Signal Cheshire
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| City | Stoke-on-Trent |
|---|---|
| Broadcast area | North and Mid Staffordshire & South, East and Central Cheshire |
| Slogan | The Best Music Mix |
| Frequency |
FM: 102.6 MHz DAB: 12D |
| First air date | 5 September 1983 |
| Format | CHR |
| Owner | Wireless Group |
| Sister stations | Signal 2 |
| Website | Signal 1 Website |
Signal 1 is a British Independent Local Radio station broadcasting from studios in Shelton, Stoke-on-Trent to Staffordshire and South, Central and East Cheshire. The station is owned by Wireless Group. Signal 1 is home to Foxy and Jennie - who front the weekday Signal 1 Breakfast programme. It is also home to Chris Bovaird on Mid-Mornings, and Matt Spokes on the Homerun.
This is the current lineup, following the removal of long-standing breakfast hosts Andy Cook and Louise Stones.
The station also broadcasts shows from Signal studios to other radio stations across the Wireless Group network.
The station began as Signal Radio which first broadcast at 6 am, 5 September 1983, with DJ John Evington selecting Neil Diamond's "Beautiful Noise" as its first track. The station initially broadcast on 104.3 MHz and 1170 kHz (a wavelength of 257 metres, with the phrase "2 5 7" becoming a distinctive leitmotif), changing to 102.6 MHz soon after. The station's name is derived from "Signal" the name of the newspaper in Arnold Bennett's local novels.
In 1989, Signal Radio started a six-hour output on the new 96.4 Cheshire frequency. In early 1990, Signal also launched the new Stafford transmitter broadcasting on 96.9 FM. For a time this was a simple pick up relay for Signal Radio, however, in October 1990, a new service called Echo 96 started on the 96.4 and 96.9 frequencies. This operated as an alternative AOR station. In 1991 both KFM and Echo 96 Cheshire were rebranded as Signal Cheshire, broadcasting on 96.4 FM and 104.9 FM. This meant Echo 96 was only running on the 96.9 Stafford transmitter. However, by the end of 1991, Echo 96 had become Signal Stafford which later morphed into an opt out service of Signal 1. In 2000 the 96.4 transmitter also returned to Signal 1 from Imagine FM, previously Signal Cheshire. Nowadays, apart from split ads, all transmitters carry the same programming.
Since the early 1990s, the Stafford area has had a range of split programming on 96.9 and the alternative older targeted Signal 2 service has evolved from what was initially a "Golden Breakfast Show" only, on the original accompanying 1170 AM frequency, from back in 1992.
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