Hits Radio Staffordshire & Cheshire

Signal One

Broadcast area	Staffordshire & southern Cheshire
Frequency	96.4 MHz, 96.9 MHz, 102.6 MHz, DAB
Programming
Format	Contemporary hit radio
Ownership
Owner	UTV Radio
History
First air date	5 September 1983

For the T-cell signal, see [[:T helper cell]].

Signal One is an Independent Local Radio station broadcasting from studios in Shelton, Stoke-on-Trent to Staffordshire and Cheshire, England on 96.4 (Sutton Common, Macclesfield), 96.9 (Pye Green) and 102.6 MHz FM (Alsagers Bank) for Cheshire, Stafford and North Staffordshire respectively. It also broadcasts on the Stoke "UTV-EMAP Stoke-on-Trent" DAB multiplex 12D. It is owned by UTV Radio.

It can also be received in a much wider area due to the power of the Alsagers Bank transmitter. In RAJAR surveys, Signal 1 have consistently emerged as the leading station in their market. In October 2005, it launched an MP3 internet stream facility.

It is now home to the "Perry and Louise" breakfast show, Simon Morykin on daytimes and Liz Ellis on drive-time. Local news and sport is broadcast each hour. Every first Tuesday of each month, Signal broadcasts live from Liquid Nightclub, holding an event for young clubbers aged 18 and under.

It is one of three stations in the UTV Radio group (the other two being The Wave in Swansea and The Pulse of West Yorkshire) which broadcast contemporary music.

History

The station began as Signal Radio which first broadcast at 6am, 5 September 1983, with DJ John Evington selecting Neil Diamond's "Beautiful Noise" as its first track. The station initially broadcast on 104.3 MHz and 1170 kHz (a wavelength of 257 metres, with the phrase "2 5 7" becoming a distinctive leitmotif), changing to 102.6 MHz soon after. The station's name is derived from "Signal" the name of the newspaper in Arnold Bennett's local novels.

Between 1990 and 1991, the Cheshire 96.4 frequency operated as an alternative AOR station, Echo 96 also carried in Stafford on 96.9.

In 1993 Signal's sister station was founded, namely RaveNation FM - this was to cater for the rapidly expanding dance music genre of the time. However, this station was disbanded in 1999 at the request of the regulator (Ofcom) after it had become apparent that RaveNation was employing a Zambian DJ who had been indicted in his home country on charges of fraud and corruption.

In 2000 the 96.4 transmitter returned to Signal 1 from Imagine FM.

Since the early 1990s, the Stafford area has also had a range of split programming on 96.9 and the alternative older targeted Signal 2 service has evolved from what was initially a "Golden Breakfast Show" only, on the original accompanying 1170 AM frequency, from back in 1992.

The Wireless Group bought the station in 1999 and were subsequently bought themselves by UTV Radio.

Former presenters

Some of Signal's past presenters include

• Paul Carrington (at Signal in the early 1990s, The Funster was known for his self-deprecating jingles. Now with BBC Radio Leeds and Asda fm)
• Craig Cash (Dave from The Royle Family)
• Ray Crowther (for many years presenter of the opt-out breakfast show for Stafford)
• Jim Davis (more recently with LBC and The Heart Network)
• Carl Emms (since known as Carlos and now at 105.7 Smooth Radio)
• Dave Evison (who hosted a weekly northern soul show called 'Club Classics' in the 1980s)
• John Evington (the station's first DJ in 1983 and a controller at the station until 2005. Now General Manager at The Revolution)
• Kevin Fernihough (now with BBC Radio Cumbria)
• Lee Finan (known affectionately as 'Leaping Lee', he hosted an extremely popular musical evening show first called 'ID 104' then renamed 'Lee Finan's Late Night Show', which ran throughout most of the mid-late 1980s, and began every evening with its own full-length theme song set to the tune of Carole King's "It's Too Late" but with alternate lyrics. After a spell at Sun FM, he is now at Real Radio (North East))
• Mark Franklin (Ex-presenter of Top of the Pops)
• Phil Gayle (hosted a late night show called 'The Show With No Name' in the late 1980s and subsequently best known for his stint as newsreader on The Big Breakfast)
• Lee Glasby (Presented Afternoon Drive, sat in for Dave Johnson and presented a regular Saturday afternoon show)
• Andy Goulding (One half of the popular morning show Andy and Louise in the Morning, now hosts the breakfast show on Mercia FM)
• Jason Hardy (now with BBC Radio Stoke)
• Paul Harvey (1996, ex overnight presenter on Key 103)
• Stu Haycock (now with Beacon Radio)
• Geoff Lloyd (now with Absolute Radio, he began his career here in 1992 as a traffic & travel reporter with AA Roadwatch before taking over the evening show)
• Dave Johnson (now with 97.5 Smooth Radio, his catchphrase on Signal was "How's your belly off for spots?")
• Chris Lowe (not the Pet Shop Boys member; he hosted a popular early evening musical show in the mid-late 1980s that also featured a very popular multiple musical snippet identification game called 'Odds and Bods. These days a multi millionaire businessman with interests in construction, media, aviation and retail)
• Orna Merchant (presented the travel news for Mark Franklin, Rob Oliver, Andy and Louise In The Morning, Matt Rogan and Liz Ellis. She is currently managing Trafficlink North in Altrincham, along with occasional cover stints on BBC Radio 5 Live)
• Russ Morris (now with BRMB)
• Chris Moyles (BBC Radio 1, he was at Signal 1994-95 and has since described the station as "the worst station he had ever worked at" )
• Rob Oliver
• David Pierrepont (David Perry)
• Sam Plank (who, with wife Verity Hilton, subsequently set up ill-fated community station for Stoke Focal Radio)
• Darren Procter (now with Key 103)
• Matt Rogan (now with Gemini FM)
• Kecks Keckerson (RIP 1999 - Formerly of Rock FM, Signal 1, Galaxy, Wish FM & Skegness Radio)
• Alex Roland
• Mel Scholes (sadly deceased, known affectionately as 'Scholesy' on air)
• James Stannage (best known for a lengthy stint on Key 103, he hosted a popular late night talk show in the 1980s that, at times, was notoriously interrupted by callers who began talking normally then loudly screamed down the telephone line, forcing Stannage to cut them off)
• Digby Taylor (currently presenting drivetime on Radio 2 U.A.E.)
• Lee Thomas
• Phil Trow (who took over Chris Lowe's early evening slot when Lowe departed the station in the late 1980s. Now with BBC Radio Lancashire)
• Anthea Turner (TV Presenter)
• Wendy Turner (sister of Anthea and also a TV Presenter)
• Terry Underhill (Terry was one of Signal's most popular presenters who achieved record breaking audience figures. He was the second breakfast presenter on the station and remained there as Head of Presentation for over eight years).
• Paula White (now with BBC Radio Stoke)
• Rob Williams (now with CFM Radio)
• Doug Wood (now with Signal 2 and Radio Caroline)

