Hits Radio East Yorkshire & North Lincolnshire,formerlyViking FM,is anIndependent Local Radiostation based inLeeds,England, owned and operated byBauer Media Audio UKas part of theHits Radionetwork. It broadcasts to theEast Riding of YorkshireandNorthern Lincolnshire.
 | |
| |
|---|---|
| Broadcast area | East Riding of YorkshireandNorthern Lincolnshire |
| Frequency | FM:96.9 MHz DAB:10D |
| RDS | VIKING |
| Branding | The Biggest Hits, The Biggest Throwbacks Across East Yorkshire & Northern Lincolnshire |
| Programming | |
| Format | CHR/Pop |
| Network | Hits Radio |
| Ownership | |
| Owner | Bauer Media Audio UK |
| Greatest Hits Radio East Yorkshire & Northern Lincolnshire | |
| History | |
First air date | 17 April 1984 |
Former names | Viking Radio Viking FM |
Former frequencies | 102.7 FM 1161 MW |
| Technical information | |
Transmitter coordinates | 53°48′11″N0°33′55″W/ 53.8031°N 0.5653°W |
| Links | |
| Webcast | Hits Radio Player |
| Website | Hits Radio East Yorkshire & North Lincolnshire |
It replaced Viking FM, 40 years to the day after the station originally launched as Viking Radio.
As of September 2024, the station has a weekly audience of 199,000 listeners according toRAJAR.[citation needed]
Technical
edit
The station is transmitted from theHigh Hunsleytransmitter on theYorkshire Wolds,nearNorth Cave,sharing the 200 ft tower withCapital YorkshireandBBC Radio Humberside,as well as on the Bauer Humberside DAB multiplex from three transmitters, located at nearby Cave Wold, Buckton Barn nearBridlingtonandGrimsbytown centre.
It is also streamed over theInternetvia Viking FM's website, making it accessible to listeners from across theUnited Kingdom.Worldwide webcasting is no longer possible, for licensing reasons.
History
editDuring the application process for the licence, the station's working title wasHumber BridgeRadio;but launched as Viking Radio at 6.55am on 17 April 1984 and broadcast on 102.7 FM and 1161 kHz AM (258m Medium Wave). The first on-air presenter was David Fewster and the first song played wasCelebrationbyKool & the Gang.[1]In spring 1986, the frequency was changed to 96.9 FM, withBBC Radio Humberside,which had occupied this frequency, moving to 95.9 FM.
Viking was the first commercial radio station in the UK to introduce split programming, doing so to broadcast rugby league commentary on Sunday afternoons without interruptingThe Network Chart Show.The rugby was aired on MW with The Network Chart broadcast on FM. On 31 October 1988, Viking Radio split frequencies on a permanent basis and was transformed intoViking FMon 96.9 FM andViking Goldon 1161 medium wave. The AM station later becameClassic Gold,Classic Gold Radio,Great Yorkshire Gold,Great Yorkshire Radio,Magic 1161andViking 2and finallyGreatest Hits Radio East Yorkshire and Northern Lincolnshireuntil the transmitter was switched off on 26 April 2021.[2]
In 1990, TheYorkshire Radio Network,which ownedVikingas well asRadio Hallam,Pennine Radio(now known asPulse 1) andClassic Gold,were bought by TheMetro Radio Group.In 1996, the station was bought byEMAPand as a result of a group takeover in 2008, Viking is now owned byBauer Media Group,as part of theHits Radionetwork of radio stations.
In August 2019, Bauer announced Viking FM would cease broadcasting from its Hull studios and co-locate with sister stationHallam FMin Sheffield from Wednesday 2 October 2019 but that it would maintain a local presence in the form of local news, advertising and charity staff.[3]In 2020, Viking FM moved again, this time co-locating withPulse 1in Leeds. Pulse itself had also moved to Leeds, in its case from Bradford.[citation needed]
Hits Radio rebrand
editOn 10 January 2024, station owners Bauer announced Viking FM would be rebranded asHits RadioEast Yorkshire & North Lincolnshire from 17 April 2024, as part of a network-wide relaunch involving 17 local radio stations in England and Wales.[4]The announcement signalled the end of the Viking Radio brand after 40 years of broadcasting.[5]
The station's local programming will not be affected as a result of the relaunch.
