Misplaced Pages

Chiltern Radio Network

Article snapshot taken from Wikipedia with creative commons attribution-sharealike license. Give it a read and then ask your questions in the chat. We can research this topic together.
#552447

62-604: Chiltern Radio Network was the parent group of several Independent Local Radio stations in the 1980s and 1990s. These were divided across two networks: The Hot FM and SuperGold . Chiltern Radio launched on 15 October 1981 from studios located on Chiltern Road in Dunstable , Bedfordshire . On 1 June 1982, Chiltern expanded into Bedford with studios on Goldington Road. This was joined 30 November 1986 with Northants Radio from Northampton , and 15 October 1989 with Horizon Radio from Milton Keynes . The Hot FM network transmitted on

124-585: A Post Office licence. Manx Radio is funded by a mixture of commercial advertising and a yearly £860,000 Manx Government subvention. Global Media %26 Entertainment Global Media & Entertainment Limited , trading as Global , is a British media company formed in 2007. It is the owner of the largest commercial radio company in Europe having expanded through a number of historical acquisitions, including Chrysalis Radio, GCap Media and GMG Radio . Global owns and operates seven core radio brands, all employing

186-613: A brand-licensing agreement with Global Radio. This change will see the Quidem stations rebrand under the Global brands. At the beginning of October, Ofcom opened a consultation following Quidem's request for its six stations to make significant changes to their formats. On 20 December 2021 it was announced that Global has acquired the UK podcast hosting, distribution and monetisation startup, Captivate with founders Mark Asquith and Kieran McKeefery joining

248-858: A digital UK-wide version . On 3 January 2011, Capital London , The Hit Music Network and the Galaxy network became part of the nine-station Capital radio network; two former Heart stations became Capital in May 2014. Local news hours were extended as part of the agreement to increase programme-sharing, and advertising remains locally sold. Programming outside local hours originates from Capital's network studios in Leicester Square , London. Unlike its competitor BBC Radio 1 , Capital only plays pop dance music and does not play rock or alternative music. Capital runs two major multi-artist events each year, Capital's Summertime Ball and Capital's Jingle Bell Ball . Capital Dance

310-460: A 24-hour station, dropping its simulcast of LBC, but otherwise keeping the same format of rolling twenty minute bulletins, but with a UK wide focus. Its news presenters include Lisa Aziz and Martin Stanford , whilst John Kettley is one of the weather presenters. Radio X (formerly XFM) broadcasts alternative rock and independent music. It began officially in 1997 as an independent London station, it

372-561: A Global Player stream) and Smooth Chill , the successor to Chill . A pop-up digital Christmas music station, Smooth Christmas, was operated by R&S in the run-up to Christmas of 2011 and 2012, and having not run in 2013 was revived by Global in 2014 but was in 2015. In 2016, Smooth Christmas was not revived, instead Heart Extra Xmas, a pop-up digital Christmas music station, appeared from 12 November 2016 until 27 December 2016. It returned on 9 November 2017. Heart 80s launched in March 2017;

434-497: A brand licence by Communicorp ) has also reintroduced local programming. Classic FM is a classical music station broadcast nationally on FM and DAB , and also available on Freesat , Sky , Freeview and Virgin Media . It is one of three Independent National Radio franchises, and the only one to broadcast on FM. On 3 January 2024 it was announced that Dan Walker was joining to host Classic FM's breakfast show. Acquired as part of

496-539: A comedy and unsigned music show, David Francis on the late show and Dave Sanders who hosted a Sunday show consisting of mostly album tracks. Chiltern Radio Network ran the satellite news service Network News between 5 July 1991 and 1 April 1996 as a competitor to Independent Radio News . The service provided hourly national news bulletins to not only Chiltern stations, but other broadcasters including Virgin Radio , Radio Luxembourg , Choice FM , and Radio Maldwyn . Network News

558-470: A daily morning show) ceasing. However these were subsequently switched off as part of Global's decision to withdraw from AM broadcasting - the last to go being Greater Manchester at the end of April 2024. A number of areas gained or regained Gold as a DAB service in September 2015 in space vacated by XFM, following XFM's move from local to national transmission as Radio X. This was then in turn superseded by

620-557: A larger Heart Network that covers most of southern England and parts of North Wales – the stations which would become Heart in the North were acquired later. The remaining stations briefly formed The Hit Music Network before being merged with the Galaxy network and Capital London into the Capital network. On 25 June 2012, Global acquired GMG Radio for a sum thought to be between £50 and £70 million; it continued to be run separately while

