53-499: Magic Radio is a British digital radio station owned and operated by Bauer Media Audio UK . The station is available on 105.4 FM in London and across the UK on DAB Digital Radio, via Bauer's Rayo platform, and on Smart speakers . It plays "soft adult contemporary classics" such as Elton John , Madonna , Hot Chocolate , Whitney Houston , UB40 , Simply Red , and more. It had previously been
106-472: A legal licence. This was in response to the UK Government and Independent Broadcasting Authority (IBA) announcement that twenty new " incremental radio " licences would be advertised, including one for London. Stations were told that they would have to voluntarily closedown when applying, and so on New Year's Eve 1988, the final broadcast went out with an outside broadcast at Dingwalls. Kiss would submit
159-471: A listening share of 5.4% as of March 2024. The Magic name was first used in 1990 when Leeds station Radio Aire launched an oldies station called Magic 828 on its MW frequency. Seven years later, the Magic brand was rolled out on MW across Yorkshire and north east England and the stations adopted a soft adult contemporary music format. In 1998, easy music station Melody FM , which had also launched in 1990,
212-544: A new website for all three Kiss stations , replacing the previous website. The relaunch was implemented simultaneously with the rebranding of Kiss 100's sister dance stations, Vibe 101 and Vibe 105–108 as Kiss 101 and Kiss 105-108 respectively. Changes at Kiss 100 were introduced to address falling listener figures and to keep the station competitive in the highly contested London market. Roberts became its Group Programme Director. A year later, EMAP sold its radio division to Bauer Radio . In December 2010, Ofcom approved
265-824: A number of other radio brands, broadcasts from Bauer Radio 's headquarters in Golden Square. It had previously broadcast from studios on Winsley Street (Mappin House) until September 2014. Bauer's stations including Magic has now moved to the firm's new facilities at The Lantern in Euston. On 2 April 2024, Magic ceased transmitting on the Freeview digital television platform after 21 years, as it and other Bauer stations completed their withdrawal from linear TV platforms, having dropped satellite transmission in late 2023. Launched March 2016 and playing "laid back hits", predominantly pop and R'n'B from
318-615: A part of a network of Magic stations broadcast on FM in London and on MW across northern England and began broadcasting across the UK via the Digital One multiplex in January 2015. On 5 January 2015, Magic Radio launched nationally on DAB and all other Magic stations were dissolved to form the Bauer City 2 network. According to RAJAR , the station broadcasts to a weekly audience of 4.4 million with
371-577: A permanent part of the network. This was originally a temporary pop-up service, branded as Magic Soul Summer , which launched in the summer of 2016 largely taking over the capacity previously occupied by the temporary Magic ABBA station; the soul service ultimately remained active as a permanent part of the network, truncating its name to Magic Soul from Autumn 2016 onwards. The station broadcast on local DAB until moving to broadcast in stereo DAB+ in October 2023 along with Magic Chilled, Mellow Magic and Magic at
424-607: A small area, normally within a 3-mile (5 km) radius, and are required by the Act to be not-for-profit organisations, owned by local people, on which the broadcasters are mostly volunteers. They are recognised under the Communications Act 2003 as a distinct third tier of radio in the United Kingdom. The community radio movement in the United Kingdom was founded in the mid-1970s, broadcasting through Restricted Service Licences ,
477-464: A small local licence instead of a regional one. The change was approved despite opposition from Nation Broadcasting and Star EMAP took full control of Kiss 100 as early as 1992, but with Mac having left the station in March 1998, EMAP would embark on a rebranding of the station and to align it with the rest of its radio operations. In December 1998, one of the station's most popular DJs, Steve Jackson,
530-503: A strong application with widespread support from listeners, clubs, record labels and music magazines, however on 12 July 1989, the IBA instead awarded the licence to Jazz FM . Despite the temptation to return to the air again illegally, Kiss held off as the IBA had said they would make more licences available, which they did in September 1989. Kiss re-prepared their application, but this time got
583-497: Is Global Radio which bought the former media group, GCap Media . It owns Classic FM and the Capital radio network . Other owners are Bauer Radio and Wireless Group , which mainly own stations that broadcast in highly populated city areas. Many of these stations, including all the BBC stations, are also available via digital television services. Community radio stations broadcast to
