Metro Radio

Metro Radio
City of license Newcastle
Broadcast area Tyne and Wear
County Durham
Northumberland
Slogan Your Music, Your Life
Frequency FM:
102.6 MHz (Alnwick)
103.0 MHz (Fenham)
103.2 MHz (Hexham)
97.1 MHz (Tyne Tunnel Relay)
97.1 MHz (Newcastle upon Tyne)
RDS: METRO
DAB: 11C[1]
First air date 15 July 1974
Format CHR, news, speech and talk
Audience share 9.9% (June 2014, RAJAR)
Owner Bauer Radio
Sister stations Metro Radio 2
Metro Radio 3
Webcast Radioplayer
Website www.metroradio.co.uk

Metro Radio is a local radio station owned and operated by Bauer Radio as part of the City 1 network. It broadcasts to County Durham, Northumberland and Tyne and Wear from studios in Newcastle. The station's output is principally contemporary pop and dance music, alongside talk programming and local news bulletins.

History

Metro Radio logo used from 2004 to 2015.

Launch

The Newcastle based station, broadcasting to North East England, launched on 15 July 1974.[1] The first Breakfast Show was presented by Don Dwyer, an Australian radio presenter formerly at ABC, Len Groat, Giles Squire, Dave Gregory, James Whale, Peter Wraight, Peter Sampson and Harry Rowell were also there from the beginning. The first show also included messages of congratulations from Kenny Everett at the equivalent local commercial station in London, Capital Radio.

Studios

Metro Radio on the Swan House roundabout in Newcastle upon Tyne

The station transmitted from a studio in Swalwell, Gateshead, which, in later years, would be adjacent to the MetroCentre. In 2005 Metro, and sister station Magic 1152 moved to the former BT building, previously known as Swan House, now known as 55° North, next to the Tyne Bridge in Newcastle upon Tyne.

Football commentary

Until 2005 the station broadcast live football commentary for the region's two biggest clubs — Newcastle United and Sunderland. In an attempt to boost ratings, the football commentary was stopped. However, a negative response from football fans prompted the owners to cover all Newcastle and Sunderland games on sister station Magic 1152.

TFM co-location

As of Monday 8 April 2013, all Metro's programming is shared with TFM. However, the Metro branding is retained along with separate news bulletins and advertising.[2] The two stations were able to co-locate without consultation as the Metro Radio licence area is located in one approved broadcast area (North East England).[3]

Programming

News

Metro Radio has broadcast journalists based at their headquarters in Newcastle. News bulletins are produced and broadcast on the hour between 06:00 until 18:00 weekdays and 08:00 until 12:00 weekends. Overnight bulletins are outsourced from Sky News Radio in London.

Production

The majority of programming is presented and produced locally from Metro studios in Newcastle and syndicated with TFM.

Some programming is broadcast from Forth One in Edinburgh and Key 103 in Castlefield. The Vodafone Big Top 40 is syndicated from Global Radio at Leicester Square, London.

Breakfast show

On 14 July 2011, breakfast presenter Tony Horne left the station, prior to his contract ending.[4]

On 25 September 2011, Steve Furnell and Karen Wight were announced as his replacements, and until 23 December 2011 they had presented on rival station Galaxy (which had that year been acquired by the Capital Radio Network and rebranded as Capital North East).[5] Steve & Karen's Breakfast Show broadcast on Metro for the first time on 6 June 2012 after 5 months of being off-air due to a "clause in the contracts issued by their former employers".[6][7][8]

Notable former presenters

The DJ and TV presenter James Whale launched his radio career on Metro, presenting the Nightowls show between 1974 and 1980. Other notable former presenters include:

Awards and nominations

Arqiva Commercial Radio Awards

Year Award Entry Result
2011 RCS Programmer Of The Year Chris Pegg (Programme Director) Nominated
2011 Skillset Newcomer(s) Of The Year Simon Conway (Journalist) Nominated
2011 Newsteam Of The Year Newsteam Nominated
2012 Feature(s) of the Year Raoul Moat: One Year On Nominated
2012 RCS Programmer Of The Year Chris Pegg (Programme Director) Nominated
2013 Breakfast Show of the Year (under 2 Million TSA) Steve & Karen's Breakfast Show Gold
2013 Presenter of the Year (under 2 Million TSA) Steve Furnell & Karen Wight Gold
2013 RCS Programmer Of The Year Chris Pegg (Programme Director) Nominated
2013 Journalist of the Year (Ali Booker Memorial Award) Rebecca Dixon Nominated
2013 Station of the Year (500,000 to 2M TSA) Metro Radio Gold
2014 Presenter of the Year (under 2 Million TSA) Steve Furnell & Karen Wight Nominated
2014 Presenter of the Year (under 2 Million TSA) Stuart Elmore & Kelly Hinch Nominated
2014 RCS Programmer Of The Year Chris Pegg (Programme Director) Nominated
2014 Unsung Hero of the Year Dan Black Nominated
2014 Local Sales Team of The Year Metro Radio & Magic 1152 Nominated
2014 Station of the Year (500,000 to 2M TSA) Metro Radio Nominated

IRN News Awards

Year Award Entry Result
2011 Young Journalist of the Year Simon Conway Nominated
2011 Newsreader of the Year Joel Goldman Nominated
2011 Best Newsteam / Newsroom Newsteam Nominated
2012 'And Finally' The Princess and the Pea......Fritter Runner-up
2013 Newsreader of the Year Simon Conway Runner-up
2013 Reporter of the Year Rebecca Dixon Nominated
2013 'And Finally' Eat For Free Runner-up
2014 Newsreader of the Year under 1M TSA Sophie Calvert Winner

Sony Radio Academy Awards

Year Award Entry Result
2007 Best live event coverage Alan Shearer Testimonial Coverage Gold
2011 Best breaking news coverage Manhunt - The Raoul Moat Story - Metro Radio News Nominated
2011 Best live event coverage Great North Run Coverage Silver
2012 Speech Radio Personality of the Year Alan Robson Nominated
2012 News Journalist of the Year Metro Radio News Team Silver
2013 Best Speech Programme Alan Robson's Nightowls Bronze
2013 Breakfast Show of the Year (under 10 million) Steve and Karen's Breakfast Show Silver
2013 Station of the Year (1 Million plus) Metro Radio Gold
2014 Speech Radio Personality of the Year Alan Robson Silver
2014 Best Coverage of a Live Event Great North Run 2013 Silver
2014 Station of the Year (1 Million plus) Metro Radio Nominated

Metro Radio Arena

Main article: Metro Radio Arena

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 Metro Radio Media UK
  2. ↑ TFM leaves Teesside to share with Metro, RadioToday, 5 April 2013
  3. ↑ Leading MEP to demand action from Ofcom over TFM/Metro merger The Northern Echo, 7 April 2013
  4. ↑ Tony Horne exits Metro Radio breakfast, RadioToday, 14 July 2011
  5. ↑ Capital breakfast team join Metro, Radio Today, 25 September 2011
  6. ↑ New Breakfast Duo For Metro, Bauer Radio, 26 April 2012
  7. ↑ Presenters Steve Furnell and Karen Wight join Metro Radio, The Drum, 6 June 2012
  8. ↑ Steve and Karen start on Metro Radio, Radio Today, 6 June 2012

External links