Type | Holding |
---|---|
Industry | Media |
Founded | 1983 |
Headquarters | Gwersyllt, Wrexham |
Products | Broadcasting |
Website | Global (parent company) |
Marcher Radio Group Ltd, previously Marcher Sound Ltd, was a British media organisation which operated several radio stations in north Wales and north west England. The company, now owned by Global Radio (but legally still existing [1] ), founded the independent local radio stations Marcher Sound, Coast 96.3, Buzz 97.1, Champion FM 103 and Wrexham and Chester Gold, part of the Gold Network.
The company was established in 1983 after successfully acquiring a local radio licence to broadcast Marcher Sound to Wrexham, Deeside and Chester on 95.4 MHz FM/VHF (from the Wrexham-Rhos Relay) and 1260 kHz AM/Mediumwave. The station launched on 5 September 1983. After a review, the frequency changed to the more familiar 103.4 MHz.
In 1989 the station opened an FM relay to cover the coastal areas of north east Wales and The Wirral on 97.1 MHz from the Moel-y-Parc transmitting station.
Due to IBA rulings, the company ceased simulcasting and started broadcasting different services on each frequency. The newer 103.4 FM frequency became MFM 103.4, the 97.1 FM frequency became MFM 97.1, and the 1260 AM frequency became Marcher Gold.
In 1993, the company acquired the rights to broadcast to the north Wales coast on 96.3FM, including Llandudno, Holywell and eastern Anglesey, and named the service Marcher Coast FM.
In 1998, Marcher launched Champion 103 broadcasting to Anglesey and Gwynedd from the Arfon transmitting station.
In 1999, MFM 97.1 was re-branded Buzz 97.1, and it moved from Moel-y-Parc to the Storeton transmitter, to specifically target listeners in The Wirral. At the same time, Marcher Coast FM was re-branded "Coast 96.3".
Subsequent re-brands saw Buzz 97.1 become branded as "Wirral's Buzz", Champion FM 103 becoming simply "Champion", Coast 96.3 again becoming simply "Coast" and MFM 103.4 becoming Marcher Sound. In August 2007, 18 stations of the former Classic Gold Digital Network including Classic Gold Marcher were sold back to GCap Media, merging it with its own Capital Gold network. At this point Classic Gold Marcher was re-branded to simply "Wrexham and Chester Gold".
In 2000, the company was purchased by GWR Group, which included all of its radio assets. This followed an attempt to expand the Group further, including bidding for another licence on Merseyside, which was later secured by Dune FM. In 2005, GWR Group and Capital Radio merged to form GCap Media.
Upon purchase, Marcher's four FM licences became part of The One Network, a nationwide network of independent local radio stations operated by GCap Media which syndicated much of its programming from GWR FM Bristol. The practice of programme simulcasting has been extensively used by Marcher in the past across its FM stations, and still continues this to an extent in its local programming opt-outs.
In 2005 GCap announced it was to sell many of its radio businesses, including those of Marcher Radio Group. However, in March 2006 the company called off the sale. [2]
Following acquisition by Global Radio, the Marcher Radio stations broadcasting on FM were rebranded as Heart in June 2009. [3] In 2010 three of the stations were merged into a new station, Heart North West and Wales. [4] In 2014 subsequent changes saw the stations become part of the Capital FM Network.
Heart Hampshire was a British independent local radio station serving South Hampshire, West Sussex and Isle of Wight primarily for Portsmouth, Southampton, Winchester and Chichester. The station served an area of England with a high proportion of commuters to London and a higher-than-average disposable income from middle-class families and people over 45. Its target age range was 25–45.
Heart Northants was a local commercial radio station serving Northamptonshire.
Heart Wirral was an Independent Local Radio station broadcasting to the Wirral Peninsula, sharing its facilities with Heart Wrexham and Gold, in Gwersyllt, Wrexham.
Capital Cymru is a local Welsh-language radio station owned and operated by Global. The station broadcasts to Gwynedd and Anglesey from studios in Gwersyllt, Wrexham via the Arfon transmitting station.
Heart 96.3 is a radio station serving Bristol and surrounding areas and broadcasting on 96.3 MHz in Bristol and Weston-super-Mare. Launched in 1981 as Radio West, it was merged with neighbouring Wiltshire Radio and relaunched under the name GWR in 1985, retaining the name through several changes of ownership until rebranding in March 2009. Heart Bristol merged with sister stations in Somerset and Bath to form Heart West Country.
Heart Wiltshire was a local radio station owned and operated by Global Radio as part of the Heart network. It broadcast to north and west Wiltshire. The station was rebranded to Heart in March 2009 in line with Global Radio's rebranding of most of the One Network, to which the station was part of. Its local competitors were Sam FM, BBC Wiltshire and community radio station, Swindon 105.5.
