Sam FM was an adult hits format

radio station Radio broadcasting is the broadcasting of audio (sound), sometimes with related metadata, by radio waves to radio receivers belonging to a public audience. In terrestrial radio broadcasting the radio waves are broadcast by a land-based rad ...

that broadcast on 106.5 MHz FM in

Bristol Bristol () is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city, unitary authority area and ceremonial county in South West England, the most populous city in the region. Built around the River Avon, Bristol, River Avon, it is bordered by t ...

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

and owned by

Bauer Radio Bauer Media Audio UK is a UK-based radio division of Bauer Media Group owning brands; Absolute Radio, Greatest Hits Radio, Jazz FM, Hits Radio, KISS, Planet Rock, Magic, Kerrang! Radio and Heat Radio. History In early 2008, German ma ...

. The station formed part of the

Hits Radio Hits Radio is a network of 26 contemporary hit radio stations in the United Kingdom, owned and operated by Bauer Media Audio UK. The network launched in 2018 with the rebranding of Bauer's Manchester station Key 103 and its merger with The Hi ...

network, although its entire output and playlist was locally produced and took no network programming. It ceased broadcasting on 6 September 2021 when it rebranded to Hits Radio Bristol & The South West.

History

Original 106.5

The station was awarded its original broadcast licence in September 2006 as Original 106.5, and commenced broadcasting on 20 May 2007. It was owned by a group of investors under the name Tomahawk Radio. The station originally broadcast an Adult Oriented format, with 40% of its music coming from past or present Top 20 charts.

Jack FM

106 Jack FM replaced

Original Originality is the aspect of created or invented works that distinguish them from reproductions, clones, forgeries, or substantially derivative works. The modern idea of originality is according to some scholars tied to Romanticism, by a notion t ...

, which had previously broadcast using the same frequency, on 2 December 2009 following a staged on-air argument and station hijacking the previous day. The station was acquired by Celador Radio on 7 September 2010.

Rebrand to Sam FM and merger

From 1 April 2015, the

Jack FM Jack FM is a radio network brand that is licensed by Sparknet Communications, with the exception of the European Union where it is licensed by Oxis Media. It plays an adult hits radio format, format, in most cases not using disc jockey, DJs. F ...

name was dropped in favour of Sam FM by the station owner Celador Radio, who decided on changing the name six months beforehand. The station's topical imaging are voiced by actor and comedian

Gareth Hale Gareth Irvin Hale (born 15 January 1953) is an Anglo-Welsh comedian and actor, who is best known as one half of the comedy duo Hale and Pace, with his friend and comic partner Norman Pace. Biography Hale and his comedy partner are both form ...

(of

Hale and Pace Hale and Pace were an English comedy double-act that performed in clubs and on radio and television in the United Kingdom in the 1980s and 1990s. The duo was made up of Gareth Hale and Norman Pace, with the ''Hale and Pace'' television show ...

). On 25 May 2016, OFCOM announced it had granted Celador permission to merge the station with its sister station in Swindon. The company said the Swindon station was not financially viable as a stand-alone service, having made a £50,000 loss in 2015. The station continued to broadcast its weekday breakfast show from Bristol – shared with the Swindon station – and retained local news bulletins, traffic updates and what's on information. Following the purchase of Celador Radio by

in 2019, Sam FM Swindon became part of the

Greatest Hits Radio Greatest Hits Radio (GHR) is a classic hits radio network in the United Kingdom, owned and operated by Bauer Media Audio UK. It currently includes 18 local and regional radio stations operating over 50 FM and DAB licences in England, Scotl ...

network in September 2020, leaving the Bristol Sam FM as a standalone operation again.

DAB

Sam FM was removed from DAB in 2015, but three years later was re-added to Bristol's DAB Mux in a bid to increase listener reach.

Hits Radio Bristol & The South West and Magic Radio

On 6 September 2021, Sam FM was rebranded as Hits Radio Bristol & The South West. The station takes the national networked breakfast show from Hits Radio UK hosted by Fleur East, James Barr & Matt weekdays from 6am–10am. The drive-time slot was hosted by Max & Jason weekdays from 4pm–7pm. From Monday 4 September, this was moved to 10am–1pm. As of March 2024, the station broadcasts to a weekly audience of 54,000 listeners, 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 ...

. On 22nd September 2024, Hits Radio Bristol & The South West on 106.5MHz was renamed to Hits Radio West of England. Not only that it's broadcasting on 106.5MHz, it is also broadcasting on the former Kiss Frequencies on 97.2MHz & 101.0MHz. On 31st March 2025, Hits Radio West Of England on 106.5FM was rebranded as Magic Radio Bristol at 12:07am. Last presenter on Hits Radio West Of England on 106.5FM was Hattie Pearson and the last song that played was Feels Like I'm Falling In Love by Coldplay.

References

External links

* {{Bauer Radio stations in Bristol Organisations based in Bristol Radio stations established in 2007 Radio stations disestablished in 2021 Defunct radio stations in the United Kingdom Jack FM stations Hits Radio