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| Broadcast area | West Yorkshire |
| Frequencies | FM: 97.5 MHz (Bradford) FM: 102.5 MHz (Huddersfield andLeeds) DAB: 11B (Bradford,Calderdale andKirklees) DAB: 12D (Leeds andWakefield) |
| RDS | HITS WYK |
| Branding | West Yorkshire’s Hits Radio The Biggest Hits, The Biggest Throwbacks |
| Programming | |
| Format | CHR/Pop |
| Network | Hits Radio |
| Ownership | |
| Owner | Bauer Media Audio UK |
| Greatest Hits Radio West Yorkshire | |
| History | |
First air date | 16 September 1975 (48 years ago) |
Former names | Pennine Radio Pennine FM The Pulse Pulse 1 |
| Links | |
| Website | planetradio |
Hits Radio West Yorkshire, formerlyPulse 1, is anIndependent Local Radio station based inLeeds, England, owned and operated byBauer Media Audio UK as part of theHits Radio network. It broadcasts toWest Yorkshire.
As of September 2024, the station has a weekly audience of 170,000 listeners according toRAJAR.[1]
The station originally launched in 1975 as a Bradford-based service calledPennine Radio.
In 1984, the station won the licence for the neighbouring West Yorkshire areas ofKirklees andCalderdale and in December of that year the station began broadcasting to all of the western half of the county.
In 1987, the station was part of theYorkshire Radio Network which also ownedViking FM andHallam FM, and the following year saw the station's MW frequencies start to be used for a Yorkshire-wide station called Classic Gold.[citation needed] The FM service was renamed to Pennine FM. Yorkshire Radio Network was bought out byNewcastle basedMetro Radio Group (owners ofMetro Radio andTFM).Pennine Radio became Pennine FM in the late 1980s when theAM frequency was split off to create the original incarnation ofClassic Gold.
On 30 August 1991, Pennine FM was rebranded as "The Pulse" in a bid to revive flagging fortunes.
The Metro Radio Group itself was bought out byEMAP in 1996 and ownership rules at the time meant that as they already owned neighbouringRadio Aire inLeeds something had to be sold on, and that was The Pulse and its sister stationClassic Gold which were purchased in a management buyout from senior staff and ex-Metro Group executives. The new company was calledThe Radio Partnership, it was at this time that the station moved to number one position in the West Yorkshire radio market for the first time in its history.
The Radio Partnership expanded over the years to include other stations, such asSignal Radio inStoke-on-Trent. In 1999,Kelvin MacKenzie'sTalk Radio UK bought The Radio Partnership and formedThe Wireless Group to include the national broadcaster and a series of local stations. In July 2005 The Wireless Group was bought out by UTV Group. In September 2016, The Wireless Group was purchased byNews UK.
On 8 February 2019, Pulse 1 and the Wireless Group's network of local radio stations were sold toBauer.[2]
In May 2020, Bauer announced that Pulse 1 would join theHits Radio network, while retaining its on-air branding.[3] Pulse 1 began carrying off-peak programming from the Hits Radio network on 15 June 2020[4] and the station officially joined the Hits Radio network on 20 July 2020.[5]
In September 2020, Pulse 1 began broadcasting to the eastern part of West Yorkshire on DAB following the closure of sister stationRadio Aire.[6]
In March 2021, Bauer closed Pulse 1's Bradford studios and moved the station to the former Radio Aire studios in Leeds, co-locating withGreatest Hits Radio Yorkshire.
On 10 January 2024, station owners Bauer announced Pulse 1 would be rebranded asHits Radio West Yorkshire as part of a network-wide relaunch involving 17 local radio stations in England and Wales.[7][8]
The name was changed on 17 April 2024, however the station’s local programming was not affected as a result of the relaunch.
On 20 March 2025, Bauer announced it would end its local Hits Radio breakfast show for West Yorkshire to be replaced by a new national breakfast show for England and Wales on 9 June 2025.[9] Local news and traffic bulletins continue and the station's Leeds studios were retained.[10]
The station's final local programme aired on 6 June 2025.[11]
The main 102.5 FM signal comes from the Vicars Lot transmitter close to theM62 betweenScammonden Dam and junction 23, close to theScammonden arched bridge. This signal covers most of West Yorkshire, including eastern areas of the county such asLeeds,Wakefield,Castleford,Pontefract andKnottingley.
It can be heard as far south asDoncaster andSheffield, and also to the west of the Pennines inLancashire andGreater Manchester. The signal is much stronger, and the transmitter at a higher altitude than the Idle transmitter.
The 97.5 FM signal coversBradford, and comes from theIdle transmitter, which is on the top of Idle Moor, between Idle andShipley. The Idle transmitter also carries national radio frequencies,Capital Yorkshire on 105.6 FM,Sunrise Radio Yorkshire on 103.2 FM andHeart Yorkshire on 107.6 FM.
Hits Radio network programming is broadcast and produced from Bauer’s London headquarters or studios in Manchester & occasionally Newcastle.[4]
Hits Radio West Yorkshire broadcasts local news bulletins hourly from 6 am–7 pm on weekdays and from 7 am–1 pm on weekends. Headlines are broadcast on the half-hour during weekday breakfast and drivetime shows. The station simulcasts hourlySky News Radio bulletins at all other times.
Pulse 1 aired extensive local sports coverage, including live match commentaries onBradford City matches, led by Jason Thornton and former City strikerIan Ormondroyd, and a weekly rugby league magazine show, presented byBradford Bulls CEORobbie Hunter Paul.[12]