Hits Radio Lincolnshire is 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

Lincolnshire Lincolnshire (), abbreviated ''Lincs'', is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the East Midlands and Yorkshire and the Humber regions of England. It is bordered by the East Riding of Yorkshire across the Humber estuary to th ...

and Newark in

Nottinghamshire Nottinghamshire (; abbreviated ''Notts.'') is a ceremonial county in the East Midlands of England. The county is bordered by South Yorkshire to the north-west, Lincolnshire to the east, Leicestershire to the south, and Derbyshire to the west. Th ...

. The station is owned and operated by

Bauer Media Audio UK 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 ...

as 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. The station has rebranded from its original name Lincs FM on 17 April 2024. As of September 2024, the station has a weekly audience of 99,000 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 ...

Background

Lincs FM commenced broadcasting from studios at Witham Park in Lincoln on 1 March 1992. It was part of the wider Lincs FM Group of eight radio stations. In March 2019, it was announced that the radio station and its sister stations had been bought by

Bauer Media Heinrich Bauer Publishing (), trade name, trading as Bauer Media Group, is a German multimedia conglomerate headquartered in Hamburg. It operates worldwide and owns more than 600 magazines, over 400 digital products and 50 radio and TV stations, ...

for an undisclosed sum.

History

From February 2021, the station began to relay Bauer's networked Sunday afternoon programme The UK Chart Show (Now Hits UK Chart Show - Sam Thompson), replacing the local chart previously broadcast in the slot. On Monday 23 October 2023, Lincs FM started broadcasting

programming outside of breakfast, although ''The Farming Programme'', which aired as part of the Sunday breakfast show, continued to air as normal. It was announced on 10 January 2024 that from April 2024, the Lincs FM name was to be dropped along with 14 other heritage FM station names in the Hits Radio network, and would become Hits Radio Lincolnshire. The announcement marked the end of the Lincs FM brand after just over 30 years of broadcasting. On 20 March 2025, Bauer announced it would end its local Hits Radio breakfast show for Lincolnshire. It was replaced by a new national breakfast show for England and Wales on 9 June 2025. Local news and traffic bulletins were retained but the station's Lincoln studios were closed. The station's final local programme aired on 6 June 2025.

Programming

Hits Radio network programming is broadcast and produced from Bauer’s London headquarters or studios in Manchester & occasionally Newcastle.

Transmitters

The main transmitter 102.2 FM signal comes from the

Belmont transmitting station The Belmont transmitting station is a broadcasting and telecommunications facility next to the B1225, west of the village of Donington on Bain in the civil parish of South Willingham, near Market Rasen and Louth, Lincolnshire, Louth in Lincol ...

. It also has lower-powered frequencies in

Grantham Grantham () is a market town and civil parish in the South Kesteven district of Lincolnshire, England, situated on the banks of the River Witham and bounded to the west by the A1 road (Great Britain), A1 road. It lies south of Lincoln, England ...

, south of the tow
near
the bypass, on 96.7 FM an
Trent View Flats
(near the John Leggott College) in

Scunthorpe Scunthorpe () is an industrial town in Lincolnshire, England, and the county's third most populous settlement after Lincoln, England, Lincoln and Grimsby, with a population of 81,286 in 2021. It is the administrative centre and largest settleme ...

on 97.6 FM. Lincs FM can be clearly heard in northern

and eastern

South Yorkshire South Yorkshire is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the Yorkshire and the Humber region of England. It borders North Yorkshire and West Yorkshire to the north, the East Riding of Yorkshire to the north-east, Lincolnshire ...

. The Belmont transmitter relays

Digital One Digital One is a national commercial digital radio multiplex in the United Kingdom, owned by Arqiva. , the multiplex covered more than 90% of the population from 137 transmitters. Coverage was extended to Northern Ireland in July 2013. It conta ...

and in 2015 a local Lincolnshire multiplex was launched from the site. This operates on the old MXR frequency 12B. The Lincs FM Group broadcasting engineer is Andy Langford. On 3 April 2023, Lincs FM's FM frequencies were replaced with a relay of Greatest Hits Radio Lincolnshire, with Lincs FM continuing on DAB. Trent View House - geograph

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Lincs FM Radio stations established in 1992 Radio stations in Lincolnshire Lincoln, England Bauer Radio Hits Radio Contemporary hit radio stations in the United Kingdom