The Breeze was a network of

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, ...

stations broadcasting to

Bristol Bristol () is a city, ceremonial county and unitary authority in England. Situated on the River Avon, it is bordered by the ceremonial counties of Gloucestershire to the north and Somerset to the south. Bristol is the most populous city i ...

Hampshire Hampshire (, ; abbreviated to Hants) is a ceremonial county, ceremonial and non-metropolitan county, non-metropolitan counties of England, county in western South East England on the coast of the English Channel. Home to two major English citi ...

Isle of Wight The Isle of Wight ( ) is a Counties of England, county in the English Channel, off the coast of Hampshire, from which it is separated by the Solent. It is the List of islands of England#Largest islands, largest and List of islands of England#Mo ...

Somerset ( en, All The People of Somerset) , locator_map = , coordinates = , region = South West England , established_date = Ancient , established_by = , preceded_by = , origin = , lord_lieutenant_office =Lord Lieutenant of Somerset , lor ...

, North

Dorset Dorset ( ; archaically: Dorsetshire , ) is a county in South West England on the English Channel coast. The ceremonial county comprises the unitary authority areas of Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole and Dorset. Covering an area of ...

, North

Gloucestershire Gloucestershire ( abbreviated Glos) is a county in South West England. The county comprises part of the Cotswold Hills, part of the flat fertile valley of the River Severn and the entire Forest of Dean. The county town is the city of Gl ...

, South

Devon Devon ( , historically known as Devonshire , ) is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in South West England. The most populous settlement in Devon is the city of Plymouth, followed by Devon's county town, the city of Exeter. Devon is ...

, South West Surrey, West

Berkshire Berkshire ( ; in the 17th century sometimes spelt phonetically as Barkeshire; abbreviated Berks.) is a historic county in South East England. One of the home counties, Berkshire was recognised by Queen Elizabeth II as the Royal County of Be ...

and West

Wiltshire Wiltshire (; abbreviated Wilts) is a historic and ceremonial county in South West England with an area of . It is landlocked and borders the counties of Dorset to the southwest, Somerset to the west, Hampshire to the southeast, Gloucestershir ...

, as well as in East Anglia as Radio Norwich 99.9, The Beach, North Norfolk Radio,

Town 102 Town 102 was a radio station serving Ipswich that was owned by Tindle Radio, Anglian Radio Group and Bauer Radio. It broadcast from 2006 to 2020. Launched in 2006, in its later years, Town 102 carried identical content to Anglian Radio sister ...

and Dream 100. The stations, owned & operated by

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 ...

, broadcast a 'contemporary easy listening' format, playing classic and recent melodic

popular music Popular music is music with wide appeal that is typically distributed to large audiences through the music industry. These forms and styles can be enjoyed and performed by people with little or no musical training.Popular Music. (2015). ''Funk ...

aimed principally at listeners over the age of 40. The Breeze network operated on various FM frequencies and was also online at thebreeze.com., and other relevant links for the East Anglian stations. All frequencies branded The Breeze were previously separate stations centred on each of the broadcast areas, which had been acquired and combined into one network, carrying separate breakfast and drivetime programming for the south and the west of England, and a separate breakfast show hosted by Rob Chandler for East Anglia. The network was closed on 1 September 2020 and replaced by Greatest Hits Radio.

History

The network launched when Play Radio (a combination of two stations in Hampshire) was acquired by Celador along with an additional station in Portsmouth and rebranded as ''The Breeze'' on 4 July 2010. The individual stations have all operated under various owners, formats and identities, with the stations having launched between 1998 and 1999 as a series of local stations focused on a specified broadcast area. In 2011, Celador acquired two Total Star stations in Bristol & Bridgwater, and successfully applied for an FM licence serving the Bath area, and relaunched all stations as ''The Breeze''. All local programming is now identical across all licence areas. The Breeze is currently based in

Torbay Torbay is a borough and unitary authority in Devon, south west England. It is governed by Torbay Council and consists of of land, including the resort towns of Torquay, Paignton and Brixham, located on east-facing Tor Bay, part of Lyme ...

