Greatest Hits Radio Staffordshire & Cheshire 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 2003, ...

station broadcasting from studios in Shelton, Stoke-on-Trent, to Staffordshire and

Cheshire Cheshire ( ) is a ceremonial and historic county in North West England, bordered by Wales to the west, Merseyside and Greater Manchester to the north, Derbyshire to the east, and Staffordshire and Shropshire to the south. Cheshire's coun ...

. The station was owned by

Wireless Group Wireless Group Limited is a radio and digital broadcasting network with headquarters in Belfast, Northern Ireland and with radio operations in the Republic of Ireland and the United Kingdom. It currently operates five stations in Ireland and ...

and ran a "gold format" playlist. It's the sister station of

Signal 1 Signal 1 is an Independent Local Radio station owned and operated by Bauer as part of the Hits Radio network. It broadcasts to Staffordshire and South Cheshire. As of September 2022, the station has a weekly audience of 172,000 listeners acc ...

and was based in the same studios.

History

The station began as Signal Radio which first broadcast at 6 am, 5 September 1983, with DJ John Evington selecting

Neil Diamond Neil Leslie Diamond (born January 24, 1941) is an American singer-songwriter. He has sold more than 130 million records worldwide, making him one of the best-selling musicians of all time. He has had ten No. 1 singles on the Hot 100 and Adul ...

's "Beautiful Noise" as its first track. The station initially broadcast on 104.3 MHz and 1170 kHz (a

wavelength In physics, the wavelength is the spatial period of a periodic wave—the distance over which the wave's shape repeats. It is the distance between consecutive corresponding points of the same phase on the wave, such as two adjacent crests, tr ...

of 257 metres, with the phrase "2 5 7" becoming a distinctive leitmotif), changing to 102.6 MHz soon after. The station's name is derived from "Signal" the name of the newspaper in

Arnold Bennett Enoch Arnold Bennett (27 May 1867 – 27 March 1931) was an English author, best known as a novelist. He wrote prolifically: between the 1890s and the 1930s he completed 34 novels, seven volumes of short stories, 13 plays (some in collaboratio ...

's local novels. In the late 1980s the

Independent Broadcasting Authority The Independent Broadcasting Authority (IBA) was the regulatory body in the United Kingdom for commercial television ( ITV and Channel 4 and limited satellite television regulation – cable television was the responsibility of the Cable A ...

ordered stations to provide different services on their FM and AM outputs. Due to this, in 1992 a "Golden Breakfast Show" started on the 1170 AM frequency while for the rest of the day it would take the main Signal Radio service. On 18 January 1993 a full-time station, Signal Gold, was launched. In February 2019, Signal 2 was sold to

Bauer Radio Bauer Media Audio UK is a UK-based radio division of the Bauer Media Group. History In early 2008, German magazine publisher Bauer bought the radio division of British company Emap, which had been established as East Midland Allied Press in ...

Technical

Signal 2's 1170 AM transmitter is at Sideway, near to the A500 D Road, just south of the A50 junction. It transmits 0.2 kW of power and can be heard throughout most of Staffordshire and Cheshire. Signal 2 also broadcast on the local Stoke and Stafford DAB multiplex 12D, from transmitters at

Alsagers Bank Alsagers Bank is a village in the Borough of Newcastle-under-Lyme The Borough of Newcastle-under-Lyme is a local government district with borough status in Staffordshire, England. It is named after the town of Newcastle-under-Lyme, wher ...

Pye Green BT Tower Pye Green BT Tower is a tall telecommunication tower built of reinforced concrete at Pye Green, Staffordshire, England (). Standing on the far southern edge of Cannock Chase, it is one of fourteen telecommunication towers in the United Kingdom ...

Sutton Common BT Tower Sutton Common BT Tower is a 72-metre (238-foot) radio tower built of reinforced concrete at Macclesfield, Cheshire, England. Sutton Common was originally conceived as part of the 1950s 'Backbone' chain designed to provide the UK and NATO wit ...

and Tick Hill.

Programming

The majority of Greatest Hits Radio Staffordshire & Cheshire's programming was produced and presented from its Stoke-on-Trent studios. The nightly late show was simulcast with Wireless Group's AM and FM stations while a syndicated show from Chris Country Radio aired on Sunday afternoons. Greatest Hits Radio Staffordshire & Cheshire broadcast local news bulletins hourly from 6 am to 6 pm on weekdays and from 8 am to 12 pm on weekends. Headlines were broadcast on the half-hour during weekday breakfast and drivetime shows, alongside thrice daily showbiz bulletins.Signal 2 public file
/ref> The station also simulcast hourly

Sky News Radio Sky News Radio is the radio arm of Sky News, owned by Sky UK. It has been operating since June 1999, providing a news bulletin service for UK commercial radio stations operators across the UK and for a number of English-speaking radio stations ...

bulletins at all other times. Greatest Hits Radio Staffordshire & Cheshire also broadcast the bulk of Signal Radio's sports coverage, including live commentary on

Stoke City Stoke City Football Club is a professional football club based in Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire, England, which competes in the . Founded as Stoke Ramblers in 1863, it changed its name to Stoke in 1878 and then to Stoke City in 1925 after Sto ...

matches and a weekly magazine show, ''Jumpers for Goalposts'' on Friday evenings.

References

External links

*
Sideway transmitter
{{coord missing, Staffordshire Mass media in Stoke-on-Trent Radio stations in Staffordshire Radio stations established in 1992 Bauer Radio Greatest Hits Radio

History

Technical

Programming

See also

References

External links