UFM100.3

The station was originally founded as NTUC Heart Radio 100.3 on March 2, 1991, alongside its sister station NTUC Heart Radio 91.3 (now known as One FM 91.3) and was inaugurated by Deputy Prime Minister and Secretary-General of National Trades Union Congress (NTUC) Ong Teng Cheong at the studios in the Singapore Labour Foundation (SLF) building. Originally, it was a bilingual station with broadcasts in Tamil. On Wednesday, 3 October 2001, it was rebranded UFM 1003 as part of a joint venture between SPH and NTUC Media.[2] The 24-hour music station operated out of the Singapore Labour Foundation building, taking over the facilities, frequency and colors of NTUC Heart 100.3 FM. In 2001, the station mascot was also created and incorporated in the station logo.

Local veteran radio DJs Lin Anna, Huang Wenhong, and Yang Junwei were recruited from rival stations Capital 95.8 FM and YES 933, and new DJs were recruited from Ngee Ann Polytechnic.[3] The station also broadcast Taiwanese syndicated radio programs by Matilda Tao and Mickey Huang.

Mandopop singer Jay Chou, sang a version of the station jingle which was adapted from his song Ninja. The station's other jingles were sung by Singaporean singers Juliet Pang and Corrinne May.

UFM 1003 also launched U Chart, which served as an alternative to YES 933's Top of the Pop charts. Singaporean mandopop singer Stefanie Sun topped the first-ever chart on 7 October 2001 with her hit Green Light.

In February 2002, UFM 1003 and its sister station WKRZ 91.3 were designated as official radio broadcasters of Chingay Parade. SPH MediaWorks was the official TV and Internet broadcaster for the annual street parade, and the official newspapers were Lianhe Zaobao and Streats.[4]

In October 2002, UFM 1003 began a partnership with Taiwan's Broadcasting Corporation of China POP Network. The two stations would link over ISDN broadband, and listeners of both stations could tune in to an hourly program co-hosted by UFM 1003's DJ.[5]

In 2004, SPH television operations SPH MediaWorks was taken over by MediaCorp. However, UnionWorks was not directly affected by the merger. Variety host Quan Yi Fong, and newscasters Helen Cheung (Zhang Haijie) and Wang Yanqing, who left SPH MediaWorks, became regular talkshow guests on UFM 1003's morning drive time show.

In an effort to synergize with SPH's other media platforms, UFM 1003 began to host news broadcasts, with daily broadcasts from Lianhe Zaobao, Lianhe Wanbao, Shin Min Daily News, The Straits Times and The New Paper.[6]

In 2006, UnionWorks was renamed as SPH UnionWorks after SPH increased its stake in the subsidiary to 70%. UFM 1003 was renamed as Radio 1003, while WKRZ 91.3 was rebranded as Radio 91.3 with a new format.[7]

In November, SPH UnionWorks moved into the SPH Headquarters at News Centre in Toa Payoh North,[8] taking over the renovated space left behind by the defunct SPH MediaWorks' TV news studio.

In 2009, SPH launched the inaugural Singapore Entertainment Awards, organized by Lianhe Wanbao, Radio 1003, omy.sg and U-Weekly. The annual awards honored the best talents in the Singapore and Asian entertainment scene.

In 2010, Radio 1003 founded the Global Chinese Golden Chart, a global chart, which ranked Chinese radio stations around the world, including Taiwan's HIT FM, China's Music Radio, CITY FM, and Malaysia's My FM. The chart enabled the station to collaborate with record labels in the region to actively promote Chinese pop music and share music resources and content.[9]

Radio 1003's name was reverted to UFM100.3 in 2012, and programming was adjusted to cater to an older audience.[10] In 2014, UFM100.3's parent company SPH UnionWorks was renamed SPH Radio, as SPH acquired the remaining 7.1% stake in NTUC Media.

In January 2015, SPH reorganized its newspaper divisions to include other media forms. Under this new organization, UFM100.3 was brought under the Chinese Media Group.[1]