Smooth London is a regional

radio station Radio broadcasting is the broadcasting of audio (sound), sometimes with related metadata, by radio waves to radio receivers belonging to a public audience. In terrestrial radio broadcasting the radio waves are broadcast by a land-based rad ...

owned and operated by

Global Global may refer to: General *Globe, a spherical model of celestial bodies *Earth, the third planet from the Sun Entertainment * ''Global'' (Paul van Dyk album), 2003 * ''Global'' (Bunji Garlin album), 2007 * ''Global'' (Humanoid album), 198 ...

as part of the

Smooth Radio Smooth Radio may refer to: * Smooth Radio (2010), the original national network in the UK * Smooth Radio (2014) See also * Smoothfm smoothfm is an Australian commercial radio network owned and operated by Nova Entertainment. From original l ...

network. It broadcasts to the

Greater London Greater London is an administrative area in England, coterminous with the London region, containing most of the continuous urban area of London. It contains 33 local government districts: the 32 London boroughs, which form a Ceremonial count ...

area from

Croydon transmitting station The Croydon transmitting station is a broadcasting and telecommunications facility on Beaulieu Heights in Upper Norwood, London, England (), in the London Borough of Croydon, owned by Arqiva. It was established in 1955 and initially used a sma ...

on 102.2

MHz The hertz (symbol: Hz) is the unit of frequency in the International System of Units (SI), often described as being equivalent to one event (or cycle) per second. The hertz is an SI derived unit whose formal expression in terms of SI base u ...

. It broadcasts a

soft adult contemporary Adult contemporary music (AC) is a form of radio-played popular music, ranging from 1960s vocal and 1970s soft rock music to predominantly ballad-heavy music of the 1980s to the present day, with varying degrees of easy listening, pop, soul ...

radio format A radio format or programming format (not to be confused with broadcast programming) describes the overall content broadcast on a radio station. The radio format emerged mainly in the United States in the 1950s, at a time when Radio broadcasting, ...

from Global's studios in

Leicester Square Leicester Square ( ) is a pedestrianised town square, square in the West End of London, England, and is the centre of London's entertainment district. It was laid out in 1670 as Leicester Fields, which was named after the recently built Leice ...

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

, and replaced 102.2 Smooth FM on 26 March 2007.

History

GMG Radio ownership

The station launched on 4 March 1990 as Jazz FM, playing mainly

soul The soul is the purported Mind–body dualism, immaterial aspect or essence of a Outline of life forms, living being. It is typically believed to be Immortality, immortal and to exist apart from the material world. The three main theories that ...

and

jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana, in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Its roots are in blues, ragtime, European harmony, African rhythmic rituals, spirituals, h ...

music. It was relaunched in June 2005 as 102.2 Smooth FM, playing middle of the road music,

and R&B during the day and, as part of its licence requirements, focused on

music at night. On 20 October 2006, GMG Radio announced that it was requesting a change of format for 102.2 Smooth FM from Ofcom, moving the station away from its daytime soul and R&B remit which had, until that point, formed an integral part of the licence. GMG proposed an easy listening music service mixed with speech for the over 50s, coupled with an improved local news service. Ofcom approved the changes on 8 December 2006, with the condition that GMG retained the 45 hours of jazz per week that constituted part of the former licence requirement.Smooth requests Format change
Radio Today, 20 October 2006Format Change Request Form OfW 332 (Smooth FM)
Ofcom, 20 October 2006 As a result of the format change, GMG agreed to adhere to a minimum of 20% of its music during daytime being over 40 years old, to distance the station from its London rivals

Magic Magic or magick most commonly refers to: * Magic (supernatural), beliefs and actions employed to influence supernatural beings and forces ** ''Magick'' (with ''-ck'') can specifically refer to ceremonial magic * Magic (illusion), also known as sta ...

and Heart 106.2. In March 2008, GMG requested a format change to remove the 45-hour jazz commitment it has in place for 102.2 Smooth Radio. Part of the plans included a relaunch of Jazz FM from the jazzfm.com service (at the time broadcasting on DAB in

Glasgow Glasgow is the Cities of Scotland, most populous city in Scotland, located on the banks of the River Clyde in Strathclyde, west central Scotland. It is the List of cities in the United Kingdom, third-most-populous city in the United Kingdom ...

and online) onto a DAB multiplex in London. In a meeting on 22 April 2008 Ofcom denied GMG's request to drop its jazz commitments. GMG, under licence to

The Local Radio Company The Local Radio Company was a British media company, based in Redruth, Cornwall, that owned eleven Independent Local Radio stations in the UK. After takeover talks with UTV Media, UKRD Group and Hallwood Financial, UKRD acquired the majority ...

relaunched Jazz FM despite the decision. On 6 October 2008 Smooth Radio was removed from the MXR Wales and West multiplex to allow for the relaunch of Jazz FM. Although initially, Real Radio was removed, Smooth Radio was removed and Real restored on the multiplex. It replaced Jazz FM in South Wales and returned to DAB. Local programming originated from studios in

. Networked programming was syndicated from sister station

Smooth North West Smooth North West is a regional radio station owned by Communicorp UK and operated by Global as part of the Smooth network. The station broadcasts to the North West of England from studios at Spinningfields in Manchester. History GMG Radio ...