682-533: A national network strategy, including Capital , Heart , Gold , Classic FM , Smooth and LBC . Global is also one of the leading out-of-home advertising (OOH) companies in the UK. Global was founded by Ashley Tabor-King in 2007, with financial backing from his father Michael Tabor , and purchased Chrysalis Radio, where Global took control of the radio brands Heart, Galaxy, LBC and The Arrow. A year later on 31 October 2008 Global Radio officially took control of all GCap Media and its brands. The GCap Media name

SECTION 10

#1732849113553

744-590: A regulatory review was conducted. In May 2013, the Competition Commission ruled that Global would be required to sell seven stations across the network. The company initially offered to dispose of three stations, Real XS in Manchester and Scotland, and Gold in the East Midlands, to try to prevent the sale of the seven stations mentioned in the ruling. When this failed Global Radio launched an appeal against

806-724: A separate station owned by Communicorp as XS Manchester . Most of the Gold AM stations switched to taking the Smooth London/Network output; all but one no longer broadcasts on that platform. It was announced in June 2015 that Darren Singer would be appointed as Global's chief financial officer. In February 2017, Global changed its company name from 'This is Global Limited' to 'Global Media & Entertainment Limited'. It also changed all its social media handles from 'thisisglobal' to 'global' and its web domain to global.com. Global also combined

868-518: A single national breakfast show for each network, whilst Smooth kept its regional breakfast shows, instead turning its drive time show national. Capital's new breakfast show launched in April with Roman Kemp, Heart Breakfast with Jamie Theakston and Amanda Holden launched in June and Smooth Drivetime with Angie Grieves launched in September. In September 2019, it was announced that Quidem, the owners of Banbury Sound , Rugby FM and Touch FM had entered into

930-533: A week later on 16 October. Since 2014, LBC has been broadcasting nationally on DAB, television and Global Player, and FM in London only. On 28 October 2019, what had been LBC London News changed its name to LBC News; since that date, it has been available on DAB+ via the D1 multiplex nationwide, using the space vacated by Radio X switching to DAB+. It continued to broadcast on 1152 AM in London until October 2024. It has reverted to

992-585: A week took place, although the first experimental part-time split service had taken place two years earlier when Radio Forth created Festival City Radio for the duration of the Edinburgh Festival . The first station to permanently split their frequencies was Guildford's County Sound who rebranded the FM output as Premier Radio and turned the AM output into a new golden oldies station, County Sound Gold in 1988. By 1988,

1054-544: A weekday regional programme and localised news, weather and peak-time travel information. The same name is used for Independent Local Radio in Ireland . Until the early 1970s, the BBC had a legal monopoly on radio broadcasting in the UK. Despite competition from the commercial Radio Luxembourg and, for a period in the mid-1960s, the off-shore " pirate " broadcasters, it had remained the policy of both major political parties that radio

1116-551: A year – and to reduce the criteria for a "viable service area" with the introduction of Small Scale Local Licences (SALLIES) for villages, special interest groups and small communities. By this time the medium wave band had become unpopular with radio groups and the majority of new stations were awarded an FM licence only, even when an AM licence was jointly available. In 1994 the Radio Authority introduced regional stations (Independent Regional Radio, again usually grouped under

1178-458: Is a contemporary radio station which currently broadcasts in numerous areas of England, Wales and central Scotland, alongside a digital UK-wide version . The network began with a single regional station in the West Midlands and subsequently a second station in London. The third station, Heart 106 in the East Midlands (previously Century 106) was sold to Orion Media and run as a franchise retaining

1240-661: Is a national digital radio station operated as a spin-off from the main Capital station. The station broadcasts from studios at Leicester Square in London alongside its sister stations Capital and Capital XTRA. The station predominantly plays contemporary electronic dance music. An urban music station based in London, originally named Choice FM. Until Summer 2010 it was sold as part of the Galaxy network for marketing purposes only, but retained its own separate branding and programming. From then on, with Galaxy ultimately absorbed into Capital, Choice

