Smooth Radio 100.4
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| City | Manchester |
|---|---|
| Broadcast area | North West England |
| Branding | Smooth Radio |
| Slogan | Your Relaxing Music Mix |
| Frequency | 100.4 MHz / DAB: 11B Liverpool 12A Lancashire 11C Manchester |
| First air date | 1 September 1994 (as Jazz FM) |
| Format | Adult Contemporary |
| Owner | Communicorp |
| Sister stations |
XS Manchester Heart North West Capital Manchester |
| Website | Smooth North West |
Smooth North West is a regional radio station owned by Communicorp and operated by Global Radio as part of the Smooth Radio network. The station broadcasts to the North West of England from studios at Spinningfields in Manchester.
The station was launched by Radio Investments Ltd on 1 September 1994 as Jazz FM, but was also known as JFM in an attempt to appeal to listeners who could be put off by the use of the word "jazz". Jazz FM originally played a wide variety of jazz, pandering to more smooth jazz during the daytime in order to attract the 25- to 45-year-old target market which was required to make the station a success. However, the focus of the music later changed, and by the early 2000s, it was focusing more on soul and softer R&B alongside jazz.
100.4 Jazz FM broadcast its daytime shows from its Manchester station, but specialist shows such as Dinner Jazz and Legends of Jazz with Ramsey Lewis were networked from its London sister station 102.2 Jazz FM.
In 2003, the Guardian Media Group did extensive research into the type of music that listeners in the north-west wanted to hear. They concluded that many people were dissuaded by the name "jazz", and as a result, 100.4 Jazz FM closed on 13 February 2004 and relaunched as Smooth FM on 1 March 2004.
The station now began to play more modern music during the day, but continued a mostly jazz themed output at night. The arrangements for local and networked programming remained for a time, but from March 2005, only Mike Chadwick's The Saturday Night Experience was networked from 102.2 Smooth FM. All other programming was produced and aired in the North West.
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