Vale FM

Last updated

Greatest Hits Radio Dorset (North Dorset)
Frequency 97.4 MHz, 96.6 MHz
Programming
Format Classic Hits
Network Greatest Hits Radio
Ownership
Owner Bauer
History
First air date
25 June 1995
Links
Website Greatest Hits Radio

Greatest Hits Radio Dorset (North Dorset) (formerly Vale FM) is an Independent Local Radio station which broadcasts to the Blackmore Vale and Cranborne Chase, from Shaftesbury, Dorset, in southern England.

Contents

Background

ValeFM logo.PNG

In the summer of 2008 Chris Carnegy who was the founder and driving force behind the start of the radio station acquired Vale FM from The Local Radio Company. He restructured and rebranded it. During the ownership of TLRC the station moved studios, continuing at the Longmead Industrial Estate in Shaftesbury, overseen by Programme Controller and Station Manager Stewart Smith. Midwest Radio – a project which saw the combining of programmes and resources with Ivel FM in Yeovil, now also identified as Midwest Radio. Carnegy left in March 2009 to join the BBC and the Midwest stations were acquired by Devon businesswoman Michele Roberts.

Cameron Smith continued presenting the weekday morning breakfast show from Shaftesbury through the transition and also recorded a regular weekend 80s show. In May 2010 the Shaftesbury studios were closed and all programme production moved to Yeovil. The breakfast show was taken over temporarily by David Mortimer and Cameron's long association with the station ended.

David Mortimer's temporary stewardship of the breakfast show ended on Friday 20 August 2010 and Jason Herbert, previously with Wessex FM, took over as the new breakfast presenter from the following Monday.

It was reported in the Blackmore Vale Magazine that Midwest Radio had been given permission by Ofcom to have a single breakfast show, but John Baker, the station manager, said "the group had no plans to close either of its centres or to stop broadcasting separate breakfast shows for South Somerset and North Dorset. Although we now have permission from Ofcom to share our breakfast hours, we will not be doing this." Mr Baker implied that broadcasting was continuing from the Shaftesbury studios but this was not the case.

However, by March 2011 the breakfast show had indeed merged, with a single presenter – Steve Carpenter – based in Yeovil and the departure of Jason Herbert. And the fallacy that Mid West was continuing to broadcast from Shaftesbury also had come to an end with the local contact address now being given as "Compton Abbas Airfield, near Salisbury".

The station became part of the UKRD Group [1] In 2020, Vale, along with the other UKRD stations, were sold to Bauer Media [2] and the station was rebranded as Greatest Hits Radio Salisbury in September 2020, as part of their national Greatest Hits Radio network. [3] It now broadcasts national and regional music programmes with local news bulletins. [4]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hits Radio Cornwall</span> Local radio station in Cornwall, England

Hits Radio Cornwall, formerly Pirate FM, is an Independent Local Radio station owned and operated by Bauer Media Audio UK as part of the Hits Radio network. It broadcasts to Cornwall on DAB from studios in Redruth.

Greatest Hits Radio South Wales is an Independent Local Radio station owned and operated by Bauer Radio as part of the Greatest Hits Radio network. The station broadcasts to Swansea, Neath Port Talbot, Llanelli and South East Wales from studios in the Llansamlet area of Swansea on DAB.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Greatest Hits Radio West Sussex</span> Radio station

Greatest Hits Radio West Sussex is an Independent Local Radio station owned and operated by Bauer as part of the Greatest Hits Radio Network. It broadcasts to West Sussex.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Wave 105</span> Radio station in Fareham

Wave 105 was a regional radio station based in Fareham, England, owned and operated by Bauer. It broadcast to South Hampshire, the Isle of Wight, West Sussex, Wiltshire, and Dorset.

Greatest Hits Radio Somerset (Yeovil) is an Independent Local Radio station serving Yeovil, South Somerset and West Dorset in England.

