Aircheck UK - Essex

UPDATED: 20/05/2003

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ENGLAND

BBC LOCAL RADIO

BBC RADIO ESSEX / BBC ESSEX RADIO / BBC ESSEX was launched to serve over 1.5 million people, amongst a brightly lit night sky on Bonfire Night, November 5th 1986, and was officially launched by Marchess Marconi six days later.  It serves Southend, one of Britain's oldest towns - Colchester, the coastal North Sea port of Harwich and the ever growing airport at Stansted, plus the rest of the county, from studios in Chelmsford.  It runs a community helpline which started in 1993 and provides over 20 hours of local programming a day, consisting of the usual BBC local radio standards.  Of the 1.5 million listeners possible, around one third actually listen according to 2002 research.  It reached the age of 10 in 1996 with a tour of ten Essex towns and continued the theme in 2001 as it reached 15 with an outside broadcast tour of fifteen Essex towns.  The station broadcasts on two FM frequencies, 103.5 & 95.3.   To avoid confusion with the new commercial station (see below), the station became known as BBC Essex.

Saturday morning 17th April 2004 at 1:00am saw the reluctant close of Pirate BBC Essex after 7 days out at sea aboard the Lightship the LV18.  Friday 9th April 2004 saw the beginning of the commemorative service on what was the 40th anniversary of the start of Radio CarolinePirate BBC Essex played pop music from the pre-Radio 1 era - 1964-1967.  Speaking prior to the launch, Station Programme Editor Tim Gillett said: "Those years of emerging British pop music are cherished in the memory of pirate radio listeners.  We'll also be featuring many of the songs championed by pirate radio like that David McWilliams classic The Days Of Pearly Spencer.  There will also be the latest news headlines, as listeners in 2004 would expect and at breakfast and tea times, Pirate BBC Essex will be offering news and travel.  Listeners will know that they can get the best of the pirate era's music and the latest news and information to get them out and about," he said.  

Amongst the schedules was Ray Clark, on-air from 6:00am-10:00am sharing his memories of sixties offshore radio, Sixties pirate Dave Cash followed from 10:00am-1:00pm with his memories from pirate radio the first time round as well as some classic tracks.  At 1:00pm, Steve Scruton featured a Top 20 each day starting with Easter 1964 - a show that aired on FM as well as AM on the BBC Essex network.  At 4:00pm, Ian Wyatt continue the special AM output and Tim Gillett had the 'Double Decade' show from 7:00pm looking back at memories from the 50s and 60s, reaching as far as August 1967.   Also involved were radio legends Pete Brady, Roger Day, Paul Burnett, and Mike Ahern all taking part, returning to open waters live from the LV18 ship moored off the Essex coast from Saturday 10th April - Friday 16th April operating 24 hours a day on 729, 765 and 1530AM and via the internet at www.bbc.co.uk/essex/pirate

The legendary Keith Skues hit the air at 10:00pm with some of what amount to be 250,000 discs from his very own record boxes - with real authentic vinyl returning to the airwaves. "I'm expecting a few pirate originals to drive down and flash their headlights at me," said Keith. "Back in the sixties, they were all lined up at Frinton and we used to play games - one flash if you think the answer is the first one, and so on. It was real interactive radio!"  Keith was on-air for the last time on the special service on Friday April 16th as the station 'closed' with an 'on-board' party and a chance for all to say their 'goodbyes'.  A special programme then air on Saturday April 17th from the Harwick dockside on all BBC Essex frequencies.  

On board the LV18, equipment spec was similar to that used by the offshire jocks of 40 years ago, including record players, cartridge (cart) machines and a reverberation unit to help create an authentic sound.  Musically, 1964-1967 was featured, with a playlist of 1500 tracks, some of which hadn't been heard for fourty years.  Tracks were sourced from the BBC Gram Library in London.  As well as regular news updates, there were also be some retro news bulletins too    The LV18, anchored in Harwich Harbour, is owned by the charitable Pharos Trust, which is hoping to turn the former lightship into educational and tourist attraction.  The Trust worked as a major partner with Pirate BBC Essex.  

