Stray FM was an

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 serving the western half of

North Yorkshire North Yorkshire is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in Northern England.The Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority areas of City of York, York and North Yorkshire (district), North Yorkshire are in Yorkshire and t ...

, and sections of

West Yorkshire West Yorkshire is a Metropolitan counties of England, metropolitan and Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the Yorkshire and the Humber region of England. It borders North Yorkshire to the north and east, South Yorkshire and De ...

, to the north of

Leeds Leeds is a city in West Yorkshire, England. It is the largest settlement in Yorkshire and the administrative centre of the City of Leeds Metropolitan Borough, which is the second most populous district in the United Kingdom. It is built aro ...

and

Bradford Bradford is a city status in the United Kingdom, city in West Yorkshire, England. It became a municipal borough in 1847, received a city charter in 1897 and, since the Local Government Act 1972, 1974 reform, the city status in the United Kingdo ...

, England. The original licence covered the towns of

Harrogate Harrogate ( ) is a spa town and civil parish in the North Yorkshire District, district and North Yorkshire, county of North Yorkshire, England. Historic counties of England, Historically in the West Riding of Yorkshire, the town is a tourist de ...

and

Ripon Ripon () is a cathedral city and civil parish in North Yorkshire, England. The city is located at the confluence of two tributaries of the River Ure, the Laver and Skell. Within the boundaries of the historic West Riding of Yorkshire, the ...

and the surrounding area

From 1 February 2012 the station expanded to cover the

Yorkshire Dales The Yorkshire Dales are a series of valleys, or Dale (landform), dales, in the Pennines, an Highland, upland range in England. They are mostly located in the Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county of North Yorkshire, but extend into C ...

. As part of a rebrand, the station was folded into Greatest Hits Radio Harrogate & The Yorkshire Dales on 1 September 2020.

History

Former logo until it became GHR Harrogate & Yorkshire Dales After completing a series of 28-day trial broadcasts in Harrogate, Stray FM won the licence to broadcast to the wider area of Harrogate, Ripon and surrounding areas and launched as a full-time station on 4 July 1994, eleven years to the day after

BBC Radio York BBC Radio York is the BBC's local radio station serving the county of North Yorkshire. It broadcasts on FM, DAB, digital TV and via BBC Sounds from studios in the Bootham area of York. According to RAJAR, the station has a weekly audience ...

started transmitting and two years to the day after

Minster FM Minster FM was an Independent Local Radio station serving York and the surrounding areas such as Selby, Tadcaster, Thirsk, Northallerton and Goole. The station closed on 31 August 2020 and its frequency is now a relay of Greatest Hits Radio Yo ...

first went on air. In 2008, 97.2 Stray FM was awarded an Arqiva Award for "Station of the Year" (TSA under 300,000). In 2012,

UKRD The UKRD Group Ltd was a British media company that owned 15 commercial radio stations in the United Kingdom. The name originates from UK Radio Developments. Since its acquisition in March 2019, it has been run as a subsidiary of Bauer Radio. H ...

bought

licensee

Fresh Radio Fresh Radio was an Independent Local Radio station broadcasting to the Yorkshire Dales in northern England on two medium wave (AM) frequencies and three FM frequencies. It was also heard online via the Fresh Radio website. Transmission Two of ...

. Following agreement from Ofcom, the station announced plans to cede coverage of

Richmond Richmond most often refers to: * Richmond, British Columbia, a city in Canada * Richmond, California, a city in the United States * Richmond, London, a town in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames, England * Richmond, North Yorkshire, a town ...

Star Radio North East Rathergood Radio, formerly known as Star Radio (in County Durham), was an Independent Local Radio station. It formerly broadcast in Darlington, County Durham, North Yorkshire and surrounding areas on FM. The County Durham licences were owned and ...

and to switch off the AM transmitters, rolling the remaining portions of the old Yorkshire Dales licence into an integrated and enlarged licence. On 17 December 2014, Stray FM started broadcasting on

DAB digital radio Digital Audio Broadcasting (DAB) is a digital radio standard for broadcasting digital audio radio services in many countries around the world, defined, supported, marketed and promoted by the WorldDAB organisation. The standard is dominan ...

, under the name Stray Extra. It was broadcast on the North Yorkshire DAB multiplex from various locations within the county, including

Bilsdale Bilsdale is a Dale (landform), dale in the western part of the North York Moors in North Yorkshire, England. The head of the dale is at Hasty Bank, and the dale extends south to meet Rye Dale near Hawnby. The dale is the valley of the River ...

, Acklam Wold, Hildebrand Barracks and

Oliver's Mount Oliver's Mount is an area of high ground overlooking Scarborough, North Yorkshire, England. It offers views over the town, a tribute monument to the war dead, camping and caravanning at selected times of the year, 10 football pitches, 1 rugby l ...

. Stray Extra carried Stray FM programmes in the morning and through the day, but during the evening the DAB schedule differed from the FM version, broadcasting its own dedicated programming. The DAB service was later merged with the FM service as Stray FM. On 5 March 2019, Bauer announced agreement to purchase the UKRD Group. The whole UKRD Group, including Stray FM was placed into hold separate by the

Competition and Markets Authority The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) is the principal competition regulator in the United Kingdom. It is a non-ministerial government department in the United Kingdom, responsible for promoting competitive markets and tackling unfair beh ...

on 12 March 2019 subject to completion of a merger inquiry. Bauer announced on 27 May 2020 that Stray FM would be rebranded as

Greatest Hits Radio Yorkshire 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 ...

from early September 2020.

References

All the winners from the IRN Awards 2016
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External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Stray Fm Radio stations in Yorkshire Radio stations established in 1994 Radio stations disestablished in 2020 The Local Radio Company 1994 establishments in England 2020 disestablishments in England Greatest Hits Radio