Heart Thames Valley
 | |
| Broadcast area | Berkshire, Oxfordshire, north Hampshire and parts of west Buckinghamshire |
|---|---|
| Frequency | 97.0, 97.4, 102.6, 102.9 and 103.4 MHz, DAB |
| Branding | This is Thames Valley's Heart |
| Programming | |
| Format | Adult Contemporary |
| Ownership | |
| Owner | Global Radio |
| Links | |
| Website | Heart Thames Valley |
Heart Thames Valley is a local radio station owned and operated by Global Radio as part of the Heart network. It broadcasts to Berkshire, Oxfordshire, north Hampshire and parts of west Buckinghamshire from studios in Reading, southern England. The station is the result of a merger between Heart Oxfordshire (formerly Fox FM) and Heart Berkshire (formerly 2-Ten FM).
History
The station originally broadcast as two separate stations. Fox FM served Oxfordshire and West Buckinghamshire and was latterly owned by Capital Radio. Radio 210, later 2-Ten FM served Berkshire and North Hampshire and was eventually acquired by the GWR Group forming part of GWR's Mix Network. This later merged with Capital's equivalent Capital FM network (comprising the former Invicta FM, the former Southern FM, BRMB, Red Dragon FM and the former Power FM) to form The One Network, after the GWR Group plc and Capital Radio Group plc merged in May 2005. Global Radio acquired GCap Media in 2008 and rebranded most of the One Network stations to Heart, in phases by area, from January 2009.
On 21 June 2010, Global Radio announced it would merge the Oxford and Reading stations as part of plans to reduce the Heart network of stations from 33 to 16.[1] The new station began broadcasting from Reading on Friday 9 July 2010, leading to the closure of studios in Oxford.[2]
The stations still carry local advertising and travel bulletins, and accordingly are sub-branded as "Heart Thames Valley for Oxfordshire" and "Heart Thames Valley for Berkshire and NW Hampshire".[3]
Programming
Local programming is produced and broadcast from Heart's Reading studios from 6-10am and 4-7pm on weekdays, 1-5pm 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 Matt Jarvis and Michelle Jordan (Heart Breakfast) and Luke Smith (weekday drivetime).
Heart News
Heart Thames Valley broadcasts hourly local news bulletins from 6am-7pm on weekdays and 6am-12pm at weekends. National news updates air hourly from Global's London headquarters at all other times.
References
- ^ Global Radio to halve number of local Heart stations, The Guardian, 21 June 2010. Archived January 1, 2011, at WebCite
- ^ Heart slims but strengthens, RadioToday, 21 June 2010 Archived January 1, 2011, at WebCite
- ^ Find your local Heart station, Heart, UK. Archived January 1, 2011, at WebCite