UK Commercial Radio Timeline 1996-1997

A visual history of the UK's commercial radio network told primarily through the logos and jingles of its stations.
This video looks at the expansion and consolidation of legal, regulated and publicly available commercial radio stations in the United Kingdom for the two-year period from 1996 to 1997.

[@jaketurner1052]

Just to note, Valleys Radio's home was Ebbw Vale but had a transmitter in Aberdare

[@tvradiotimelines]

Thanks for the clarification - appreciated!

[@laotian12innumberverse6]

I heard that this year (2023) will mark 50 years of commercial radio in the UK!

[@tvradiotimelines]

Yes indeed - legal commercial radio in the Uk began on Monday 8th October 1973 - see here: kzbin.info/www/bejne/bKDIYouYi8yHj5Y

[@NelvanaFan1971]

you are back yay

[@tvradiotimelines]

😇

[@johnmacleod4481]

Did you also mention north east community radio in Kintore Inverurie Scotland which was on air for 31 years

[@GrandNationalMaster]

In the Next Video, please can you cover the End of Xtra Am, Choice in Birmingham becoming Galaxy 102.2, and the start of Digital Radio in the UK with the launch of Planet Rock.

[@tvradiotimelines]

Hopefully, it will all be there - although I am still working on how on Earth to handle DAB!

[@laotian12innumberverse6]

Here's what I think will happen in the next part: -Thanet Local Radio launches in Thanet -Radio 106 becomes Century 106 -Centre FM (not to be confused with Centre Radio) launches in Tamworth -Wave 105 launches in the Solent area -Mellow 1557 becomes Dream 100 -Cheltenham Radio becomes Cat FM -Melody Radio becomes Magic 105.4 -South Coast Radio becomes Capital Gold -Mansfield 103.2 launches in Mansfield -Tower FM launches in Bolton and Bury -Radio Victory Revival/Quay FM launches in Portsmouth -Yorkshire Coast Radio launches a relay in Bridlington -South Hams Radio launches in the South Hams area of Devon -B97 reverts to Chiltern 96.9

[@NelvanaFan1971]

and the revolution

[@tvradiotimelines]

@@NelvanaFan1971 96.2 The Revolution will be there too!

[@tvradiotimelines]

@@laotian12innumberverse6 ... and much much more (which is why it will be quite a while before the next installment!).

[@laotian12innumberverse6]

Unfortunately 1997 meant the end for Alfasound, a jingle company based in the UK known for making jingles for stations across the UK and beyond, such as: Radio Trent, Piccadilly Radio, Centre Radio, Devonair Radio, Pennine Radio and a lot more, As usual, I gotta do my feedback! 0:38 This pretty much means that County Sound split their frequencies twice, the 1st time in 1988 and the 2nd time in 1996. 1:05 There we have, the last ever commercial radio station in England to split their frequencies! 3:16 The return of the station that started ILR as a whole. 3:55 4:02 4:15 4:20 And of course the consolidation gets even bigger. 4:39 "The Beach" is a pretty fitting name for the station as it was right by the coastline. 6:00 I love how you extended Westsound's "lullaby" jingle to the previous 2 events. 9:20 Also known as Radio Jackie. 9:48 One of my favourite JAM jingle beds. 12:06 We probably have our new longest jingle in the series so far, and I love how it uses a very similar jingle logo to Centre Radio! 14:54 I believe this jingle bed at the end was definitely used for County Sound, as it used the same melody as the County Sound jingle in the 1980-1984 video! I'm staying tuned for 1998-1999 to see you see out the 1990s and the 20th century as a whole!

[@tvradiotimelines]

Thanks for the greatly appreciated feedback. A couple of very brief responses: 1. "I love how you extended Westsound's "lullaby" jingle to the previous 2 events": I only did it because I couldn't find relevant jingles for GoldBeat andOasis!!!! 2. You are right about the end sequence music - it is actually basically the same as the intro music and forms the basis of County Sound's jingles.

[@laotian12innumberverse6]

And I've got some good news: Radio Wyvern will be returning to the airwaves tommorow on October the 4th, replacing Youthcomm Radio!

[@NelvanaFan1971]

1:20 this is where GWR spreads its sweeper package everywhere

[@tvradiotimelines]

@@NelvanaFan1971 Yes - hard to know where "Network Consolidation" starts and "Rebrand" ends - in reality, a lot of stations started out with the same names but separate services then started to morph into bland, homogenous "networks" offering the same service quasi-nationally.

[@tvradiotimelines]

@@laotian12innumberverse6 Oh great! MORE work for me when I get to the 2020s!!!! LOL!!!!

[@ernawulandari3969]

Classic Gold AM Rebrand 1994-1999 Part 2 03/09 Severn Sound 774 AM SuperGold Rebrand... 3:52 Classic Gold 774 AM Gloucester Wyvern AM Rebrand... Classic Gold 954/1530 AM Herefordshire & Workcestershire Chitern Radio 828 AM SuperGold Rebrand... Classic Gold 792/828 AM Luton & Bedford Northants Radio 1557 AM SuperGold Rebrand... Classic Gold 1557 AM Northamptonshire 1997 17/03 West Yorkshire 1278/1530 AM Rebrand... 9:39 Classic Gold 1278/1530AM West Yorkshire Region

[@NelvanaFan1971]

are you planning a bbc local radio timeline

[@tvradiotimelines]

That's a big "maybe! Part of me wants to complete the commercial sector first and bring it completely up to date. Another part of me knows that in itself will take a LONG time - particularly when DAB is factored in!

[@autistictechgirl]

My local radio station was ram FM I can’t believe they replaced with Capital 😒

[@tvradiotimelines]

Very sad - you should take a look at my latest video, which reflects all of that!

[@james-5560]

Geography question. What are the islands to the south of Kent?

[@NelvanaFan1971]

channel islands

[@tvradiotimelines]

My map may not be completely accurate but they are intended to be the Channel Islands - just off the coast of France. More information here: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Channel_Islands but

[@james-5560]

@@tvradiotimelines It's ok, it was a tongue-in-cheek question. I enjoyed the video, thanks for taking the time to make them.

[@tvradiotimelines]

@@james-5560 No problem - I thought maybe you were from Venezuela or Kansas or somewhere and REALLY did not know the geography of the UK! 😁

[@oliverleonard7730]

Medway FM, CTFM and Neptune Radio are now all KMFM.

[@tvradiotimelines]

I guess that you can at least be grateful that they have not (yet) been swallowed up by Global or Bauer....

[@oliverleonard7730]

Yes rather KMFM than Capital Kent.

[@InsertUsername2]

2 Months.. still working on it?

[@tvradiotimelines]

Afraid so! A few personal things going on and - as far as the next chapter is concerned - the start of DAB does not help. Weirdly, the more up to date this project gets, the harder it is to get accurate information on launch dates, etc.....

[@tvradiotimelines]

I finally got there....!!!