1302-628: The GWR Group launched a hostile takeover bid for Chiltern. This completed in July, and GWR began re-branding the stations in September - the FM stations as part of their Mix Network and gold stations as Classic Gold Digital Network . Shared programming on FM moved to Bristol whilst shared AM programming remained in Dunstable . In May 2005, the GWR Group merged with Capital Radio to form GCap Media , which Global Radio bought out in 2008 and eventually became

SECTION 20

#1732849113553

1364-515: The Heart Radio network . Original DJs and presenters included Paul McKenna , Paul 'Mad Dog' O'Reilly, Martin Collins , Tony West, NJ Williams , Tony Lloyd, and Louie Martin. Networked presenters included Graham Torrington , Chris Moyles , Emma Scott, Steve Power, Chris Brooks, Tim Allen, Tom Stewart, Simon Clarke, Neale James, Treva Ellis, and Laura Penn. Other presenters included Paul Garner who did

1426-471: The Royal Albert Hall . It also produces its own Global Awards, which recognizes the most popular songs across its radio stations. In March 2018, Global launched a new awards show (The Global Awards) celebrating the stars of music, news and entertainment across genres in the UK and from around the world. The Global Academy UTC opened on 12 September 2016 and is sponsored by Global and University of

1488-697: The Arts London . It is located on the site of the Old Vinyl Factory in Hayes, Hillingdon . On 20 January 2017, The Global Academy was officially opened by the Duke of Cambridge and Prince Harry . Two Breakfast shows from the Global brands were broadcasting Live from the academy, Heart London Breakfast with Jamie Theakston and Emma Bunton and Nick Ferrari on LBC . All of Global's stations broadcast news updates under

1550-596: The FM services of 97.6 Chiltern FM , 96.9 Chiltern FM , Northants 96 , Horizon Radio , followed later by Oasis Radio , Severn Sound , and Galaxy Radio . For a while Galaxy Radio and Horizon Radio operated a slightly more edgy "Hotter Mix" format, although they switched back again to the "Hot FM" for networked programming. Supergold transmitted on the AM services of Chiltern Radio , Northants Radio , followed later by Severn Sound and Invicta Radio . Stations would broadcast from their studios until 7pm, then share programmes from Dunstable overnight. In May 1995,

1612-420: The Global team in order to continue to grow Global's presence in the digital audio and podcasting space. On 22 February 2022 Emily Maitlis and Jon Sopel announced they were joining Global to launch a new podcast. On 30 August 2022 The News Agents launched as a daily podcast presented by Emily Maitlis , Jon Sopel , and Lewis Goodall . Episodes are released every weekday afternoon. On 26 May 2023, it

1674-794: The Heart name until the start of 2011, when it was rebranded as Gem 106 . In 2009 many of the heritage CHR stations which had formed part of the One Network were renamed Heart, as were Ocean and South Hams Radio (which were not part of the One Network). Heart Hertfordshire is owned by Communicorp and uses the Heart name and format under licence from Global; Heart South Devon was partly owned by UKRD Group; and Heart stations in North Wales and Yorkshire (both formerly Real Radio licences) are operated by Communicorp; all other Heart stations are wholly Global-owned. All of

1736-651: The IBA's ILR plans as it was felt that they were not viable. This did not prevent Radio West in Bristol getting into financial trouble and having to merge with Wiltshire Radio on 1 October 1985; nor did it prevent Centre Radio going into receivership on 6 October 1983. In 1986 the Home Office sanctioned in principle the idea that different services could be broadcast on each station's FM and AM frequency and six experiments of split programming on Independent Local Radio of up to ten hours

1798-477: The IBA's time as the regulator and did not receive a commercial station until after its successor, The Radio Authority, came into being in 1991. In the late 1980s, the expansion of ILR continued at a similar rate. Under the Broadcasting Acts, the IBA had a duty to ensure that any area it licensed for radio could support a station with the available advertising revenue. Therefore, many areas were not included in

1860-712: The Real Radio stations were rebranded as Heart on 6 May 2014. Heart is also available on DAB in some areas where there is not a local Heart station on FM; these areas generally receive Heart UK , which is a relay of Heart London. Heart has five sister stations: Heart 70s , Heart 80s , Heart 90s , Heart 00s and Heart Dance . On 11 April 2023, it was announced that Heart Scotland would reintroduce local breakfast, daytime and weekend shows as part of an expansion of Global's Scottish radio operations. This saw drive time presenters Des Clarke and Jennifer Reoch move to Breakfast. Sister station Capital Scotland (owned and operated under

