Radio Aire 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
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
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 ...
.
The station was merged and relaunched as
Greatest Hits Radio West Yorkshire, as part of a rebrand, on 1 September 2020.
History

Radio Aire was launched at 6am on 1 September 1981 by breakfast presenter Graham Thornton – the first song played on air was ''
Pilot of the Airwaves'' by
Charlie Dore
Charlie Dore (born 1956) is an English singer-songwriter, composer, multi-instrumentalist, and actress.
Although best known as a singer-songwriter, Dore has a multi-faceted career that includes acting in film, TV and radio, comedy-improvisatio ...
. The station's first news bulletin was read by
Christa Ackroyd and in November 1982, she became the UK's first female radio news editor.
The station originally broadcast on 362m Medium Wave (828 kHz AM) and 94.6 VHF. In 1986, Radio Aire's VHF/FM frequency changed to 96.3 FM.
Radio Aire's studios were based on Burley Road, overlooking Kirkstall Road, next to
Yorkshire Television
ITV Yorkshire, previously known as Yorkshire Television and commonly referred to as just YTV, is the British television service provided by ITV Broadcasting Limited for the Yorkshire franchise area on the ITV (TV network), ITV network. Until 19 ...
's headquarters – it was the first
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 to have purpose-built studios. In the late 1980s, the studios were used for ''The James Whale Radio Show'', which was a late night TV show, broadcast on
ITV, Radio Aire and
Red Rose Radio.
On 17 July 1990, Radio Aire split frequencies, forming ''Aire FM'' and ''Magic 828''. In 1992, the name was changed to ''Radio Aire FM'' and to ''96.3 Aire FM'' in 1995. A change of format in 1996 saw another station name change to ''The New 96.3 Aire FM'' before ''The New'' was dropped in 1998. By March 2001, Radio Aire had reverted to its original name.
The station together with Magic 828 was bought by
EMAP
Ascential (formerly EMAP) was a British-headquartered global company, specialising in events, intelligence and advisory services for the marketing and financial technology industries. It was listed on the London Stock Exchange until it was ac ...
in 1995 and it became part of their Big City Network of stations. It maintained a generic branding with sister stations across Northern England from 1999. Following the acquisition of EMAP Radio in 2008, the station was owned and operated by
Bauer Radio
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 its 'Big City Network' (later known as 'Bauer City 1', and latterly, the
Hits Radio Network).
By the time of the station's closure, most of Radio Aire's output consisted of networked programming – with local output reduced to a four-hour breakfast show on weekdays, alongside hourly local news bulletins, peak-time traffic updates and advertising.
Closure
On 16 July 2020, it was announced that Radio Aire would switch brands from
Hits Radio to
Greatest Hits Radio, as part of a wider overhaul.
[Most of acquired Bauer stations to become Greatest Hits Radio](_blank)
Stuart Clarkson, Radio Today, 27 May 2020[Radio Aire to become Greatest Hits Radio](_blank)
Radio Today, 16 July 2020
Radio Aire ceased broadcasting at 4pm on Monday 31 August 2020. The last on-air presenter was Hattie Pearson and the last song played was "
Uptown Funk" by
Mark Ronson
Mark Daniel Ronson (born 4 September 1975) is a British-American DJ, record producer, and songwriter. He has won nine Grammy Awards, including Producer of the Year for Amy Winehouse's album '' Back to Black'' (2006), as well as two for Record ...
featuring
Bruno Mars
Peter Gene Hernandez (born October 8, 1985), known professionally as Bruno Mars, is an American singer, songwriter, musician, and record producer. Regarded as a pop icon, he is known for his three-octave tenor vocal range, live performances, R ...
.
On 1 September 2020, the station rebranded as
Greatest Hits Radio West Yorkshire and merged with several stations in Yorkshire and Lincolnshire
with all local programming removed apart from a regional afternoon show for
Yorkshire
Yorkshire ( ) is an area of Northern England which was History of Yorkshire, historically a county. Despite no longer being used for administration, Yorkshire retains a strong regional identity. The county was named after its county town, the ...
