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

UK
RegionStationBroadcast area
NationalGreatest Hits Radio UKUnited Kingdom
East of EnglandThe BeachGreat Yarmouth / Lowestoft
East of EnglandDream 100 FMColchester
East of EnglandNorth Norfolk RadioCromer / Sheringham
East of EnglandRadio Norwich 99.9Norwich
East of EnglandTown 102Ipswich
The MidlandsGreatest Hits Radio West MidlandsHerefordshire / Worcestershire / West Midlands
The MidlandsPeak FMNorth Derbyshire
The MidlandsSignal 2Stoke-on-Trent
The MidlandsSignal 107Wolverhampton / Shrewsbury / Telford
North East EnglandGreatest Hits Radio North EastCounty Durham / Northumberland / Tyne and Wear
North East EnglandGreatest Hits Radio TeessideCounty Durham / North Yorkshire / Teesside
North West EnglandGreatest Hits Radio LancashireLancashire
North West EnglandGreatest Hits Radio Liverpool, North West & North WalesCheshire / Merseyside / North Wales
North West EnglandGreatest Hits Radio ManchesterGreater Manchester
North West EnglandRadio Wave 96.5Blackpool
North West EnglandTower FMBolton / Bury
North West EnglandWire FMWarrington / Runcorn
North West EnglandWish FMWigan / St. Helens
ScotlandClyde 2Glasgow / West of Scotland
ScotlandForth 2Edinburgh / Lothians / Fife
ScotlandMoray Firth RadioScottish Highlands / Moray / Orkney
ScotlandNorthsound 2Aberdeen / Aberdeenshire
ScotlandTay 2Tayside
ScotlandWest Sound Ayrshire
ScotlandWest Sound Dumfries and Galloway
South of EnglandThe Breeze Basingstoke & North Hampshire
South of EnglandThe Breeze North Dorset
West and South West of EnglandThe Breeze Bath, Bridgwater, Bristol, Taunton, West Somerset, Warminster, Frome, Westbury, North Somerset and Trowbridge
West and South West of EnglandThe Breeze Bridgwater, Sedgemoor, Taunton, West Somerset
West and South West of EnglandThe Breeze Yeovil, South Somerset and West Dorset
West and South West of EnglandThe Breeze 105.5 Torbay and South Devon
YorkshireGreatest Hits Radio East YorkshireEast Riding of Yorkshire / North Lincolnshire
YorkshireGreatest Hits Radio Leeds & West YorkshireWest Yorkshire
YorkshireGreatest Hits South YorkshireNorth Midlands / South Yorkshire
YorkshirePulse 2Bradford

Stations joining the network in 2020

Daytime programming for England originates from Bauer's Birmingham, Liverpool and Manchester studios, plus their Golden Square headquarters in Soho. In Scotland, it originates from Bauer's Dundee, Edinburgh and Glasgow studios.
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

Bauer's newsrooms across the UK air news bulletins hourly from 6am to 7pm on weekdays and from 7am to 1pm on Saturdays and Sundays.
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.

Notable presenters