Wikipedia

Heart (radio network)

Not to be confused withiHeartRadio.

Heartis a network of thirteenindependentadult contemporaryradio stations in the United Kingdom, broadcasting a mix of local and networked programming. Ten of the stations are owned and operated byGlobal,while the other three are owned and operated under separate franchise agreements. Thenational version of the networkis widely available on Global Player,Freeview,Sky,Freesat,Virgin MediaandDigital One DAB.

Heart
Country
United Kingdom
Broadcast area
United Kingdom
HeadquartersLeicester Square,London
BrandingThis Is Heart
Programming
Language(s)English
FormatHot adult contemporary
Ownership
OwnerGlobal
Coverage
StationsSee list
Links
Websitewww.heart.co.ukEdit this at Wikidata

The Heart radio stations have a combined reach of 9.7 million listeners as of September 2024, making it the third most-popular radio network and the biggest commercial radio brand in the UK afterBBC Radio 2andBBC Radio 4.The total reach for all Heart-branded stations is over 12.9 million.[1]

History

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Further information:Timeline of the Heart Radio Network

Launch

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Heart began broadcasting in theWest Midlandson 6 September 1994 as100.7 Heart FM,becoming the UK's thirdIndependent Regional Radiostation, five days afterCentury RadioinNorth East England,andJazz FM North West.

The first song to be played on 100.7 Heart FM wasSomething Got Me StartedbySimply Red.Its original format of "soft adult contemporary"music included artists such asLionel RichieandTina Turner.Reflecting this, its early slogan was100.7 Degrees Cooler!

Heart 106.2began test transmissions inLondonin August 1995, prior to the station launch on 5 September. This included live broadcasts ofWPLJfromNew York City.[2]

In 1996 the station's original "soft AC" music format was replaced with a generally more neutral Hot AC playlist.Century 106in theEast Midlandsbecame the third station of the Heart network in 2005 afterGCap Mediasold Century. Chrysalis' radio holdings were sold to Global Radio in 2007.

When GCap Media was taken over by Global Radio in 2008, it announced plans to dissolve the 41-stationOne Network,with one station (Power FM) becoming part of theGalaxynetwork, four stations (BRMB,Beacon Radio,Mercia FMandWyvern FM) forming aWest Midlandsregional network, seven stations joiningCapital FMto formThe Hit Music Networkand the remaining 29 stations forming the Heart Network.

Heart East Midlandswas sold to Orion Media, along with the West Midlands network of local stations, due to the same competition concerns that had forced its earlier sale to Chrysalis.

Network restructuring

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Between June and September 2010, Global Radio merged the majority of the 33 Heart stations to create a smaller network of 18 local and regional stations, in line with newOFCOMguidelines on local output requirements.[3][4]Two Hit Music Network stations were also closed and merged with Heart stations.

Merged station Closed stations City of licence
Heart Cambridgeshire Heart Peterborough
Heart Cambridge		 Peterboroughlater Cambridge
Heart South West
(laterHeart West)		 Heart Exeter and Heart Torbay
Heart Plymouth
Heart South Devon
Heart North Devon		 Exeter
Heart East Anglia Heart Norwich
Heart Ipswich		 Norwich
Heart Essex Heart Chelmsford & Southend
Heart Colchester
Ten 17(rebranded)		 Chelmsford
Heart Hertfordshire Rebranded from Hertfordshire's Mercury 96.6 Watford
Heart Four Counties Heart Northants
Heart Milton Keynes
Heart Dunstable
Heart Bedford		 Dunstable,laterMilton Keynes
Heart North West and Wales Heart North Wales Coast
Heart Cheshire and North East Wales
Heart Wirral		 Wrexham
Heart South Coast Heart Dorset & New Forest
Heart Hampshire		 Fareham
Heart Sussex and Surrey Heart Sussex
Mercury FM(rebranded)
 Brighton
Heart Thames Valley Heart Berkshire
Heart Oxfordshire		 Reading
Heart West Country Heart Bristol
Heart Somerset
Heart Bath		 Bristol

Stations inGloucestershire,Kent,London,theWest Midlands,theEast MidlandsandWiltshirewere unaffected by the changes.Heart Cymru,serving Gwynedd and Anglesey, moved its studios from Bangor to Wrexham but retained its extended local output of 10 hours on weekdays and 8 hours on Saturdays and Sundays.Heart North West and Walesretained an opt-out on 96.3FM (the North Wales Coast) for Welsh language programming.