The station received hundreds and thousands of calls and e-mails from fans around the world who couldn't wait to hear some of the old magic returning.  BBC Look East took the cameras down to the Dockside and on-board for 75% of the 30minute local news programme, which included Keith Skues lounging on a cabin bunk, and Dave Cash cooking a meal in the galley for the crew.  The coverage even extended to the introductory video jingle with the BBC ONE East caption which showed a camera aboard a boat sailing up to the LV18.  Radio buffs and listeners have said the broadcast was the radio moment of the year.  When asked by the camera crew whether they had to come off-air, station manager Tim Gillett said that it was 'up to the powers that be', but it was already a foregone conclusion.   It's doubtful there will be another radio moment like it.  If you recorded any of the output, let us know so that we can pass your details on to those that lived elsewhere and missed most of it!.  www.bbc.co.uk/england/essex 

BBC RADIO SOUTHEND - This service was designed to be a four-week promotional campaign across the Southend area - and operated from 10th April 1989 as an opt-out to BBC Radio Essex.

COMMERCIAL:  LOCAL (ILR)

ACTIVE FM / SOUL CITY 107.5: Test transmissions commencing on April 27th 1998, and launched on 18th May 1998, Active FM was awarded it's licence to serve the East London area of Havering back on 7th December 1997 with the assistance of application management specialists Infinity Media, a subsidiary arm of UKRDUKRD was, initially a minority shareholder but by November 1998 had gained a controlling interest of the station.  The station's history goes as far back as a operations as a RSL (Restricted Service Licence) broadcaster (106.8) and some local appearances as 'roadshows' at local venues.  The pace of the full-time station was distinctly rapid with a '30 years' music policy with the use of the rather tired line 'The Best Mix'.  On the Breakfast Show was Craig Sturgess who was known for playing samples of Radio Caroline and Radio London jingles during the show.  There were two news journalists who were responsible for the production and presentation of a daily half-hour news show at 6:30pm each weekday night called 'News Express'.  

Serving the Havering area of Essex and East London, from studios at Lambourne House in Western Road Romford, Soul City 107.5, a new brand, was launched by parent company UKRD on Monday 18th March 2002 at 6:00am, to an audience of around 500,000 adults.   The relaunch of what was formerly Active FM was led by ex-Capital Radio & Radio Investments man Mark Briggs.  Prior research had shown that Soul music was a popular genre of music in and around the broadcast area.  At the time, UKRD had a set of 14 radio stations, so the change in direction for Active FM to the new brand was seen as essential in a busy London market.  The playlist features contemporary Soul based artists such as Gabrielle, Lisa Stansfield, Diana Ross, George Benson & Marvin Gaye.          www.soulcity1075.com 

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THE BREEZE / BREEZE 1359/1431 / CLASSIC GOLD BREEZE: See Essex Radio below - Breeze was created by it's mothher station Essex FM and began broadcasting as a standalone AM service on 16th July 1989 - the Southend service being transmitted on 1359, the Chelmsford service on 1431AM.  Transmissions come from Radio House, Clifftown Road, in Southend, along with sister station Essex FM.  In October 2000, GWR acquired parent group Essex Radio plc when it took on DMGT's radio interests.  Despite huge resistance from locals, Breeze became part of the Classic Gold network and local programming bit the bullet in the main, exactly the point the locals were complaining about.  It was the purchase of Essex Radio & Marcher Radio (Wales) that pushed GWR over the points ownership precipice and this led to the 'sale' of the Classic Gold network, Breeze included, or in proper terms, the control of, to UBC            www.classicgolddigital.com 

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107.7 CHELMER FM / DREAM 107.7: (SALLIE): On the 5th March 1998, the Radio Authority awarded a small-scale alternative local licence for Chelmsford, Essex to Mid Essex Radio Ltd, based at Duke House, Victoria Road South, Chelmsford - who had previously proposed a community led service with local input prominent and a wide range of popular music to cover the Chelmsford area under the name 107.7 Chelmer FM.  It began it's licence with transmissions from 18th October 1998.  With the award, came the end of the local community station Mayflower FM which covered Basildon, Billericay & Brentwood, who were also an applicant for the licence and whom had campaigned strenuously for it's cause previously.  

