Radio 538
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| Broadcast area | Netherlands |
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| Slogan | Radio = 538 Eén station, alle hits (One station, all the hits) |
| Frequency | between 102.0 and 102.9 MHz (FM) (and in Limburg on 891 kHz midwave) |
| First air date | 11 December 1992 |
| Audience share | 11% (January 2011 / February 2011, [1]) |
| Owner | RTL Nederland |
| Webcast | [2] |
| Website | www.radio538.nl |
Radio 538 (radio vijf-drie-acht) is a Dutch commercial radio station aimed at young people. It has a broad format which includes Top 40, dance, R&B and recent hits. As of January-February 2011, the station has a daily audience reach in the 7.00-19.00 time period of 11%, putting it in second place behind ORN Radio's regional commercial network and ahead of public broadcasters Radio 2 and Radio 3FM.[1]
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[edit] History
Radio 538 was founded in 1992 by a group of former employees of Radio Veronica, led by Lex Harding. Transmissions began on 11 December 1992 from a villa in Bussum. The name Radio 538 is a reference to the wavelength (538 m) on which Veronica was broadcast in the seventies.
Initially, from its start in 1992 until 1995, Radio 538 was available only via cable. A request to be allowed to broadcast over the air was rejected at that time. Following a media campaign during which 320,000 signatures were collected, Radio 538 got its over-the-air frequency in 1995 – or more precisely, a collection of several regional frequencies. In 2003, Radio 538 was granted a new nationwide frequency, 102 MHz (FM). Radio 538 had to pay €57 million for the new frequencies, which it can operate until 2011.
In 1995 Lex Harding started TMF (The Music Factory), a TV station, and Erik de Zwart became the new chairman of Radio 538. At the end of 2002 Erik de Zwart left to go to competitor Noordzee FM. Jan-Willem Brüggenwirth became the new chairman. In December 2003 Radio 538 was sold to Advent International, Lex Harding retaining 10% of the shares. In May 2005 Radio 538 was sold in its entirety to John de Mol's Talpa company. In June 2007 the Talpa holding was sold to RTL Nederland.
[edit] Spinoffs
In 1999 Radio 538 started the hip-hop and contemporary R&B program Juize, which developed into the radio station Juize.FM on 18 July 2004. Currently[when?], the station has 16,000 listeners per day[citation needed], making it one of the five most popular radio stations on the internet. Since 1 July 2005, Juize FM is broadcast in most of the Netherlands by cable and has also started running shows with presenters.
[edit] DJ's (2011)
[edit] Former DJ's
[edit] See also
[edit] References
[edit] External links
