Severn Sound
Encyclopedia
Heart Gloucestershire is an Independent Local Radio
Independent Local Radio
Independent Local Radio is the collective name given to commercial radio stations in the United Kingdom. The same name is used for Independent Local Radio in Ireland.-Development of ILR:...

 station that broadcasts to Gloucestershire
Gloucestershire
Gloucestershire is a county in South West England. The county comprises part of the Cotswold Hills, part of the flat fertile valley of the River Severn, and the entire Forest of Dean....

, England. The station now has just two programmes a day broadcasting live from Gloucestershire with the majority of its output being the same as most other stations in the Heart network, owned by Global Radio
Global Radio
Global Radio UK Ltd. is a British commercial radio company, the largest in the country following acquisitions of Chrysalis Radio and GCap Media.The company's Chief Executive Officer is Stephen Miron, while the Group Chairman is Charles Allen...

.

The transmitter is at Churchdown Hill, just west of the M5
M5 motorway
The M5 is a motorway in England. It runs from a junction with the M6 at West Bromwich near Birmingham to Exeter in Devon. Heading south-west, the M5 runs east of West Bromwich and west of Birmingham through Sandwell Valley...

; the same transmitter as Radio Gloucestershire
BBC Radio Gloucestershire
BBC Radio Gloucestershire is the BBC Local Radio service for the English county of Gloucestershire, which started on 3 October 1988. It broadcasts from its studios in London Rd, Gloucester on 95 , 95.8 , 104.7 FM, 1413 in the Cotswolds & Forest of Dean AM and over the internet.-Transmitters:The...

.

History

Severn Sound started transmissions on 23 October 1980, from its first studio
Studio
A studio is an artist's or worker's workroom, or the catchall term for an artist and his or her employees who work within that studio. This can be for the purpose of architecture, painting, pottery , sculpture, scrapbooking, photography, graphic design, filmmaking, animation, radio or television...

 at the "Old Talbot Pub
Public house
A public house, informally known as a pub, is a drinking establishment fundamental to the culture of Britain, Ireland, Australia and New Zealand. There are approximately 53,500 public houses in the United Kingdom. This number has been declining every year, so that nearly half of the smaller...

" in Southgate Street, Gloucester
Gloucester
Gloucester is a city, district and county town of Gloucestershire in the South West region of England. Gloucester lies close to the Welsh border, and on the River Severn, approximately north-east of Bristol, and south-southwest of Birmingham....

. The pub had been bought by local businessmen including Clive Lindley (Chairman of the Roadchef motorway service stations and Chairman of Severn Sound). The station's first employee was Chief Engineer Quentin Howard who converted the pub into the radio station.

The original presenters were Alan Roberts
Alan Roberts
Alan Price-Roberts or Alan Roberts is a British radio presenter, producer and actor.- Broadcasting career :Originally from Marlow, Buckinghamshire, Roberts made his radio debut at 19 with a short stint on Radio England as Rob Allen and a couple of programmes on sister station Britain Radio under...

 (Head of Music) on Breakfast, Christopher Musk on mid-mornings, Eddie Vickers (Programme Controller) on the Lunchtime News and Topical programme, Laura de Vere on the Afternoon Show and Steve Ellis on Drivetime.

A variety of local presenters then hosted specialist music shows during the evenings, With Mike Longley's Sunday Gold (now BBC Producer), Roger Tovell on the Late Show. Andy Westgate and Pat Cory joined about a year after the station's launch, as Laura de Vere left the station. Jerry "The Hippo" Hipkiss hosted a Saturday soul
Soul music
Soul music is a music genre originating in the United States combining elements of gospel music and rhythm and blues. According to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, soul is "music that arose out of the black experience in America through the transmutation of gospel and rhythm & blues into a form of...

 show (Now on Gloucester FM
Gloucester FM
Gloucester FM is a community radio station in Gloucestershire. It broadcasts countywide on 96.6 FM & online The stations strapline is 'Serving the Community', Gloucester FM prides itself on being the only local radio station in the City of Gloucester providing Music, News, Information &...