At around 11:15 on the evening of Friday 1st June 2001, for the second time in just a year, broadcast equipment was stolen from a shared site, resulting in the station going off-air.  Transmission providers, ntl: were notified in the early hours and worked overnight to build new kit.  Station management figured the theft was the work of a pirate radio outfit, as the transmission kit would have been of no use to anybody else.  By midday on the Saturday, a loan transmitter was switched on and normal service was resumed.  

In September of the same year, Tindle Radio acquired Mid Essex Radio Ltd taking on it's 200,000+ audience.  Being in close location to a nearby Tindle station, Dream 100, it was not long before the station was rebranded as Dream 107.7.  It currently broadcasts from studios at Cater House, in Chelmsford High Street.  dream107.com

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ESSEX RADIO / ESSEX FM: A station that is actually older than most people thought, Essex Radio commenced broadcasting to Southend as far back as 12th September 1981.  Broadcasts to Chelmsford started later on 10th December of the same year.  It started by simulcasting on FM 95.3 & AM 1431 (210meters) for Chelmsford and FM 96.4 & AM 1359 (220meters) for Southend.  By the mid 1980s, a national decision was made to divide the band into different sectors, BBC & Commercial - as a result, Chelmsford's 95.3 became 96.3 and Southend's 96.4FM became 102.6 where the FM services remain to this day.  Southend itself now has a transmitter for Essex FM on 97.5FM.  

Along with other commercial radio stations, a split in broadcasting came and the AM service became Breeze 1359/1431.  Essex FM became the flagship and mothership of the Essex Radio Group based at Radio House, Clifftown Road, Southend-on-Sea, the group which included Breeze 1359/1431, Ten17, Vibe FM & 96.6 Oasis FM.  In the early part of 1998, DMGT (Daily Mail & General Trust) took a controlling share of Essex Radio plc - Essex FM became the first radio purchase for DMG Radio and it's offer valued the station at £21million.  It had previously held shares since 1994, but DMG had been investing in the industry since it's inception in 1973 - with the purchase of Essex Radio, DMG collected a potential audience of over 3 million listeners across the group's stations.  At the time, DMG had interests in Australian commercial radio, radio in Sweden and was a shareholder in Radio Danubius in Hungary.  It had shares in GWR and London News Radio.  

In October 2000, GWR acquired Essex FM and the parent group Essex Radio plc when it took on DMGT's radio interests. It was the purchase of Essex Radio & Marcher Radio (Wales) that pushed GWR over the points ownership precipice and this led to the 'sale' of the Classic Gold network, or in proper terms, the control of, to UBC.  The Radio Authority renewed Essex FM's licence for a further eight years from 12th September 2001 due to it's involvement with providing a feed of it's service on the local digital network.  Another fact about the station is that it's output and the activities of a former Controller Paul Chantler, were featured on a BBC television documentary about a major Shopping Centre in the county.  www.musicradio.com 

WARNING: Clicking on the 'musicradio.com' or 'koko.com' links from these web addresses, will lead to defaulting of your browser to the station you choose next time you visit, unless you clear your web cache, i.e. the content of 'HISTORY' and 'COOKIES' folders on your PC.  You have been warned!

Fans of Essex Radio are recommended to visit Pete Sipple's page for images at www.petesipple.co.uk/essexradio.html where you can see a picture gallery and a list of presenters who have appeared on the station.  There are also some sound-files for your entertainment also.  Alternatively, why not try www.vintagebroadcasting.org.uk/essex.htm or www.fortunecity.co.uk/meltingpot/thunder/565/er/ERaudiorm.html for more sound files.  Tell them AIRCHECK sent you!