Community

Signal Radio raises thousands of pounds for local children's charities every year under the "Help a Signal Child" initiative. One of the main fundraising activities is the SIGNAL WALKATHON, which has raised in excess of £500,000 over the years. 2009 sees the station joining forces with the Donna Louise Trust, with proceeds of the Walkathon jointly split between the two.

Presenter Johnny Owen has released two singles, one to coincide with the World Cup (reaching number 64 in the national charts) and one at Christmas 2006 called "Father Christmas Stole My Girl" to raise money for "Help a Signal Child". Johnny also works at Century fm in Manchester at weekends, presenting North West Football Fever.

Controversy

Between October 2000 and January 2004 the station's most popular late programme, NRG, was broadcast. The show focused mainly on dance music, though some R'N'B was played in its final year. NRG was so popular that it attracted listeners from as far South as Birmingham and as far North as Wigan. Matt Rogan was the primary presenter, though Steve Ball presented the show on Friday and Sunday nights from May 2003 onwards. Memorable features from the programme included 'Vinyl Matt', 'Back to the Old Skool', 'Midnight Mess', and 'Midnight Munchies'.

NRG was dropped early in 2004 and replaced by the Late Night Love Affair which was pre recorded in order to save the station money. The show was nowhere near as popular as NRG had been. This move caused some of Signal 1's most devoted listeners to retune to other local stations and was one of the programme controller's most controversial decisions.

Signal 1 radio's '25th Anniversary' concert on 13/09/08 at Trentham Gardens became a media controversy where it was reported the audience were kept waiting in a holding area for 4 hours after the gates were supposed to open with no facilities or information. The sound system apparently failed to work properly and the head line band The Human League had their set cut by two thirds causing lead singer Phil Oakey to apologise to the audience for, in his words “the shambles". Subsequent disinformation provided by Signal FM staff on the ground to prevent crowd disorder, falsely accused support act Ali Campbell of causing the delays by his alleged prima-donna behaviour. This then caused a hate campaign to be directed against Campbell by Human League and Go West fans who incorrectly blamed him for their bands being treated badly. Campbell had in fact been totally innocent and as the hate campaign began to get out of control his management jointly with the Human League and Go West issued a press release denouncing Signal 1 Radio for the concert organisation and exonerating Campbell. Angry concert goers have demanded refunds in their hundreds. UTV have refused to do so and are being pursued through the UK civil courts. They are also are being investigated by trading standards for breeching the UK’s Goods and Services Act.

Trivia

It was revealed some years later that, in the mid-1980s, Signal refused to play Radio Africa by Latin Quarter because of the fear some listeners may have thought they were actually tuned into an African radio station.

Clifford T Ward, the man behind such singles as Gaye and "Home Thoughts From Abroad", featured on the station's first jingle package., which were also recorded by the Halle Orchestra.

External links

• Official page
• Signal Radio Jingles
• Listening Room - first 25 years of Signal Radio
• History of local radio in Staffordshire
• Sutton Common transmitter, near Macclesfield
• Pye Green transmitter, near Stafford