Greatest Hits Radio Dumfries & Galloway 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

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 ...

, Scotland, owned and operated by Bauer as part of the

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 ...

Network. It broadcasts to

Dumfries and Galloway Dumfries and Galloway (; ) is one of the 32 unitary council areas of Scotland, located in the western part of the Southern Uplands. It is bordered by East Ayrshire, South Ayrshire, and South Lanarkshire to the north; Scottish Borders to the no ...

. As of September 2023, the station broadcasts to a weekly audience of 75,000, 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 ...

Overview

The station in Dumfries and Galloway is one of three FM stations forming part of the Greatest Hits Radio network and carries networked programming, with local news and travel. In September 2019, all local programming from Dumfries ended and local breakfast and drive is coming from Glasgow. The station was rebranded from ''West Sound'' to ''Greatest Hits Radio Dumfries and Galloway'' on 3 April 2023.

History

Westsound began broadcasting in May 1990, from studios at Campbell House in the grounds of the Crichton Estate, under the name South West Sound FM. The station later moved to studios in Dumfries' shopping centre, The Loreburne Centre, where it remained until its local shows were axed in 2019. On 3rd April 2023, Westsound rebranded to form Scotland’s first national commercial radio station, Greatest Hits Radio, along with its sister stations from the Scottish Greatest Hits Radio Network and Radio Borders. Seven hours of Scottish programming were retained, Ewen & Cat At Breakfast and Webster in the afternoons.

Programming and presenters

Much of the station's programming is produced in

's studios in

Dundee Dundee (; ; or , ) is the List of towns and cities in Scotland by population, fourth-largest city in Scotland. The mid-year population estimate for the locality was . It lies within the eastern central Lowlands on the north bank of the Firt ...

and

Edinburgh Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. The city is located in southeast Scotland and is bounded to the north by the Firth of Forth and to the south by the Pentland Hills. Edinburgh ...

. Some output is produced from GHR's

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 ...

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 Manchester studios and broadcast on both networks in

Scotland Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...

and

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

. Presenters currently on Greatest Hits Radio Dumfries & Galloway are; Ewen Cameron and Cat Harvey (Ewen & Cat At Breakfast, weekdays 6-10am),

Ken Bruce Kenneth Robertson Bruce (born 2 February 1951) is a Scottish radio and television presenter. He hosted a weekday mid-morning show on BBC Radio 2 between 1986 and 1990, then again from 1992 to 2023. Since April 2023, he has presented the same s ...

(weekdays 10am-1pm),

Kate Thornton Kate Thornton (born 7 February 1973) is an English journalist and broadcaster, best known as the first presenter of ''The X Factor'' (2004–2006) and for presenting daytime shows including '' Loose Women'' (2009–2011) and '' This Morning'' (2 ...

(weekdays 1pm-4pm),

Simon Mayo Simon Andrew Hicks Mayo (born 21 September 1958) is an English radio presenter and author who worked for BBC Radio from 1982 until 2022. Mayo has presented across three BBC stations for extended periods. From 1986 to 2001 he worked for Radio ...

(Drivetime weekdays 4pm-7pm and Album Show Sunday 1pm-4pm),

Jackie Brambles Jackie Todd Brambles (born 1 March 1967) is a British journalist, radio DJ and television presenter. In the earlier part of her broadcasting career she was known as Jakki Brambles. Early life and early career Brambles was born in Harlow, Esse ...

(Monday-Thursday 7pm-10pm),

Martin Kemp Martin John Kemp (born 10 October 1961) is an English musician and actor, best known as the bassist in the new wave band Spandau Ballet and for his role as Steve Owen in ''EastEnders''. He is the younger brother of Gary Kemp, who is also a ...

(Friday 7pm-10pm),

Andy Crane Howard Andrew Crane (born 24 February 1964) is an English television and radio presenter, best known for presenting Children's BBC between 1987 and 1990 and for his current work as a presenter on the Greatest Hits Radio network. Career Cran ...

(Sunday-Thursday 10pm-1am), Des Paul (Rhythm Of The Night Friday and Saturday 10pm-1am).

News

The station 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 sport and traffic bulletins. National bulletins from

Sky News Radio Sky News Radio is the radio arm of Sky News, owned by Sky UK. It has been operating since June 1999, providing a news bulletin service for UK commercial radio stations operators across the UK and for a number of English-speaking radio stations aro ...

are carried overnight with bespoke networked Scottish bulletins on weekend afternoons, produced from

Radio Clyde Radio Clyde is a group of two Independent Local Radio stations serving Glasgow and West Central Scotland. Radio Clyde is owned and operated by Bauer Media Audio UK, Bauer, based at studios in Clydebank, West Dunbartonshire and forms part of Baue ...

's newsroom in Clydebank.

References

External links

* Bauer Radio Greatest Hits Radio Radio stations in Scotland Dumfries and Galloway Radio stations established in 1990 1990 establishments in Scotland {{Scotland-stub