Greatest Hits Radio Staffordshire and 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 2 ...

station based in

Birmingham Birmingham ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands (county), West Midlands, within the wider West Midlands (region), West Midlands region, in England. It is the Lis ...

, England 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 the Greatest Hits Radio network. It broadcasts to the West Midlands. The station forms part of Greatest Hits Radio Midlands.

History

The station began as Signal Radio which first broadcast at 6 a.m., 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 List of best-selling music artists, best-selling musicians of all time. He has written and ...

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

wavelength In physics and mathematics, wavelength or spatial period of a wave or periodic function is the distance over which the wave's shape repeats. In other words, it is the distance between consecutive corresponding points of the same ''phase (waves ...

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, who wrote prolifically. Between the 1890s and the 1930s he completed 34 novels, seven volumes of short stories, 13 plays (some in collaborati ...

'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 Author ...

ordered stations to provide different services on their AM and FM outputs, and 1992 saw the launch of a "Golden Breakfast Show" 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

Technical

The station's 1170 AM transmitter is at Sideway, near to the A500 D Road, just south of the A50 junction. It transmitted 200 watts of power and could be heard throughout most of Staffordshire and Cheshire. This transmitter was closed in January 2023. Greatest Hits Radio is also broadcast on the local Stoke and Stafford from transmitters at Alsagers Bank, Pye Green BT Tower, Sutton Common BT Tower, Staffordshire HQ and Tick Hill.

Programming

The majority of Signal 2'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.

News

Bauer's Birmingham newsroom broadcasts local news bulletins hourly from 6am to 7pm on weekdays and from 7am to 1pm at weekends. Headlines are broadcast on the half-hour during weekday breakfast and drivetime shows, alongside traffic bulletins. National bulletins from Sky News Radio are carried at other times.

Frequencies

* East Cheshire – 96.4 FM *

Staffordshire Staffordshire (; postal abbreviation ''Staffs''.) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the West Midlands (region), West Midlands of England. It borders Cheshire to the north-west, Derbyshire and Leicestershire to the east, ...

– 96.9 FM &
DAB: 12D ( Stoke & Stafford (DAB Multiplex))

References

External links

*
Sideway transmitter
{{coord missing, Staffordshire Mass media in Stoke-on-Trent Radio stations in Staffordshire Radio stations established in 1992 Radio stations disestablished in 2020 Defunct radio stations in the United Kingdom Bauer Radio Greatest Hits Radio