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#1732869007824636-494: Is pop music , but many other tastes are also catered for, particularly in London and the larger cities, and on digital radio. Rather than operating as independent entities, many local radio stations are owned by large radio groups which generally broadcast the same station on frequencies which used to carry local individual stations with their own station name. They broadcast as a single network with local inserts for news, weather, travel and commercials. The largest operator of radio
689-505: The Bam Bam breakfast show where consent was not sought from the "victims" and controversial material aired when children were likely to be listening. Kiss 100 said it accepted the findings and apologised for any offence EMAP introduced a second major revamp of the Kiss brand on 6 September 2006. This included a new logo designed by oddlondon, a renewed focus on dance music, more specialist shows and
742-585: The Digital One multiplex). As with the BBC, digital radio has brought about many changes, including the roll-out of local stations such as Radio X , Kiss and Kerrang Radio to other areas of the United Kingdom. Commercial radio licences are awarded by Ofcom , a government body which advertises a licence for an area and holds a so-called beauty contest to determine which station will be granted permission to broadcast in that area. Stations submit detailed application documents containing their proposed format and
795-659: The Sky , Freesat and Virgin Media digital TV platforms in the UK, operating as part of The Box Plus Network . The channel played classic and contemporary melodic pop hits. 51°30′43.53″N 0°8′12.99″W / 51.5120917°N 0.1369417°W / 51.5120917; -0.1369417 Radio in the United Kingdom Radio enjoys a huge following in the United Kingdom . There are around 600 licensed radio stations in
848-549: The Smooth Secret Song competition on London rival 102.2 Smooth FM , scooping £118,454 on 19 April 2006. However, Magic regained the honour on 30 March 2007 with listener Maria Crosskey winning £168,600 in a six-month-long Mystery Voices contest, although she was later disqualified (see 'Mystery Voices' below). In 2008, Emap sold its radio stations, including Magic, to Bauer Media Group . Magic, along with urban-music station Kiss , rock music station Absolute Radio and
901-834: The internet and cable television . An Access Radio pilot scheme, launched in 2002, gave fifteen stations, including Resonance FM and ALL FM , trial licences, and this has blossomed into a lively sector, overseen unofficially by the Community Media Association . The broadcasters predominantly serve an easily defined racial community such as Asian Star Radio in Slough, or a geographically defined community such as Coast FM , Speysound Radio & The Bay Radio. They can also serve religious groups, such as Christian radio station Branch FM in Yorkshire. As well as this, they can also be linked with universities and student unions who run
954-613: The "continued marginalisation of reggae music" on the station. Under Roberts, Kiss extended its stations, launching Kisstory in May 2013. On 26 February 2016, Kiss was launched in Norway rebranded from The Voice Hiphop & RnB Norway and Finland. In January 2023, station owners Bauer submitted plans to Ofcom to change the format of the FM frequencies held by Kiss on 105.6 MHz (Cambridge), 106.4 MHz (Suffolk) and 107.7 MHz (Peterborough). The application
1007-504: The 90s to today (which ended up as the slogan for the station: Pop + R'B: 90's-Now);the format originated as an evening programme strand on Heat Radio (as 'heat Chilled') but moved under the Magic brand to be launched as a full-time station, and as a permanent part of the network. Magic Chilled was Bauer's first DAB+ station. It was originally broadcast on the national Sound Digital multiplex, moved to local tier DAB, in capacity previously used by Absolute Radio 90s , in early 2019 as part of
1060-487: The Channel Islands, as well as stations from Scotland , Wales and Northern Ireland . All are available on FM and DAB and some are also available on AM. Also available nationally on analogue radio are two national commercial channels , namely Classic FM ( FM 99.9 MHz—101.9 MHz); and talkSPORT (AM 1053 kHz or 1089 kHz in most areas). These stations are also available at 11D or 12A on DAB (on
1113-563: The DJs on the station including Norman Jay , Jonathan More , Colin Faver , Trevor Nelson , and Tim Westwood would become "shareholders" in a company called Goodfoot Promotions, with Mac heading up the station as its majority holder. By 1988, Kiss was at its strongest with a DJ line-up which had become the cream of London's clubland, and in that December, Mac and the other shareholders would announce that they would decide to close down in order to apply for
