| Slogan | Love Life. Love Music. |
|---|---|
| Frequency | 106.6 MHz / 101.4 MHz |
| First air date | 26 March 2007 |
| Format |
contemporary / owner = Guardian Media Group |
| Audience share | 7.1% (December 2009, [1]) |
106.6 Smooth Radio was an Independent Local Radio station for the East Midlands, which replaced Saga 106.6 FM at 6am on Monday 26 March 2007. In turn it replaced itself by the national Smooth Radio service which was launched on 4 October 2010
The station competed with BBC Radio 2, aiming its music at listeners aged 40 and over, and was part of the national Smooth Radio network, which encompassed London, the West Midlands, North West England and Glasgow.
As well as being carried on FM in the East Midlands, the station could also be found on DAB digital radio and online. It was also broadcast on the NOW Derbyshire DAB Multiplex.
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The station came into existence following GMG Radio's purchase of the Saga Radio Group in December 2006, and the granting of permission from the regulator Ofcom to change the format of its Smooth FM stations. The decision was made to change both the Smooth FM and Saga stations to Smooth Radio. Saga 106.6 FM closed at 6pm on Friday 23 March 2007, and was followed by a preview weekend for the new Smooth Radio.
106.6 Smooth Radio played middle-of-the-road, adult contemporary music, aimed at listeners aged 45 and over. It had very few similarities to its predecessor. Though many of the presenters who worked on Saga 106.6 FM initially hosted shows on 106.6 Smooth Radio, many later departed and by the time of its closure none of the specialist shows from the Saga days had survived. Moreover, Smooth's initial slogan "Your life. Your music.", which was used on Saga stations, was modified to "Love life, love music", which continues to be used by the station's successor. The station gradually networked many of its programmes since 2007, and from 28 June 2010 Tony Lyman was the only remaining original presenter from the Saga line up.
On 29 June 2010, GMG announced that it wanted to turn Smooth Radio in to a National Station rivaling BBC Radio 2 by broadcasting on the Digital 1 multiplex on DAB Digital Radio to the whole of England and Wales, as well as Sky, Freesat, Freeview, Virgin Media and online. Shows would be broadcast nationally, but a regional feel would be kept for each area with news, travel and weather bulletins being tailored for each area and broadcast on the FM and DAB frequencies. Listeners tuning nationally would hear national information. 105.2 Smooth Radio in Scotland would be the exception to this, keeping its Breakfast and Drivetime shows, but networking everything else.
The new service, Smooth Radio, was launched on Monday 4 October. Most of the shows are broadcast from Salford Quays in Manchester, with other shows from London. This was made possible due to the Digital Economy Act which allows stations to co-locate or drop all local shows and broadcast on national DAB Radio.
The presenter line up at the station at the time of its closure was as follows;
Mark Goodier's Mid Morning Show, Tony Blackburn's Weekend Breakfast Show and Andy Peebles' Soul Train were simulcast from London and could be heard on several other stations in the Smooth Network. Evening and overnight shows were simulcast with some other Smooth stations. Only breakfast and Drive were produced locally.
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Broadcast Journalists |
Local news was broadcast from 6am - 7pm with headlines at peak times. Along with other Smooth Radio stations, 106.6 Smooth Radio took national GMG Radio bulletins after 8pm on weekdays and from 3pm at weekends.
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