The Pulse of West Yorkshire

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The Pulse of West Yorkshire

Broadcast area	Bradford, Kirklees & Calderdale
First air date	September 16, 1975
Frequency	97.5 MHz, 102.5 MHz
Format	Contemporary
Owner	UTV Radio

The Pulse is an Independent Local Radio station broadcasting from Bradford. The station was originally known as Pennine Radio. Peter Levy, Martin Kelner, Chris Moyles (who was sacked in 1994), Jon Culshaw and Simon Hirst have all worked here, with the breakfast show being hosted by the likes of Elliott Webb, Paul Carrington, Mark Page and Elisa Hilton. Nic Tuff who was the host of the breakfast show 1996-1998 was the first presenter to take the brand to number one, moving The Pulse out of the shadow of Radio 2.

The station was part of the Yorkshire Radio Network which also owned Viking FM and Hallam FM, this was bought out by Newcastle based Metro Radio Group (owners of Metro Radio and TFM). Pennine Radio became Pennine FM in the late 1980s when the AM frequency was split off to create the original incarnation of Classic Gold. In 1991, in a bid to revive flagging fortunes, Pennine FM was rebranded as The Pulse.

The Metro Radio Group itself was bought out by EMAP in 1996 and ownership rules at the time meant that as they already owned neighbouring Radio Aire in Leeds something had to be sold on, and that was The Pulse and its sister station Classic Gold which were purchased in a management buyout from senior staff and ex-Metro Group executives. The new company was called The Radio Partnership.

The Radio Partnership expanded over the years to include other stations, such as Signal Radio in Stoke-on-Trent. In 1999, Kelvin MacKenzie's Talk Radio UK bought The Radio Partnership and formed The Wireless Group to include the national side and a series of local stations. In July 2005 The Wireless Group was bought out by Ulster Television.

The main 102.5FM signal comes from the Vicars Lot transmitter close to the M62 between Scammonden Dam and junction 23, close to the Scammonden arched bridge. This signal covers a lot of West Yorkshire and can be heard as far south as Doncaster and Sheffield. The signal is much stronger, and the transmitter at a higher altitude than the Idle transmitter. The 97.5FM signal covers Bradford, and comes from the Idle transmitter, which is on the top of Idle Moor, between Idle and Shipley. The Idle transmitter also carries national radio frequencies, Galaxy 105 on 105.6FM, Sunrise Radio on 103.2FM and Real Radio for Yorkshire on 107.6FM.