| |
|---|---|
| Broadcast area | Greater Manchester |
| Frequency | FM: 96.2 MHz DAB: 12C |
| RDS | GRT HITS |
| Branding | The Good Times Sound Like This Across Manchester & The North West |
| Programming | |
| Format | Classic Hits |
| Network | GHR North West (Greatest Hits Radio) |
| Ownership | |
| Owner | Bauer Media Audio UK |
| Hits Radio Manchester | |
| History | |
First air date | 2 April1974 |
Former names | Piccadilly Radio Piccadilly Gold Piccadilly 261 Magic 1152 Key 2 Key Radio |
Former frequencies | 1151 kHz 1152 kHz |
| Technical information | |
Transmitter coordinates | 53°29′28″N2°06′52″W / 53.49124°N 2.11445°W /53.49124; -2.11445 |
| Links | |
| Website | GHR Manchester & The North West |
Greatest Hits Radio Manchester & The North West is anIndependent Local Radio station based inManchester, England, owned and operated byBauer as part of theGreatest Hits Radio Network. It broadcasts toGreater Manchester and North West England.
As of September 2024, the station broadcasts to a weekly audience of 341,000 listeners, according toRAJAR.[1]
The station began broadcasting at 5am on Tuesday 2 April 1974 as Piccadilly Radio on 261 m (1151 kHz then) AM/MW and on 97.0 MHz FM (from the same transmitter in Saddleworth that is now used byHits Radio Manchester). The medium wave frequency moved to 1152 kHz on 23 November 1978 with the implementation of the Geneva 1975 plan. The station was named afterPiccadilly Gardens in Manchester, and Piccadilly Plaza was home to the station's first studios until 1996, when it relocated to the Castlefield area of Manchester.
Piccadilly's founding managing director was Philip Birch, who previously ran the highly influential pirate stationRadio London until it closed down ahead of theMarine Broadcasting Offences Act 1967 in August 1967. The first presenter on air wasRoger Day – himself an ex-pirate radio presenter – and the first song played on air was "Good Vibrations" byThe Beach Boys.
Many of Britain's best-known broadcasters started their careers at Piccadilly, includingChris Evans,Mike Sweeney,Steve Penk,James H. Reeve,Andy Peebles,Gary Davies,Tim Grundy,Timmy Mallett,Pete Mitchell,Geoff Lloyd,Mark Radcliffe,James Stannage,Stu Allan,Nick Robinson andKarl Pilkington.
Journalist Paul Lockitt joined Piccadilly in 1979 and became the station's longest serving on-air employee, working as a producer, presenter and newscaster until his departure in 2017.
Piccadilly Radio split into two services in 1988, withKey 103 broadcast onFM with a contemporary music format, while Piccadilly continued onAM, initially under its full service format, gradually adopting a 'golden oldies' music playlist asPiccadilly Gold.
In the mid-1990s, Piccadilly Gold becamePiccadilly 1152 as the playlist moved away from "golden oldies" to a mix of classic and current easy-listening music. The late-night phone-in withJames Stannage became the most popular radio talk show outside London, whilst the Dave Ward and Umberto breakfast show helped the station to become one of the biggest AM stations.
In 1994, a rival station,Fortune 1458 (later renamed 1458 Lite AM, today broadcasting as 1458Capital Gold) commenced onBBC GMR's former AM frequency. Despite heavy marketing, and many ex-Piccadilly presenters on the new station, Piccadilly 1152 remained Manchester's most popular station, other than sister station Key 103, until the late 1990s when smaller, localised FM stations inOldham,Warrington andBury began to erode away Piccadilly's audience base.
In 1994, Piccadilly (Key 103/Piccadilly 1152) were part of theTransworld Radio Group, which was bought by present ownersBauer Radio (thenEMAP). In 1999/2000, parent company EMAP re-branded the station asMagic 1152, to fall in-line with the other nineMagic stations they owned across London and the north of England.
The idea of a corporate "Magic" brand of stations was seen to be beneficial when selling air time to national advertisers. This change in name also coincided with the 25th birthday of Piccadilly Radio. The station was branded as "Piccadilly 1152 – the magic of Manchester" during the transition. Except for a short spell in 2000 – when Key 103 was briefly renamed Piccadilly Key 103 – the Piccadilly brand was finally retired.
In December 2001, EMAP decided that it was more economical for the Magic network to share off-peak programmes. Magic 1152, in line with the other seven Magic AM stations in northern England, began networking 10 am – 2 pm, and 7 pm – 6 am by carrying programming fromMagic 105.4 in London. During these hours, it was simply known asMagic, although there were local commercial breaks, and local news on the hour.
In January 2003, after a sharp decline in listening, the station ceased networking with the London station, and a regional northern network was created with the Manchester station providing networked output at weekends while sister stationMagic 1152 in Newcastle provided weekday programming.
From July 2006, more networking was introduced across the Northern Magic AM network, with local output reduced to a daily four-hour breakfast show, local news and advertising. In April 2012, Magic 1152, inline with the majority of other Magic North stations, dropped local weekend breakfast shows.
Between March 2013 and December 2014, weekday breakfast was syndicated withMagic 1548 inLiverpool andMagic 999 inPreston.[2]
On 5 January 2015, Magic 1152 was rebranded as Key 2, as Magic FM in London went national on DAB. The station formed part of theBauer City 2 network. All programming was now networked with the other Bauer AM stations in the North although local news, weather and travel continue to be broadcast as opt-outs during the day.
In June 2018, following the relaunch and rebrand of Key 103 asHits Radio, the station was rebranded again as Key Radio, retaining the former local identity in a secondary capacity.[3]
On 7 January 2019, Key Radio rebranded as Greatest Hits Radio Manchester.[4]
Following the sale ofThe Revolution in October 2020, the service is also broadcast on 96.2 FM from a transmitter inOldham, primarily serving theOldham,Rochdale andTameside areas of Greater Manchester.[5]
In February 2021, Bauer announced it would close GHR's medium-wave service on 1152 kHz, marking the end of 47 years of broadcasting on the former AM frequency for Piccadilly Radio.[6] The AM transmitter ceased broadcasting on 28 April 2021.
On 17 June 2021 Bauer announced the purchase ofImagine Radio from Like Media Group, with the existing Imagine service slated to be replaced by GHR services forStockport and North Cheshire andthe Peak District and Derbyshire Dales.[7] Consequently, Greatest Hits Radio can now be heard on FM in the southern parts of Greater Manchester.