- Heart West Midlands
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Heart West Midlands 
Broadcast area Birmingham and the West Midlands Slogan "More Music Variety" Frequency FM
100.7 MHz
RDS:__HEART__
DAB
12A (West Midlands)
OnlineFirst air date 6 September 1994 Format Hot AC Audience share 8.4% (August 2011, [1]) Owner Heart Network, Global Radio Website www.heart.co.uk/westmids/ Heart West Midlands is a radio station based in Birmingham, England, as part of the Heart Network, with a regional license to broadcast to the West Midlands. It is aimed primarily at people aged 25 – 44, which makes the station just about enter the Hot AC format.
Contents
History
Heart began broadcasting on the 6 September 1994, as 100.7 Heart FM being the UK's third Independent Regional Radio station, five days after Century Radio and Jazz FM North West. The first song to be played on 100.7 Heart fm was "Something Got Me Started", by Simply Red. Its original format of "soft adult contemporary" music included artists such as Lionel Richie, Simply Red and Tina Turner. Reflecting this, its early slogan described the station as being "100.7 degrees cooler".
Its programming format was modified in 1996, a year after Chrysalis launched Heart 106.2 in London. The new format saw the "soft" AC music replaced with a generally more neutral music playlist, with more upbeat music from the same big-name artists like Phil Collins. This saw radio audience listening figures grow to equal that of local rival BRMB, which was for a long time undisputed number one commercial radio in the West Midlands. New disc-jockeys were brought in from other stations; Daryl Denham arrived in 2000 from Hallam FM's breakfast show in a high-profile move. Ian Danter and Carlos also arrived from BRMB.
One of Heart's most popular DJs, Tushar Makwana, was killed in 2004 following a burglary at his home which left him injured on his doorstep.[1] The station's staff paid tribute to the presenter on-air, and campaigned for the person(s) responsible to be brought to justice. The station's reception area now includes a photographic tribute and plaque.
Following a corporate re-brand of the station, including a change of logo, the more contemporary look was soon reflected in the station's sound. The format is now described as more Hot AC and features more music from the likes of Natasha Bedingfield, James Blunt and Keane as well as soul music from the 1970s, branded as Club Classics. During this relaunch long-time DJs departed the station, such as Ian Danter, Carlos, Paul Bryant and Nick Piercey, to be replaced by younger DJs such as Steve Denyer and Dave Clarke.
2005 saw the evacuation of its studios after West Midlands Police alerted staff and other civilians following a bomb alert in Birmingham's Broad Street complex station.[2] The station continued to operate initially relaying sister station LBC News 1152 before transmission switched to the studios of Century 106 (now Heart 106) in Nottingham which broadcast reports from DNN Journalists John Collins and Dave Richards, who had to broadcast from a phone booth due to restrictions on the use of mobile phones.
On 11 September 2006, new station idents and jingles were used for the first time, and saw the station referred to purely as 'Heart' rather than '100.7 Heart fm'.
On 25 June 2007 it was announced that Heart along with its sister stations The Arrow, LBC and Galaxy were to be sold for £170 million to Global Radio from Chrysalis Radio.[3]
From 28 April 2008 Heart began simulcasting some of its programmes from Heart 106.2 in London. There are now only ten hours of local programming from Birmingham during weekdays and four hours on Saturday and Sunday.
Station Information
Former logo discontinued in 2004
The station is housed in 111 Broad Street - the same building as Global Radio-owned sister stations 102.2 Capital FM Birmingham and The Arrow. The Digital News Network (DNN) also broadcast from the building until it ceased transmission in August 2006, to be replaced by LBC, whose regional DAB service was fully rolled out on September 1. Regional news bulletins continues to be broadcast from the building on Heart and Capital.
The FM signal comes from the Sutton Coldfield transmitter, and is audible throughout a large part of the Midlands, including the East Midlands towns of Leicester, Derby and parts of Nottingham. It can be heard with fairly decent audible quality in Kingswood Bristol. This is because Kingswood is very high up meaning there is a clear line of sight between the north and Kingswood. The station is available on DAB, thanks to eight transmitters throughout the West Midlands on the MXR 12A multiplex, with strong signals from The Wrekin and Ilmington in south Warwickshire.
