Hits Radio Network

Hits Radio Network
Broadcast area Northern England, Scotland and the West Midlands
Slogan All The Biggest Hits
Frequency FM: 96.3 - 106.7 MHz
DAB
Format Contemporary Hit Radio
Language(s) English
Owner Bauer Radio
Sister stations Bauer City 2

The Hits Radio Network is a network of 20 CHR local radio stations in Northern England, Scotland and the West Midlands, owned and operated by Bauer Radio.

The stations air a mix of local and networked music-led programming, alongside local news, travel and sport. The majority of networked programming is produced and broadcast from Hits Radio in Manchester and Clyde 1 in Glasgow.

Stations

North of England

West Midlands

Scotland

Programming and presenters

Local programming - consisting of at least seven hours on weekdays and 4 hours on Saturdays and Sundays - is mainly produced and broadcast live from the originating station's studios. The main exceptions are Hits Radio, which produces the majority of its programming from Manchester, and TFM, which shares all programming with Newcastle-based Metro Radio.

In July 2017, West FM in Ayrshire moved its output to Clyde 1's Clydebank studios, but retains its local programming with local news, sales and charity staff based in Ayr.[1]

The majority of networked programming is broadcast from the studios of Hits Radio in Castlefield, Manchester and Clyde 1 in Clydebank, Glasgow. Networked output also originates from Forth 1 in Edinburgh. Apart from some weekend and overnight output, separate networked shows are produced for Scotland and England.

The two versions of Hits Radio carry the same programming apart from opt-outs for local news, traffic and advertising in Manchester.

North of England, West Midlands and across the UK

Scotland

All

On 28 July 2015, Bauer announced it would reintroduce further separate programming for Scotland and Northern England, including split editions of Old Skool and Anthems and the weekday evening and Sunday morning shows. The changes were introduced during August 2015.[2]

In February 2017, the Free Radio group of stations in the West Midlands began carrying off-peak programming from the network, replacing most of its own regional output from Birmingham.

From July 2017, most of the local daytime shows from 10am-2pm on weekdays were replaced with networked shows for Northern England (from Key 103 with Debbie Mac) and Scotland (from Clyde 1 with Greig Easton).[3] CFM, MFR, and Radio Borders retain their own daytime programming.

A revamped networked schedule for stations in Northern England and the West Midlands was introduced in June 2018, following the rebranding of Key 103 as Hits Radio. The Scottish network of stations was unaffected.

Opt-outs and variations

  • Clyde 1 provides live football commentaries throughout the season, alongside a nightly edition of its sports show, Superscoreboard, on weekday evenings from 6-8pm. Clyde 1 also opts out of Hits Party on Saturday evenings to air The GBXperience.
  • Metro Radio and TFM opt out of Hits Chilled from Sunday to Thursday nights to air the long-running North East talk show, Night Owls, presented by Alan Robson.
  • Radio City airs the 'Legends Phone-In' on Monday and Thursday evenings during the football season.
  • CFM, MFR and Radio Borders all retain their own local daytime shows on weekdays from 10am-2pm.
  • Hits Radio opts out of The Official Vodafone Big Top 40 on Sunday afternoons for The Week's Biggest Hits, an entertainment show presented by Sarah-Jane Crawford.
  • Forth 1 and Radio Borders air Super Scoreboard sports shows on Saturday afternoons - with the latter providing in-depth rugby union coverage.

News

All stations in the network carry their own local news bulletins hourly from 6am to 7pm on weekdays and from 7am to 1pm on Saturdays and Sundays. Headlines are broadcast on the half-hour during weekday breakfast and drivetime shows, alongside sport and traffic bulletins.

At weekends, bespoke networked bulletins air from 2pm (until 6pm on Saturdays and 4pm on Sundays). These are produced by Clyde 1 for all the Scottish stations, while the Leeds newsroom at Radio Aire produces bulletins for the English stations. National news updates also air on the national version of Hits Radio in place of the local bulletins for Manchester.

At all other times, mainly evening & overnight, hourly national bulletins originate from Sky News Radio.

References

  1. ↑ West FM to move output from Ayr to Glasgow, RadioToday, 12 June 2017
  2. ↑ Bauer brings local radio back to Scotland, Radio Today, 28 July 2015
  3. ↑ Networked mid-morning shows for Bauer stations, RadioToday, 12 June 2017
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