Bandit Radio or Bandit 105.5, the "Rock Home of Stockholm" was one of the first

commercial broadcasting Commercial broadcasting (also called private broadcasting) is the broadcasting of television programs and radio programming by privately owned corporate media, as opposed to state sponsorship, for example. It was the United States' first model ...

radio stations Radio broadcasting is the broadcasting of audio signal, 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 lan ...

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. It borders Norway to the west and north, and Finland to the east. At , Sweden is the largest Nordic count ...

. It began transmitting throughout greater

Stockholm Stockholm (; ) is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in Sweden by population, most populous city of Sweden, as well as the List of urban areas in the Nordic countries, largest urban area in the Nordic countries. Approximately ...

on January 30, 1994.

History

Bandit Radio was founded by CEO

Thomas McAlevey Radical.FM was a digital music streaming service available on iOS devices, Android devices, and desktop web browsers. The service allows users to create their own custom online radio stations based on musical genres. Unlike other streaming service ...

, an American

expatriate An expatriate (often shortened to expat) is a person who resides outside their native country. The term often refers to a professional, skilled worker, or student from an affluent country. However, it may also refer to retirees, artists and ...

. Financial advisor Mats Grimlund and program director Gene Kraut also contributed to the company as a whole. Bandit was owned by McAlevey and a group of private investors. Its native English speaking

deejay A disc jockey, more commonly abbreviated as DJ, is a person who plays recorded music for an audience. Types of DJs include radio DJs (who host programs on music radio stations), club DJs (who work at nightclubs or music festivals), mobile DJ ...

s, AOR (

Album Oriented Rock Album-oriented rock (AOR, originally called album-oriented radio) is an FM radio format created in the United States in the late 1960s that focuses on the full repertoire of rock albums and is currently associated with classic rock. US radi ...

) music mix, and ''We Suck Less'' attitude, all conspired to quickly achieve cult-status for the station. “Now you are informed and have only yourself to blame if you miss Bandit,” wrote

Aftonbladet (, lit. "The evening paper") is a Swedish language, Swedish daily tabloid newspaper published in Stockholm, Sweden. It is one of the largest daily newspapers in the Nordic countries. History and profile The newspaper was founded by Lar ...

on April 4, 1994. In 1996 the station was purchased by the

RTL Group RTL Group S.A. ("Radio Télévision Luxembourg") is a Luxembourg-based international media conglomerate, with another corporate office in Cologne, Germany. The company operates 56 television channels and 36 radio stations in Germany, France an ...

(previously CLT Multi Media), who changed to Swedish speaking deejays. Since then, the station has changed hands multiple times and is currently owned and operated as

Bandit Rock Bandit Rock is a Swedish radio station which plays rock, punk and heavy metal. The station, now a part of the Nordic Entertainment Group, was founded by American ex-pat Thomas McAlevey and began broadcasting in Stockholm in 1994. Under McAlevey ...

by the

Nordic Entertainment Group Viaplay Group AB, formerly known as Nordic Entertainment Group AB (NENT Group), is a Swedish media and entertainment company headquartered in Stockholm. The company operates the video streaming services Viaplay, advertising-funded TV and radi ...

DJs

The original Bandit Radio had live DJs, 24 hours per day. Among the better known were Dave Nerge (Dave in the Mornings), Gene Kraut Kathy Reilly and Tony Martin.

External links

Bandit Rock 106,3time capsule: 1993-1996 (in memory of Bandit 105.5)In memoriam: Bandit 105.5 "The Rock Home of Stockholm"Bandit 10th Anniversary Party - 30 January 2004
{{coord missing, Sweden Radio stations in Sweden Mass media in Stockholm