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 Ed James & Rachel New: Heart Breakfast Birmingham 1000 – 1300 Toby Anstis Leicester Square, London 1300 – 1600 Nick Snaith 1600 – 1900 Steve Denyer: Heart Drivetime (Local) Birmingham 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 Julian Jones: Heart Breakfast (Local) Birmingham 1200 – 1600 Nick Snaith Leicester Square, London 1600 – 1900 Emma Bunton 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 Julian Jones: Heart Breakfast (Local) Birmingham 1200 – 1600 Jason Donovan Leicester Square, London 1600 – 1900 Rich Clarke & Kat Shoob: The Vodafone Freebees Big Top 40 1900 – 2200 Chris Skinner 2200 - 0100 Simon Beale Past presenters
Presenters who have hosted shows on Heart in the past include many who have either been or gone on to become well known personalities within the Birmingham and West Midlands region, as well as at national level. Former presenters on the station include Carlos, Paul Bryant, Ben Foster, Daryl Denham, Phil Upton, Nick Piercey, Sarah Jane Mee, Hellon Wheels, Charlie Jordan, Warren Moore and Dave Clarke.
See also
- Heart Network
- Heart Gloucestershire
- Heart West Country
- Heart Home Counties
References
- ^ http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/west_midlands/3483125.stm DJ dies after gang robbery
- ^ http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/4668313.stm Birmingham threat 'real' - police
- ^ Chrysalis sells three radio stations
External links
Radio stations in the West Midlands of England FM stations 88.3 (BBC Radio 2) • 89.1 (Big City Radio) • 90.5 (BBC Radio 3) • 92.7 (BBC Radio 4) • 95.6 (BBC WM) • 96.4 (brmb) • 96.7 & 102.8 (Wyvern) • 97.2 & 103.1 (Beacon) • 97.9 (BBC Radio 1) • 98.7 (New Style Radio) • 100.1 (Classic FM) • 100.7 (Heart) • 101.8 (WCR) • 102.2 (Capital FM) • 105.2 (Kerrang) • 105.7 (Smooth Radio) • 107.7 (107.7 The Wolf)LW & MW stations 198 (BBC Radio 4) • 252 (RTÉ Radio 1) • 828 & 1458 (BBC Asian Network) • 909 & 693 (BBC Radio 5 Live) • 990 & 1152 (Gold) • 1089 & 1053 (TalkSPORT • 1215 (Absolute Radio) • 1296 (Radio XL)DAB multiplexes United Kingdom Radio Markets: Aberdeen • Glasgow • London • Liverpool • Manchester • West Midlands • West Yorkshire • Worcester
See also: List of radio stations in the United Kingdom Global Radio Corporate Directors: Charles Allen Chairman · Ashley Tabor Group CEO · Richard Park Executive Director · Stephen Miron CEO · Mark Evans CFO · Owen McGartol DirectorNational FM station Capital Birmingham · East Midlands · London · Manchester · North East · Scotland · South Coast · South Wales · YorkshireHeart Cambridgeshire · Cymru · Devon · East Anglia · Essex · Gloucestershire · Home Counties · Kent · London · North West and Wales · South Coast (Solent) · Sussex and Surrey · Thames Valley · West Country · West Midlands · Wiltshire · Franchise: HertfordshireLBC Xfm Other stations Related Pages Capital Digital · Capital Breakfast (Capital London) · GCap Media (Capital Life · Capital Disney · Core · The Storm · theJazz) · The One Network · The Hit Music Network (Leicester Sound · Ram FM · Trent FM) · Marcher Radio Group · (Wrexham and Chester Gold) · Galaxy Network (Galaxy Digital) · Orion Media (96.4 BRMB · Beacon Radio · Mercia · Wyvern FM · Gem 106) · Heart Digital · Planet Rock · Classic FM TV · Leicester Square ·Categories:- Radio stations in Birmingham, West Midlands
- Radio stations established in 1994
- The Heart Network
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