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Broadcast area | North West (FM/DAB) |
---|---|
Frequency | 100.4 MHz |
Programming | |
Format | Jazz |
Ownership | |
Owner | GMG Radio |
History | |
First air date | 1 September 1994 |
Last air date | 13 February 2004 |
100.4 Jazz FM (launched as JFM 100.4 [1] ) was an Independent Local Radio station for the North West England playing jazz music. 100.4 Jazz FM played its own music from its Salford studio during the day, whereas specialist shows like Dinner Jazz and Legends of Jazz with Ramsey Lewis were networked from London's 102.2 Jazz FM. The station was replaced by Smooth FM 100.4 in 2004.
In 1993, Golden Rose Communications was awarded the regional FM licence for the North West, beating ten other applications for the licence. [2] Jazz FM was launched as JFM on 1 September 1994 and broadcast from Exchange Quays, in Salford, England. It was originally known as JFM in order to try to appeal to more listeners who were put off by the "jazz" in Jazz FM. The station name reverted to Jazz FM, a decision also made to its sister London station in 1995 when Richard Wheatly became chief executive officer for Golden Rose Communications. [1] Jazz FM originally played a wide variety of jazz, pandering to more smooth jazz during the daytime to attract the 25- to 45-year-old target market Jazz FM needed to make the station a success. The station before the rebrand, however, played more soul and softer R&B alongside jazz.
In 2003, the Guardian Media Group did extensive research into the type of music the listeners in the north-west wanted to listen to. They concluded that many people were put off by the name "jazz" in the station name. As a result, 100.4 Jazz FM closed on 13 February 2004 and relaunched as 'Smooth FM' on 1 March 2004.
Smooth FM 100.4 relaunched as Smooth Radio 100.4 in March 2007 at the same time as London based 102.2 Smooth FM.
On 28 February 2008 GMG Radio's chief executive John Myers made an announcement that Jazz FM would be brought back in the North West, London and the West Midlands on DAB. [3] [4] Myers also said that he believed it would make more sense for there to be a dedicated radio station for jazz listeners than the commitments to play jazz on Smooth Radio 100.4, as required by the licence granted to them by Ofcom. [5] The closure of theJazz on Digital One was also part of the reason for the return of Jazz FM. [6] The relaunch of jazzfm.com, under a three-year deal with The Local Radio Company happened on 6 October 2008. [7]
Century Radio was the brand name of a group of Independent Local Radio stations in England. The brand was developed with the launch of 100-102 Century Radio in North East England in 1994, with John Myers as managing director and John Simons as programme director. The brand grew when Myers launched 106 Century FM for the East Midlands, and further when 105.4 Century Radio was launched in North West England in 1998. Ocean FM used the Century format, but not the brand.
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102.2 Jazz FM was an Independent Local Radio for London run by GMG Radio. The station was based in and broadcast from Castlereagh Street in London. The station experimented with its core playlist over its fifteen-year history, incorporating smooth jazz, mainstream jazz, soul, jazz fusion, acid jazz, blues and rhythm and blues. In 1994, the station changed its name to JFM to encourage more listeners who were put off by the 'Jazz' in the station's name. Richard Wheatly was appointed in 1995 to turn the station around when there was only three months' money left to run the station. He made a number of sweeping changes to the playlist, selling a sister station and changing the name back to Jazz FM, as well as starting up a record label and spin-off business deals and opportunities which helped Jazz FM swing into the black and make a profit in 2001.
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From 2010 to 2014, Smooth Radio was an independent, commercial, national radio station in the United Kingdom. Owned by Real and Smooth—a company formerly known as GMG Radio—the station was aimed at the over-40 demographic, and competed for its audience with BBC Radio 2. It was broadcast on the DAB Digital Radio Digital 1 national multiplex, Sky, Freesat, Freeview, Virgin Media, online and on regional FM and DAB frequencies in the North West, London, North East, West Midlands, Scotland and East Midlands. Nationally the station attracted a weekly average audience of 3 million.
102.2 Smooth FM was an Independent Local Radio station for Greater London. It replaced 102.2 Jazz FM on 7 June 2005 at 10 am, with the help of R&B singer Lemar and the then breakfast show host Jon Scragg. The first track played, keeping with the name of the newly launched radio station was Sade Adu's "Smooth Operator", and was owned by the radio division of the Guardian Media Group, GMG Radio. Following disappointing audience figures, the station was closed on 23 March 2007 and relaunched as 102.2 Smooth Radio the following Monday, following a successful format change request to Ofcom to play music oriented at listeners aged 50 and above.
Jazz FM is a radio station broadcasting on digital radio in the United Kingdom and Malta which predominantly plays jazz music, jazz standards as well as blues and soul music. The station, in this incarnation set up by Richard Wheatley, traces its roots back to 102.2 Jazz FM, which first launched in 1990. The current station commenced broadcasting on 6 October 2008.
Smooth London is a regional radio station owned and operated by Global as part of the Smooth Radio network. It broadcasts to the Greater London area from Croydon transmitting station on 102.2 MHz. It broadcasts a soft adult contemporary radio format from Global's studios in Leicester Square, London, and replaced 102.2 Smooth FM on 26 March 2007.
Smooth East Midlands is an Independent Local Radio station for the East Midlands, 107.4 MHz, 97.2 MHz, 106.8 MHz 106.0 MHz which replaced Saga 106.6 FM at 6 am on Monday 26 March 2007. It is owned by Communicorp UK and operated by Global as part of the Smooth network of stations. Connect FM closed and merged with Smooth East Midlands on 1 October 2019. in Kettering, Corby, Wellingborough, Northampton, Peterborough and Rushden
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Real Radio XS was a radio station brand operated by Real and Smooth Ltd based in Salford, Greater Manchester, broadcasting a variety of peak-time news, rock music and talk output. The Manchester-based version of the service was broadcast to Greater Manchester on FM, and to a number of areas on DAB: the closure of the MXR regional multiplexes ended most digital carriage of the service, with the last remaining digital transmission, to Yorkshire, ending in 2014. The other Real Radio XS service, covering Paisley and Renfrewshire on FM and central belt Scotland digitally, became Xfm Scotland in 2014 following Global's purchase of the franchise, before closing entirely in 2015. The Manchester frequency now transmits as XS Manchester under the control of Communicorp UK, whilst the Scottish license was re-advertised by Ofcom and now carries Nation Broadcasting-owned Nation Radio Scotland.
XS Manchester is an Independent Local Radio station serving Greater Manchester, broadcasting a mix of indie and alternative rock music, speech and news output. The station is owned and operated by Communicorp UK and broadcasts from studios at Spinningfields in Manchester. It is Communicorp UK's only station that does not broadcast a programme service supplied by Global.
Smooth Radio is a network of local radio stations broadcasting on FM, AM and DAB in the United Kingdom. Smooth Radio features a Soft Adult Contemporary radio format. Launched in March 2014, it replaced the national Smooth Radio that had launched in 2010 on FM and DAB, and most outlets of Gold on AM.
This is a timeline of the development of independent radio in the UK.
A timeline of notable events relating to Smooth Radio, a British radio station that first launched in 2004. Note that this article also includes information about the national version of Smooth Radio that existed between 2010 and 2014.
A timeline of notable events relating to Global Radio, a British media company founded in 2007.
This is a list of notable events in the timeline of digital audio broadcasting in the UK.
A timeline of notable events relating to Jazz FM, a radio station in the United Kingdom, and its predecessors 102.2 Jazz FM and 100.4 Jazz FM.