Sun FM

Broadcast area	Sunderland
Frequency	103.4 MHz
First air date	5 November 1990
Format	Contemporary
Audience share	(, [1])
Owner	The Local Radio Company - a subsidiary of UKRD

Sun FM is a radio station serving the City of Sunderland and also available in Tyne and Wear, northern parts of County Durham in England. It broadcasts on the frequency 103.4 MHz and plays a mix of contemporary and classic popular music alongside local news, travel and covered ground breaking dance music in the early 90's.

Wear FM

The station now known as SUN FM was launched in 1990 as Wear FM (Sunderland Community Radio Association) was initially led by maverick Australian Pieta O'Shaughessey. Reputedly the station could also be received as far away as Middlesbrough by attaching wire coat-hangers and lengths of wire to radio aerials, which were positioned outside of teenagers' bedroom windows.

The station gained international acclaim for its community programming and social inclusion. Its finest hour came with the winning of the Sony Award for UK Radio Station of the Year in 1992. Covering Durham and Sunderland, the station faced competition for its licence when it reapplied for it in February 1994, with competition from the Wearside Broadcasting Company. Although the licence was retained, times were not good at the station - tension between management and staff reached boiling point, and this led to a walkout in early March of that year, as protests raged about how the station was being run. They felt that, due to their base being at the University of Sunderland, a takeover by the same was imminent. The University made various attempts to save the station but legislation prevented a public body owning the station and a commercial buyer was sought.

Wear FM ceased transmissions in 1995 when it was taken over by the Minster Sound Group, who relaunched the station as Sun City FM. Wear FM's Studios in the Foster Building were taken over by the University of Sunderland.

WEAR FM SPORT

Mainly broadcast on a Saturday morning from 8am to noon. This programme was probably the most listened to programme on the station. Produced and written by Gary Ellwood and presented by Graeme Anderson. The programme covered all aspects of sport within Wearside. Fishing, Ice Hockey, Basketball and, of course, Sunderland AFC were covered in full each week. The Sunderland AFC hour from 11am was it's most popular item. Probably the first and only audio fanzine for a football club.

However all aspects of sport were covered with Ten Pin Bowling, Cricket, Rugby, Youth Football, Netball and anything else you could think of covered from time to time.

WEAR FM PRESENTERS - "THE GOD SQUAD"

Among the team that was committed to Presenting and producing from its birth to closure was Peter Lee and Neville Whitehead from Shiney Row.Their main contribution was to the Sunday Breakfast Show Which covered faith and moral values. Their aim was to appeal to a wide section of population by the varied style of religious music available and Interview various people from all walks of life. Peter was noted in the station for name dropping celebrities such as Cliff Richard, Jan Graveson and Harry Secombe.

From SUN City 103.4 to SUN FM

Sun City took over when Wear FM ceased broadcasting in 1995. But the bad run of form continued when Sun City 103.4's operator was financially penalised by the Radio Authority for not coming up with elements of their Promise Of Performance, an agreement which formed part of their licence remit (The breakfast show disgrace) and not offering a balanced argument with options of sadism and the occult.

A sale to Border Radio Holdings, owners of the Century brand, followed with a new name of Sun City FM. In January 1999 Brian Lister joined what was then Sun FM in Sunderland as Managing Director. Sun FM was wholly owned by Border Radio and later became part of the Capital Radio Group when they acquired Border Radio in April 2000. Granada TV acquired the Border TV business for £50m, with the total deal of £146m to allow Capital Radio to hold on to the radio business. It was Scottish Radio Holdings that proved strong competition in the process, with SRH bidding £141m, but failing with an increased offer from the London based business.

Later, with Capital streamlining their businesses, and focusing on large area based stations, part of their 'Capital Cities' portfolio, Radio Investments Limited purchased Sun FM and its handling company 'Bucks Broadcasting' in March 2001. This sale also included the other group station, Mix 96 in Aylesbury. (Capital, along with sales of its 30% share in Wolverhampton's The Wolf to Forever Broadcasting, netted around £9.5 cash in the deals.) Brian Lister continued his work with RIL and was appointed Group Development Director in July 2001, responsible for licence applications and development work around the UK. He later left - what became known as The Local Radio Company - and is now a freelance consultant but still with a close working relationship with TLRC.

Today

Today, Sun FM plays chart hits and oldies, and provides local news, sport and information on 103.4FM from its Sunderland based studios, reaching southwards through its designated broadcast area to Washington, Ryhope, Houghton-Le-Spring and Murton, and outwards to Newcastle, South Shields, Chester-Le-Street and Durham itself. In 2009 and moving on into 2010, Sun FM is under new ownership after the UKRD / TLRC ownership bid was successful.

Programming

The current programming from 103.4 Sun FM is:

Monday–Friday

Time	Main presenter(s)	Location
0600 – 1000	Simon Grundy	Sunderland
1000 – 1500	Mark Black
1500 – 1900	Mark Thorburn
1900 – 2200	Mike Nicholson
2200 – 0600	The Nightshift (automated)

Saturday

Time	Main presenter(s)	Location
0600 – 1000	Mike Nicholson	Sunderland
1000 – 1400	Mark Thorburn
1400 – 1800	Nick Jordan
1800 – 0000	Marie Gardiner

Sunday

Time	Main presenter(s)	Location
0000 – 0600	The Nightshift (automated)	Sunderland
0600 – 1000	Mike Nicholson
1000 – 1400	Simon Grundy
1400 – 1600	Mark Black
1600 – 1900	The Vodafone Big Top 40: Rich Clarke & Kat Shoob	Leicester Square, London
1900 – 2200	Marie Gardiner	Sunderland
2200 – 0600	The Nightshift (automated)

External links

• Sun FM
• Sun FM - Listen Online