Heart Dunstable (formerly 97.6 Chiltern 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 based in Chiltern Road in

Dunstable Dunstable ( ) is a market town and civil parish in Bedfordshire, England, east of the Chiltern Hills, north of London. There are several steep chalk escarpments, most noticeable when approaching Dunstable from the north. Dunstable is the fou ...

Bedfordshire Bedfordshire (; abbreviated ''Beds'') is a Ceremonial County, ceremonial county in the East of England. It is bordered by Northamptonshire to the north, Cambridgeshire to the north-east, Hertfordshire to the south and the south-east, and Buckin ...

History

Together with sister stations 96.9 Chiltern FM, Northants 96 and Horizon Radio, the station formed the

Chiltern Radio Network Chiltern Radio may also refer to Chiltern Voice FM: Chiltern Radio Network was the parent group of several Independent Local Radio stations in the 1980s and 1990s. These were divided across two networks: ''The Hot FM'' and ''SuperGold''. His ...

, which became the Chiltern Radio Group. The Chiltern Radio Group underwent a number of ownership changes as Britain's radio ownership rules were liberalised, first becoming part of the GWR Group's Mix Network in September 1995, during which time networked programming from the group's headquarters in Bristol was introduced to off-peak hours (after 7pm). When GWR merged with Capital Radio in May 2005 to form GCap Media, the combined group's local FM network, including Chiltern, was renamed the One Network for advertising clients, though the station was still called Chiltern on air (even returning to the heritage branding Chiltern Radio for a time). GCap was itself bought out by Global Radio in 2008, with the new owners planning to operate many of their new acquisitions under Global's existing Heart and Galaxy brands. As a result, in January 2009, Chiltern Radio was rebranded by its owners Global Radio as Heart, this move ended, after 28 years, the use of the Chiltern Radio brand name.

Network restructuring

On 21 June 2010, Global Radio announced plans to close Heart Dunstable and merge the station with Heart Milton Keynes, Heart Northants and Heart Bedford as part of plans to reduce the Heart network of stations from 33 to 16. The new station, '' Heart Home Counties'', began broadcasting from Dunstable on 16 July 2010.Heart slims but strengthens
, RadioToday, 21 June 2010

Notable past presenters

Past presenters included Mark Smith, Philippa Collins, Conrad Alexander,

Paul McKenna Paul McKenna (born 8 November 1963) is a British hypnotist, behavioural scientist, television and radio broadcaster and author of self-help books. McKenna has hosted self-improvement television shows and presents seminars in hypnosis, ne ...

, Graham Torrington,

Dale Winton Dale Jonathan Winton (22 May 1955 – 18 April 2018) was an English radio DJ and television presenter. He presented the shows '' Supermarket Sweep'' from 1993 until 2001 and again in 2007, the National Lottery game show '' In It to Win It' ...

, NJ Williams, Martin Collins, Jeremy Beadle and

Chris Moyles Christopher David Moyles (born 22 February 1974) is an English radio and television presenter, author and presenter of '' The Chris Moyles Show'' on Radio X. Previously he presented '' The Chris Moyles Show'' on BBC Radio 1 from 2004 to 2012 ...

References

External links

History of local radio in Bedfordshire

Sandy Heath mast

Zouches Farm transmitter
{{Global Radio Radio stations in Bedfordshire Radio stations established in 1981 Radio stations disestablished in 2010

Defunct radio stations in the United Kingdom