CountryLine Radio is a UK-based radio station playing
country music
Country (also called country and western) is a popular music, music genre originating in the southern regions of the United States, both the American South and American southwest, the Southwest. First produced in the 1920s, country music is p ...
. Founded by Chris Stevens, it launched as Chris Country on 27 April 2013. The station is now owned by
CountryLine, having purchased the station from Chris Stevens and
Nation Broadcasting in March 2020 and its owners rebranded the station on 7 March 2022 to CountryLine Radio.
On 13 December 2023, it was announced that
TuneIn
TuneIn is a global audio streaming service providing news, radio, sports, music, and podcasts to over 75 million monthly active users.
TuneIn is operated by the privately held company TuneIn Inc. based in San Francisco, California. The comp ...
and CountryLine Radio have signed a deal with
The Big 615, a station owned by country singer
Garth Brooks
Troyal Garth Brooks (born February 7, 1962) is an American Country music, country singer and songwriter. His integration of pop and rock elements into the country genre has earned him his immense popularity, particularly in the United States, ...
, and will rebrand as
CountryLine Radio: The Big 615 in January 2024.
As of December 2023, the station broadcasts to a weekly audience of 36,000, according to
RAJAR
Radio Joint Audience Research Limited (RAJAR; ) was established in 1992 to operate a single audience measurement system for the radio industry in the United Kingdom. RAJAR is jointly owned by the BBC and Radiocentre. RAJAR's predecessor was c ...
.
DAB availability
CountryLine Radio is currently available in several areas of the UK. The station's first carriage agreements were on three of
Ofcom
The Office of Communications, commonly known as Ofcom, is the government-approved regulatory and competition authority for the broadcasting, internet, telecommunications and mail, postal industries of the United Kingdom.
Ofcom has wide-rang ...
's trial of small-scale DAB multiplexes - Manchester, Portsmouth and Cambridge. On 11 March 2016 the station launched on the
London 2 DAB multiplex. A month later the station launched on the North East Wales DAB multiplex.
Chris Country arrives in NW England and NE Wales
/ref> Today the station can now also be heard on eight multiplexes.
Programming
Much of the station's output is automated although recently the station introduced more presenter-led shows. Chris Stevens, the station founder, hosts the breakfast show and John Collins presents drivetime. Other presenters include Miles Myers-Cough Harris. The station also broadcasts country countdown programmes from America, including Bob Kingsley's Country Top 40, and other syndicated shows Nashville Access and Tim Rogers Classic Country. CountryLine Radio also broadcasts hourly news summaries from Radio News Hub.
Chris Country Weekly
The station produces a weekly 3-hour syndicated show for commercial & community radio stations. It's presented by the station manager Chris Stevens and distributed via his company Devaweb. It plays the very best in current and classic country music, the same as that of the 24/7 radio station. Occasionally, there are special star guests from the country music scene that appear on the program and sometimes even perform acoustic live sessions.
See also
* Country 1035, a 1994-2002 London based country music station
* 3C (radio), a station that broadcast country music across the UK on DAB radio until 2007.
References
External links
Station website
{{Coord, 53, 28, 24, N, 2, 17, 58, W, type:landmark_region:GB-MAN, display=title
Country radio stations in the United Kingdom
Radio stations established in 2013