Original 106 is a radio station owned by Dc Thomson media and broadcasting to

Aberdeen Aberdeen (; sco, Aiberdeen ; gd, Obar Dheathain ; la, Aberdonia) is a city in North East Scotland, and is the third most populous city in the country. Aberdeen is one of Scotland's 32 local government council areas (as Aberdeen City), and ...

and Aberdeenshire. It was initially owned by Canadian media company Canwest, and was awarded its broadcast licence (the last new commercial FM licence to be issued by Ofcom) in January 2007 and the station launched on 28 October 2007 at 1:06 pm, when the first record played was "Revolution" by The Beatles. On 12 September 2009 the station was sold to a consortium led by Adam Findlay which included John Quinn and Murray Strachan. Adam Findlay's New Wave Media owned Dundee radio station Wave 102, John Quinn is the majority shareholder and chairman of Central FM, a station which covers the Forth Valley in the

Central Belt The Central Belt of Scotland is the Demography of Scotland, area of highest population density within Scotland. Depending on the definition used, it has a population of between 2.4 and 4.2 million (the country's total was around 5.4 million in ...

. On 20 March 2019 it was announced that the publisher

DC Thomson DC Thomson is a media company based in Dundee, Scotland. Founded by David Couper Thomson in 1905, it is best known for publishing ''The Dundee Courier'', '' The Evening Telegraph'' and '' The Sunday Post'' newspapers, and the comics ''Oor W ...

, which already owned Wave FM in Dundee, had bought the Fife-based

Kingdom FM Kingdom FM is a radio station serving Fife. It is owned and operated by Dc. Thomson Media and broadcasts from studios at Elizabeth House in Kirkcaldy. The station broadcasts on five FM frequencies: 95.2 (Dunfermline and West Fife), 96.1 (Gle ...

and Original 106 taking its tally of radio stations to three. Since its launch until June 2019, Original 106 operated from studios at Craigshaw Business Park in West Tullos,

. On 25 June 2019 the station relocated to a new studio complex within

Marischal Square Marischal Square is a mixed use complex on Broad Street, Aberdeen, Broad Street, Aberdeen, Scotland. The development is located on the site of St. Nicholas House, Aberdeen City Council's former 14-storey headquarters building, whose demolition ...

, Aberdeen. Three FM transmitters are in operation; Durris near

Stonehaven Stonehaven ( , ) is a town in Scotland. It lies on Scotland's northeast coast and had a population of 11,602 at the 2011 Census. After the demise of the town of Kincardine, which was gradually abandoned after the destruction of its royal cast ...

on 106.8 covering all north-east Scotland, a relay on 106.3 for

Peterhead Peterhead (; gd, Ceann Phàdraig, sco, Peterheid ) is a town in Aberdeenshire, Scotland. It is Aberdeenshire's biggest settlement (the city of Aberdeen itself not being a part of the district), with a population of 18,537 at the 2011 Census. ...

and

Buchan Buchan is an area of north-east Scotland, historically one of the original provinces of the Kingdom of Alba. It is now one of the six committee areas and administrative areas of Aberdeenshire Council, Scotland. These areas were created by ...

which was added to the network on 8 May 2014 and a relay at Balgownie (also on 106.3FM) covering north

which was added on the 28 November 2018. With transmissions commencing on 26 June 2019, Original 106 is now available across the north east of Scotland on DAB (

Digital Audio Broadcasting Digital radio is the use of digital technology to transmit or receive across the radio spectrum. Digital transmission by radio waves includes digital broadcasting, and especially digital audio radio services. Types In digital broadcasting sy ...

) via the Switch Aberdeen multiplex, and a UK-wide internet audio stream is available from the statio
website
on smart speakers and on mobile app. On 1 December 2016 three supplementary online-only stations were launched under the Original 106 brand; Original 106 Chart, Original 106 Country, and Original 106 Gold (non-stop 60's, 70's & 80s hits). The chart and country stations were replaced by party and rock themed stations respectively in 2020, all are accessible from th
station website
smart speakers and downloadable app.

Music

In July 2018, permission was granted by Ofcom for Original 106 to adjust its music format by removing the requirement to play exclusively alternative, rock oriented tracks and widen its appeal to playing a broad range of hit music from a full range of popular genres including rock, pop, soul, dance. The focus is on hits from the 80s to the present day, plus a selection of 70s classics.

Output

The programming output of Original 106 is produced and generated from within its transmission area during weekday daytime hours. There are hourly round-the-clock news bulletins covering local, national and international news. Locally produced bulletins are augmented by overnight national bulletins from Sky News. Current weekday presenters are Claire Stevenson and Craig McDonald (Breakfast), Martin Ingram (Daytime), Martyn Smith (Drivetime), and Gemma McLean (evenings). Weekend presenters include Vanessa Motion, Dave Connor, Lachlan McKenzie & Beth Milne. During traffic peak times there is travel news, sports and business updates, plus energy updates relevant to the North-East's oil, gas and renewables sectors. Entertainment 'what's on' guides are broadcast daily, plus interviews and personalities from news and entertainment backgrounds, film/theatre reviews etc form a significant part of speech output. Original 106 associates itself with a range of local charities includin
Friends Of AnchorChildren 1stVSA (Voluntary Services Aberdeen)CFINE - Community Food Initiatives North EastInstant Neighbour
an
Charlie House
with the aim of publicising their work and assisting in fundraising efforts. Original's annual Christmas appeal seeks donations of non-perishable foods to stock local food banks. In both 2012 and 2013, the station hosted 24 hour marathon broadcasts in aid of the STV Appeal. In 2016, Original 106 was nominated in two categories at the Arqiva Commercial Radio Awards; in the "Station of the Year" and "Social Action Initiative" categories.

Online

The Original 106 website features local news and weather updates, and an audio stream. Audio and podcasts also feature. Original 106 has

mobile app A mobile application or app is a computer program or software application designed to run on a mobile device such as a phone, tablet, or watch. Mobile applications often stand in contrast to desktop applications which are designed to run on d ...

s available to download for both IOS and Android devices. On 1 December 2016 three online-only stations were launched under the Original 106 brand; Original 106 Chart (playing non-stop current and recent hits), Original 106 Country (current and classic country hits) an
Original 106 Gold
(non-stop 60s, 70s and 80s hits). In 2020, the chart station was replaced b
Original 106 Party
and the country station was replaced b
Original 106 Rocks
Original 106 Gold, Rocks and Party are all accessible from the station website, smart speakers and downloadable app.

References

External links

Official web site for Original 106
{{coord, 57, 7, 35, N, 2, 5, 36, W, display=title Radio stations in Aberdeen Radio stations in Scotland Radio stations established in 2007