Signal 107 was a British

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

Wolverhampton Wolverhampton ( ) is a city and metropolitan borough in the West Midlands (county), West Midlands of England. Located around 12 miles (20 km) north of Birmingham, it forms the northwestern part of the West Midlands conurbation, with the towns of ...

and surrounding areas,

Telford Telford () is a town in the Telford and Wrekin borough status in the United Kingdom, borough in Shropshire, England. The wider borough covers the town, its suburbs and surrounding towns and villages. The town is close to the county's eastern b ...

and Wrekin,

Shrewsbury Shrewsbury ( , ) is a market town and civil parish in Shropshire (district), Shropshire, England. It is sited on the River Severn, northwest of Wolverhampton, west of Telford, southeast of Wrexham and north of Hereford. At the 2021 United ...

Oswestry Oswestry ( ; ) is a market town, civil parish and historic railway town in Shropshire, England, close to the England–Wales border, Welsh border. It is at the junction of the A5 road (Great Britain), A5, A483 road, A483 and A495 road, A495 ro ...

in north and central

Shropshire Shropshire (; abbreviated SalopAlso used officially as the name of the county from 1974–1980. The demonym for inhabitants of the county "Salopian" derives from this name.) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the West M ...

and

Kidderminster Kidderminster is a market town and civil parish in Worcestershire, England, south-west of Birmingham and north of Worcester, England, Worcester. Located north of the River Stour, Worcestershire, River Stour and east of the River Severn, in th ...

Stourport-on-Severn Stourport-on-Severn, often shortened to Stourport, is a town and civil parish in the Wyre Forest (district), Wyre Forest District of North Worcestershire, England, 4 miles to the south of Kidderminster and downstream on the River Severn from Be ...

and

Bewdley Bewdley ( ) is a town and civil parish in the Wyre Forest District in Worcestershire, England, on the banks of the River Severn. It is in the Severn Valley, and is west of Kidderminster, north of Worcester and southwest of Birmingham. It ...

in north

Worcestershire Worcestershire ( , ; written abbreviation: Worcs) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the West Midlands (region), West Midlands of England. It is bordered by Shropshire, Staffordshire, and the West Midlands (county), West ...

. The station, 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 ...

, launched on Monday 26 March 2012 as a result of the merger of three stations – The Wolf, The Severn (previously known in

as Telford FM) and The Wyre.

History

''Signal 107'' originally broadcast as four stations – The Wolf began broadcasting to Wolverhampton and the surrounding areas from its Mander House studios in the city on 7 October 1997 while Telford FM launched in the

Telford and Wrekin Telford and Wrekin is a Borough status in the United Kingdom, borough and unitary authority in Shropshire, England. In 1974, a non-metropolitan district of Shropshire was created called the Wrekin, named after The Wrekin, a prominent hill to the ...

area on 3 May 1999. The Wyre started broadcasts in

Stourbridge Stourbridge () is a market town in the Metropolitan Borough of Dudley in the West Midlands (county), West Midlands, England. Situated on the River Stour, Worcestershire, River Stour, the town lies around west of Birmingham, at the southwester ...

and

Bromsgrove Bromsgrove is a town in Worcestershire, England, about north-east of Worcester and south-west of Birmingham city centre. It had a population of 34,755 in at the 2021 census. It gives its name to the wider Bromsgrove District, of which it is ...

on 12 September 2005, followed by The Severn in

and

on 18 September 2006, initially providing separate programming services for north and central Shropshire. Telford FM, The Wyre and The Severn were owned and operated by the Midlands News Association. The three stations were co-located at Telford FM's studios in 2009 following permission from OFCOM. On 20 September 2010, the Telford station was rebranded as ''The Severn'' and allowed to share all programming with the Shrewsbury/Oswestry station. In November 2011, the station's owners announced that the stations would be closed unless a buyer could be found. On 3 February 2012, The Wyre and The Severn were both acquired by UTV Media, which had owned The Wolf since a buyout from The Wireless Group in mid-2005. Live programming ended on the same day on both former MNA stations. All three stations merged and rebranded as ''Signal 107'' at midday on Monday 26 March 2012. On 8 February 2019, Signal 107 was bought by

alongside the other local

Wireless Group News broadcasting is the medium of broadcasting various news events and other information via television, radio, or the internet in the field of broadcast journalism. The content is usually either produced locally in a radio studio or telev ...

stations. On 27 May 2020, it was announced that Signal 107 will close and be replaced by a national station Greatest Hits Radio. On 1 September 2020, Signal 107 was replaced by Greatest Hits Radio Midlands.

Programming

Local programming was produced and broadcast from Signal 107's Wolverhampton studios from 6 am-7 pm on weekdays, 6 am-6 pm on Saturdays and 8 am-12 pm on Sundays. Networked programming originates from Wireless Group's Signal Radio studios in

Stoke-on-Trent Stoke-on-Trent (often abbreviated to Stoke) is a city and Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority area in Staffordshire, England. It has an estimated population of 259,965 as of 2022, making it the largest settlement in Staffordshire ...

. Signal 107 did have the option to opt-out of networked programmes for local content if deemed appropriate. The station's local presenters were Dicky Dodd (Weekday Breakfast), Tim Haycock (Weekday and Saturday Daytime), Steve Mason (The Home Run). Signal 107 opted in to networked programming from Signal 1's studios in

– Total Access and The Spence Macdonald Late Show (Monday to Friday), Mylo's Saturday Night House Party (Saturday) and Sam Harper's late show (Saturday and Sunday night), The Total Access Top 40 (Sunday) and Old Skool Anthems (Sunday).

News and sport

Signal 107 broadcast local news bulletins hourly from 6 am to 6 am on weekdays, from 7 am to 1 pm on Saturdays and from 8 am to 12 pm on Sundays. Headlines were broadcast on the half-hour during weekday breakfast and drivetime shows. The station also simulcasted hourly Sky News Radio bulletins at all other times. Beginning with the 2015–16 season, Signal 107 broadcast live football commentaries of

Wolverhampton Wanderers F.C. Wolverhampton Wanderers Football Club ( ), commonly referred to as Wolves, is a professional football club based in Wolverhampton Wolverhampton ( ) is a city and metropolitan borough in the West Midlands (county), West Midlands of England. ...

league and league cup matches.Signal 107 picks up Wolverhampton commentary
/ref> Match coverage aired on all of their FM transmitters. Coverage was presented by Steve Mason, with commentary from Mikey Burrows and Andy Thompson.

Outside Broadcasting and Events

Signal 107 regularly broadcast live from various locations across the TSA. It had a purpose built roadshow/outside broadcast unit which was a self-contained stage and PA system on board.

References

External links

Official website
{{coord, 52.5850, -2.1285, display=title Radio stations established in 2012 Radio stations disestablished in 2020 Defunct radio stations in the United Kingdom Mass media in Wolverhampton Radio stations in Worcestershire Radio stations in Shropshire Radio stations in the West Midlands (region) Mass media in the West Midlands (region) Bauer Radio Greatest Hits Radio