102.2 Smooth FM
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| Broadcast area |
Greater London (FM), Nationwide (Freeview 718) , Sky 0128 |
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| Slogan | London's Smooth Favourites |
| Frequency | 102.2 MHz |
| First air date | 7 June 2005 |
| Format | Adult Contemporary |
| Owner | GMG Radio |
102.2 Smooth FM was an Independent Local Radio station for Greater London. It replaced 102.2 Jazz FM on 7 June 2005 at 10 am, with the help of R&B singer Lemar and the then breakfast show host Jon Scragg. The first track played, keeping with the name of the newly launched radio station was Sade Adu's "Smooth Operator", and was owned by the radio division of the Guardian Media Group, GMG Radio. Following disappointing audience figures, the station was closed on 23 March 2007 and relaunched as 102.2 Smooth Radio the following Monday, following a successful format change request to Ofcom to play music oriented at listeners aged 50 and above.
102.2 Smooth FM was available on DAB across London, Central Scotland, the North East of England, South Wales and the Severn Estuary, Yorkshire and the West Midlands, as well as on Freeview channel 718.
In 2005, the Guardian Media Group made the decision to drop the jazz name from the Jazz FM brand and relaunch the station as Smooth FM. The London version of Jazz FM closed on 27 May 2005 to prepare for the launch of Smooth FM on 7 June.
102.2 Smooth FM played middle of the road music, soul and R&B during the day and, as part of its licence requirements, focused on jazz music at night. Smooth FM also played specialist jazz and soul shows at weekends, details of which are listed below.
The station was launched on the premise of a 'clutter-free' listen, offering 40 minutes of non-stop music every hour without commercial interruptions, deliberately posed as a direct challenge to the 'might' of the BBC and a tactic aimed at increasing the total number of hours listeners stayed with the station. The 'Smooth 40' later became the '9-5 Smooth 40', with off-peak shows introducing more commercial breaks into their output, before the concept was dropped altogether in mid-2006.
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