Salford Quays Salford Quays is an area of Salford, Greater Manchester, England, near the end of the Manchester Ship Canal. Previously the site of Manchester Docks, it faces Trafford across the canal. History Built by the Manchester Ship Canal Company, Sal ...

Manchester Manchester () is a city and the metropolitan borough of Greater Manchester, England. It had an estimated population of in . Greater Manchester is the third-most populous metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, with a population of 2.92&nbs ...

. In 2010 GMG announced that it would be merging its five Smooth stations in England to create a nationwide Smooth Radio service based in Manchester. The new station was launched on 4 October 2010 and could be heard both on DAB and on the locally on the FM frequencies.

Global Radio ownership

Smooth Radio's output was relocated to new owner

headquarters from 1 October 2013, a move that coincided with a major overhaul of its schedule, and the closure of Smooth 70s after 21 months on air. On 4 February 2014, the ''

Radio Today Radio Today is a 24 hours radio station in Bangladesh that started airing in May 2006. It is currently available in Dhaka, Chittagong, Cox's Bazar, Khulna, Bogra, Sylhet, Mymensingh, Barishal, Kushtia, Comilla. History Radio Today started as ...

'' website reported that Ofcom had given Global permission to remove Smooth from the Digital One platform, and to replace it with a service playing music from the 1970s, 80s and 90s. Under this agreement, Smooth still continues to broadcast on its regional frequencies, but would be required to provide seven hours of local output per day.

Programming

As of 22 February 2025, programming is broadcast and produced from Global's London headquarters, or studios in Birmingham and Manchester. Smooth London also broadcasts hourly news bulletins 24 hours a day from Global's London newsroom, including networked overnight and weekend updates on the hour.

Presenters as of 2025

Source: * Paul Hollins * Gary King *

Jenni Falconer Jenni Falconer (born 12 February 1976) is a Scottish radio and television presenter. She appears on the ITV daytime show '' This Morning'' as a regular travel reporter and was a regular presenter of the National Lottery Draws on BBC One. Falco ...

Kate Garraway Kathryn Mary Draper-Garraway (born 4 May 1967) is an English broadcaster and journalist. In the 1990s, Garraway was a journalist for ITV News Central and later a co-presenter of ITV News Meridian. From 2000 to 2010, she co-presented GMTV. Cur ...

* Paul Phear *

Angie Greaves Angie Greaves (born in London) is a British radio presenter. Radio career Greaves started her media career in 1982 as a BBC Administrator at Television Centre. In 1986 she moved to London's Capital London, Capital Radio, where she began working o ...

* Gary Vincent * Martin Collins * Simon Clarke * Eamonn Kelly *

Myleene Klass Myleene Angela Klass (born 6 April 1978) is an English musician, singer, television presenter and model. She was a member of the pop group Hear'Say, and later released two solo classical crossover albums in 2003 and 2007. More recently, Klass ...

* Danny Pietroni *

Tina Hobley Tina Ellen Hobley (born 20 May 1971) is an English actress and radio presenter, best known for her long-running role as Chrissie Williams in the BBC One medical drama series ''Holby City''. Hobley left Holby City in November 2013 after 12 years ...

* Margherita Taylor * Philip Chryssikos *

Adil Ray Adil Ray (, born 26 April 1974) is a British actor, comedian and radio/television presenter. Ray is best known as the creator, co-writer and star of the long-running BBC One scripted comedy series ''Citizen Khan'' (2012–2016)'','' and as a p ...

* Darren Parks

Former presenters

Andrew Castle Andrew Nicholas Castle (born 15 November 1963) is a British broadcaster and former tennis player. Castle was Great Britain's number 1 in singles tennis in 1986, reaching as high as World No. 80 in June 1988, and No. 45 in doubles in December 19 ...

(now

Wimbledon Wimbledon most often refers to: * Wimbledon, London, a district of southwest London * Wimbledon Championships, the oldest tennis tournament in the world and one of the four Grand Slam championships Wimbledon may also refer to: Places London * W ...

Commentator) *

Anthony Davis Anthony Marshon Davis Jr. (born March 11, 1993), nicknamed "AD" and "the Brow", is an American professional basketball player for the Dallas Mavericks of the National Basketball Association (NBA). Davis, a Power forward (basketball), power f ...

* Russ Williams (now with

Nation Radio UK Nation Radio UK is a quasi-national radio station in the UK, broadcasting online and on DAB. It is owned and operated by Nation Broadcasting. The digital station was launched in June 2016 as Thames Radio with a line-up of former BBC and Capital ...

) *

Nikki Bedi Nikhila Bedi (; ''née'' Moolgaoker; 9 September 1966) is a British television and radio presenter, born to an Indian father of Maharashtrian origin and an English mother. She was married to food stylist Sunil Vijayakar before her second marri ...

(now with

BBC Radio 4 BBC Radio 4 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. The station replaced the BBC Home Service on 30 September 1967 and broadcasts a wide variety of spoken-word programmes from the BBC's headquarters at Broadcasti ...

and the

BBC World Service The BBC World Service is a British Public broadcasting, public service broadcaster owned and operated by the BBC. It is the world's largest external broadcaster in terms of reception area, language selection and audience reach. It broadcas ...

) * Kirsty Gallagher (Now on Gold Radio)

References

External links

Smooth London

Smooth London – Public File
{{DEFAULTSORT:Smooth London Global Radio Radio stations established in 2007 Radio stations in London

2007 establishments in England Adult contemporary radio stations in the United Kingdom