| City of license | Swansea |
|---|---|
| Broadcast area | Swansea Llanelli Neath Port Talbot[1] |
| Slogan | Today's Best Mix[2] Proud to be Local[3] |
| Frequency | 96.4 MHz DAB Digital Radio RDS Name: The Wave |
| First air date | 30 September 1995 as Sound Wave[4] |
| Format | Contemporary[5] |
| Audience share | (, [1]) |
| Owner | UTV Radio |
| Sister stations | Swansea Sound |
| Webcast | The Wave Online Radio Player |
| Website | Online @ www.thewave.co.uk |
The Wave is a British independent local radio station that serves the Swansea, Llanelli, Neath and Port Talbot areas of South Wales.[1]
The station is broadcast on 96.4 MHz[6] from the Kilvey Hill transmitter and is also available online[7] and on DAB from the digital multiplex of Swansea SW Wales.[8] The Wave is based in Gowerton, Swansea, which also contains its sister station, Swansea Sound. The station is owned by UTV Radio[9] and broadcasts a mix of popular music, with the playlist relying upon current chart and contemporary hits. News, local information and entertainment are also featured for the 15 – 44 age group.[10] As a result of many high RAJAR figures throughout the years, 96.4 The Wave is the most listened to station in South West Wales.[11]
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Swansea Sound (which was launched in 1974) decided to "split frequencies" in 1995, therefore a new station called 96.4 Sound Wave was launched on the FM frequency, while Swansea Sound continued to broadcast as normal on 1170 AM. The separate stations are based in the same premises in Gowerton that Swansea Sound first broadcast from in 1974. In 1998, the station changed its name from Sound Wave to The Wave, due to some listeners having inexplicably refer to it as "Swansea Soundwave".[12][13]
The Wave continued delivering a local service to the Swansea area. In 2002, The Radio Authority announced that there were plans for a Swansea DAB multiplex to form and that The Wave was to feature on it, under the format of contemporary hit radio.[14] 2003 saw the station adding South Wales' Hit Music as their slogan[15] as well as issuing out a highly popular competition called A Week On Wheels, which returned the following year as a promotion.[16] In January 2004, The Wave was officially launched on the new DAB multiplex, which became fully active that morning.[17] The Wave came under management of UTV Radio in 2005, when the company acquired The Wireless Group, the owner of the station in the early 2000s.[18] The station had a tradition of organising Party in the Park in Singleton Park, Swansea for many years, but due to the financial cost, the event ended in 2006.[19] Instead, The Wave joined with Escape into the Park, a similar music event involving mostly contemporary dance music.[20] In 2008, The Wave started using a marketing brand along with a different format, which was processed by UTV Radio.[21] This lasted until 2009, in which the station went into transition and as a result, produced the strapline of Today's Best Mix as well as a new, modern style.[22]
The Wave and Swansea Sound were involved in UTV Media's Wales Live scheme, a news service designed to support local news through radio, television and online mediums. The project was set to be running by October 2010, but it ultimately failed to progress in June 2010.[23] The Wave received an updated logo design which was made into a car sticker, with the inclusion of "DAB and Online" displayed alongside "96.4 FM" on the bottom of the logo.[3] The Wave, along with other local commercial radio stations within the UK, became apart of the Radioplayer UK project, an internet service formed by the BBC, Global Radio and the Guardian Media Group that supplies a listen live feed of UK radio stations across the world.[24][25] Due to Swansea City A.F.C. being promoted to the Premier League, The Wave modified their website design to reflect the football team's colours – black and white. They also used the open top bus parade throughout the city as an advertising platform along with Swansea Sound.
The station's official Ofcom transmitted service area (TSA) is Swansea, Neath, Port Talbot and Llanelli. However, The Wave can be received further east in places such as Bridgend and the South Wales Valleys (particularly on DAB).[26] The station can also be faintly picked up in further areas of South West Wales, such as Carmarthenshire and Pembrokeshire, as well as across the Bristol Channel in North Devon.[27] The Wave can be listened throughout the world via their online stream and internet radio.