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#17328690078241166-570: The Hits Radio Network, another of Bauer Media UK's radio brands and networks. Cian Ducrot presented the first show under the new name, and with his song "All For You" being the first track on the new station. Mellow Magic is a digital-only service of timeless relaxing classics, launched in March 2016 along with Magic Chilled. It continues to broadcast as part of the Sound Digital national multiplex jointly owned by Bauer. The Mellow Magic station
1219-511: The Musicals. Launched on DAB+ in London on 21 November 2019; the station has since been rolled out to several other areas, chiefly on selected Bauer-owned multiplexes, in standard DAB, moving to broadcast nationally on stereo DAB+ in October 2023, but ultimately remained active as a permanent part of the network. It plays show-tunes and soundtracks. Following the migration of other Bauer services (including Kisstory and Heat Radio ) to SDL, some of
1272-492: The UK via DAB Digital Radio , as well as on Bauer's Rayo platform. The station started in 1985 as a pirate radio station , Kiss FM , before becoming the UK's first legal black and dance music specialist radio station in 1990. As of June 2024, the station has a weekly audience of 2 million listeners according to RAJAR . Kiss FM first broadcast 7 October 1985 as a pirate radio station, initially to South London then across
1325-465: The Wag Club (which included the first ever UK acid house party – an idea put forward by Colin Faver and Danny Rampling ), both DJs on the station. These nights increased the station's credibility with its target audience and Wingate joined the Kiss team, followed shortly thereafter by Lindsay Wesker. Kiss would also run its own night at Dingwalls and adopted the slogan Radical Radio . Mac and ten of
1378-483: The backing and majority investment of media group EMAP . On 17 December 1989, the IBA announced that Kiss had been awarded a licence on their second attempt. Kiss established its new studios and office on Holloway Road , and on 1 September 1990, Kiss began legal broadcasting as Kiss 100 . Gordon Mac led a countdown in the studio to the official launch at 12pm; the first tune played being "Pirates Anthem" by Cocoa Tea and Shabba Ranks , followed by Norman Jay hosting
1431-505: The country. For a more comprehensive list see List of radio stations in the United Kingdom . The most prominent stations are the national networks operated by the BBC . Five of them are available on analogue radio ( FM and AM ) whilst the rest are available on DAB , along with the other five (at 12B, the BBC National multiplex ). The BBC also provides 40 local radio services for England and
1484-721: The final song played on FM. Programming is produced and broadcast from Bauer's London headquarters at The Lantern. Kiss broadcasts nationally via DAB on the 11D Digital One multiplex. It also broadcasts on the London 1 multiplex on channel 12C. From 1985, DJs and presenters have included: Norman Jay , Coldcut ( Matt Black & Jonathan More), Paul Trouble Anderson , Colin Faver , Judge Jules , Tim Westwood , Jazzie B , Trevor Nelson , Lisa I'Anson , Danny Rampling , and Richie Rich . At its legal launch and early 1990s, this would also include Graham Gold , Dave Pearce , David Rodigan , Patrick Forge , Somethin' Else (Chris Phillips & Jez Nelson ), and Gilles Peterson . In
1537-592: The mood of the nation in the COVID-19 pandemic . Unlike the earlier Magic Christmas, this service did not broadcast on DAB. Bond 24/7 was a pop-up station which ran from 29 September to 6 October 2021. It was launched to mark the release of the 25th film in the James Bond series No Time to Die and would play music from the James Bond films. There was also a complementary Magic-branded music television channel available on
1590-560: The new name of Hits Radio Chilled,with the new slogan "Laid-Back Hits & Throwbacks". This tied in to the Hits Radio slogan "The Biggest Hits, The Biggest Throwbacks". This followed an announcement in July, and weeks of jingles being rebranded to the Hits Radio jingle and voices informing people of the change. This move, one of a few shake-ups in the Bauer UK radio portfolio, transferred the station to
1643-419: The outcome of research to determine the demand for their particular style of broadcast. Original 106 (Scotland) was the last radio station to be granted a licence by Ofcom . Most local commercial stations in the United Kingdom broadcast to a city or group of towns within a radius of 20–50 miles, with a second tier of regional stations covering larger areas such as North West England . The predominant format
Magic (UK radio station) - Misplaced Pages Continue
1696-455: The press at the time stating that the station commanded some 500,000 listeners while operating as an unlicensed pirate station, and an Evening Standard readers' poll in 1987 put Kiss second, behind Capital Radio . Gordon Mac approached a successful London club promoter, Guy Wingate, to discuss ways of improving the Kiss FM profile. As a result, Wingate launched the very successful Kiss nights at
