Metro Radio
 |
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| City | Newcastle |
|---|---|
| Broadcast area |
Tyne and Wear County Durham Northumberland |
| Slogan | All the biggest hits, All day long |
| 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 |
| First air date | 15 July 1974 |
| Format | CHR, news and talk |
| Audience share | 9.3% (December 2016, RAJAR) |
| Owner | Bauer Radio |
| Sister stations |
Metro 2 Radio Metro 3 Radio |
| 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 shared with sister North East station TFM.
The Newcastle-based station, broadcasting to North East England, launched on 15 July 1974. 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.
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.
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.
As of Monday 8 April 2013, all Metro's programming is shared with TFM. However, the Metro branding is retained along with separate advertising. 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).
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