Achievement
editIn 2005, the station won its first Gold Award at theSony Radio Academy Awardsfor "Happy Hour"; a news investigation intobinge drinkingin the region. They won a Bronze award in 2006 for their series of programmes on subjects likeASBO's and streetcrime.[citation needed]
In 2005, Viking FM's Creative Team (who write and make the adverts) won a Vox Award for a Road Safety ad, in 2006 they won four Vox Awards (Best Campaign, Best Use of Music, Best Media Production and Other) and the London International Awards for Sound Design. In 2007 they achieved a finalist place at the New York Awards and won aUnited NationsAward for Peace and Human Rights.
Branding
editThe originallogodepicted the stationmascot"Eric the Viking", this was phased out in the late 1980s when the logo style was shared with its sister stations. This was later phased out and replaced by the Emap Big City 'splash'; used by many stations on the network. In 2015, the logo was overhauled across the Bauer City network and Viking FM has now adopted the 'Your' logo, in line with branding changes to all Bauer City stations.[citation needed]
Viking's original package was produced by CBC Creative - further idents were made byJAM Creative Productions,AlfasoundandReelworld.Viking went through a stage starting in the late 1990s of only usingvoice oversweeper production produced in-house, however, in 2006 a new sung package was commissioned, produced by Wisebuddah. In the same year, it commissioned another sung package fromJonesTM(now TM Studios).[6]
Programming
editNetworked programming originates from Bauer's Manchester headquarters.[7][8]
Local programming is currently produced and broadcast from Bauer's Leeds studios, weekdays 6-10am forThe Hits Radio Breakfast Show With Alex & Nicola.[9]
News
editThe news operation is based at Bauer's offices in Hull and studios in Lincoln for the most part and during peak times, with local news bulletins hourly from 6am-7pm on weekdays, and from 7am-1pm on weekends. Headlines are broadcast on the half hour during weekday breakfast and drivetime shows, alongside traffic bulletins.
National bulletins fromSky News Radioare carried overnight with bespoke networked bulletins on weekend afternoons, usually originating from Bauer's Leeds newsroom.
Notable past presenters
editThis article's list of peoplemay not follow Wikipedia'sverifiabilitypolicy.(February 2015) |
- Jon Culshaw(comedian)
- Stephanie Hirst(now withHits Radio)
- Lucy Horobin(now withHeart Dance)
- JK & Joel(Jason Kingnow atHeart London,Joel Rossnow atRock FM)
- Allan Lake
- Karen Petch(deceased)
- Steve Priestley(now withGreatest Hits Radio Yorkshire)
- Matthew Rudd(now withAbsolute 80s)
- Harriet Scott(now withMagic Radio)
- Tim Shaw
References
edit- ^Viking Radio launch
- ^"Bauer to turn off four AM transmitters in the North".25 February 2021.Retrieved27 February2021.
- ^"Viking FM is moving out of Hull to join Hallam FM".Radio Today.12 August 2019.Retrieved12 August2019.
- ^"Fifteen local stations get set for Hits Radio rebrand".Bauer.10 January 2024.Retrieved10 January2024.
- ^"Bauer to rebrand heritage FM stations in England and Wales to Hits Radio".RadioToday.10 January 2024.Retrieved10 January2024.
- ^"Viking FM | Ignite Jingles".
- ^Hits Radio Network stations drop local weekend programmes,Radio Today, 30 May 2019
- ^Bauer to network drivetime across 11 licences in North and Midlands,Radio Today, 5 August 2019
- ^Viking FM - Public File