Independent Local Radio
Independent Local Radio is the collective name given to commercial radio stations in the United Kingdom.
As a result of the buyouts and mergers permitted by the Broadcasting Act 1990, and deregulation resulting from the Communications Act 2 ...
station based in the market town of
Warminster
Warminster () is a historic market town and Civil parishes in England, civil parish in south-west Wiltshire, England, on the western edge of Salisbury Plain. The parish had a population of 18,173 in 2021.
The name ''Warminster'' occurs first i ...
,
Wiltshire
Wiltshire (; abbreviated to Wilts) is a ceremonial county in South West England. It borders Gloucestershire to the north, Oxfordshire to the north-east, Berkshire to the east, Hampshire to the south-east, Dorset to the south, and Somerset to ...
,
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 ...
. It broadcast on 107.5 FM to the West Wiltshire, East
Somerset
Somerset ( , ), Archaism, archaically Somersetshire ( , , ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South West England. It is bordered by the Bristol Channel, Gloucestershire, and Bristol to the north, Wiltshire to the east ...
and surrounding area, and online via
Internet
The Internet (or internet) is the Global network, global system of interconnected computer networks that uses the Internet protocol suite (TCP/IP) to communicate between networks and devices. It is a internetworking, network of networks ...
streaming. It was formerly known as Pride FM until a name change took place shortly after the licence was awarded.
History
On 5 November 2001, after a period of test transmissions, Jonathan Fido presented the first live programme, the breakfast show at 8:30am, accompanied by key local people from the area, staff from The Local Radio Company, and the station's crew at the time.
The last song to be played before officially going live was " Sweet Surrender" by Wet Wet Wet. A specially-produced introduction was then played featuring a montage of voice-overs, clips, and other segments officially launching the station. The first official song played was " Wake Up Boo!" by The Boo Radleys.
Shortly after the main on-air launch, James Moran and David Stratton (High Sheriff of Wiltshire) unveiled a gold plaque in the reception area of the station live on air, in front of many photographers and press reporters.
The station's
studio
A studio is a space set aside for creative work of any kind, including art, dance, music and theater.
The word ''studio'' is derived from the , from , from ''studere'', meaning to study or zeal.
Types Art
The studio of any artist, esp ...
in Wiltshire included two broadcast and production studios, several offices, a "glass room" (meeting space) (dismantled in latter years), a technical equipment hub, and a garden adjacent to the
River Wylye
The River Wylye ( ), also known in its upper reaches as the River Deverill, is a chalk stream in Wiltshire, England, with clear water flowing over gravel. It is popular with fly fishermen. A half-mile stretch of the river and three lakes in W ...
.
On 30 June 2008, TLRC announced plans to sell six of its stations, including 3TR. It was purchased by Laser Broadcasting, who later went bust, and the group was bought by South West Radio, who also went into administration. On 24 March 2010, the five YMC Ltd stations, including 3TR, were closed by administrators after multiple refusals on the part of regulator
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 ...
to transfer the licences to them from SWR.
Cheltenham-based TotalStar was 3TR FM's next owner, its fifth in less than two years. The company bought all of the stations previously owned by South West Radio Ltd. The firm already ran Star 107.5, which employed former
BBC Radio 1
BBC Radio 1 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. It specialises in modern popular music and Contemporary hit radio, current chart hits throughout the day. The station provides alternative genres at night, including ...
presenter
Mike Read
Michael David Kenneth Read (born 1 March 1947) is an English radio disc jockey, writer, journalist and television presenter.
Read has been a broadcaster since 1976, best known for having been a DJ with BBC Radio 1, and television host for mus ...
as its mid-morning presenter. The radio station was broadcast from Boreham Mill, in Warminster, but it was reported that it would now be aired from new offices, and would be sharing programmes with the five other stations.
