Radio Broadland
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| City | Norwich |
|---|---|
| Broadcast area | Norfolk and north Suffolk |
| Slogan | More music variety. |
| Frequency | 102.4 MHz |
| First air date | 1 October 1984 |
| Format | Hot AC |
| Owner | Heart Network, Global Radio |
Heart Norwich (formerly Radio Broadland) was an Independent Local Radio station for Norfolk and North Suffolk, including Norwich, Great Yarmouth and Lowestoft, until early 2009. The station, now part of the national Heart Network, is owned and operated by Global Radio.
On 1 October 1984, a new independent local radio station called "Radio Broadland" was launched by a Norfolk-based group with experience in local business, newspapers and television, but little in radio.
Several people with solid radio experience were brought in to start the station. Russell Stuart arrived from Gwent Broadcasting in Newport as managing director, Mike Stewart from Radio West in Bristol as programme controller and Robb Young moved from Radio Orwell in Ipswich as sales manager.
Stewart put together the first team of presenters. Nick Risby joined from Red Rose Radio in Preston, Tony Gillham came from Chiltern and BBC Bedfordshire, Dave Brown from Radio Tees, Rob Chandler from Radio Orwell and Adrian Finighan from Gwent Radio. Dave Brown became programme controller of the station in the late 1990s, while Rob Chandler remained for 30 years, including more than 25 years as breakfast presenter, until leaving the station in December 2013. Another long server was Chrissie Jackson, who lasted for 27 years including 14 as joint breakfast host, until leaving at the same time as Rob Chandler. Bob Harris presented a weekly show on the station for a time after it launched, while he was living in the area.
For the first two years, Radio Broadland went off air at 10pm until 6am the following morning. The station simulcasted on 97.6FM and 1152AM for three years, but in 1987, due to national changes in local radio frequencies, moved to 102.4FM. Broadland at the end of the 1980s was achieving an audience reach of 50 per cent and average weekly listening of up to 18 hours per listener, some of the best in the UK.
In 1990, Broadland took over Suffolk Group Radio, which owned Radio Orwell in Ipswich and Saxon Radio in Bury St Edmunds and, to reflect the addition of the new stations, the company became East Anglian Radio. The two Suffolk stations were renamed and re-launched as SGR fm in 1992.
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