Wyvern FM
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| Wyvern FM | |
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| Broadcast area | Herefordshire and Worcestershire |
|---|---|
| Frequency | 97.6 MHz, 102.8 MHz and 96.7 MHz |
| First air date | 4 October 1982 |
| Format | Contemporary |
| Audience share | 7.9% (September 2007, [1]) |
| Owner | Global Radio |
| Website | www.wyvernfm.co.uk |
Wyvern FM is a radio station broadcasting to Herefordshire and Worcestershire in England. It is owned by Global Radio, and is part of "The One Network".
Wyvern FM is predominantly music-based, playing pop from the 1980s through to the present day. The station carries programming from its Worcester studios from 3am to 7pm weekdays, and for shorter periods at weekends. Other programming is provided centrally.
Radio Wyvern originally went on-air in 1982. The initial presenter team consisted of Sammy Southall at breakfast, Roy Leonard in the morning, Graham Hughes in the afternoon, and Mike George at drivetime. Weekend presenters included Jeff Roberts, Rob Yarnold and Bob Lee.
For the first year or so, the station opened at 6 a.m. (7 a.m. on Sundays) and closed at 8 p.m. Later the station provided a 24-hour service by joining up with Beacon Radio from 10 p.m. and then a wider network of Midlands stations from 1 a.m. Radio Wyvern took the SuperStation overnight service in the late 1980s, and when that closed abruptly, a local Late Show was introduced, with the overnight output from 1 a.m. shared with BRMB and Mercia FM.
After its licence was renewed in 1994, the station split into Wyvern FM, playing newer music, and Wyvern AM (Quality and Variety) which was essentially a gold service. The AM station was rebranded as Classic Gold soon afterwards, and was sold to Murfin Music because of ownership regulations and the large overlap with neighbouring Classic Gold 774 in Gloucestershire. Some time later, it was rebranded as Classic Hits, and by this time a fully-fledged local service, with no links to Wyvern FM or the Classic Gold network. In 2007 Laser Broadcasting abruptly relaunched the AM station as SunshineRadio.
Wyvern FM broadcasts on 97.6 FM in Herefordshire, and 102.8 FM in Worcestershire. In the late 1990s it added a third frequency, 96.7 FM, covering Kidderminster and the Wyre Forest in north Worcestershire and soon DAB Radio
The name derives from the River Wye and River Severn, the rivers running through Hereford and Worcester respectively (the name was proposed in the 1970s for what would become the county of Hereford and Worcester). It is noted that Wyvern FM often broadcasts the same content as Severn Sound, Beacon and BRMB because all 4 radio stations are owned by GCap Media (now Global Radio).
Wyvern played host to many well-known broadcasters over the years. Neil Fox began his professional broadcasting career here in 1985, and "Wyvern News, this is Howard Hughes" became very familiar to listeners. Rich Edwards, who joined in the very early days, presented on Classic Hits until its abrupt closure in 2007. David Holdsworth, now with the BBC was the station's News Editor, and Eleanor Oldroyd, now with Five Live, was a member of the Sport team. Many presenters, such as Mike George, from earlier years have found a new home at BBC Hereford and Worcester.
Wyvern FM got a brand new logo on Saturday 18th August 2007 (The 4th in the stations history) as part of a revamp of some radio stations that are part of The One Network.
[edit] Wyvern FM Programmes
- Breakfast with Paul Kershaw and Helen Wheels
- Daytime with Tom Newitt
- Drivetime with Paul Ellery
- Late Night Love with Graham Torrington
- Music Control with Kevin Hughes
- Party Saturday - Non-Stop Music
- Big Ones and New Ones with Andy Kench and Tom Newitt
- Live at the Local
- hit40uk - syndicated chart show hosted by Lucio
[edit] External links
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