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PREMIER RADIO / PREMIER CHRISTIAN RADIO: It was 10th June 1995 when religious radio got the chance to take to the air, albeit on AM airwaves.  Broadcasting from the appropriately named Chapter Street in London's SW1 Victoria district, it provides news, current affairs and lifestyle issues reflecting the values and beliefs of the Christian faith. Music aired on the station is designed to reflect Christian life as well as traditional and contemporary styles.  Broadcasts come from five transmitters using three frequencies for London and around the M25 catchment area: 1413AM (Heathrow) (West) for Maidenhead, Camberley, Staines, Harrow, Watford, 1413 (Dartford) (East) for Chelmsford, Brentwood, Dartford, Maidstone & Sevenoaks, 1305 (Enfield) (North) for Stevenage, Bishops Stortford, Harlow and Hertford, 1305 (South) (Ewell) for Crawley, Guildford, Reigate and Woking, and 1332 (Bow) for London, including Barnet and Croydon.  The station can also be heard on the local cable television service (NTL) on channel 886 and nationally via SKY DIGITAL on Channel 873.  

Premier Christian Radio aims to provide a platform for others to be heard, with editorial content designed to emphasise common beliefs and values from within the Christian community, but does not hold firm places for particular religious denominations, theologies, political or doctrinal views.  Output is produced and presented by both paid staff and volunteers, the latter numbering over 150.  It is commercial funded.  www.premier.org.uk.  

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SGR (Colchester): On 17th October 1993, Suffolk Group Radio, owned by East Anglian Radio, having already been operating a station called SGR in Suffolk, won a licence to provide a service to the Essex town and suburbs of Colchester.  The station broadcasts on 96.1FM from studios at Abbeygate Two,  9 Whitewell Road in Colchester.  In 1997, GWR were well into their acquisitions, and, after a shareholder (& other interested parties ) battle, East Anglian Radio's four stations (SGR Colchester included) fell into GWR control, taking the company close to the maximum ownership levels then of 35 stations.   The usual re-branding and changing of staff followed.  Unfortunately, little can be traced about the early days of SGR Colchester, so why not let us know more if you know?   E-mail us for a credit and an update!  www.musicradio.com 

WARNING: Clicking on the 'musicradio.com' or 'koko.com' links from these web addresses, will lead to defaulting of your browser to the station you choose next time you visit, unless you clear your web cache, i.e. the content of 'HISTORY' and 'COOKIES' folders on your PC.  You have been warned!

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Ten 17 / 101.7 Mercury FM (Harlow) / Ten 17: On 1st May 1993, Ten 17 launched for the Harlow area of Essex with the management title of Harlow FM Ltd..  A simple and fairly obvious name was taken from the station's on-air frequency, contrived albeit, 101.7FM.  Five years into it's first licence, (1988) the station was acquired, along with other Essex Radio Group stations, Essex FM, Breeze 1359/1431, Ten17, Vibe FM & 96.6 Oasis FM, by DMGT (Daily Mail & General Trust), who, for the cost of £21million, took a controlling interest (they'd previously held shares since 1994), and put the stations together under the DMG Radio banner.  At the time, DMG was the largest shareholder in GWR Group plc, and the growth continued in 1999 when it received the approval of to acquire Radio Mercury in all it's various guises (Crawley, Tonbridge & St Albans) and the AM service Fame 1521.   DMG also had interests in Australian radio, radio in Sweden and had a part-share of Hungary's Radio Danubius and London News Radio, and had actually been involved in commercial radio since it's inception in 1973.  

April 2000 saw the re-award of Ten17's licence under the Radio Authority's 'special application procedure' as part of the 1996 Broadcasting Act.  No competing applicants entered the running upon the RA inviting declarations of interest, and as the station didn't change it's format, and it passed the RA's other re-award criteria, the re-award took place.  The station was subsequently re-licenced from 1st May 2001 for another eight years.  