On 1 January 2011, Orion Media, the owners of Heart East Midlands (one of the original three Heart stations) renamed and relaunched the station as 'Gem 106', ending a franchise agreement with Global Radio formed when Global purchased GCap – the agreement allowed Orion to use the Heart identity and carry networked programming from London.[5]The move saw Heart's networked programming replaced by local output from Nottingham.

Network expansion

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On 19 March 2012, Global Radio announced it had bought the Cornwall ILR stationAtlantic FMfrom joint owners Tindle Radio and Camel Media.[6]Atlantic FM became part of the Heart Network and merged with Heart Devon on Monday 7 May 2012 to formHeart South West,which is based in Exeter.[7]

On 6 February 2014, Global Radio announced it would be rebranding allReal Radiostations as Heart and would be sellingReal Radio Yorkshireand the Northern licence forReal Radio WalestoCommunicorp.The Communicorp-owned stations use Heart's network programming and branding under a franchise agreement with Global.[8]

Global Radio extended the Heart network to the Real Radio network of regional stations from Tuesday 6 May 2014.[9]The two stations based in Wrexham –Heart North West and WalesandHeart Cymru– became part of theCapital FM Networkon the same date.

On 20 November 2017, CN Group announcedThe Baywould be sold toGlobalalong with sister stationLakeland Radio– the sale was finalised by 1 December 2017.[10]The Bay was rebranded as Heart, with Lakeland Radio becomingSmoothon 4 March 2018.[11]

Music from the1960s,1970s&1980swas removed from the original FM station after Christmas 2017.[citation needed]

Consolidation

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In February 2019, following OFCOM's decision to relax local content obligations from commercial radio, it was announced Heart would replace its local breakfast and weekend shows with additional networked programming from London by the end of the year. This reduced total weekly hours of local programming on each station from 43 to 15 and led to dozens of job losses.[12]

Drivetime output were reduced from 23 localised shows to 10 programmes covering enlarged areas, formed from the merger of Heart stations. Ten studios producing local programming were closed.[12]Localised news, traffic updates and advertising was retained across all licence areas.[13]

In April 2019, it was reported the localHeart Breakfastshows would be replaced by a nationalHeart Breakfastshow from London on 3 June 2019, presented byJamie TheakstonandAmanda Holden.[14]The merging stations ceased local output on 31 May 2019.

In Hertfordshire, a further change sawHeart Hertfordshire,based in Watford, merged withBOB fm– following its acquisition by Communicorp – to form a single countywide service.

Stations in the North East of England, Wales, central and southern Scotland, the West Midlands and Yorkshire continue to serve their single licence areas as before.

Merged station Closed stations City of licence
Heart East Heart Cambridgeshire
Heart East Anglia
Heart Essex
Heart Four Counties(studios retained)		 Milton Keynes
Heart Hertfordshire BOB fm
Heart Hertfordshire(studios retained)		 Watford
Heart North West Heart North Lancashire & Cumbria
Heart North West(studios retained)		 Manchester
Heart South Heart Kent
Heart Solent(studios retained)
Heart Sussex and Surrey
Heart Thames Valley		 Fareham
Heart West Heart Gloucestershire
Heart South West
Heart West Country(studios retained)
Heart Wiltshire		 Bristol

In April 2023, it was announcedHeart Scotlandwould reintroduce local breakfast, daytime and weekend programming from 2 May 2023, as part of a major expansion of Global's Scottish radio operations.[15][16]

List of stations

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Regional

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As of May 2019, Heart's regional network consists of twelve stations:[17]

