FM: 96.3 MHz (Central Scotland) 106.1 MHz (Manchester) DAB
Rock Radio was a brand of radio stations in the United Kingdom owned by GMG Radio.
96.3 Rock Radio was the first station in the network. It operated in West Central Scotland. The station was launched on the frequency which was formerly used by Paisley local radio station Q96.
A digital station named Rock Radio was launched on DAB on 1 April 2008 in the North East of England, and extended to Yorkshire and the Severn Estuary from 2010. It was initially a presenter-led station, then switched to automated rock service similar to The Arrow, but later changed to simulcast programmes from the Manchester station.
106.1 Rock Radio launched in Manchester in May 2008. The station was a new city licence awarded to GMG under the name Rock Talk, which originally proposed to broadcast talk programming in peak hours and rock music in the off-peak. The station is currently available on FM in Manchester but is not currently on DAB in its target area.
Since September 2009, automated evening content on 96.3 Rock Radio had been replaced by presented programmes from 106.1 Rock Radio.
XFM Scotland was a regional radio station broadcasting to Scotland's Central Belt, an area surrounding the two cities of Glasgow and Edinburgh. The station changed format to join the Galaxy Network on 8 November 2008 as Galaxy Scotland.
Smooth North West is a regional radio station owned by Communicorp UK and operated by Global as part of the Smooth network. The station broadcasts to the North West of England from studios at Spinningfields in Manchester.
GMG Radio was a company that owned the Real Radio and Smooth Radio networks. As GMG Radio, the company was the radio division of the Guardian Media Group until it was bought in 2012 by Global Radio, however pending regulatory review of the merger the company was renamed Real and Smooth Limited and operated as a separate entity, until May 2014.
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.
Radio X is a British national commercial radio station focused on alternative music, primarily indie rock, and owned by Global. The station launched in 1989 as a pirate radio station named Q102, before being renamed Xfm in 1992. The station became a legally licensed London-wide station in 1997, and in 2015 began national broadcasting under the name Radio X.
Q96 was an Independent Local Radio station that broadcast for 14 years in the Scottish county of Renfrewshire. Q96 broadcast as an FM station on the 96.3 MHz frequency after a local licence for the Paisley area was offered. The station was latterly based outside its dedicated broadcast region in the Baillieston area of neighbouring Glasgow at the headquarters it shared with sister station Real Radio after Ofcom approval.
Jazz FM is a British digital radio station owned and operated by Bauer Media Audio UK. It broadcasts across the United Kingdom and Malta predominantly playing jazz music, jazz standards as well as blues and soul music.
MXR West Midlands was a regional commercial digital radio multiplex in the United Kingdom, which served the West Midlands. The multiplex closed on 27 August 2013 after the shareholders Global Radio & Arqiva decided not to renew the licence. The Bromsgrove transmitter frequency block transferred over to MuxCo Herefordshire and Worcestershire in September 2013.
Nation Radio Scotland is a Scottish Independent Local Radio station for Renfrewshire, Glasgow and West Central Scotland, owned by Nation Broadcasting.
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.
Global Media & Entertainment Limited, trading as Global, is a British media company formed in 2007. It is the owner of the largest commercial radio company in Europe having expanded through a number of historical acquisitions, including Chrysalis Radio, GCap Media and GMG Radio. Global owns and operates seven core radio brands, all employing a national network strategy, including Capital, Heart, Gold, Classic FM, Smooth and LBC.
Real Radio XS was a classic rock independent local radio service broadcast on DAB in various parts of the United Kingdom. It was formerly part of the Rock Radio group of stations owned by GMG Radio, and whilst initially a separate station, latterly carried programming sourced from 106.1 Real Radio XS in Manchester.
Switch Scotland is a DAB digital radio multiplex broadcasting across Scotland's Central Belt, with its coverage area encompassing major population centres such as Edinburgh and Glasgow and the surrounding area. The service overlaps with local-level DAB multiplexes centred on particular cities and towns, meaning that listeners in central Scotland are able to tune into three levels of coverage - national, regional and local services.
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 and DAB in the United Kingdom. It retains one outlet on AM. Smooth Radio previously featured a soft adult contemporary radio format but has introduced more upbeat music since 2023. 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 Global Radio, a British media company founded in 2007.
This is a timeline of the development of radio in Greater Manchester, from when the first local station for the area began broadcasting.
This is a timeline of the development of radio in Scotland.
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