorkshire |
Yorkshire | Greatest Hits South Yorkshire | North Midlands / South Yorkshire |
Yorkshire | Pulse 2 | Bradford |
Stations joining the network in 2020
- East of England
- * KL.FM 96.7
- * Mix 96
- Midlands
- * Rutland Radio
- Southern England
- * Eagle Radio
- * Spire FM
- * Spirit FM
- * Wessex FM
- South West England
- * Sam FM
- Wales
- * Swansea Sound
- Yorkshire
- * Compass FM
- * Dearne FM
- * Minster FM
- * Radio Aire
- * Ridings FM
- * Rother FM
- * Stray FM
- * Trax FM
- * Yorkshire Coast Radio
- In addition, two stations owned by Nation Broadcasting will also join GHR, with their own separate Drivetime shows and network programmes supplied by Bauer at other times:
- * KCFM
- * Sam FM
Programming
Late-night and overnight programming airs across all Greatest Hits Radio stations in England and Scotland from the Birmingham or Manchester studios.
Opt-outs and variations
- Most stations previously owned by Celador and The Wireless Group currently air local or regional breakfast shows each weekday from 6-10am. Voicetracked networked output is aired at all other times.
- *In the North East and Teesside, Night Owls, a weekly late-night talk show presented by Alan Robson, airs from 10pm to 2am on Sundays.
- *In the West Midlands, a regional drivetime show airs each weekday from 4pm to 7pm.
News
Headlines are broadcast on the half-hour during weekday breakfast and drivetime shows, alongside traffic bulletins.
At weekends, bespoke networked bulletins air 2-6pm on Saturdays and 2-7pm on Sundays in Scotland, produced by Bauer's Glasgow newsroom. At all other times, mainly evening and overnight, hourly national bulletins originate from Sky News Radio.