Years Heart station Studios
2019–present Heart East Milton Keynes
2010–present Heart Hertfordshire(franchise, owned by Communicorp) Watford
1995–present Heart London London
2014–present Heart North East Newcastle
2014–present Heart North and Mid Wales(franchise, owned by Communicorp) Wrexham
2014–present Heart North West Spinningfields
2014–present Heart Scotland Glasgow
2019–present Heart South Fareham
2014–present Heart South Wales Cardiff
2019–present Heart West Bristol
1994–present Heart West Midlands Birmingham
2014–present Heart Yorkshire(franchise, owned by Communicorp) Leeds

National

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As of 12 September 2024, Heart's national spin-offs consist of ten stations, broadcast from Global's London headquarters:

Years Heart station Notes
2019–present Heart 70s
2017–present Heart 80s
2019–present Heart 90s
2022–present Heart 00s ReplacedCapital Xtra Reloadedon national DAB+.
2024-present Heart 10s
2019–present Heart Dance Weekend evening "Club Classics" programmes simulcast with Heart
2024-present Heart Love
2024-present Heart Musicals
2016– Heart UK OriginallyHeart extrawith automated daytime between 10am to 4pm Weekdays, relaunched 2020. Simulcasts Heart network programming
2020– Heart Xmas usually available from September to January, however this varies each year

Programming and presenters

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Heart's network programming is produced and broadcast from the headquarters ofGlobalatLeicester Squarein central London. Most of the network's output is broadcast live, although some weekend shows arevoicetracked.[18]

As of 21 June 2019,Heart's Club Classicsis simulcast with sister stationHeart Dance.[19]The Sky VIP Official Big Top 40on Sunday afternoons is simulcast with Heart's sister network,Capital.

Networked presenters

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Source:[20]

Regional presenters

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  • Jagger and Woody (Heart DrivetimeinSouth Wales)[25]
  • Hannah Clarkson (Heart Drivetime in the East of England)

Former presenters

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News

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All Heart stations broadcast local news bulletins each day – updates air hourly from 5am to 7pm on weekdays and from 6am to 12pm at weekends, similar to how Capital broadcasts news updates.

In accordance with OFCOM speech requirements, some Heart stations produce separate localised bulletins. For example,Heart Westproduces bulletins for Bristol and Somerset, Wiltshire, Gloucestershire, Devon and Cornwall.

Network presentation

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As of 2014, the network uses jingles and themes produced by ReelWorld Europe, based in Salford.[36]

Previously, Heart used a jingle package, composed by the Seattle-based music production company IQ Beats.[37]

Criticisms

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In August 2010, listeners inBedfordshireandCrawley, West Sussex,complained about the merger of Heart stations and called for a boycott of the station.[38]

Some listeners have complained about what they regard as the repetitive nature of Heart's playlist. A public complaint to the regulatorOfcomin 2012 that the "More Music Variety" slogan was materially misleading was not pursued as Ofcom deemed that it did not warrant further investigation.[39]Ofcom stated that "We did not consider listeners were materially misled by this slogan."[40]

Further complaints were made to the station in 2019, largely regarding the merger of some Heart stations and the reduction in local programming, following the relaxation of local content guidelines byOFCOM.[41]

Networked slogans

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  • 1994-1996: "100.7 degrees cooler" (West Midlands)
  • 1995–1996: "106.2 degrees cooler" (London)
  • 1996–2017: "More Music Variety"
  • 2006–2009: "Feel Good Music"
  • 2017–present: "Turn Up the Feel Good!"
  • 2017–2019 Heart Breakfast slogan: "[city/region]'s favourite Breakfast Show"

