Galaxy (radio network)
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| Broadcast area | Birmingham, County Durham, Hampshire, Isle of Wight, Manchester, Northumberland, Scotland, Tyne and Wear, Yorkshire, UK |
|---|---|
| Frequency | 100Mhz-106Mhz, DAB in some areas, Sky Digital - 0112 Virgin Media - 919 RDS: _Galaxy_ or Galaxy__ |
| Branding | 'Love music' |
| Programming | |
| Language(s) | English |
| Format | Rhythmic CHR |
| Ownership | |
| Owner | Global Radio |
| The Heart Network, The Hit Music Network | |
| Links | |
| Website | Galaxy |
The Galaxy Network is a radio station brand owned by Global Radio and broadcasts across the United Kingdom on FM in regional areas of England and Scotland, through the digital platform with Sky and DAB and online respectively. The Galaxy Network includes stations: Galaxy Birmingham, Galaxy Manchester, Galaxy North East, Galaxy Scotland, Galaxy South Coast and Galaxy Yorkshire. Galaxy specialises in dance and r'n'b music with shows broadcasting locally and shows which are broadcast within the network to other Galaxy Stations. Since Friday 21 March 2008, the radio station has changed their 'Passion for Music, Passion for Life' strap-line slogan to 'Love Music' . Monday 28 April 2008 saw Galaxy rebranding their whole radio station with a brand new layout including a fresh logo and a completely new show schedule. Galaxy Scotland (formerly known as XFM Scotland), launched on Saturday 7 November 2008, and Galaxy South Coast (rebranded from Power FM), launched on Saturday 22 November 2008, are the two new radio stations to join the Galaxy Network which is part of Global Radio's plans to simplify radio stations they own and expand other radio stations across the UK.
Galaxy Radio History
The first Galaxy radio station, Galaxy 101, was launched in 1990 in South West England broadcasting from Bristol and was operated under the Chiltern Radio Group. Chrysalis Radio purchased the station in 1996 and in 1997 expanded the network by buying the Faze FM operated stations which were Kiss 102 in Manchester (now Galaxy Manchester) and Kiss 105 in Yorkshire (now Galaxy Yorkshire) respectively. In 1998, black community station Choice FM was acquired in Birmingham and became Galaxy Birmingham. Chrysalis Radio scored another success in 1999 with the Radio Authority's award of the North East regional licence to Galaxy North East. However, Galaxy 101's success in Bristol was starting to falter, and the station was sold to the GWR Group in 2002, becoming Vibe 101 (now Kiss 101). On 7 November 2008, Xfm Scotland became Galaxy Scotland after Global Radio purchased GCap.
With Galaxy renaming their stations in 2006 to their respective areas of Birmingham, Manchester, North East, Yorkshire and Digital, they introduced a new "Up for It" image but at the same time being a more grown-up station. This is reflective in Galaxy's demographic now increasing from the 15-29 age range to the 15-34 age range.
The owners of Galaxy, Global Radio, has aims to expand the radio brand across the UK by introducing new stations in which two have occurred for Scotland with Galaxy Scotland and for the south coast of England with Galaxy South Coast.
Galaxy Dance Anthems
In 2007, Galaxy released a three disk box set called Galaxy Dance Anthems featuring 50 club classics.
Galaxy Chart Shows
The first chart Galaxy Radio broadcast was Hit40UK. After this, the Fresh 40 chart was broadcast across the brand, but soon after the chart was cancelled. A replacement chart, The Galaxy 40, was introduced and produced by Galaxy Radio. It was networked across all Galaxy radio stations. The chart show was produced and made up of the latest and most popular dance, RnB/Rap and pop hits from Galaxy stations and the public. The Galaxy 40 did its last show on Sunday 7th June 2009, leaving the commercial Big Top 40 Show to take over the airwaves, although unlike the Fresh 40 and the Galaxy 40, Big Top 40 is based on iTunes downloads and airplay. The official UK Top 10 is also available, on each station website, but not announced on air.
Present Galaxy Presenters & DJs
Networked
Hirsty
Sacha Brooks
Matt Spokes
Adele Roberts
Tom Ferguson
Duncan Wallace
Sarah Main
Riley & Durrant
Andi Durrant
David Dunne
Steve Sutherland
Ant Payne
Bodg
James Barr
James Cusack
Present Local Galaxy Presenters & DJs
The main local shows are: Mon-Fri: Breakfast: (6-10am) and Drivetime: (4-7pm), South Coast only: (1-4pm)
Saturday: Breakfast: (6-10am)
Sunday: Mid-Morning: (9am-1pm)
Scotland, South Coast and Birmingham also take extra local shows at the weekend.
Dan Kelly (Birmingham only)
Sean Coleman (Birmingham only)
James Cusack (North East and network Sunday Breakfast)
3Style (Birmingham only)
Rob Ellis (Manchester only)
Wingman (Manchester only)
Sally Hudson (Manchester only)
Steve Furnell (North East and network Galaxy 40)
Karen White (North East only)
James Barr (North East and network Sunday Evenings)
Sacha Brookes (North East)
Des & Vanessa (Scotland only)
Garry Spence (Scotland only)
Julian Sinclair (Scotland only)
Mash (Scotland only)
Zoe Hanson and Paul Gillies (South Coast only)
Ben Glover (South Coast only)
Bodg (South Coast and network Sunday Breakfast)
Simon Hirst (Yorkshire only)
Danny Oakes (Yorkshire only)
Jo-Jo (Yorkshire only)
Dan O'Connell (Yorkshire only)
Past Galaxy Presenters & DJs
Alistair Whitehead
Boy George
David Morales
Paul Oakenfold
Dave Kelly (did his last show on Thursday 4th June. Now at Capital FM London)
Alex Pepper
Adil Ray
Neil Bentley
Nemone
Graeme Smith
Jo Good
Paul Hayes
Slammin Boys
808 State
Ralph Lawson
Utah Saints
Lucio Buffone
Wayne C McDonald
Galaxy Radio Stations
- Galaxy Digital - DAB, Sky, Cable (As Galaxy Yorkshire with UK ID's and Adverts)
- Galaxy Birmingham - 102.2 FM and DAB (West Midlands)
- Galaxy Manchester - 102.0 FM and DAB
- Galaxy North East - 105.3, 105.6, 105.8, 106.4 FM and DAB
- Galaxy Scotland - 105.7, 106.1 and DAB
- Galaxy South Coast - 103.2 and DAB
- Galaxy Yorkshire - 105.1, 105.6, 105.8 FM and DAB
External links
References