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| Broadcast area | United Kingdom |
| Frequency | FM:105.4MHz (London) DAB: 11D (England/Wales/N. Ireland) 12A (Scotland) 12C (London) |
| RDS | FM: MAGIC/DAB: Magic Radio |
| Branding | The Best Variety from the 80s to Now! |
| Programming | |
| Format | Adult Contemporary |
| Ownership | |
| Owner | Bauer Media Audio UK |
| Absolute Radio Greatest Hits Radio Heat Radio Hits Radio Jazz FM Kerrang Radio Kiss Planet Rock | |
| History | |
First air date | 9 July 1990 (asMelody FM) |
| Links | |
| Webcast | Rayo |
| Website | Magic |
Magic Radio is aBritish digital radio station owned and operated byBauer Media Audio UK. The station is available on 105.4 FM inLondon and across the UK on DAB Digital Radio, via Bauer's Rayo platform, and onSmart speakers. It plays "adult contemporary"[1] such asElton John,Madonna,Ed Sheeran,Whitney Houston,UB40,Simply Red, and more.
It had previously been a part of anetwork of Magic stations broadcast on FM in London and on MW across northern England and began broadcasting across the UK via the Digital One multiplex in January 2015. On 5 January 2015, Magic Radio launched nationally on DAB and all other Magic stations were dissolved to form theBauer City 2 network.[2]
According toRAJAR, the station broadcasts to a weekly audience of 4.4 million with a listening share of 5.4% as of March 2024.
The Magic name was first used in 1990 whenLeeds stationRadio Aire launched an oldies station calledMagic 828 on its MW frequency. Seven years later, the Magic brand was rolled out on MW across Yorkshire and north east England and the stations adopted asoft adult contemporary music format.
In 1998, easy music stationMelody FM, which had also launched in 1990, was purchased by media group Emap fromHanson plc for a reported £25 million and rebranded to Magic that December and the change saw Emap introduceautomation for the first time - weekday afternoons were split with a 'non-stop music hour', first sponsored by the now defunct energy companyCalortex, and later by theEmap-ownedRed magazine. Magic was criticised for automating a further eleven hours of its daily output (7pm-6am) given the reach and size of the station.
In an attempt to cut costs, Magic began networking its mid-morning show, hosted byRichard Skinner, and automated overnight output with the eight otherMagic stations in the North ofEngland in January 2002. Audience figures fell on all nine stations in the twelve months that followed, some arguing a lack of local content had driven listeners to tune away. Networking was ended in January 2003, although the eight 'northern' Magic stations continued to share a mid-morning show, hosted by Mark Thorburn, and were subsequently networked again, with the exception of local breakfast shows, following a repositioning of the northern Magic group in mid-2006. These stations were later rebranded into theBauer City 2 network in 2015.
The end of networking heralded a programming shift; Magic adopting its 'more music, less talk' ethos. FormerCapital FM head and radio consultant Richard Park was brought in to increase the station's audience share.[citation needed] In September 2003, Magic saw its first major revamp: live programming replaced automated output in the evening, andIndependent Radio News-employed personnel staffed the station's daytime news output, removing shared presenting/newsreading responsibilities, a legacy from Melody FM. IRN retained the contract to supply Magic's news bulletins until 2015, when the service was brought in-house.
Later years saw a reliance on weekend celebrity-hosted content and large cash prizes to entice listeners - the award of £110,600 to Nicola Diss, the winner of the popularMagic Mystery Voices contest on 12 January 2006 was the largest cash prize given away on UK radio since 1999, a sum surpassed just a few months later by the prize collected by listener Dawn Muggleton in theSmooth Secret Song competition on London rival102.2 Smooth FM, scooping £118,454 on 19 April 2006. However, Magic regained the honour on 30 March 2007 with listener Maria Crosskey winning £168,600 in a six-month-longMystery Voices contest, although she was later disqualified (see 'Mystery Voices' below).
In 2008,Emap sold its radio stations, including Magic, toBauer Media Group.
Magic, along with urban-music stationKiss, rock music stationAbsolute Radio and a number of other radio brands, broadcasts fromBauer Radio's headquarters at The Lantern in Euston.[3] It had previously broadcast from studios on Winsley Street (Mappin House), and, from September 2014 to March 2024, Golden Square in Soho.
On 2 April 2024, Magic ceased transmitting on the Freeviewdigital television platform after 21 years, as it and other Bauer stations completed their withdrawal from linear TV platforms, having dropped satellite transmission in late 2023.[4]
On 27 December 2024, Magic rebranded to Magic Radio dropping the strapline "More Of The Songs You Love" and changing it to "The Best Variety from the 80s to Now" Magic Radio refreshed their jingles which is now branded as "Magic Radio" instead of "Magic" The station also changed their format, moving from soft adult contemporary to adult contemporary, playing more music from the 2010s and 2020s, retaining the usual 80s, 90s & 00s music.
On 31 March 2025, Magic Radio is switching to DAB+ across the UK. The switch is happening from mono on original DAB will be making the switch to stereo DAB+. Magic Radio is also being launched across Bristol on 106.5 MHz.