1922-544: The Real stations were renamed Heart and carried the Heart network off-peak programming as provided by Global. Global retained control of all other stations, relaunching the existing Heart North West and Wales as Capital to allow Real North Wales (under Communicorp) to take on the Heart affiliation. Real XS in Paisley was retained by Global and joined the XFM network; Real XS in Manchester is still

Chiltern Radio Network - Misplaced Pages Continue

1984-543: The Smooth areas had previously been Jazz FM stations, and three had originally been Saga stations; the North-East service launched as Smooth on a licence originally awarded to Saga. LBC is a news and talk radio station, focusing on stories and issues from across the UK and internationally by phone-in discussion programmes. It launched on 8 October 1973 as the UK's first licensed commercial radio station, with Capital Radio launching

2046-681: The United Kingdom. As a result of the buyouts and mergers permitted by the Broadcasting Act 1990 , and deregulation resulting from the Communications Act 2003 , most commercial stations are now neither independent (although they remain independent from the BBC ) nor local with all of the frequencies now used by Bauer or Global , and almost all of them are now relays of one of either company's national brands, with all remaining locality reduced to

2108-634: The United Kingdom. This service would be planned and regulated in a similar manner to the existing ITV service and would compete with the recently developed BBC Local Radio services (rather than the four national BBC services). The Sound Broadcasting Act received royal assent on 12 July 1972 and the Independent Television Authority (ITA) accordingly changed its name to the Independent Broadcasting Authority (IBA) that same day. The IBA immediately began to plan

2170-706: The banner "ILR" by most commentators) and began to license the commercial Digital Audio Broadcasting (DAB) multiplexes in October 1998. The Radio Authority was replaced by the Office of Communications ( Ofcom ) in 2004, which also replaced the ITC, the Broadcasting Standards Commission, the Radio Communications Agency and the Office of Telecommunications (Oftel). Ofcom has stated that they plan to continue

2232-452: The biggest networked commercial radio chart show, The Official Vodafone Big Top 40 , produced by Global's Capital . The move led to Global discontinuing the Sunday evening show for all stations outside of their own Heart and Capital networks, on which the show continues to air. On 26 February 2019, Global Radio announced plans to replace the regional breakfast shows on Capital and Heart with

2294-542: The broadcasting field (mainly due to the Annan Report ), no further contracts were awarded until 1980, when a second tranche of contracts were awarded. All stations were awarded an AM and an FM frequency, on which they broadcast the same service. In July 1981, the Home Secretary approved proposals for the creation of Independent Local Radio services in 25 more areas. However some of these areas were not licensed during

2356-409: The conversion of these stations to DAB+ in 2019 permitted the launch of further stations including Heart Dance , Heart 70s , Heart 90s , followed by Heart 00s in 2022 and Heart 10s , Heart Musicals & Heart Love in 2024 as part of Global's network expansion on 12th September. PopBuzz is a cultural platform of interviews, articles, podcast, videos, and GIFs, combined with a music stream of

2418-701: The decision and was considering it further. On 6 February 2014, it was announced that a number of stations would be sold to the Irish broadcaster Communicorp , with programming generally to be supplied by Global under contract. The deal involved control of Smooth Radio in the North East, the North West and the West Midlands, of Capital in South Wales and Scotland, of Real Radio in North Wales and Yorkshire, and of Real XS in Manchester. Most stayed under their previous brands though

2480-514: The decision. The appeal was based on three grounds: (a) Real and Smooth as alternatives to the Greater Manchester stations, (b) reliance on "significant adverse effects" in the North-West (c) Global's remedy proposal (see above). The appeal was rejected on all grounds and the company must sell the seven stations it was ordered to in the original judgement, Global said it was disappointed with

2542-876: The development of Independent Local Radio, with an emphasis on digital broadcasting, and to "ensure the character" of local stations, following the mergers and loss of local identities that followed the 1990 Act. In 2005, there were 217 licensed analogue ILR and IRR services in England; 16 in Wales; 34 in Scotland; eight in Northern Ireland; and two in the Channel Islands . These are licences rather than franchises . Some licences are grouped nationally, regionally or by format to provide one service; other licences cover two or more services. There were three national analogue services. There