Capital South Coast was a regional radio station owned by operated by Global Radio as part of the Capital radio network. It broadcast to Hampshire from studios in Segensworth, Fareham. In 2019, Capital South Coast was replaced by Capital South following a merger with Capital Brighton.
Heart Kent was a local radio station owned and operated by Global Radio as part of the Heart network. It broadcast to Kent from studios at John Wilson Business Park in Whitstable.
GCap Media was a British commercial radio company formed from the merger of the Capital Radio Group and GWR Group. The merger was completed in May 2005. It was listed on the London Stock Exchange and was a constituent of the FTSE 250 Index. On 31 March 2008 the company agreed a takeover by Global Radio for £375 million. This was completed on 6 June 2008, and the company became a wholly owned subsidiary of Global Radio.
Heart North Wales Coast was an independent local radio station broadcast along the North Wales coast, and owned & operated by Global Radio.
Mercury FM was a radio station in the Surrey and Sussex area of the United Kingdom that was founded on 20 October 1984 and closed on 25 July 2010. The station broadcast on FM 97.5 MHz in Horsham and 102.7 MHz in East Surrey and North Sussex and later merged with Heart Sussex to form Heart Sussex and Surrey.
Gold North Wales and Cheshire was a British independent local radio station broadcasting to Wrexham, Chester, Flintshire and some of the Wirral, and was part of the Gold radio network. It is the "sister" station to local FM station, Marcher Sound, launched by Marcher Radio Group in 1989. After a period of sales and takeovers which led to Gold being operated by a separate company to its FM sister station, both are now owned by Global Radio. It is broadcast from Mold Road, Gwersyllt, Wrexham, although most programming comes from London. Gold North Wales and Cheshire was replaced by Smooth Radio in March 2014.
Storeton transmitting station is a television transmitter being a member of both the Winter Hill group of transmitters and of the Moel-y-Parc group of transmitter, and an FM radio transmitter, with transmitting antennas affixed to a mast located on Storeton Ridge, Higher Bebington, Wirral, UK. The site is owned and operated by Arqiva. It was originally solely an analogue TV relay of the Winter Hill transmitter and the only Winter Hill relay to carry all five analogue TV channels prior to digital switchover. The 45 metre-high (150 ft-high) mast is situated at an elevation of 65.5 metres (215 ft). Thus, the top of the mast has an overall height of 110.5 metres (363 ft) above sea level. Construction of the mast was completed in 1980. As of 2009, the TV transmitter serves approximately 45,000 homes.
The Hit Music Network was a collection of five Independent Local Radio stations operating in the United Kingdom and owned by Global Radio. Created on 25 June 2008, the stations were formerly owned by GCap Media prior to its takeover by Global and, with the exception of 95.8 Capital FM, were all part of The One Network. Initially the network included Trent FM, Ram FM, Leicester Sound, Mercia FM, and Beacon Radio Wolverhampton until the latter two we removed as they were part of the disposal by Global Radio after the GCap Media purchase and purchased by Orion Media. Mercury FM Crawley, Ten 17 in Harlow and Hertfordshire's Mercury 96.6 joined the Hit Music Network at that point, until 26 July 2010. Red Dragon FM in South Wales, whilst part of the Hit Music Network, remained local 24 hours a day taking none of the network programmes.
Capital North West and North Wales is a regional radio station owned and operated by Global as part of the Capital network. It broadcasts to Cheshire, the Wirral Peninsula & North Wales. The station broadcasts from its studios in Gwersyllt, Wrexham, the former headquarters of Marcher Radio Group.
Heart Essex is a British commercial radio station. It was launched on 12 September 1981, broadcasting from Southend-on-Sea and since 27 October 2004 from Chelmsford, both in Essex.
Capital FM is a network of twelve independent contemporary hit radio stations in the United Kingdom, broadcasting a mix of local and networked programming. Nine of the stations are owned and operated by Global Media & Entertainment, while the other three are owned and operated under separate franchise agreements.
Heart Cheshire and North East Wales was an independent radio station broadcasting to north east Wales and Cheshire from its Mold Road studios in Gwersyllt, Wrexham, also shared with Gold and Heart Wirral.
Smooth Wales is an Independent Local Radio station broadcasting to the Cardiff area of South Wales and to the Wrexham area of North Wales, as well as parts of Cheshire in England. All programming content is now shared to both areas. It is the only AM station in the Smooth radio network to have its own content, a local four-hour weekday show, as all other Smooth AM stations, as added to the network in 2014, carry the London network FM content, opting out only for local news and advertising breaks. The local show on Smooth Wales was carried over from the station's previous incarnation as Gold.
Allied Radio plc was a publicly listed radio company that operated, or held an interest in, several Independent Local Radio contractors in the UK during the 1990s.