The Lincs FM Group was the parent company of several Independent Local Radio (ILR) stations. As of Q2 2019 the group had a combined audience of 524,000. It was based in Lincolnshire , in the UK .
12-719: The Lincs FM Group was formed in the early 1990s with the winning of the ILR licence for Lincolnshire. Lincs FM started broadcasting in 1992 and since then the Lincs FM Group has won and acquired licences to operate other local radio stations across the UK's Midlands and Yorkshire regions. The Lincs FM Group also had a 33% share in Ipswich 102 and a 51% share in the digital radio multiplexes operating DAB services in Lincolnshire and Suffolk. Lincs FM Group
24-571: A localised show, presented by Rob Chandler. Greatest Hits Radio East Greatest Hits Radio East is a regional radio network serving the East of England , as part of Bauer ’s Greatest Hits Radio network. After acquiring several businesses in early 2019, in May 2020, Bauer announced many of their radio stations would rebrand and join the Greatest Hits Radio network, including six stations in
36-491: A re-advertised licence to the incumbent broadcaster. Ofcom said that it regarded the station's multiplex holdings as reason why the new operator would be able to support the station: "Ipswich FM’s commitment to broadcasting on the Suffolk DAB multiplex means it would have access to a greater number of potential listeners than the incumbent licensee, which does not, and did not indicate any plans to, broadcast on DAB." The launch of
48-462: Is an Independent Local Radio station owned and operated by Nation Broadcasting . It broadcasts from Ipswich in Suffolk . As of September 2024, the station broadcasts to a weekly audience of 26,000, according to RAJAR . The licence for the area had previously been held by Town 102 but Ofcom awarded the licence to Ipswich 102. This had been the first time in its history that Ofcom had not awarded
60-415: Is currently broadcast on the existing neighbouring network stations, with all other programming being networked from Liverpool & Manchester. Town 102 became Hits Radio Suffolk on 3 November 2020. On 1 October 2022, Nation Broadcasting has taken back the frequency and simulcast Nation Radio UK , except on weekday afternoons between 3pm and 7pm, where the station opts out of network programming, for
72-565: The East of England: The station carries primarily a schedule of networked programming, produced and broadcast from Bauer's Birmingham, Glasgow, Liverpool, London and Manchester studios. On weekdays, the station opts out of networked programming for a regional three-hour afternoon show from 1-4pm with Heidi Secker, originating from Bauer's Norwich studios. Bauer's Norwich newsroom broadcasts local news bulletins hourly from 6am to 7pm on weekdays and from 7am to 1pm at weekends. Headlines are broadcast on
84-604: The Lincs bid was the same of that of Compass FM; this is thought to be because Lincs FM already overlaps the North East Lincolnshire area. The station went under the working title of "White Rose Radio" to reflect the white rose of Yorkshire . The group did not win the licence and lost out to Kingston upon Hull -based KCFM . However, KCFM became part of the Lincs FM Group in June 2009. Ipswich 102 Nation Radio Suffolk
96-586: The late 2000s, the group, with a desire to continue growing, made their first acquisition with Oak 107 FM in October 2007 (previously owned by the CN Group ). This station was sold on a few years later to rejoin its former network. This was followed by the acquisition of KCFM in June 2009, previously owned by Planet Broadcasting . In 2006, the group made a bid to win the Hull licence along with six other groups. The format for
108-578: The sale by the Competition and Markets Authority . Eventually, Bauer was allowed to proceed with its business plans. After acquisition, most of the group's remaining stations were rebranded as Greatest Hits Radio with Suffolk First closing, and Lincs FM retained as a standalone station. Each station's logo was green and purple as these were the company colours; these logos featured heavily in each stations merchandise. The group ran three music formats across its stations. "Hits & Memories" stations were
120-604: The staple of the group, playing a wide variety of popular music from the 1960s to the present day. "Music You Love" stations leant older, with a greater percentage of songs released pre-1990 played. "Country music and more" was the format of the digital-only station Suffolk First, which played a mixture of country music and pop music. Until October 2007, the group was unique in the United Kingdom in that it had grown organically through licence awards, rather than by acquisition of existing stations. As FM licences ceased advertising in
132-411: The station was led by Paul Morris, formerly a presenter on SGR-FM and until 2017 the programme director for Town 102 , the station Ipswich 102 replaced. On 15 October 2020, joint shareholders Nation Broadcasting and Bauer announced that the station had agreed a brand licence to rebrand Ipswich 102 to Greatest Hits Radio East from November 2020. The station will take the local drivetime programme that
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#1732847708116144-482: Was purchased by Bauer Radio in February 2019; Bauer also purchased the stations of Celador Radio at the same time. KCFM was sold to Nation Broadcasting due to overlapping with existing Bauer asset Viking FM ; the other Lincs stations remained with Bauer. Due to further potential competition issues with Bauer's existing stations and their new purchases the group began operating in 'hold separate' pending investigation of
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