Chiltern Radio Network - Misplaced Pages Continue

2604-505: The end of 2014 to broadcast nationally on Digital One (in the slot previously occupied by the network Smooth Radio service) with a 'melodic music from past decades' format (some programming is simulcast with Smooth London ). A previous plan to launch a service of "music from the 70s, 80s and 90s" in the Digital One capacity ultimately did not go ahead. Smooth added two further digital siblings on 3 September 2019; Smooth Country (previously

2666-526: The fastest trending tracks in social media with digital goodness from around the web. It also has an online radio station called PopBuzz Radio. PopBuzz podcast is released weekly. PopBuzz Presents, introduced in 2017, is an original live program produced in partnership with Twitter . Founded in 2014, the site is targeted to millennials and Gen Zs . Global produce over 150 events for its radio brands annually. These include Capital's Summertime Ball and Jingle Bell Ball , Heart Live and Classic FM Live at

2728-524: The final stations ending waveband simulcasting by the mid-1990s. Incremental Radio was a new type of radio licence given out by the IBA between 1989 and 1990. These were additional radio services introduced into areas already served by an Independent Local Radio station and most had to offer output not already available on ILR, such as specialist music, programmes for a specific section of the community or for smaller areas than ILR stations cover. 22 stations went on air, most of which were eventually acquired by

2790-532: The first week of September 2024, Global announced that they would introduce an additional twelve radio stations, via a week long advertisement campaign on their social media pages. Additional spin-off stations of Heart, Capital, Radio X and Classic FM would be introduced on the 12th September 2024. This brings the total number of stations operated by Global up to 33. The Capital network consists of eleven contemporary hit stations which currently broadcast in numerous areas of England, Wales and central Scotland, alongside

2852-438: The government had decided that the practice of splitting was beneficial and a quick way to increase choice for listeners. The IBA then began encouraging ILR stations to split their services and most soon complied. The usual format was to have a "gold" (oldies) service on AM and pop music on FM, although Radio City tried "City Talk" on AM before abandoning the format. By the start of the 1990s, most stations had done 'the splits' with

2914-504: The large radio groups and absorbed into their networks. As of 2024 only a few remain independently owned and operated. The regulatory model these stations were under was a precursor to commercial radio stations licensed by the incoming Radio Authority. The Broadcasting Act 1990 provided for the abolition of the IBA and its replacement by the Independent Television Commission . The IBA continued to regulate radio under

2976-452: The name Global's Newsroom. Local and national bulletins are produced and Global's Newsroom also provides the news to Global's news station LBC. In terms of weekly audience reach, Global's Newsroom is the second largest news broadcaster in the UK, second only to the BBC. The Global Awards which started on 1 March 2018 are held by Global and reward music played on its own stations. The Global Awards returned in 2019. Global's Make Some Noise

3038-410: The network programming feed continue as previously provided under Gold, and the former Gold stations in Wales continue to offer a four-hour local show as Smooth Wales . Three Gold areas where Smooth is already provided on FM – London, Manchester and the East Midlands – retained a reduced Gold service on AM and (bar Manchester, where capacity is unavailable) local DAB, with most presented shows (aside from

3100-686: The new name of the Radio Authority, but with a different remit. As a "light-touch" regulator (although heavier than the ITC), the Radio Authority was to issue licences to the highest bidder and promote the development of commercial radio choice. This led to the awarding of three national contracts, known as Independent National Radio to Classic FM , Virgin 1215 (later Virgin Radio and then rebranded Absolute Radio ) and Talk Radio (later Talksport ). The Radio Authority also began to license Restricted Service Licence (RSL) stations – low-power temporary radio stations for special events, operating for up to 28 days

3162-667: The new service, placing advertisements encouraging interested groups to apply for medium-term contracts to provide programmes in given areas. The first major areas to be advertised were London and Glasgow , with two contracts available in London, one for "news and information", one for "general and entertainment". The London news contract was awarded to London Broadcasting Company (LBC) and they began broadcasting on 8 October 1973. The London general contract went to Capital Radio , who began broadcasting on 16 October 1973. In total, 19 contracts were awarded between 1973 and 1976. Due to government limits on capital expenditure and turbulence in

SECTION 50

#1732849113553

3224-470: The takeover of Real & Smooth Ltd, Smooth Radio broadcasts soft adult contemporary music on FM in six areas, and from March 2014 on MW in a number of areas previously served by Gold. After taking over Smooth, Global reversed the "national" format that Smooth had taken in 2010 – whereby a network version of the station was broadcast nationally on DAB with all English FM stations sharing this content – and reintroduced local breakfast and drivetime shows. Two of