1749-462: The reach and size of the station. In an attempt to cut costs, Magic began networking its mid-morning show, hosted by Richard Skinner , and automated overnight output with the eight other Magic stations in the North of England in January 2002. Audience figures fell on all nine stations in the twelve months that followed, some arguing a lack of local content had driven listeners to tune away. Networking
1802-481: The reorganisation of space for the launch of Scala Radio , then reverted to broadcast on Sound Digital in DAB+ in October 2023, following the conversion of stations including Scala and Mellow Magic to DAB+. In London, Magic Chilled continued to be broadcast in DAB+ at the same bitrate as before but in stereo At 7PM (UK) on Monday 16th September 2024, Magic Chilled was formally rebranded and relaunched across all platforms under
1855-540: The request from Bauer to drop local programming content from the three Kiss stations, creating a national service on the condition that Kiss would be available on 35 DAB multiplexes around the UK on the day local information is dropped, rising to 38 within three months of the changes. On 27 December 2012, Kiss 100 appeared nationally on Digital One's national DAB multiplex. David Rodigan , who had been with Kiss since its legal launch in 1990, resigned in November 2012, citing
1908-499: The same time. (During 2018, this capacity was used by Absolute Radio 90s , and since February 2019 the space has been occupied by Kisstory ). In December 2018 and 2019, the main Magic station flipped to an all-Christmas playlist, and so a discrete Christmas station was not provided. Magic 100% Christmas was launched online in August 2020, several months earlier than previous Christmas music stations in order to, according to Bauer, help lift
1961-411: The service was brought in-house. Later years saw a reliance on weekend celebrity-hosted content and large cash prizes to entice listeners - the award of £110,600 to Nicola Diss, the winner of the popular Magic Mystery Voices contest on 12 January 2006 was the largest cash prize given away on UK radio since 1999, a sum surpassed just a few months later by the prize collected by listener Dawn Muggleton in
2014-577: The station. Over ten DJs have parted company with the station, including Steve Jackson, who won the Sony breakfast show award this year. In the words of Mr Cox [EMAP marketing director], the music on the station has been "smoothed out"." In June 2006, Kiss 100 was fined £175,000 by media regulator Ofcom, a record fee for any UK commercial radio station. Ofcom punished Kiss 100 for "numerous and serious breaches" of broadcasting codes after receiving ten complaints from April to November 2005. They involved prank calls on
2067-549: The stations from Scottish Radio Holdings in August 2005, and rebranded them in September 2006. In July 2023, Ofcom approved Bauer's request to the change the format of Kiss in the East of England. This meant that from the 12th September 2023, Kiss on 105.6 (Cambridge), 106.4 (Ipswich and Suffolk) and 107.7 (Peterborough) would have its format changed and carry Greatest Hits Radio instead. Kiss would however continue to broadcast on FM to Norwich and Norfolk across 106.1 effectively becoming
2120-585: The stations under a community licence, for example Smoke Radio in London , Demon FM in Leicester , and Spark FM in Sunderland According to RAJAR figures, the top ten stations or networks by listeners nationwide are: Kiss (UK radio station) Kiss is a British digital radio station owned and operated by Bauer Media Audio UK as part of the Kiss Network . Kiss broadcasts nationally to
2173-505: The switch will take place on 23 September, sooner than expected as it was believed that Bauer would wait until the new Media Act became law, eliminating the need to make a format change request to Ofcom. It was also announced that the 97.2 frequency in Bristol will also carry Hits Radio. On 22 September 2024, at 10 pm, Kiss became digital only, with " One Kiss " by Calvin Harris and Dua Lipa being
Magic (UK radio station) - Misplaced Pages Continue
2226-546: The vacated space at local level was used during the spring of 2016 for a short-term pop-up, playing ABBA songs (and versions thereof) and related content. It ran as a commercial partnership with Mamma Mia!: the Musical . An online-only sibling, Magic Workout has been made available as one of a suite of streaming-only Bauer services. The temporary service formed part of Magic's partnership with breast cancer charity Walk The Walk's Moonwalk event. A similar service, Cool FM Workout,