, hosted by
Steve Priestley
Steve Priestley is a British disc jockey, who used to work for Magic (UK radio station), Magic 105.4 in London.
Career
He first came to prominence in the early 1990s as the voice over for an ITV Network, ITV programme on Saturdays called Movies ...
from the Leeds studios but this ended in November 2024.
Radio Aire's DAB slot on the Leeds multiplex was taken over by neighbouring station
Pulse 1
Hits Radio West Yorkshire, formerly Pulse 1, is an Independent Local Radio station based in Leeds, England, owned and operated by Bauer Radio, Bauer Media Audio UK as part of the Hits Radio network. It broadcasts to West Yorkshire.
As of Sept ...
, which carried a local breakfast show for West Yorkshire on weekdays, followed by networked programmes from the
Hits Radio Network in Manchester. In March 2021, Pulse 1 closed its Bradford studios and moved to the former Radio Aire studios in Leeds.
In April 2024, Pulse 1 changed its name to
Hits Radio West Yorkshire, although the local breakfast show was retained until 6 June 2025, marking the end of local programming from Bauer's stations in West Yorkshire.
Localised news bulletins and advertising for West Yorkshire continue to be broadcast on Hits Radio and Greatest Hits Radio, whilst traffic bulletins for the area are broadcast during weekday breakfast and drivetime shows.
Transmitter information
Radio Aire's FM transmitter was located at the Tingley site in
Morley, close to the
A653 and junction 28 of the
M62. The adjacent mast, known as Morley, is the former home of the station's FM transmissions. It continues to broadcast
Greatest Hits Radio West Yorkshire on 96.3 MHz and the Leeds DAB multiplex.
The medium wave frequency of 828 kHz continued to carry Greatest Hits Radio until it ceased broadcasting on Friday 30 April 2021.
Notable presenters
*
Christa Ackroyd
*
Bruno Brookes (now at 45 Radio)
*
Paddy Bunce
*
Mark Easton
Mark Richard Erskine Easton (born 12 March 1959) is the Home Editor for BBC News broadcasting on national television and radio news. His writing and presenting credits include ''The Happiness Formula'' on BBC Two in 2006 and ''The Crime of Our ...
*
Paul Fairburn
*
Stephanie Hirst (now at
Hits Radio)
*
Lucy Horobin (now at
Heart Dance)
*
Peter Matthew Hutton
*
Martin Kelner (now at
talkRADIO)
*
Andy Kershaw
*
Liz Kershaw
*
Jason King[JK and Lucy join Heart Solent]
Radio Today, 16 January 2012 (now at
Heart London)
*
Alex Lester (now at Greatest Hits Radio)
*
Peter Levy
*
Simon Logan
*
Mark Mardell
*
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 ...
(now at
Radio X)
*
Bob Preedy (now at Shoreline FM)
*
Steve Priestley
Steve Priestley is a British disc jockey, who used to work for Magic (UK radio station), Magic 105.4 in London.
Career
He first came to prominence in the early 1990s as the voice over for an ITV Network, ITV programme on Saturdays called Movies ...
(now at
Greatest Hits Radio Yorkshire)
*
Phil Riley
*
Joel Ross (now at
Rock FM)
*
Simon Ross (now at
Greatest Hits Radio)
*
Peter Tait (deceased)
*
Carol Vorderman
*
Paul Welsh
*
James Whale
James Whale (22 July 1889 – 29 May 1957) was an English film director, theatre director and actor, who spent the greater part of his career in Cinema of the United States, Hollywood. He is best remembered for several horror films: ''Fra ...
(now at talkRADIO)
*
Tony Wrighton
References
External links
Official Website – Greatest Hits RadioRadio Aire Archive (The History of Radio Aire)
{{Authority control
Bauer Radio
Defunct radio stations in the United Kingdom
Hits Radio
Mass media in Leeds
Radio stations in Yorkshire
Radio stations established in 1981
1981 establishments in England
Radio stations disestablished in 2020
2020 disestablishments in England