Trans World Communications (or TWC for short) was the investment vehicle of businessman

Owen Oyston Owen John Oyston (born 3 January 1934) is an English businessman best known as the former majority owner of Blackpool F.C., Blackpool Football Club. Oyston was convicted of rape and indecent assault of a 16-year-old girl in 1996. He served three ...

. It operated radio stations and played a part in the

Miss World Miss World is the oldest existing international beauty pageant. It was created in the United Kingdom by Eric Morley in 1951. Since his death in 2000, Morley's widow, Julia Morley, has co-chaired the pageant. Along with Miss Universe, Mi ...

Beauty Pageant A beauty pageant is a competition in which the contestants are judged and ranked based on various physical and mental attributes. Per its name, beauty pageants traditionally focus on judging the contestants' physical attractiveness, sometimes sol ...

About

Initially called The Red Rose Group because of its beginnings at Red Rose Radio in Preston, Trans World went on to purchase

Radio Aire Radio Aire was an Independent Local Radio station, serving Leeds and West Yorkshire. The station was merged and relaunched as Greatest Hits Radio West Yorkshire, as part of a rebrand, on 1 September 2020. History Radio Aire was launched a ...

Leeds Leeds is a city in West Yorkshire, England. It is the largest settlement in Yorkshire and the administrative centre of the City of Leeds Metropolitan Borough, which is the second most populous district in the United Kingdom. It is built aro ...

, Red Dragon Radio in

Cardiff Cardiff (; ) is the capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of Wales. Cardiff had a population of in and forms a Principal areas of Wales, principal area officially known as the City and County of Ca ...

and

Piccadilly Radio Greatest Hits Radio Manchester & The North West is an Independent Local Radio station based in Manchester, England, owned and operated by Bauer as part of the Greatest Hits Radio Network. It broadcasts to Greater Manchester and North West En ...

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 ...

to form the UK's first radio group. Perhaps TWC's biggest star was

James Whale James Whale (22 July 1889 – 29 May 1957) was an English film director, theatre director and actor, who spent the greater part of his career in Cinema of the United States, Hollywood. He is best remembered for several horror films: ''Fra ...

whose radio programme was 'networked' from Radio Aire in

Yorkshire Yorkshire ( ) is an area of Northern England which was History of Yorkshire, historically a county. Despite no longer being used for administration, Yorkshire retains a strong regional identity. The county was named after its county town, the ...

to Red Rose Radio in

Lancashire Lancashire ( , ; abbreviated ''Lancs'') is a ceremonial county in North West England. It is bordered by Cumbria to the north, North Yorkshire and West Yorkshire to the east, Greater Manchester and Merseyside to the south, and the Irish Sea to ...

in 1987 and even simulcast on ITV from

Yorkshire Television ITV Yorkshire, previously known as Yorkshire Television and commonly referred to as just YTV, is the British television service provided by ITV Broadcasting Limited for the Yorkshire franchise area on the ITV (TV network), ITV network. Until 19 ...

's studios from 1989.

Take over

TWC was later taken over by East Midland Allied Press. However, EMAP's take over of TWC was originally blocked by

The Radio Authority The Office of Communications, commonly known as Ofcom, is the government-approved regulatory and competition authority for the broadcasting, internet, telecommunications and postal industries of the United Kingdom. Ofcom has wide-ranging p ...

after they ruled EMAP, who already owned 30% of Trans World, would breach local radio ownership restrictions as it meant they would hold eight radio franchises - two more than the legislation of the day allowed. The

Guardian Media Group Guardian Media Group plc (GMG) is a British-based mass media company owning various media operations including ''The Guardian'', and formerly ''The Observer''. The group is wholly owned by the Scott Trust Limited, which exists to secure the fin ...

, which owned 20 per cent of Trans World, wanting to increase its stake but was prevented in doing so due to the national newspapers it owns. EMAP went on to acquire further radio stations in the UK until its radio arm was eventually gobbled up itself by the Germany-based

Bauer Media Group Heinrich Bauer Publishing (), trade name, trading as Bauer Media Group, is a German multimedia conglomerate headquartered in Hamburg. It operates worldwide and owns more than 600 magazines, over 400 digital products and 50 radio and TV stations, ...

in 2008. Oyston's company also turned to the beauty business, taking over the Miss World Organisation and reforming it into Trans World Communications. In 1991, a boardroom battle forced him out and The Miss World brand has been privately owned by the Morley family since.

References

{{reflist Radio broadcasting companies of the United Kingdom