References

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  1. ^"RAJAR".www.rajar.co.uk.Retrieved6 July2022.
  2. ^"wplj before Heart 106.2".Digital Spy. 10 December 2006.Retrieved21 October2014.
  3. ^"Heart slims but strengthens".Radio Today. Archived fromthe originalon 27 April 2012.Retrieved13 October2012.
  4. ^Plunkett, John (21 June 2010)."Global Radio to halve number of local Heart stations".mediaguardian.co.uk.London.
  5. ^"Gem to replace Heart East Mids".Radio Today. Archived fromthe originalon 27 April 2012.Retrieved13 October2012.
  6. ^Atlantic FM sold to Global to become Heart,RadioToday, 19 March 2012
  7. ^UKRD responds to Atlantic's Heart switch,RadioToday, 19 March 2012
  8. ^Martin, Roy (6 February 2014)."Communicorp buys 8 Global stations".RadioToday.Retrieved6 February2014.
  9. ^Global confirms Heart expansion details,Radio Today, 14 April 2014
  10. ^The Bay Radio Sold To Global Entertainment Group,The Bay, 20 November 2017
  11. ^Plans announced for The Bay and Lakeland Radio – RadioToday,Radio Today, 8 January 2018
  12. ^abGlobal to network Capital, Heart and Smooth breakfast shows,RadioToday, 26 February 2019
  13. ^Public File,heart.co.uk, 1 June 2019
  14. ^Amanda Holden to join Jamie Theakston for Heart UK Breakfast,Radio Today, 29 April 2019
  15. ^Global makes major investment in Glasgow broadcast centre,Radio Today, 11 April 2023
  16. ^Fresh new line-ups revealed for Heart Scotland and Capital Scotland,Global, 11 April 2023
  17. ^"Official website featuring map showing Heart stations".Archived fromthe originalon 25 September 2009.Retrieved20 January2011.
  18. ^Public File – Heart North WalesArchived12 May 2014 at theWayback MachineHeart, 6 May 2014
  19. ^Global to launch Heart Dance with Toby Anstis on Breakfast,Radio Today, 17 June 2019
  20. ^ab"Shows & Presenters".Heart.Retrieved19 June2020.
  21. ^"Drive - Shows & Presenters - Heart Scotland".Retrieved19 June2020.
  22. ^"Drive - Shows & Presenters - Heart Dorset".Retrieved19 June2020.
  23. ^"Drive - Shows & Presenters - Heart West Midlands".Retrieved19 June2020.
  24. ^"Dixie and Emma on Heart".Retrieved19 June2020.
  25. ^"Jagger and Woody on Heart".Retrieved13 June2024.
  26. ^RadioToday, 2023-08-16
  27. ^"Sian Welby joins Roman and Sonny on Capital Breakfast".RadioToday.20 March 2020.Retrieved19 June2020.
  28. ^"Jenni Falconer moves from Heart to Smooth Radio".RadioToday.3 January 2020.
  29. ^"Schedule changes at Heart as James Stewart replaces Jenni Falconer".RadioToday.16 December 2019.
  30. ^"Rochelle Humes takes a break from Heart radio show".RadioToday.13 December 2019.
  31. ^"Jason Donovan and Mark Wright leave Heart".RadioToday.1 December 2017.
  32. ^"Heart break for Stephen Mulhern & Emma Willis".RadioToday.4 July 2018.
  33. ^"Roberto on Heart 80s Breakfast".Heart.Retrieved19 June2020.
  34. ^"Margherita Taylor - Shows & Presenters - Radio - Smooth West Midlands".Retrieved19 June2020.
  35. ^"Breakfast & Drive changes for Heart London".RadioToday.19 November 2012.
  36. ^Heart gets new jingles and themes from ReelWorld,RadioToday, 9 September 2015
  37. ^"HEART Network".
  38. ^Plunkett, John (11 August 2010)."Global Radio faces Heart cuts protest".London: Guardian Media Group.Retrieved13 October2012.
  39. ^"Complaints Assessed, not Investigated"(PDF).Ofcom Broadcast Bulletin 205.Ofcom. 8 May 2012. p. 32.Retrieved16 July2013.
  40. ^being misleading OFCOM says Heart slogan isn't misleading,Radio Today, 8 May 2012
  41. ^"Ofcom will now allow networked breakfast shows".RadioToday. 26 October 2018.Retrieved1 June2019.
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Official website

Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Heart_(radio_network)&oldid=1258884577"