City | Glasgow |
---|---|
Broadcast area | Central and Southern Scotland |
Branding | Scotland's Heart |
Slogan | Turn up the Feel Good! |
Frequency | 100.3 MHz (Glasgow) 101.1 MHz (Edinburgh) / DAB: 11D (Switch Digital Scotland) |
First air date | 16 September 1994 (Scot FM) 8 January 2002 (Real Radio) 6 May 2014 (Heart) |
Format | Adult Contemporary |
Audience share | 5.8% (December 2016, [1]) |
Owner | Global |
Sister stations | Capital Scotland |
Website | Heart Scotland |
Heart Scotland is a regional radio station owned and operated by Global Radio as part of the Heart network. The station relaunched as Heart on Tuesday 6 May 2014, serving Central and Southern Scotland from studios at Ballieston in the east end of Glasgow.
Heart Scotland originally broadcast as Scot FM until 2001, when Guardian Media Group bought the station, leading to a relaunch as Real Radio Scotland. Global Radio acquired GMG Radio on 25 June 2012, but operated Real Radio in a "hold separate" situation known as Real and Smooth Ltd, which ended on 1 April 2014.
In September 1994, Scot FM began broadcasting a regional 24-hour service to Central Scotland from studios in the Leith district of Edinburgh. Originally billed pre-launch as a relatively highbrow and primarily speech-based station, the station went through numerous format changes, financial difficulties and mixed ratings fortunes. In June 2001, the Guardian Media Group acquired Scot FM from previous owners, the Wireless Group, for £25.5 million.
Shortly afterwards, a major overhaul of the station was announced including an on-air rebrand, a move to new studios at Ballieston near Glasgow, a revamped programming line-up and a strengthened round-the-clock news service.Real Radio Scotland began broadcasting at 8am on Tuesday 8 January 2002 with breakfast presenter Robin Galloway introducing the first song to be played, A Star is Born.
Within a year of its launch, the station reached a record weekly audience of 614,000 listeners, and by 2004, further increased its audience to 688,000, placing Real Radio as the most listened to station in Scotland. By 2007, the station's audience share reached a record 31% - but fell by around 10% a year later.
Under the Real Radio brand, the station held various charity events and campaigns since its launch, including a reality challenge called The Real Sleeopver, and the annual Bring £1 to Work Day, both in aid of the Children's Hospice Association Scotland.