Heart West Midlands

Edit links
Coordinates: 52°28′27″N 1°55′0″W / 52.47417°N 1.91667°W / 52.47417; -1.91667
Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

Heart West Midlands
Global
Capital Midlands
Smooth West Midlands
History
First air date
6 September 1994 (29 years ago)
Links
Websitewww.heart.co.uk/westmids/ Edit this at Wikidata

Heart West Midlands is a regional

Global as part of the Heart network. It broadcasts to the West Midlands from studios in Birmingham
.

History

Heart began broadcasting to the West Midlands on Tuesday 6 September 1994, as 100.7 Heart FM, becoming the

Jazz FM North West
.

The first song to be played on 100.7 Heart FM was

soft adult contemporary" music included artists such as Lionel Richie and Tina Turner
. Reflecting this, its early slogan described the station as being "100.7 degrees cooler".

Its programming format was modified in 1996, a year after Chrysalis launched Heart 106.2 in

Hallam FM's breakfast show in a high-profile move, while Ian Danter and Carlos also arrived from BRMB
.

One of Heart's most popular presenters, Tushar Makwana, was killed in 2004 following a burglary at his home which left him injured on his doorstep.[1] The station's staff paid tribute to the presenter on-air, and campaigned for the person(s) responsible to be brought to justice. The station's reception area at the former Broad Street studios included a photographic tribute and plaque.

Following a corporate rebrand of the station, including a change of logo, the more contemporary look was soon reflected in the station's sound. The format was later described as more

Hot AC and featured more music from the likes of Natasha Bedingfield, James Blunt and Keane as well as soul music from the 1970s, branded as Club Classics. During this relaunch, long-time presenters departed the station, such as Carlos
, and Nick Piercey, to be replaced by younger presenters.

2005 saw the evacuation of its studios after

DNN
journalists, who had to broadcast from a phone booth due to restrictions on the use of mobile phones.

On 11 September 2006, new station idents and jingles were used for the first time, and saw the station referred to purely as 'Heart' rather than '100.7 Heart FM'.

On 25 June 2007 it was announced that

Chrysalis Radio.[3]

On 28 April 2008, Heart West Midlands began simulcasting most of its programmes from Heart 106.2 in London. By 2010, local programming from Birmingham was reduced to seven hours on weekdays and four hours on Saturday and Sunday.

In February 2019, following OFCOM's decision to relax local content obligations from commercial radio, Global announced it would replace Heart West Midlands' local breakfast and weekend shows with networked programming from London.[4]

As of 3 June 2019, the station's local output consists of a three-hour Drivetime show on weekdays, alongside local news bulletins, traffic updates and advertising.[5]

Station information

Former logo until in 2004

The station was housed in 111

The Arrow. The Digital News Network (DNN) also broadcast from the building until it ceased transmission in August 2006, to be replaced by LBC
, whose regional DAB service was fully rolled out on 1 September.

In April 2013, Global moved its Birmingham operations from Broad Street to new studios at nearby Eleven Brindleyplace - Heart shares its facilities with sister stations Capital Midlands and Smooth West Midlands.

The FM signal - 11

Sutton Coldfield transmitter, and is audible throughout a large part of the Midlands, including the East Midlands towns of Leicester, Derby and parts of Nottingham. It can be heard with fairly decent audible quality in Kingswood, Bristol. This is because Kingswood is very high up meaning there is a clear line of sight between the north and Kingswood. The station is available on DAB, thanks to eight transmitters throughout the West Midlands on the MXR 12A multiplex, with strong signals from The Wrekin and Ilmington in south Warwickshire
.

Programming

All networked programming originates from Global's London headquarters, including Heart Breakfast, presented each weekday by Jamie Theakston and Amanda Holden.

Regional programming is produced and broadcast from Global's Birmingham studios from 4-7pm on weekdays,

Ed James and Gemma Hill.[7]

News

Global's Birmingham newsroom broadcasts hourly regional news bulletins from 6am to 7pm on weekdays and from 6am to 12pm at weekends.[6] The newsroom also produces bulletins for sister stations Capital Midlands and Smooth West Midlands.[6]

National news updates air hourly from Global's London headquarters at all other times.

Notable former presenters

Former presenters on the station include

Sarah Jane Mee and Joel Ross.[citation needed
]

References

  1. ^ http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/west_midlands/3483125.stm DJ dies after gang robbery
  2. ^ http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/4668313.stm Birmingham threat 'real' - police
  3. ^ Chrysalis sells three radio stations
  4. ^ Global to network Capital, Heart and Smooth breakfast shows, RadioToday, 26 February 2019
  5. ^ Amanda Holden to join Jamie Theakston for Heart UK Breakfast, Radio Today, 29 April 2019
  6. ^ a b c Public File - West Midlands, heart.co.uk, 1 June 2019
  7. ^ Heart Drivetime show presenters announced by Global, Radio Today, 20 May 2019

External links

52°28′27″N 1°55′0″W / 52.47417°N 1.91667°W / 52.47417; -1.91667

Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Heart_West_Midlands&oldid=1180386370"