In June 2000, GWR Group made a takeover bid for the very group who owned such a large proportion of themselves, to the tune of £146million.  At the time GWR was right up against the restrictions on ownership - infact, the acquisition of what was then the sizeable DMG Radio portfolio took GWR over the ownership limit, and so to compensate, GWR immediately began looking at disposing of some of it's UK assets - namely it's AM Classic Gold stations.  Whilst DMGT were passing over their radio assets, they actually increased their shareholding in GWR from 18.8% to 29.9%.  The acquisition of DMG Radio by GWR was completed by October of the same year.

December 2000 saw, on agreement from the Radio Authority, a name change for Ten 17 to Mercury FM (Harlow).  GWR had by now acquired the Mercury stations, which, under DMG's tenure, had created somewhat of a brand rather than standalone stations.  However, by Monday 4th March 2002, the status quo was returned and the so familiar Ten17 name returned.  The change was influenced by a survey, in which most listeners said they preferred the name Ten17 to Mercury.  'Men In Suits' meddling in the first place you may cry!  Either way, this was considered as a major U-turn for the GWR Group.  The re-launch co-incided with the start of new breakfast show presenter Lee Stone.  

Working to a format consisting of at least 12 hours of locally produced programming per day, Ten 17 includes hourly news at least seven times during weekday daytime programming, with national news at all other times - and has been known to have volunteers assisting with programming in the past.  Speech content does not fall below 10% of weekday daytime output.  Musically, the station includes hits from across the years, with currents and re-currents making up no more than 70% of the music output.  Specialist programming has included music designed to complement the mainstream output, with specialist shows aired in non-daytime.  

Programmes now continue under the GWR format from studios at the Latton Bush Centre on Southern Way in Harlow.  www.musicradio.com 

WARNING: Clicking on the 'musicradio.com' or 'koko.com' links from these web addresses, will lead to defaulting of your browser to the station you choose next time you visit, unless you clear your web cache, i.e. the content of 'HISTORY' and 'COOKIES' folders on your PC.  You have been warned!

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TENDRING RADIO / MELLOW 1557 / DREAM 100: Another of only a handful of stations who have opted for a switch from AM to FM, having formerly been under the guise of Tendring Radio, it launched as Mellow 1557 on 7th October 1990 - the MD of the station then was Des Sheepherd, who has also worked for Wey Valley Radio and Slough's Star FM.  In the early part of 1993, later owners Southern Radio sold the station to the former boss of SGR (Suffolk Group Radio) David Cocks and a consortium of colleagues who went under the title of 'Audio Management Limited' or 'AMLRadio First plc, which was established in October of 1995, purchased AML and went onto improve the station's performance and initiated the application to the RA for a move from AM to FM.  Later that year, two groups went for the re-advertised licence, Mellow Media Group and Mellow 1557.

On 1st September 1998, Radio First sold the station to Tindle Radio Limited for just over £1million and a transfer of debts - the transfer of management enabled Radio First to concentrate on their 'Fans Radio Network' of football club based radio stations.  

Having been re-awarded the licence it continued but later closed down as an AM station, Mellow 1557 under Tindle's tenure, on 19th November 1998, having broadcast from studios at The Media Centre, 2 St. John's Wynd, Culver Square in Colchester and via it's transmitter at Cook's Green, Little Clacton.  Amongst presenters to have worked for Mellow, there's Adrian John, Keith Skues & Eamonn Kelly.  Interestingly, a ghostly figure of a man has been known to haunt Studio B at the Frinton studios, stemming from the late 20th century and is believed to be the ghost of someone murdered in a house that used to stand on the site where the studios were based.  The ghost has been seen by several staff members.