3286-672: The three sub-companies, Global Radio, Global Entertainment and Global Television into just 'Global'. On 1 March 2018, Global launched a brand new awards show called The Global Awards celebrating the stars of music, news & entertainment across genres in the UK and from around the world. It took place at London's Eventim Apollo . In September 2018, Global announced the double acquisition of two key outdoor companies, Primesight and Outdoor Plus, creating Global's Outdoor Division. The acquisitions were rumoured to be worth several hundred million pounds. On 19 September 2018, rival commercial radio group Bauer announced that they were pulling out of

3348-487: The transmission of Gold nationally over Digital One in the DAB+ format from 2019, with most of the prior Gold capacity outside London reallocated to Smooth Country. With the closure of Gold's last AM transmission in 2024, Gold Radio - as the station was officially rebranded that year - is now a digital-only offering. Global currently operates five stations exclusively broadcast via web-based platforms: Smooth Extra launched at

3410-399: Was a separate station within Global's line-up. On 7 October 2013 Choice FM was rebranded as Capital XTRA and made available nationally via DAB radio. Capital Xtra Reloaded broadcasts from Birmingham and is available on DAB+ on Sound Digital and online via Global Player. Its output consists primarily of hip-hop, dance, garage, R&B and grime classics from the 1990s, 2000s and 2010s. Heart

3472-416: Was announced that a weekly US version of the podcast would launch on 20 June. The News Agents USA is hosted by Maitlis and Sopel. On 29 September 2023, Global announced a further spin-off podcast, The News Agents Investigates , would launch on 1 October and be presented by Goodall. In March 2024, Simon Pitts was appointed Group Chief Executive of Global Media. He will take up his role in early 2025. In

3534-691: Was dropped at this time. The GCap purchase gave Global the network of FM stations which GCap had operated as The One Network (many of which are now part of the Heart or Capital networks), plus Classic FM , XFM , Choice FM , Gold and Chill . Following the acquisition of GCap Media, Global was required to sell off a number of stations in the Midlands. The stations were bought by Orion Media , headed by Phil Riley, former Chief Executive of Chrysalis Radio. Heritage local radio stations in areas not already served by Heart FM were gradually rebranded and incorporated into

3596-510: Was joint led by Paul Chantler (then Group Programme Director of the Chiltern Radio Network) and Jon Davies, journalist who had been a key part of ITN Radio News . The service closed with the acquisition of Chiltern Radio by the GWR Group, which was a shareholder in IRN. Independent Local Radio Independent Local Radio is the collective name given to commercial radio stations in

3658-482: Was one national DAB multiplex (Digital One) and 47 regional DAB multiplexes, owned by 10 and operated by nine companies (each multiplex carrying multiple services). The first licensed commercial radio station in the United Kingdom is often stated to be Manx Radio , which launched in June 1964. However, since the Isle of Man is not part of the United Kingdom, Manx Radio is not considered to be an ILR station and launched with

3720-653: Was originally a standalone station Fortune 1458 and Lite AM before becoming part of the Big-AM and later Capital Gold networks. In the West Midlands, after the divesture of some radio holdings to Orion Media , the Gold brand continued as a franchise, however, in late 2012 these stations were rebranded as Free Radio 80s and no longer carried Gold network programming. Most Gold stations on AM/local DAB transferred to receive their network programming provision from Smooth Radio on 24 March 2014; local news, travel and advertising drop-ins into

3782-490: Was purchased by Capital Radio Group (now Global) in 1998. Radio X is available nationally on DAB+ digital radio, Global Player, Virgin Media channel 960, Sky channel 113, and on FM in London 104.9 and Manchester 97.7. Gold is a national DAB station mostly playing music from the 1950s to the 1980s, which grew out of a network of AM and later DAB stations. Many of these were the AM sister stations to heritage CHR stations which are now Heart or Capital stations, though Gold Manchester

SECTION 60

#1732849113553

3844-428: Was to remain under the BBC. Upon the election of Edward Heath 's government in 1970, this policy changed. It is possible that Heath's victory was partly due to younger voters upset by the UK government closing down the popular pirate radio stations. The new Minister of Post and Telecommunications and former ITN newscaster, Christopher Chataway , announced a bill to allow for the introduction of commercial radio in

#552447