Tindle Radio is a media company which owns commercial radio stations and a DAB multiplex business in the

Channel Islands The Channel Islands are an archipelago in the English Channel, off the French coast of Normandy. They are divided into two Crown Dependencies: the Jersey, Bailiwick of Jersey, which is the largest of the islands; and the Bailiwick of Guernsey, ...

and

Ireland Ireland (, ; ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe. Geopolitically, the island is divided between the Republic of Ireland (officially Names of the Irish state, named Irelan ...

. It has its head office in

Farnham Farnham is a market town and civil parish in Surrey, England, around southwest of London. It is in the Borough of Waverley, close to the county border with Hampshire. The town is on the north branch of the River Wey, a tributary of the ...

Surrey Surrey () is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Greater London to the northeast, Kent to the east, East Sussex, East and West Sussex to the south, and Hampshire and Berkshire to the wes ...

, shared with Tindle Newspapers.

History

Sir

Ray Tindle Sir Raymond Stanley Tindle (8 October 1926 – 16 April 2022) was a British newspaper and radio entrepreneur. He founded the Tindle Group of regional newspapers and radio stations. Early life After leaving school he went on to enlist in the ...

acquired Island FM in

Guernsey Guernsey ( ; Guernésiais: ''Guernési''; ) is the second-largest island in the Channel Islands, located west of the Cotentin Peninsula, Normandy. It is the largest island in the Bailiwick of Guernsey, which includes five other inhabited isl ...

in February 1998, the first station of what was to become Tindle Radio Group. The business grew to own a dozen stations, mostly located in the South and South East of England. Between 2007 and 2010 four stations were sold, with the final five of the UK stations - The Beach, Dream 100,

North Norfolk Radio North Norfolk Radio was an Independent Local Radio station in North Norfolk, England, owned and operated by Bauer Radio as part of the Greatest Hits Radio network. It was closed on 1 September 2020 and merged with Greatest Hits Radio Norfolk & ...

Radio Norwich 99.9 Greatest Hits Radio Norfolk & North Suffolk (Norwich) (formerly Radio Norwich 99.9) is an Independent Local Radio station owned and operated by Bauer Radio, Bauer, broadcasting to Norwich and the surrounding area. The station was merged with Nor ...

served

Norwich Norwich () is a cathedral city and district of the county of Norfolk, England, of which it is the county town. It lies by the River Wensum, about north-east of London, north of Ipswich and east of Peterborough. The population of the Norwich ...

and

Town 102 Town 102 was an Independent Local 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 An ...

- offloaded in 2013 through a management buyout, which resulted in the formation of Anglian Radio, which four years later was sold to Celador Radio. Tindle's last station launch in England was for

Ipswich Ipswich () is a port town and Borough status in the United Kingdom, borough in Suffolk, England. It is the county town, and largest in Suffolk, followed by Lowestoft and Bury St Edmunds, and the third-largest population centre in East Anglia, ...

, but sold interests in new licences 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 * Andov ...

and

Southend Southend-on-Sea (), commonly referred to as Southend (), is a coastal city and unitary authorities of England, unitary authority area with Borough status in the United Kingdom, borough status in south-eastern Essex, England. It lies on the nor ...

before they began broadcasting. After the UK stations separated, Tindle's radio division re-organised as 'Tindle CI Broadcasting', retaining its stations in the Channel Islands and Ireland. It remains part of the larger Tindle Group. The company launched its first digital station,

Soleil Radio Soleil Radio is a commercial radio station broadcasting to the Channel Islands of Jersey, Guernsey, Alderney, Sark and Herm on DAB+ Digital Audio Broadcasting (DAB) is a digital radio international standard, standard for broadcasting digi ...

, on 1 August 2021.

Channel 103 Channel 103 is an Independent Local Radio station broadcasting to the island of Jersey on 103.7 FM and DAB+ digital radio. The station launched on 25 October 1992. Channel 103 is part of Tindle Radio, which also owns Island FM in Guernsey an ...

and

Island FM Island FM is an Independent Local Radio station broadcasting across the Bailiwick of Guernsey on 104.7 FM and 93.7 FM in Alderney. Launched in 1992, Island FM remains the sole commercial station in the island and continues to be extremely suc ...

also launched DAB+ simulcasts at the same time. In 2023, the company acquired Bailiwick Broadcasting, operator of the Channel Islands' local commercial DAB multiplex.