Launched March 2016 and playing "laid back hits",[This quote needs a citation] predominantly pop and R'n'B from the 90s to today (which ended up as the slogan for the station: Pop + R'B: 90's-Now);the format originated as an evening programme strand onHeat Radio (as 'heat Chilled') but moved under the Magic brand to be launched as a full-time station, and as a permanent part of the network. Magic Chilled was Bauer's first DAB+ station. It was originally broadcast on the nationalSound Digital multiplex, moved to local tier DAB, in capacity previously used byAbsolute Radio 90s, in early 2019 as part of the reorganisation of space for the launch ofScala Radio, then reverted to broadcast on Sound Digital in DAB+ in October 2023, following the conversion of stations including Scala and Mellow Magic to DAB+. In London, Magic Chilled continued to be broadcast in DAB+ at the same bitrate as before but in stereo
At 7PM (UK) on Monday 16th September 2024, Magic Chilled was formally rebranded and relaunched across all platforms under the new name of Hits Radio Chilled,with the new slogan "Laid-Back Hits & Throwbacks". This tied in to the Hits Radio slogan "The Biggest Hits, The Biggest Throwbacks". This followed an announcement in July, and weeks of jingles being rebranded to the Hits Radio jingle and voices informing people of the change. This move, one of a few shake-ups in the Bauer UK radio portfolio, transferred the station to the Hits Radio Network, another of Bauer Media UK's radio brands and networks. Cian Ducrot presented the first show under the new name, and with his song "All For You" being the first track on the new station.[5]
Mellow Magic is a digital-only service of timeless relaxing classics, launched in March 2016 along with Magic Chilled. It continues to broadcast as part of the Sound Digital national multiplex jointly owned by Bauer. The Mellow Magic station was built on the successful Magic night-time programming strand of the same name.Fran Godfrey has hosted the breakfast show on Mellow Magic, since the station's official launch; the station previously simulcast the Mellow Magic programmes of the main Magic station, but this ceased when Magic temporarily flipped to a Christmas music format. in autumn 2023; shortly afterward, Mellow Magic switched its digital radio broadcast from mono DAB to stereo DAB+ but ultimately remained active as a permanent part of the network.
On 28 February 2025, Fran Godfrey is stepping down on breakfast but she will be staying on Mellow Magic doing Sunday Afternoons from 12pm until 4pm. The replacement will be Jen Thomas.
On 3 March 2025, Mellow Magic has refreshed their jingles matching Magic Radio's jingles.
This was originally a temporary pop-up service, branded asMagic Soul Summer, which launched in the summer of 2016 largely taking over the capacity previously occupied by the temporary Magic ABBA station; the soul service ultimately remained active as a permanent part of the network, truncating its name toMagic Soul from Autumn 2016 onwards. The station broadcast on local DAB until moving to broadcast in stereo DAB+ in October 2023 along with Magic Chilled, Mellow Magic and Magic at the Musicals.
On 17 March 2025, Magic Soul has refreshed their jingles matching Magic Radio's jingles.
Launched on DAB+ in London on 21 November 2019; the station has since been rolled out to several other areas, chiefly on selected Bauer-owned multiplexes, in standard DAB, moving to broadcast nationally on stereo DAB+ in October 2023, but ultimately remained active as a permanent part of the network. It plays show-tunes and soundtracks.[6]
Following the migration of other Bauer services (includingKisstory andHeat Radio) to SDL, some of the vacated space at local level was used during the spring of 2016 for a short-term pop-up, playing ABBA songs (and versions thereof) and related content. It ran as a commercial partnership withMamma Mia!: the Musical.[7]
An online-only sibling, Magic Workout has been made available as one of a suite of streaming-only Bauer services. The temporary service formed part of Magic's partnership with breast cancer charity Walk The Walk'sMoonwalk event.[8]A similar service,Cool FM Workout, was launched by Bauer in partnership with the Belfast City Marathon in 2021.[9]
In late 2017, a slot on theDigital One multiplex which had been occupied since the summer byKiss Fresh was temporarily used by a Christmas music station under the Magic Christmas banner; it was one of two festive stations available on D1 that year, withHeart Extra making its annual switch toHeart Extra Christmas around the same time.[10] (During 2018, this capacity was used byAbsolute Radio 90s, and since February 2019 the space has been occupied byKisstory). In December 2018 and 2019, the main Magic station flipped to an all-Christmas playlist, and so a discrete Christmas station was not provided.[11]
Magic 100% Christmas was launched online in August 2020, several months earlier than previous Christmas music stations in order to, according to Bauer, help lift the mood of the nation in theCOVID-19 pandemic.[12] Unlike the earlier Magic Christmas, this service did not broadcast on DAB.
Bond 24/7 was a pop-up station which ran from 29 September to 6 October 2021. It was launched to mark the release of the 25th film in theJames Bond seriesNo Time to Die and would play music from the James Bond films.[13]
There was also a complementary Magic-branded music television channel available on theSky,Freesat andVirgin Media digital TV platforms in the UK, operating as part ofThe Box Plus Network. The channel played classic and contemporary melodic pop hits.
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