And so, Mellow 1557 moved to FM as Dream 100FM, broadcasting on 100.2 from studios which are now at Northgate House, St. Peter`s Street in Colchester.  It targets over 150,000 adults aged 25-55 across North Essex and South Suffolk with the offshore heartlands of Clacton, Walton-On-The-Naze & Frinton.  It airs live programming from 5:00am - Midnight, (6:00am weekends) except when it takes the Smash Hits chart with Mark Goodier - formerly, Pat Sharp's syndicated 'Totally 80s' show featured from 4:00pm-6:00pm.      www.dream100.com 

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COMMERCIAL:  REGIONAL (IRR)

Would you expect a station called Jazz FM to play Jazz music?  OFCOM don't seem to think so, as it has agreed that from Monday 15th November, traditional Jazz can disappear from daytime schedules on the London station and North West 100.4 Smooth FM station previously known as Jazz FM, after the regulator agreed to the station's request for a change of format.  Instead, the station will play more soul and R&B in daytime hours in a bid to appeal to more listeners and advertisers, however, modern jazz singers, described as being of the likes of Jamie Cullum and Joss Stone, arguably cross over artists anyway, will be heard in the daytime.  Chief Exec of the station's owners, Guardian Media Group, John Myers said: "The policy we are going on is ratings by day, reputation by night  Jazz is much more of a night-time listen so the changes fit well."   The station will increase evening Jazz output from 40 to 45 hours per week, with the flagship 'Dinner Jazz' show, lasting three hours per night rather than two.  OFCOM's authority for the changes has seen the scrapping of it's licence provision stating that '50% of the output in daytime sits well with the term 'Jazz'.  

Audience figures for Jazz FM reached a new high for the three months up to September, with 131,000 new listeners taking total listenership to 845,000.  It aims to have 10% of the audience listening for an average of seven hours per week.  Despite the fact that the station's owners have never made a profit in it's 13 year lifetime, Myers expects GMG Radio would record a profit for the first time this year - it reported only a £2.1m loss last year, down from £6.3m the year before.  Myers refrained from commenting on suggestions that the group could merge with Chrysalis who recently reported flat advertising revenues over recent months and in the wake of the suggestion of a Capital / GWR Merger.

Having established the brand in the North West, Smooth now appears on the SKY Digital radio channel line up.  Output launched on Channel 878 from Valentine's Day, 14th February 2005.  Audience figures from RAJAR Quarter 4 figures for 2005 show that the station achieved an record audience figure of 437,000 listeners a week.  GMG Radio Managing Director Roy Bennett said: "The station's been such a huge success it will be great to give it a national platform.  Radio listening via the television continues to grow and is a great way for people to sample Smooth FM."

Following the renaming of the North West station in March and the subsequent amendment to the music format in November 2004, in February 2005, GMG took a decision to abandon the Jazz name completely by re-branding London's 102.2 Jazz FM as 102.2 Smooth FM.  The North West change was implemented with the aim to appeal to a wider audience of listeners and enable it to achieve full potential.  Now, the London station is expected to relaunch within six months, moving on to target a wide audience of listeners interested in a broader selection of music.  A multi-million pound advertising campaign across the Capital will back up the transition. 

The decision to abandon the Jazz FM name came after efforts to get the programming schedule across, whilst keeping the name, failed to attract audience and revenue to GMG's satisfaction.  However, extensive research has revealed that there is a large appetite for the style of music set to be broadcast when the relaunch takes place - artists such as Marvin Gaye, Stevie Wonder, Alicia Keys, George Benson, Michael Buble and Diana Krall will fill the new daytime schedule. 

GMG Radio Chief Executive John Myers said: "We believe this station has enormous potential and will soon be among London's top five commercial stations.  As sorry as we are to say goodbye to JAZZFM, it's a sad fact of life that it has never made a profit in its 15 years of existence.  We are caught between not playing enough jazz to please the purist and having the name which inhibits trial from other listeners.  There are not enough people who like jazz music to make it a viable proposition and this has been a fact for 15 years now.  This new brand and direction will allow us to really grab the opportunities that lie ahead - there is a wider gap in the market for what we will do.  The success of and appetite for Smooth FM has already been proven in the North West and we're looking forward to replicating its achievements in London."

The London station will continue to include 45 hours of specialist jazz programming each week, and presenters such as Sarah Ward, Ramsey Lewis and Campbell Burnap will remain with the station.  In a further move, GMG Radio has also announced that the stations website www.Jazzfm.com will see additional investment with the site upgraded to include its own 24 hours a day output of pure jazz.

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