The final schedule was as follows:
* Monday – Thursday:
* 07:00 – 11:00 Nick Burrett – Breakfast
* 11:00 – 14:00 Drew Haddon – The Soundtrack To Your Workday
* 14:00 – 19:00 Ray King – Afternoons/Hits 'n' Headlines Drivetime
* 19:00 – 07:00 Non-stop music and news on the hour
*
* Friday:
* 07:00 – 11:00 Nick Burrett – Breakfast
* 11:00 – 14:00 Drew Haddon – The Soundtrack To Your Workday
* 14:00 – 19:00 Ray King – Afternoons/Hits 'n' Headlines Drivetime
* 19:00 – 00:00 PartyZone
* Saturday:
* 08:00 – 12:00 Ray King – The Saturday Breakfast
* 12:00 – 14:00 Drew Haddon – The Saturday Pop Quiz
* 14:00 – 18:00 Tom Smith – Saturday Afternoons
* 18:00 – 20:00 Gary King – Totally Eighties
* 20:00 – 00:00 PartyZone
* Sunday:
*08:00 – 12:00 Sunday Breakfast with Tom Smith
*12:00 – 16:00 Sunday Life with Steve Collins
*16:00 – 19:00 Rich and Kat Big Top 40
*19:00 – 22-00 Vinyl Countdown with Dave Englefield
*22:00 – 00:00 Non-stop music and news on the hour
As from March 2010, when the station went into administration and the studio was dismantled, the following list of songs were the only things that could be heard when tuning into the station (arranged alphabetically; tracks were not played in this order). This was due to the silence detector at the transmitter site receiving nothing from the studio and hence activating its
MiniDisc
MiniDisc (MD) is an erasable magneto-optical disc-based data storage format offering a capacity of 60, 74, or 80 minutes of digitized audio.
Sony announced the MiniDisc in September 1992 and released it in November of that year for sale i ...
backup loop. The MiniDisc was put on eBay and raised money for charity; it was bought by Johnathan Darwin.
*
Alanis Morissette
Alanis Nadine Morissette ( ; born June 1, 1974) is a Canadian and American singer, songwriter, musician, and actress. Known for her emotive mezzo-soprano voice and confessional songwriting, she became a cultural phenomenon during the mid 199 ...
– "
Ironic
Irony, in its broadest sense, is the juxtaposition of what, on the surface, appears to be the case with what is actually or expected to be the case. Originally a rhetorical device and literary technique, in modernity, modern times irony has a ...
Aretha Franklin
Aretha Louise Franklin ( ; March 25, 1942 – August 16, 2018) was an American singer, songwriter and pianist. Honored as the "Honorific nicknames in popular music, Queen of Soul", she was twice named by ''Rolling Stone'' magazine as the Roll ...
&
George Michael
George Michael (born Georgios Kyriacos Panayiotou; 25 June 1963 – 25 December 2016) was an English singer-songwriter and record producer. Regarded as a pop culture icon, he is one of the List of best-selling music artists, best-selling rec ...
Electric Light Orchestra
The Electric Light Orchestra (ELO) are an English rock band formed in Birmingham in 1970 by multi-instrumentalists Jeff Lynne and Roy Wood and drummer Bev Bevan. Their music is characterised by a fusion of pop and classical arrangement ...
What Is Love
"What Is Love" is a song by Trinidadian-German singer Haddaway, released as his debut single from his debut album, ''The Album (Haddaway album), The Album'' (1993). The song, both written and produced by Tony Hendrik, Dee Dee Halligan and Karin ...
"
*
Huey Lewis and the News
Huey Lewis and the News (formerly known as Huey Lewis & The American Express) are an American rock band based in San Francisco, California. They had a run of hit singles during the 1980s and early 1990s, eventually achieving 19 top ten singl ...
Kaiser Chiefs
Kaiser Chiefs are an English indie rock band from Leeds who originally formed in 1996 as Runston Parva, before reforming as Parva in 2000, and releasing one studio album, ''22'', in 2003, before renaming and establishing themselves in their cur ...
– "
Ruby
Ruby is a pinkish-red-to-blood-red-colored gemstone, a variety of the mineral corundum ( aluminium oxide). Ruby is one of the most popular traditional jewelry gems and is very durable. Other varieties of gem-quality corundum are called sapph ...
"
*
Lily Allen
Lily Rose Beatrice Allen (born 2 May 1985) is an English singer, songwriter, and actress. List of awards and nominations received by Lily Allen, Her accolades include a Brit Award, alongside nominations for a Grammy Award and a Laurence Olivi ...
– "
Smile
A smile is a facial expression formed primarily by flexing the muscles at the sides of the mouth. Some smiles include a contraction of the muscles at the corner of the eyes, an action known as a Duchenne smile.
Among humans, a smile expresses d ...
"
*
Nelly Furtado
Nelly Kim Furtado ( , ; born December 2, 1978) is a Canadian singer and songwriter. She has sold over 45 million records, including 35 million in album sales worldwide, making her one of the most successful Canadian artists. Critics have noted ...