Minster FM was an Independent Local Radio station serving York and the surrounding areas such as Selby, Tadcaster, Thirsk, Northallerton and Goole. The station closed on 31 August 2020 and its frequency is now a relay of Greatest Hits Radio Yorkshire. It broadcast on 104.7 FM from the Acklam Wold transmitter, near Leavening, on the Yorkshire Wolds.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Spire FM</span> Radio station in Salisbury

Spire FM was an Independent Local Radio station based in Salisbury, Wiltshire. It was awarded the licence to broadcast to Salisbury and the surrounding areas by the Radio Authority, now Ofcom, in 1991. The station took its name from the spire of Salisbury Cathedral.

Yorkshire Coast Radio was an Independent Local Radio station serving Scarborough, Whitby & Bridlington. The station was folded into Greatest Hits Radio Yorkshire, as part of a rebrand, on 1 September 2020.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">The Beach (UK radio station)</span> Radio station in Lowestoft, Suffolk

The Beach was an Independent Local Radio station broadcasting to the Great Yarmouth and Lowestoft areas. It used to broadcast from studios in Norwich and Ipswich. Before that it broadcast from studios at the junction of Hollingsworth Road and Oulton Road, in Lowestoft, Suffolk until 8 January 2017 when it was transferred to central hubs in Norwich and Ipswich along with sister stations.

North Norfolk Radio was an Independent Local Radio station in North Norfolk, England, owned and operated by Bauer Radio as part of the Greatest Hits Radio network. It was closed on 1 September 2020 and merged with Greatest Hits Radio Norfolk & North Suffolk.

Greatest Hits Radio Norfolk & North Suffolk (Norwich) is an Independent Local Radio station owned and operated by Bauer, broadcasting to Norwich and the surrounding area. The station was merged with North Norfolk Radio and The Beach and became Greatest Hits Radio Norfolk and North Suffolk.

Greatest Hits Radio Dorset (North Dorset) is an Independent Local Radio station serving North Dorset.

The Breeze was a network of Independent Local Radio stations broadcasting to Bristol, Hampshire, Isle of Wight, Somerset, North Dorset, North Gloucestershire, North Somerset, South Devon, South West Surrey, West Berkshire and West Wiltshire, as well as in East Anglia as Radio Norwich 99.9, The Beach, North Norfolk Radio, Town 102 and Dream 100. The stations broadcast a 'contemporary easy listening' format, playing classic and recent melodic popular music aimed principally at listeners over the age of 40.

Greatest Hits Radio South West is a regional radio station serving the South West of England, as part of Bauer's Greatest Hits Radio network.

Stray FM was an Independent Local Radio station serving the western half of North Yorkshire, and sections of West Yorkshire, to the north of Leeds and Bradford, England. The original licence covered the towns of Harrogate and Ripon and the surrounding areas.. From 1 February 2012 the station expanded to cover the Yorkshire Dales.

A timeline of notable events relating to Bauer Media Audio UK, a British media company established as a division of German company Bauer Media Group in 2008.

Greatest Hits Radio South is a regional radio station broadcasting across the South of England, as part of Bauer’s Greatest Hits Radio network.

Greatest Hits Radio North West is a regional radio network serving North West England and North Wales, as part of Bauer’s Greatest Hits Radio network.

Greatest Hits Radio Midlands is a regional radio station serving the East & West Midlands as part of Bauer’s Greatest Hits Radio network.

This is a timeline of notable events relating to Greatest Hits Radio, a British commercial radio station operated by Bauer Radio. The timeline also covers the Magic and Big City 2 networks, which were the forerunners to Greatest Hits Radio.

References

  1. ↑ "Most of acquired Bauer stations to become Greatest Hits Radio – RadioToday". 27 May 2020.
  2. ↑ "Most of acquired Bauer stations to become Greatest Hits Radio". 27 May 2020. Retrieved 2 October 2020.
  3. ↑ Waterson, Jim (31 August 2020). "Bauer closes dozens of regional radio stations in England and Wales". The Guardian. ISSN   0261-3077 . Retrieved 29 September 2020.
  4. ↑ Paessler, Benjamin (27 August 2020). "Presenters announced for Greatest Hits Radio in Salisbury". Salisbury Journal. Retrieved 29 September 2020.


Radio svg icon.svg Flag of the United Kingdom.svg

This article about a radio station in the United Kingdom is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it.

This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.