The station director of The Wave is Helen Bowden. Steve Barnes is The Wave's current head programmer.[28] UTV Radio states that The Wave "is aimed at the 15 – 44 audience and prides itself on its engaging mix of personality presenters, news, sport and area specific information such as weather and traffic and travel. This is all packaged around the best mix of music from the 80s, 90s, 00s and the best of the current chart."[29]
The Wave airs a top 40-leaning mix of music from a number of styles and genres within pop, urban, rock and dance, therefore making up contemporary hit radio.[30] This format, specified by Ofcom, is formed mainly by current chart and contemporary hits, along with an optional 'spice' of 80s and 90s music.[31] The Wave airs the UK's biggest download chart, The Big Top 40 Show, as well as producing a chart programme of their own, called The Wave Chart Show.
Media regulator Ofcom describes the format of The Wave as "a contemporary and chart music and information station".[32]
The music playlist is updated every Thursday, with current releases making the A-List.[33]
The Wave's schedule consists of local and network output. Local programmes are issued out on daytime and evening peak times which contain music, news, entertainment and listener interaction. Weekday shows and presenters include Badger and Emma in the Morning, Phil Hoyles, The Mark Powell Drive Show and Siany's Total Access. The Wave's local weekend schedule consists of the shows Mark and Smithy @ the Weekend, The Wave Chart Show, Saturday Afternoons with Steve Wiggy Wiggins and Sunday Brunch with Badger and Claire. Network output from UTV Radio is broadcast on Mondays to Thursdays from 22:00 until 6:00, Fridays from 19:00 – 6:00, Saturdays from 18:00 through to 8:00 and Sundays from 12:00.[34][35]
The Wave broadcast various music features and specialist music shows, including :
The Wave breakfast show is an award winning morning radio programme on The Wave.[44] The main presenter is Andy Badger Miles who has been the host of the show since the station started in 1995 as Sound Wave. The current co host is Emma Davies, who has been presenting alongside Badger since 2004.[45] There have been many co hosts to the show, including Simon Thompson, Siany and Claire Scott. Claire presents Sunday Brunch with Badger and sometimes links live to weekday breakfast.[46]
The Wave Chart Show is broadcast from 10:00 – 14:00 every Saturday. The show consists of the Wave Hot 10, South Wales Album Chart, American Hot 10, The Movies Chart[47] and a hit music playlist, along with news, events and entertainment updates. The show started in 1999 and has been hosted by Phil Hoyles ever since.
The chart is updated and tracked on every Wednesday, ready for the Saturday broadcast and can be heard across South West Wales.[48] [49]
Alongside locally produced output and The Big Top 40 Show, The Wave carries UTV Radio's network programmes including Late Night Love,[50] Up All Night,[51][52] Sunday Early Breakfast,[53] Sunday with Andy Martindale,[50] Sunday Total Access[54] and Party Classics[55] – all of which are presented by network DJs from different UTV Radio stations. These network shows are broadcast on all radio stations within the UTV Radio GB group. The shows have a different music policy to The Wave's normal daily playlist. The network policy contains a soft and adult-contemporary playlist due to the fact that the networking is simultaneously broadcast on all other local UTV Radio stations around the country, which process different music formats aimed at different target audiences. Therefore, the music becomes varied to cater for all audiences and for each radio station the networking is broadcast on.
The Wave broadcasts Sky News Radio on the hour as well as local news coverage.[56]
The Wave host many competitions and features throughout all of their shows, in which listeners can win a mix of prizes. The competitions vary from group wide promotions to locally produced offers. Some competitions are broadcast regularly, while others may be held annually or may also be a one-off. Some of the features include frequent showbiz updates, newspaper reviews, Website Wednesday and the TV guide.[57][58][59][60][61]
The Wave's current jingle set is provided by IQ Beats, who also produce the jingles for the rest of the UTV Network.[62] The production creator is Mark Powell who is also the Drive Show presenter.[63][64] The main voice overs on The Wave are Dan Harper and Richard Cope, who are used to shape the upbeat imaging, which contains the slogan today's best mix, the station ID and the feature or show.[65][66] One of the former providers of The Wave are Music 4, previously called Vibe Music, who produced The Wave's imaging in June 2000.[67]
The Wave produce various events throughout the local area. One event is the Local Hero Awards, where The Wave rewards local people for "making a difference" to the area.[68] Other events include The Cash for Kids Appeal[69] which consists of an On-Air auction and The Style Awards,[70] as well as the Swansea Live music event.[71] An events guide is also broadcast on The Wave, known as The Lowdown.[72]
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