Ocean FM (UK)
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| Broadcast area | South Hampshire, West Sussex, the Isle of Wight |
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| Frequency | 96.7 MHz & 97.5 MHz and DAB 11C |
| First air date | 12 October 1986 |
| Format | Hot AC |
| Owner | Global Radio |
| Website | www |
Heart Hampshire (formerly Ocean FM and Ocean Sound) was a British independent local radio station serving South Hampshire, West Sussex and the Isle of Wight primarily for Portsmouth, Winchester and Southampton. The station served an area of England with a high proportion of commuters to London and a higher-than-average disposable income from middle-class families and people over 45. Its target age range was 25-45.
Ocean Sound's predecessor, Radio Victory provided the first local commercial radio service in the South of England in 1975, with its small transmission area around Portsmouth. The station was disliked by the then regulator and when it Independent Broadcasting Authority re-advertised the Portsmouth licence to include Southampton and Winchester, Victory lost out to a new consortium called Ocean Sound Ltd. Ocean Sound proposed an expanded coverage area taking in Southampton. Radio Victory ceased operations in June 1986, three months earlier than the expiry date of its franchise, with a test transmission informing listeners of the unprecedented situation. Ocean Sound took over programme provision that October from a new purpose-built broadcast unit in a business park at Segensworth West on the western outskirts of Fareham, Hampshire.
Ocean Sound debuted on 12 October 1986, initially with two services - Ocean Sound (West), covering Southampton, Winchester and much of the Isle of Wight, and Ocean Sound (East) serving Portsmouth and the surrounding area. Ocean Sound (West) used 103.2 MHz FM and 1557 kHz AM. Ocean Sound (East) used 97.5 MHz FM and 1170 kHz AM. The East service underwent a change of frequency from that inherited from Radio Victory (from 95.0 MHz to 97.5 MHz FM). Both services shared breakfast and evening programmes with daytime output and specialist programmes broadcasting uniquely on each service - for instance on Saturday evenings, an Isle of Wight programme with Jean-Paul Hansford would air on Ocean Sound (West)'s FM frequency, while an alternative, Guy Hornsby's Saturday Soul Club would air on Ocean Sound (East) and the AM transmitter of Ocean Sound (West). This was prior to the termination of simulcasting programmes on FM and AM, which would see both services transformed.
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