Hits Radio Network
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| Broadcast area | Northern England, Scotland and the West Midlands |
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| Frequency | FM: 96.3 - 106.7 MHz DAB |
| Programming | |
| Language(s) | English |
| Format | Contemporary Hit Radio |
| Ownership | |
| Owner | Bauer Radio |
| Bauer City 2 Bauer City 3 | |
Bauer City 1 is a network of 20 CHR local radio stations in Northern England, Scotland and the West Midlands, owned and operated by Bauer Radio.
The stations, which carry separate localised branding, air a mix of local and networked music-led programming, alongside local news, travel and sport. The majority of networked programming is produced and broadcast from Key 103 in Manchester and Clyde 1 in Glasgow.
Stations
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Programming and presenters
Local programming - consisting of at least eight hours on weekdays and 4 hours on Saturdays and Sundays - is mainly produced and broadcast live from the originating station's studios. The main exception is TFM, which shares all programming with Newcastle-based Metro Radio.
From July 2017, West FM in Ayrshire will move its output to Clyde 1's Clydebank studios, but will retain its local programming with local news, sales and charity staff based in Ayr.[1]
The majority of networked programming is broadcast from Key 103 in Castlefield, Manchester and Clyde 1 in Clydebank, Glasgow. Networked output also originates from Forth 1 in Edinburgh. Apart from some weekend and overnight output, separate networked shows are produced for Scotland and England.
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Northern England and West Midlands
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Scotland
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Networked presenters
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On 28 July 2015, Bauer announced it would reintroduce further separate programming for Scotland and Northern England, including split editions of Old Skool and Anthems and the weekday evening and Sunday morning shows. The changes were introduced during August 2015.[2]
In February 2017, the Free Radio group of stations in the West Midlands began carrying off-peak programming from the network, replacing most of its own regional output from Birmingham.
From July 2017, most of the local daytime shows from 10am-2pm on weekdays were replaced with networked shows for Northern England (from Key 103 with Debbie Mac) and Scotland (from Clyde 1 with Greig Easton).[3] CFM and Free Radio retain their own daytime programming.
Opt-outs and variations
- Clyde 1 provides live football commentaries throughout the season, alongside a nightly edition of its sports show, Superscoreboard, on weekday evenings from 6-8pm. Clyde 1 also opts out of Floorfillers on Saturday evenings to air The GBXperience.
- Metro Radio and TFM opt out of the networked late show from Sunday to Thursday nights to air the long-running North East talk show, Night Owls.
- Radio City airs the 'Legends Phone-In' on Monday and Thursday evenings during the football season.
- The four Free Radio stations in the West Midlands share a regional daytime show on weekdays from 10am-2pm, presented from the Birmingham studios by Dan Morrissey.
- Forth 1 and Radio Borders air Super Scoreboard sports shows on Saturday afternoons - with the latter providing in-depth rugby union coverage.
News
All stations in the network carry their own local news bulletins hourly from 6am to 7pm on weekdays and from 7am to 1pm on Saturdays and Sundays. Headlines are broadcast on the half-hour during weekday breakfast and drivetime shows, alongside sport and traffic bulletins.
On weekends bespoke networked bulletins air from 2pm (until 6pm Saturday, 4pm Sunday). These are produced by Clyde 1 for all the Scottish stations, while the Leeds newsroom at Radio Aire produces bulletins for the English stations. At all other times, mainly evening & overnight, hourly national bulletins originate from Sky News Radio.
References
- ^ West FM to move output from Ayr to Glasgow, RadioToday, 12 June 2017
- ^ Bauer brings local radio back to Scotland, Radio Today, 28 July 2015
- ^ Networked mid-morning shows for Bauer stations, RadioToday, 12 June 2017