Heart Solent
 | |
| Broadcast area | South and West Hampshire, South and East Dorset, West Sussex and Isle of Wight |
|---|---|
| Frequency | 96.7, 97.5 & 102.3 MHz 220.352(11C) & 218.64(11B) MHz |
| Branding | This is Heart |
| Programming | |
| Format | Adult Contemporary |
| Ownership | |
| Owner | Global |
| History | |
First air date | 30 July 2010 (Regional) |
| Technical information | |
| ERP | 450W 850W 2kW |
| Links | |
| Website | Heart Solent |
Heart Solent is a local radio station owned and operated by Global Radio as part of the Heart network. It broadcasts to southern and western parts of Hampshire, West Sussex, Dorset and Isle of Wight. The station launched on 30 July 2010 as a result of a merger between Heart Hampshire (formerly Ocean Sound) and Heart Dorset & New Forest (formerly 2CR).
History
The regional station originally broadcast as two separate stations - Two Counties Radio (2CR) began broadcasting to East Dorset and West Hampshire in September 1980. Ocean Sound served South Hampshire, West Sussex and Isle of Wight from October 1986 onwards.
At first, Ocean broadcast two distinct services for the east and west of its service area with a further service for the Winchester area launching in December 1987. The West service was relaunched as Power FM (later Capital South Coast) a year later while the north and east services (The Light FM and Ocean Sound) merged in 1992.
Both 2CR and Ocean underwent various ownership changes until its current owners Global Radio rebranded the stations as Heart on 22 June 2009.
On 21 June 2010, Global Radio announced it would merge both stations as part of plans to reduce the Heart network of stations from 33 to 16.[1] The new station began broadcasting from Segensworth, near Whiteley on Friday 30 July 2010, leading to the closure of studios in Bournemouth.[2]
Programming
Local programming is produced and broadcast from Heart's Fareham studios from 6-10am and 4-7pm on weekdays, 6-10am on Saturdays and 12pm-4pm on Sundays. All networked programming originates from Global Radio's London headquarters, including the syndicated Vodafone Big Top 40 on Sunday afternoons. The station's local presenters include Richard Clarke.
Former presenters
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News
Heart Solent broadcasts hourly local news bulletins from 6am-7pm on weekdays and 6am-12pm at weekends. The Fareham newsroom also produces bulletins for Capital South Coast.[4]
National news updates air hourly from Global's London headquarters at all other times.
Availability and transmitters
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Analogue (FM)
| Transmitter Site | Frequency | Power | RDS Name | PI Code | Area | County |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Crabwood Farm | 96.7 MHz | 450W | Heart___ | C365 (C565 Switched) | Winchester, Eastleigh & Southampton | Hampshire |
| Fort Widley | 97.5 MHz | 850W | Heart___ | C365 (C465 Switched) | Portsmouth, Fareham, Chichester & Isle of Wight | Hampshire & West Sussex |
| Nine Barrow Down | 102.3 MHz | 2000W | HEART___ | C365 (C665 Switched) | Swanage, Bournemouth & Poole | Dorset |
Digital (DAB)
| Multiplex Name | Bitrate | Short Label | Long Label | SID |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| NOW Bournemouth | 128kbit/s | Heart | Heart Dorset | C665 |
| NOW South Hampshire | 112kbit/s | Heart Hs | Heart Hampshire | C365 |
References
- ^ Global Radio to halve number of local Heart stations, mediaguardian.co.uk, 21 June 2010 Archived 1 January 2011 at WebCite
- ^ Heart slims but strengthens, RadioToday, 21 June 2010 Archived 1 January 2011 at WebCite
- ^ "New breakfast duo for Heart South Coast". radiotoday.co.uk. 15 April 2013. Retrieved 7 April 2018.
- ^ Heart South Coast public file