Free Radio 80s
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| First air date | 4 September 2012 |
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| Format | Non-stop music from 1980-1989 |
| Owner | Bauer Radio |
| Website | planetradio |
Free Radio 80s is an Independent Local Radio station serving the Birmingham, Coventry, Shropshire and Black Country Herefordshire and Worcestershire areas, broadcasting on medium wave and DAB. The station, owned and operated by Bauer Radio, was launched on Monday 4 September 2012, and plays a selection of chart hits from the 1980s alongside local news and sports coverage.
Orion Media was formed in 2009, following the purchase of five Midlands-based radio stations - namely BRMB, Mercia, Wyvern, Beacon and Heart 106 from Global Radio for a sale price worth £37.5 million. In early 2012, Orion announced plans to rebrand BRMB, Beacon, Mercia and Wyvern into one station as a means of generating greater revenue. They were renamed as Free Radio on 26 March 2012. Many of these stations had previously operated an AM-based Gold service, all of which had been subsumed over time into Global's Gold network - Orion continued to run the AM stations as part of the Gold network on a franchise agreement, albeit with additional local opt-outs for extra sports coverage, including live football commentaries.
On 24 May 2012, Orion Media announced it would relaunch its Gold West Midlands stations on AM frequencies and DAB as Free Radio 80s. Gold was replaced by test transmissions for Free Radio 80s in the final week of August, and was officially launched on 4 September 2012.
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