Heart West Midlands

Heart West Midlands
Heart West Midlands
The Heart Network logo.svg
Broadcast area Birmingham and the West Midlands
Slogan "More Music Variety"
Frequency FM
100.7 MHz
RDS:__HEART__
DAB
12A (West Midlands)
Online
First air date 6 September 1994
Format Hot AC
Audience share 8.4% (August 2011, [1])
Owner Heart Network, Global Radio
Website www.heart.co.uk/westmids/

Heart West Midlands is a radio station based in Birmingham, England, as part of the Heart Network, with a regional license to broadcast to the West Midlands. It is aimed primarily at people aged 25 – 44, which makes the station just about enter the Hot AC format.

Contents

History

Heart began broadcasting on the 6 September 1994, as 100.7 Heart FM being the UK's third Independent Regional Radio station, five days after Century Radio and Jazz FM North West. The first song to be played on 100.7 Heart fm was "Something Got Me Started", by Simply Red. Its original format of "soft adult contemporary" music included artists such as Lionel Richie, Simply Red and Tina Turner. Reflecting this, its early slogan described the station as being "100.7 degrees cooler".

Its programming format was modified in 1996, a year after Chrysalis launched Heart 106.2 in London. The new format saw the "soft" AC music replaced with a generally more neutral music playlist, with more upbeat music from the same big-name artists like Phil Collins. This saw radio audience listening figures grow to equal that of local rival BRMB, which was for a long time undisputed number one commercial radio in the West Midlands. New disc-jockeys were brought in from other stations; Daryl Denham arrived in 2000 from Hallam FM's breakfast show in a high-profile move. Ian Danter and Carlos also arrived from BRMB.

One of Heart's most popular DJs, Tushar Makwana, was killed in 2004 following a burglary at his home which left him injured on his doorstep.[1] The station's staff paid tribute to the presenter on-air, and campaigned for the person(s) responsible to be brought to justice. The station's reception area now includes a photographic tribute and plaque.

Following a corporate re-brand of the station, including a change of logo, the more contemporary look was soon reflected in the station's sound. The format is now described as more Hot AC and features more music from the likes of Natasha Bedingfield, James Blunt and Keane as well as soul music from the 1970s, branded as Club Classics. During this relaunch long-time DJs departed the station, such as Ian Danter, Carlos, Paul Bryant and Nick Piercey, to be replaced by younger DJs such as Steve Denyer and Dave Clarke.

2005 saw the evacuation of its studios after West Midlands Police alerted staff and other civilians following a bomb alert in Birmingham's Broad Street complex station.[2] The station continued to operate initially relaying sister station LBC News 1152 before transmission switched to the studios of Century 106 (now Heart 106) in Nottingham which broadcast reports from DNN Journalists John Collins and Dave Richards, who had to broadcast from a phone booth due to restrictions on the use of mobile phones.

On 11 September 2006, new station idents and jingles were used for the first time, and saw the station referred to purely as 'Heart' rather than '100.7 Heart fm'.

On 25 June 2007 it was announced that Heart along with its sister stations The Arrow, LBC and Galaxy were to be sold for £170 million to Global Radio from Chrysalis Radio.[3]

From 28 April 2008 Heart began simulcasting some of its programmes from Heart 106.2 in London. There are now only ten hours of local programming from Birmingham during weekdays and four hours on Saturday and Sunday.

Station Information

Former logo discontinued in 2004

The station is housed in 111 Broad Street - the same building as Global Radio-owned sister stations 102.2 Capital FM Birmingham and The Arrow. The Digital News Network (DNN) also broadcast from the building until it ceased transmission in August 2006, to be replaced by LBC, whose regional DAB service was fully rolled out on September 1. Regional news bulletins continues to be broadcast from the building on Heart and Capital.

The FM signal comes from the Sutton Coldfield transmitter, and is audible throughout a large part of the Midlands, including the East Midlands towns of Leicester, Derby and parts of Nottingham. It can be heard with fairly decent audible quality in Kingswood Bristol. This is because Kingswood is very high up meaning there is a clear line of sight between the north and Kingswood. The station is available on DAB, thanks to eight transmitters throughout the West Midlands on the MXR 12A multiplex, with strong signals from The Wrekin and Ilmington in south Warwickshire.