Southampton Southampton () is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire in southern England. It is located approximately south-west of London and west of Portsmouth. The city forms part of the South Hampshire, S ...

and

Basingstoke Basingstoke ( ) is the largest town in the county of Hampshire. It is situated in south-central England and lies across a valley at the source of the River Loddon, at the far western edge of The North Downs. It is located north-east of Southa ...

. In February 2019,

acquired Celador Radio stations, including The Breeze. The licences for Southampton, Portsmouth and Winchester were sold on to

Nation Broadcasting Nation Broadcasting is a British media company headquartered in the Vale of Glamorgan, Wales. It currently owns and operates twelve Independent Local Radio stations across the United Kingdom. History Originally known as Town and Country Broa ...

, along with Sam FM (South Coast) which also broadcasts from the Southampton studios, due to the overlap with existing Bauer-owned regional adult-contemporary service Wave 105. The other Breeze stations will remain with Bauer. As of July 13, 2020, The Breeze network was replaced by the Greatest Hits Radio network. They are retaining their branding and share the same playlist as GHR until September 1 - which is when they will be fully replaced.

Stations

These stations comprised The Breeze network. * The Breeze (Basingstoke & North Hampshire) The station was launched on 16 December 2012 by the merging of three stations in

Andover Andover may refer to: Places Australia *Andover, Tasmania Canada * Andover Parish, New Brunswick * Perth-Andover, New Brunswick United Kingdom * Andover, Hampshire, England ** RAF Andover, a former Royal Air Force station United States * And ...

, Newbury and

. In August 2017

107 JACK FM (Berkshire) 107 JACK fm Berkshire was an Independent Local Radio station in the English town of Reading. The station was based at studios in the Madejski Stadium, home of Reading F.C. and London Irish. The station's transmitter is located on the Tilehurst ...

in Reading was rebranded as 'The Breeze', and added to the Thames Valley feed. * The Breeze (Bridgwater & West Somerset) launched in 1998 as Quaywest 102.4. It later acquired a station called BCRfm before being taken over by One Gold Radio and relaunched as Total Star Somerset until August 2011. * The Breeze (East Hampshire & South West Surrey) was originally three individual stations all launched in 1999 – SouthCity FM (Southampton), Win 107.2 (Winchester) and Radio Victory (Portsmouth). Following subsequent mergers and acquisitions the stations were acquired by Celador in 2010 and rebranded into one station. Kestrel FM Haslemere joined the south network on 16 December 2012. *

The Breeze (North Dorset) Greatest Hits Radio Dorset (North Dorset) is an Independent Local Radio station serving North Dorset. History Launched on 25 June 1995 as Gold Radio then later became Vale FM when the station was acquired by TLRC. The station, along with s ...

(as of 25 June 2012) started on 25 June 1995 as 97.4 Gold Radio before becoming Vale FM. It was rebranded as Midwest Radio in August 2010. * The Breeze (South Devon) started on 26 May 2006 as Palm 105.5, which had previously held three Restricted Service Licences for the Torbay area. * The Breeze (South West) was created on 29 March 2013 by the merging of four stations in

Bath Bath may refer to: * Bathing, immersion in a fluid ** Bathtub, a large open container for water, in which a person may wash their body ** Public bathing, a public place where people bathe * Thermae, ancient Roman public bathing facilities Plac ...

North Somerset North Somerset is a unitary district in Somerset, South West England. Whilst its area covers part of the ceremonial county of Somerset, it is administered independently of the non-metropolitan county. Its administrative headquarters is in the ...

, Frome & West Wiltshire * The Breeze (Yeovil & South Somerset) (as of 25 June 2012) started in October 2003 as Ivel FM and relaunched as Midwest Radio in August 2010. These stations joined the network in January 2017, but did not rebrand. These stations are all in East Anglia. * Radio Norwich 99.9 * The Beach * North Norfolk Radio *

* Dream 100

References

External links

Official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Breeze (radio network), The Southampton Mass media in Bath, Somerset Winchester Former British radio networks