Eagle Radio 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 in the Surrey and North East Hampshire area of England. Based in

Guildford Guildford () is a town in west Surrey, England, around south-west of central London. As of the 2011 census, the town has a population of about 77,000 and is the seat of the wider Borough of Guildford, which had around inhabitants in . The nam ...

in the

Guildford College Guildford College of Further and Higher Education (GCFHE) in Guildford, Surrey was a Surrey County Council-funded educational establishment for students of age 16+ undertaking full-time and part-time studies, established in 1939. It became pa ...

campus, Eagle Radio was part of the

UKRD Group 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 ...

of radio stations.

Launch

Peter Gordon launched 96.4 The Eagle at 7:45a.m. on 4 January 1996, with the words "Hey, I've landed", an allusion to "the Eagle has Landed", spoken by

Neil Armstrong Neil Alden Armstrong (August 5, 1930 – August 25, 2012) was an American astronaut and aerospace engineering, aeronautical engineer who, in 1969, became the Apollo 11#Lunar surface operations, first person to walk on the Moon. He was al ...

after the Apollo 11 mission had reached the surface of the Moon. The first song played was " Uptown Girl" by

Billy Joel William Martin Joel (born May 9, 1949) is an American singer, songwriter, and pianist. Nicknamed the "Honorific nicknames in popular music, Piano Man" after his Signature song, signature 1973 song Piano Man (song), of the same name, Joel has ha ...

and the second song was "Dreams" by

Fleetwood Mac Fleetwood Mac are a British-American Rock music, rock band formed in London in 1967 by the singer and guitarist Peter Green (musician), Peter Green. Green named the band by combining the surnames of the drummer, Mick Fleetwood, and the bassis ...

History

The station changed its name from 96.4 The Eagle to 96.4 Eagle Radio in February 2007 and later changed to solely Eagle Radio. It launched on DAB Digital Radio on 12 December 2013. Until 2018, Eagle Radio broadcast

The Vodafone Big Top 40 ''The EE Official Big Top 40 from Global'' is a radio chart show broadcast every Sunday from 4 to 7pm on Global Media & Entertainment, Global's Capital (radio network), Capital and Heart (radio network), Heart networks, presented by Will Manni ...

chart show (previously The Pepsi Chart &

Hit40UK ''Hit40UK'' was a networked Top 40 chart show broadcasting on around 130 UK commercial radio stations every Sunday from 4pm to 7pm. It was also a TV programme shown on 4Music. The radio version was produced in house by Global Radio (formerly G ...

) which was produced from Capital FM in London and syndicated across over 140 commercial radio stations in the UK. However, the show was withdrawn from syndication in 2018 and now broadcasts solely on

Heart The heart is a muscular Organ (biology), organ found in humans and other animals. This organ pumps blood through the blood vessels. The heart and blood vessels together make the circulatory system. The pumped blood carries oxygen and nutrie ...

Capital Capital and its variations may refer to: Common uses * Capital city, a municipality of primary status ** Capital region, a metropolitan region containing the capital ** List of national capitals * Capital letter, an upper-case letter Econom ...

stations. Sister stations eagle70s and eagle80s were launched on DAB in 2017 and 2018 respectively.

Closure

Eagle Radio was purchased by Bauer Media in 2019 along with other stations in the UKRD group. On 27 May 2020, it was announced that Eagle Radio would become Greatest Hits Radio from early September 2020. The station went through a transitional period where its playlist was changed over to the 70s, 80s and 90s era, and jingles changed to reflect the station playing "greatest hits". Eagle Radio was finally rebranded to Greatest Hits Radio at 6:00am on 1 September 2020.

Notable past presenters

Leona Graham Leona Graham (born 18 January 1971) is a British radio broadcaster and voiceover artist. She is currently a presenter of Absolute Radio (formerly Virgin Radio), a position she has held since 2000. She can also be heard on the digital stations ...

(now at

Absolute 80s Absolute Radio 80s (known on-air as Absolute 80s) is a national digital radio station, owned and operated by Bauer as part of the Absolute Radio Network. Its main output is non-stop 1980s hits. History Absolute Radio 80s launched at 7.00pm on ...

)

References

External links

Greatest Hits Radio Surrey & East Hampshire
{{Bauer Media Group Radio stations established in 1996 Radio stations disestablished in 2020 Guildford Radio stations in Surrey Radio stations in Hampshire Bauer Radio Greatest Hits Radio