Radio stations

Tindle owns and operates three

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 ...

s in the

, and one in

Channel 103

Channel 103 is a CHR/pop music station broadcasting to the island of Jersey on 103.7 FM and DAB+ digital radio. It broadcasts contemporary hits - mostly from the early 1990s to the present day. Local news bulletins are produced from 6am-6pm Monday-Friday and 8am-noon at weekends, with

Sky News Sky News is a British free-to-air television news channel, live stream news network and news organisation. Sky News is distributed via an English-language radio news service, and through online channels. It is owned by Sky Group, a division of ...

providing overnight and weekend afternoon bulletins. According to

RAJAR Radio Joint Audience Research Limited (RAJAR; ) was established in 1992 to operate a single audience measurement system for the radio industry in the United Kingdom. RAJAR is jointly owned by the BBC and Radiocentre. RAJAR's predecessor was c ...

it has the highest weekly reach of any radio station in the British Isles at 61%.

Island FM

Island FM follows a similar CHR format to that of Channel 103. It broadcasts to the islands of

Alderney Alderney ( ; ; ) is the northernmost of the inhabited Channel Islands. It is part of the Bailiwick of Guernsey, a British Crown Dependencies, Crown dependency. It is long and wide. The island's area is , making it the third-largest isla ...

Sark Sark (Sercquiais: or , ) is an island in the southwestern English Channel, off the coast of Normandy, and part of the archipelago of the Channel Islands. It is a self-governing British Crown Dependencies, Crown Dependency, with its own set o ...

and

Herm Herm (Guernésiais: , ultimately from Old Norse 'arm', due to the shape of the island, or Old French 'hermit') is one of the -4; we might wonder whether there's a point at which it's appropriate to talk of the beginnings of French, that is, ...

on 104.7 & 93.7 FM as well as on DAB+ digital radio. It broadcasts contemporary hits - mostly from the early 1990s to the present day. Local news bulletins are produced from 6am-6pm Monday-Friday and 8am-noon at weekends, with

providing overnight and weekend afternoon bulletins.

Midlands 103

Midlands 103 is the Tindle Group's only investment in Ireland. It broadcasts on a range of frequencies between 95.7 and 103.5 FM across Counties Laois, Offaly and Westmeath. It includes a varied output of mainstream music shows, topical talk and discussion and specialist programmes - including

Country and Irish A country is a distinct part of the world, such as a state, nation, or other political entity. When referring to a specific polity, the term "country" may refer to a sovereign state, state with limited recognition, constituent country, or ...

music, business news, and

Irish language Irish (Standard Irish: ), also known as Irish Gaelic or simply Gaelic ( ), is a Celtic language of the Indo-European language family. It is a member of the Goidelic languages of the Insular Celtic sub branch of the family and is indigenous ...

shows. The station produces its local news bulletins for the region during peak times, with evening (7pm to midnight) network bulletins produced by

Bauer Media Audio Ireland Bauer Media Audio Ireland (formerly Communicorp Group) is a media holding company based in Ireland, owned by Bauer Media Group. History Communicorp Group Ltd was formed by Denis O'Brien in 1989. It launched its radio operations in Ireland that ...

Soleil Radio

Soleil Radio launched in August 2021 as an easy-listening DAB digital radio station for the Channel Islands. In 2023 the format was refreshed and it now plays classic hits from the 1970s, 80s and 90s with hourly news bulletins produced from the Channel 103 or Island FM newsrooms from 7am-6pm weekdays and 8am-12pm at weekends. In August 2023, Soleil Radio gained an FM frequency for Jersey, 107.7FM.

Former stations

During the 2010s, Tindle's former stations which broke away to form Anglian Radio were sold on again to

Celador CPL Productions (formerly Celador) is an independent television and radio production company run by Danielle Lux, Murray Boland and Janet Oakes. It was formed in the United Kingdom in 1981 as an independent television production company. It cr ...

and later Bauer. They were rebranded as

Greatest Hits Radio Greatest Hits Radio (GHR) is a classic hits radio network in the United Kingdom, owned and operated by Bauer Media Audio UK. It currently includes 18 local and regional radio stations operating over 50 FM and DAB licences in England, Scotl ...

in 2020. * Kick FM - local radio station for

West Berkshire West Berkshire is a unitary authority in the ceremonial county of Berkshire, England. It is administered from Newbury by West Berkshire Council. History The district of Newbury was formed on 1 April 1974, as a merger of the borough of Newbur ...