2279-555: The very first full show. The Channel 4 documentary Radical Radio followed Kiss as it came off air as a pirate station, gained its licence, built its new studios, and commenced legal broadcasting. Starting out as a Bristol pirate radio station, it became part of the Galaxy Radio network broadcasting to South Wales and the West of England , playing pop , dance , hip hop , urban , R&B and electronic music as Galaxy 101. It
2332-407: The whole city, on 94FM. Kiss FM was founded by Gordon "Mac" McNamee, George Power (of London Greek Radio ), and Tosca Jackson, with its engineer Pyers Easton. Transmitting seven-days from the start, it would be regularly taken off-air by the authorities and so became a weekend operation shortly afterwards. The station developed a cult and committed following across Greater London , with figures in
2385-455: Was appointed as the new Director of Music Programming, along with moving the Kiss studios and office to EMAPs main premises at Mappin House, Central London , and creating a new logo. Andy Roberts became Kiss Programme Director. In July 1999, The Independent reported: "In preparation for the new ad campaign, the biggest in the station's history, EMAP has spent twelve months changing the output of
2438-472: Was approved in July 2023, with the frequencies becoming relays of Greatest Hits Radio , leaving Kiss on 100 MHz (London), 97.2 MHz (Bristol), 101 MHz (Severn Estuary) and 106.1 MHz (Norwich). In August 2024, Bauer announced that Kiss would be replaced on FM in London, the Severn Estuary and Norwich by Hits Radio , with Kiss retaining its frequency in Bristol. Then on 20 September 2024, Bauer announced that
2491-419: Was brought in to increase the station's audience share. In September 2003, Magic saw its first major revamp: live programming replaced automated output in the evening, and Independent Radio News -employed personnel staffed the station's daytime news output, removing shared presenting/newsreading responsibilities, a legacy from Melody FM. IRN retained the contract to supply Magic's news bulletins until 2015, when
2544-547: Was built on the successful Magic night-time programming strand of the same name. Fran Godfrey has hosted the breakfast show on Mellow Magic, since the station's official launch; the station previously simulcast the Mellow Magic programmes of the main Magic station, but this ceased when Magic temporarily flipped to a Christmas music format. in autumn 2023; shortly afterward, Mellow Magic switched its digital radio broadcast from mono DAB to stereo DAB+ but ultimately remained active as
2597-453: Was dismissed resulting in a high-profile court case, whilst the changes led to criticism from both former presenters and listeners alike, concerned that Kiss 100 was losing its musical direction. DJs Coldcut , Bob Jones, and Manasseh quit the station in January 1999 in protest at the changes being implemented. Other DJs at this time were being lured away by the increasingly dance-oriented BBC Radio 1 . Mark Story (previously of Magic 105.4 )
2650-526: Was ended in January 2003, although the eight 'northern' Magic stations continued to share a mid-morning show, hosted by Mark Thorburn, and were subsequently networked again, with the exception of local breakfast shows, following a repositioning of the northern Magic group in mid-2006. These stations were later rebranded into the Bauer City 2 network in 2015. The end of networking heralded a programming shift; Magic adopting its 'more music, less talk' ethos. Former Capital FM head and radio consultant Richard Park
2703-602: Was eventually bought by EMAP and became Kiss 101 in September 2006 and part of the Kiss network. The Faze FM group licensed the name and logo from Kiss 100 to launch Kiss 102 in Manchester in October 1994. In February 1997, it expanded into Yorkshire launching Kiss 105 . The group was later sold to Chrysalis Radio , and by September 1997 both stations became part of the Galaxy Radio network. The East Anglian and Severn Estuary versions of Kiss were previously known as Vibe FM with DJs Nikki Elise and Ric Groves. EMAP bought
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#17328690078242756-533: Was launched by Bauer in partnership with the Belfast City Marathon in 2021. In late 2017, a slot on the Digital One multiplex which had been occupied since the summer by Kiss Fresh was temporarily used by a Christmas music station under the Magic Christmas banner; it was one of two festive stations available on D1 that year, with Heart Extra making its annual switch to Heart Extra Christmas around
2809-493: Was purchased by media group Emap from Hanson plc for a reported £25 million and rebranded to Magic that December and the change saw Emap introduce automation for the first time - weekday afternoons were split with a 'non-stop music hour', first sponsored by the now defunct energy company Calortex , and later by the Emap -owned Red magazine. Magic was criticised for automating a further eleven hours of its daily output (7pm-6am) given
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