Programming

Monday–Friday

Time Main presenter(s)/programme Location
0100 – 0400 All 80s, All Night (automated) Leicester Square, London
0400 - 0600 Nicola Bonn
0600 – 1000 Ed James & Rachel New: Heart Breakfast Birmingham
1000 – 1300 Toby Anstis Leicester Square, London
1300 – 1600 Nick Snaith
1600 – 1900 Steve Denyer: Heart Drivetime (Local) Birmingham
1900 – 2200 Simon Dale Leicester Square, London
2200 – 0100 Simon Beale

Friday variation

Time Main presenter(s) Location
1900 - 0000 Club Classics with Simon Dale Leicester Square, London

Saturday

Time Main presenter(s)/programme Location
0000 - 0200 Club Classics (automated) Leicester Square, London
0200 – 0600 Vanessa Elms
0600 - 0800 Matt Wilkinson
0800 – 1200 Julian Jones: Heart Breakfast (Local) Birmingham
1200 – 1600 Nick Snaith Leicester Square, London
1600 – 1900 Emma Bunton
1900 – 0000 Club Classics with Steve Denyer

Sunday

Time Main presenter(s)/programme Location
0000 - 0200 Club Classics (automated) Leicester Square, London
0200 – 0600 Vanessa Elms
0600 - 0800 Matt Wilkinson
0800 – 1200 Julian Jones: Heart Breakfast (Local) Birmingham
1200 – 1600 Jason Donovan Leicester Square, London
1600 – 1900 Rich Clarke & Kat Shoob: The Vodafone Freebees Big Top 40
1900 – 2200 Chris Skinner
2200 - 0100 Simon Beale

Past presenters

Presenters who have hosted shows on Heart in the past include many who have either been or gone on to become well known personalities within the Birmingham and West Midlands region, as well as at national level. Former presenters on the station include Carlos, Paul Bryant, Ben Foster, Daryl Denham, Phil Upton, Nick Piercey, Sarah Jane Mee, Hellon Wheels, Charlie Jordan, Warren Moore and Dave Clarke.

See also

  • Heart Network
  • Heart Gloucestershire
  • Heart West Country
  • Heart Home Counties

References

  1. ^ http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/west_midlands/3483125.stm DJ dies after gang robbery
  2. ^ http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/4668313.stm Birmingham threat 'real' - police
  3. ^ Chrysalis sells three radio stations

External links

Coordinates: 52°28′27″N 1°55′0″W / 52.47417°N 1.916667°W / 52.47417; -1.916667


Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.

Игры ⚽ Нужно сделать НИР?

Look at other dictionaries:

  • West Midlands (region) — infobox England region | name = West Midlands| short name = West Midlands hq = Birmingham imagename = status = Region area km2= 13,004 area mi2= 5,020 area rank= 7th density = 405/km² nuts= UKG euro= West Midlands population = 5,267,337 (2001)… …   Wikipedia

  • West Midlands bus routes 19, 19W and 19X (Coventry) — 19 19W 19X (Coventry) Overview Operator National Express Coventry Garage Coventry Vehicle Mercedes Benz O405N …   Wikipedia

  • NHS West Midlands — is a strategic health authority (SHA) of the National Health Service in England. It operates in the West Midlands region, which is coterminous with the local government office region. Contents 1 General information 2 Full list …   Wikipedia

  • Meriden, West Midlands — Coordinates: 52°26′16″N 1°38′59″W / 52.4379°N 1.6496°W / 52.4379; 1.6496 …   Wikipedia

  • Shirley, West Midlands — infobox UK place country = England map type= West Midlands latitude= 52.409 longitude= 1.823 population= official name= Shirley metropolitan borough= Solihull region= West Midlands metropolitan county= West Midlands constituency westminster= post …   Wikipedia

  • MXR West Midlands — is a regional commercial digital radio multiplex in the United Kingdom, which serves the West Midlands. Transmitters MXR West Midlands is transmitted on frequency block 12A from the transmitter sites: *Droitwich *Daventry *Ilmington *Pye Green… …   Wikipedia

  • List of bus routes in the West Midlands county — A map which shows the area these routes operate in. This is a list of all the Network West Midlands bus routes in the West Midlands, England. Contents 1 …   Wikipedia

  • Heart (radio network) — Heart Fichier:The Heart Network logo.svg Création 1994 Propriétaire Global Radio Slogan « More music variety » Langue Anglais Pays Royaume Uni Siège social Londres …   Wikipédia en Français

  • List of schools in the West Midlands — The following is a partial list of currently operating schools in the West Midlands region of England. You may also find of use to find a particular school. See also the List of the oldest schools in the United Kingdom.Listed by local education… …   Wikipedia

  • Heart of England — refers most commonly to lands in the Midlands of the country of England, in particular the name Heart of England features in a number of institutions centred upon Solihull Fact|date=August 2008 in the county of the West Midlands.Heart of England… …   Wikipedia

Share the article and excerpts

Direct link
Do a right-click on the link above
and select “Copy Link”