Orion Media
Media | |
| Founded | 2009 |
|---|---|
| Defunct | 2016 |
| Fate | Acquired by Bauer Media Group |
| Headquarters | Birmingham, England, UK |
Key people | Adrian Serle, Chief Executive David Lloyd, Director of Programming & Marketing Mark Evans, Finance Director |
| Website | www |
Orion Media was a UK commercial radio group, founded in 2009 after a management buy-in, with backing from
In May 2016, the company was sold to Bauer Media Group.
History
Following Global Radio's acquisition of GCap Media in 2007, it was deemed that Global had an unfair advantage in the West Midlands market as they owned the vast majority of stations.
The
In June 2009, the new group was named Orion Media.[2]
In January 2011, Orion's East Midlands station Heart 106 was rebranded and relaunched as Gem 106, following the end of a franchise agreement with Global Radio allowing the station to use the Heart branding and carry networked programming from London.
In January 2012, Orion Media announced that its four FM stations in the West Midlands region were to be renamed '
On 24 May 2012, Orion Media announced it would relaunch its Gold West Midlands stations on AM frequencies and DAB as Free Radio 80s later in the year.[6] The station, which aired networked programming from London with opt-outs for sports programming, switched to locally produced output playing 1980s music alongside news and information and live football commentaries on Monday 4 September 2012, ending a franchise agreement with Global Radio which allowed the station to carry Gold branding and output.
On 6 May 2016, Orion announced they had been bought by Bauer for an undisclosed fee, reportedly between £40 and £50 million.[7][8]
Stations owned
| Station name | Former name | Based in | Broadcast area | Frequency and multiplex | Format | Transmission date |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Free Radio Birmingham |
BRMB | Birmingham | Birmingham | 96.4FM, CE Birmingham |
Hot AC |
19 September 1974 |
Free Radio Coventry & Warwickshire |
Mercia |
Birmingham | Coventry and Warwickshire | 97.0, 102.9FM, NOW Coventry |
Hot AC |
23 May 1980 |
Free Radio Herefordshire & Worcestershire |
Wyvern | Worcester | Herefordshire and Worcestershire | 97.6, 96.7, 102.8FM, MuxCo Herefordshire and Worcestershire | Hot AC |
4 October 1982 |
Free Radio Shropshire & Black Country |
Beacon |
Wolverhampton | Shropshire and Black Country | 103.1, 97.2FM, NOW Wolverhampton |
Hot AC |
12 April 1976 |
Gem |
Heart 106 | Nottingham | East Midlands | 106.0FM, NOW Nottingham, NOW Leicester |
Adult Contemporary |
23 September 1997 |
| Free Radio 80s | Gold | Birmingham | West Midlands | 990, 1017, 1152, 1359AM, NOW Coventry |
1980s music | 4 April 1989, 15 January 1989 |
References
- ^ Bauer beaten to the punch in radio deal Timesonline News - Accessed 26 May 2009 (subscription required)
- ^ Midlands radio sale cleared Archived 4 September 2009 at the Wayback Machine Radio Today - Accessed 5 July 2009
- ^ Birmingham's BRMB rebrands to Free Radio Guardian Online - Accessed 9 January 2012
- ^ Free Radio Will Launch in Spring 2012 Free Radio web page - Accessed 9 January 2012
- ^ BRMB, Mercia, Beacon, Wyvern to be Free, Radio Today, 9 January 2012
- ^ Gold to be Free Radio 80s in West Mids, Radio Today, 24 May 2012
- ^ Bauer buys radio group Orion Media, The Guardian, 6 May 2016
- ^ Orion Media sold to Bauer for £50m, The Telegraph, 6 May 2016