Heart Cymru

Heart 103

City of license	Bangor
Broadcast area	Gwynedd and Anglesey
Frequency	103.0 MHz
First air date	(as Champion 103) 11 December 1998 at 10:03am
Format	Adult Contemporary, Welsh music & Welsh Programming
Audience share	10.1% (March 2010, [1])
Transmitter coordinates	53°01′12″N 4°16′24″W / 53.0199°N 4.2732°W / 53.0199; -4.2732Coordinates: 53°01′12″N 4°16′24″W / 53.0199°N 4.2732°W / 53.0199; -4.2732
Owner	Global Radio
Website	Heart Cymru

Champion 103's final logo

Heart Cymru (formerly Champion 103) is an independent local radio station broadcasting to Gwynedd and Anglesey from the Arfon transmitting station. It was previously part of the Marcher Radio Group, but was rebranded as Heart 103 on 22 June 2009 and is now part of Global Radio's Heart Network.^[1]

History

When it launched in 1998 as Champion 103, it was the first station to serve Anglesey and Gwynedd as a whole, although Marcher Coast 96.3 had been broadcasting to a small part of the area for some time. The station originally broadcast from studios at Parc Menai in Bangor, Gwynedd (later sharing facilities with Heart North Wales Coast) before co-locating to the studios of Heart North West and Wales in Wrexham.^[2]

Although its official transmission area takes in most of the Isle of Anglesey and a large part of Gwynedd (as far south as Harlech), the location of its transmitter means the signal carries across Cardigan Bay and can be heard in parts of Pembrokeshire and even the Republic of Ireland.

The station broadcasts a mix of Welsh and English language programming - local output is presented largely in Welsh and incorporates Welsh language music with English language local content consisting of peak-time traffic bulletins and daytime news updates. In addition to daily breakfast shows, the station opts out of the network to carry additional local programming including an extended 5-hour drivetime show, a weekend afternoon show and an hour of automated music on weekdays. Network programming is relayed from London at all other times.

The station's local output was not affected by a restructuring of the Heart Network in July 2010, which saw sister stations serving the North Wales Coast, Cheshire & North East Wales and the Wirral merged to form Heart North West and Wales.^[3] The former North Wales Coast station on 96.3FM maintains an opt-out for early morning Welsh language programmes and news bulletins.

Programming

Monday–Friday Time Main presenter(s)/programme Location 0100 – 0400 All 80s, All Night (automated) Leicester Square, London 0400 - 0600 Nicola Bonn 0600 – 1000 Kev Bach: Heart Breakfast Gwersyllt, Wrexham 1000 – 1300 Toby Anstis Leicester Square, London 1300 – 1400 More Music Lunch (automated, local) Gwersyllt, Wrexham 1400 – 1900 Alistair James: Heart Drivetime (Local) 1900 – 2200 Simon Dale Leicester Square, London 2200 – 0100 Simon Beale Friday variation Time Main presenter(s) Location 1900 - 0000 Club Classics with Simon Dale Leicester Square, London Saturday Time Main presenter(s)/programme Location 0000 - 0200 Club Classics (automated) Leicester Square, London 0200 – 0600 Vanessa Elms 0600 - 0800 Matt Wilkinson 0800 – 1200 Alistair James: Heart Breakfast (Local) Gwersyllt, Wrexham 1200 – 1600 Cerian Griffith (Local) 1600 – 1900 Emma Bunton Leicester Square, London 1900 – 0000 Club Classics with Steve Denyer Sunday Time Main presenter(s)/programme Location 0000 - 0200 Club Classics (automated) Leicester Square, London 0200 – 0600 Vanessa Elms 0600 - 0800 Matt Wilkinson 0800 – 1200 Kev Bach: Heart Breakfast (Local) Gwersyllt, Wrexham 1200 – 1600 Cerian Griffith (Local) 1600 – 1900 Rich Clarke & Kat Shoob: The Vodafone Freebees Big Top 40 Leicester Square, London 1900 – 2200 Chris Skinner 2200 - 0100 Simon Beale Notes Alistair James also presents a Welsh language opt-out for the North Wales Coast (96.3 FM) on Heart North West and Wales on Sunday - Friday mornings. Cerian Griffith is also a cover presenter for the station's weekday drivetime shows. News Heart Cymru broadcasts local news updates weekdays half hourly between 6am and 9am, then hourly from 9am to 6pm. At the weekend, local news is broadcast hourly between 8am and 11am. National news updates from London are broadcast at 7pm weekdays and at 6am, 7am, 12noon, 1pm and 2pm at the weekend. Breakfast bulletins between 6:30am & 9am and drivetime bulletins between 4pm & 6pm are broadcast in Welsh only. English language local bulletins air between 10am & 3pm with a bilingual bulletin broadcast at 6am. Traffic bulletins on the station are also broadcast in English. Welsh language bulletins are produced and broadcast from Global Radio's Cardiff Bay studios with English language bulletins & traffic updates broadcast from Heart's Wrexham studios. News staff Broadcast Journalists Cardiff: Elliw Hughes (also broadcast journalist for Capital FM South Wales) Sion Pritchard Wrexham: Alex Davies Andy Downton Natasia Moore See also List of Celtic language media External links Official Website References ^ RadioToday ^ Heart radio moves from Bangor to Wrexham, Daily Post, 29 July 2010 ^ OFCOM - Agreed Format Change Request: Heart Anglesey