, broadcast from Newbury (sold to Andover Sound in 2009, now Greatest Hits Radio) * Delta Radio - local radio station for East

Hampshire Hampshire (, ; abbreviated to Hants.) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Berkshire to the north, Surrey and West Sussex to the east, the Isle of Wight across the Solent to the south, ...

, South West

and North West

Sussex Sussex (Help:IPA/English, /ˈsʌsɪks/; from the Old English ''Sūþseaxe''; lit. 'South Saxons'; 'Sussex') is an area within South East England that was historically a kingdom of Sussex, kingdom and, later, a Historic counties of England, ...

(merged with Kestrel FM in 2010, now Greatest Hits Radio) * Bridge FM - local radio station for Bridgend County, South

Wales Wales ( ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by the Irish Sea to the north and west, England to the England–Wales border, east, the Bristol Channel to the south, and the Celtic ...

(sold to

Town and Country 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 Broad ...

in 2007) * Dream 107.2 - local radio station for Central Hampshire, broadcast from The Brooks Shopping Centre in Winchester. Previously known as 107.2 Win FM. (rebranded as The Breeze, later Hits Radio South Coast and now Easy Radio South Coast) * Kestrel FM - local radio station for North Hampshire, broadcast from studios in Festival Place Shopping Centre in Basingstoke. (rebranded as The Breeze and later Greatest Hits Radio) * Dream 107.7 - local radio station for

Chelmsford Chelmsford () is a city in the City of Chelmsford district in the county of Essex, England. It is the county town of Essex and one of three cities in the county, along with Colchester and Southend-on-Sea. It is located north-east of London ...

(sold to Adventure Radio in September 2008, now Radio Essex) *

Dream 100 FM Dream 100 was an Independent Local Radio station owned and operated by Bauer. It broadcast to Tendring and Essex from studios in Colchester and Ipswich, airing the same music programming as sister station Town 102. The station was folded into ...

- local radio station for North

Essex Essex ( ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the East of England, and one of the home counties. It is bordered by Cambridgeshire and Suffolk to the north, the North Sea to the east, Kent across the Thames Estuary to the ...

and South

Suffolk Suffolk ( ) is a ceremonial county in the East of England and East Anglia. It is bordered by Norfolk to the north, the North Sea to the east, Essex to the south, and Cambridgeshire to the west. Ipswich is the largest settlement and the county ...

(became Greatest Hits Radio in 2020) *

99.9 Radio Norwich Greatest Hits Radio Norfolk & North Suffolk (Norwich) (formerly Radio Norwich 99.9) is an Independent Local Radio station owned and operated by Bauer, broadcasting to Norwich and the surrounding area. The station was merged with North Norfolk ...

- local radio station for

(became Greatest Hits Radio in 2020) * The Beach - local radio station for

Great Yarmouth Great Yarmouth ( ), often called Yarmouth, is a seaside resort, seaside town which gives its name to the wider Borough of Great Yarmouth in Norfolk, England; it straddles the River Yare and is located east of Norwich. Its fishing industry, m ...

Lowestoft Lowestoft ( ) is a coastal town and civil parish in the East Suffolk (district), East Suffolk district of Suffolk, England.OS Explorer Map OL40: The Broads: (1:25 000) : . As the List of extreme points of the United Kingdom, most easterly UK se ...

and

Southwold Southwold is a seaside town and civil parish on the North Sea, in the East Suffolk District, East Suffolk district, in the county of Suffolk, England. It lies at the mouth of the River Blyth, Suffolk, River Blyth in the Suffolk Coast and Heaths ...

(became Greatest Hits Radio in 2020) *

- local radio station for the

area (became Greatest Hits Radio in 2020) *

- local radio station for

North Norfolk North Norfolk is a Non-metropolitan district, local government district in Norfolk, England. Its council is based in Cromer, and the largest town is North Walsham. The district also includes the towns of Fakenham, Holt, Norfolk, Holt, Shering ...

(became Greatest Hits Radio in 2020)

References

{{Reflist

External links

Official site
Radio broadcasting companies of the United Kingdom British radio networks Companies based in Suffolk Mass media companies of England 1998 establishments in the United Kingdom