) and Ivanhoe Campbell hosted a reggae
Reggae
Reggae is a music genre first developed in Jamaica in the late 1960s. While sometimes used in a broader sense to refer to most types of Jamaican music, the term reggae more properly denotes a particular music style that originated following on the development of ska and rocksteady.Reggae is based...

 show. Glen Thompsett (now a ITV Meridian News reporter & presenter) started his career at Severn Sound as one of the engineers, later going on to present the Saturday Rock Show, then he worked with Ken Goodwin (ITV West News) on the 'Glen & Ken' Kids show - formerly Dr fosters Medicine show.

The news editor was Geoff Barratt, with Nigel Dean (now at Sky Sports) head of sport and amongst other newsroom staff were Graham Gardner, Peter Cullimore, Judith Dingley & Cornelius Lysaght, all subsequently at the BBC, Ken Goodwin and Mark Dyson, a Lib Dem candidate at the 2010 General Election.

Other past presenters include Tony Wright who was part of the Breakfast show with Lynne Scott between 1997 & 2000. He stayed at the station until 2002 and is currently the mid morning presenter at Red Dragon FM. Also, Russ & Garthy (breakfast presenters 2001–2005), Kate McAllister (previously part of the breakfast trio with Russ & Garthy; left to go to Star 107.5
Star 107.5
Total Star Gloucestershire is a UK radio station based in Cheltenham, Gloucestershire in England....

), Gregg Upwards now on Star 107.5, Andy Beeley who is now on the radio in Canada, Martin Mills, Andy Henly (currentlt at Total Star), Kam Kelly (Red Dragon FM Breakfast), Sally Bailey (Red Dragon FM Breakfast), Shaun Moore, Nick Carter, Toni Macdonald, Neil Vincent, Dean Roberts, Paul Ellery - who pops up every so often to cover shows on Heart, Robert Kenny, Helen Purcell, Paul Seed, Nigel Snow - currently breakfast presenter on Sunshine1530, Julian Watkins, Steve Wilkinson, Adrian Ball who is now presenting the lunchtime show on Sunshine 1530
Sunshine 1530
Sunshine 1530 was a radio station which broadcast to Herefordshire and Worcestershire on 1530 and 954 kHz Medium Wave from studios in Worcester, England.-History:The station started life as Radio Wyvern on both FM and AM in...

 in Worcester.

Steve Ellis, who left the station in the early 1990s for Oxford's Fox FM
Fox FM (United Kingdom)
Heart Oxfordshire was a local radio station broadcasting to Oxfordshire on 102.6 MHz FM from the Oxford transmitting station and 97.4 MHz FM from a relay station at Farthinghoe, near Banbury....

 and then Mix 96 in Aylesbury, died in 1995. Ivanhoe Campbell, another of the original Severn Sound line up, died of cancer in 2003.

The Severn Sound owners were a locally based consortium of businessman with the Managing Director Graham Moon formerly of DJM Records who committed suicide
Suicide
Suicide is the act of intentionally causing one's own death. Suicide is often committed out of despair or attributed to some underlying mental disorder, such as depression, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, alcoholism, or drug abuse...

 just a year after the station launched. He had been asked to resign at a morning board meeting following poor revenue figures. By the afternoon he had been sacked and Eddie Vickers took over as MD. That evening Moon committed suicide on Cleve Common using the exhaust gasses of his company car. Moon was noted for his launch of the radio station which used sophisticated brand marketing techniques in advance of anything seen before in local radio.

One notable Director was the writer Dennis Potter
Dennis Potter
Dennis Christopher George Potter was an English dramatist, best known for The Singing Detective. His widely acclaimed television dramas mixed fantasy and reality, the personal and the social. He was particularly fond of using themes and images from popular culture.-Biography:Dennis Potter was born...

 who played an active role in the station's early years and lived in Ross on Wye. Potter's Pennies from Heaven producer, Kenith Trodd
Kenith Trodd
Kenith Trodd is a British television producer particularly noted for a long association with television playwright Dennis Potter.The son of a crane driver, Trodd was raised in the Christian fundamentalist Plymouth Brethren...

, presented a Sunday programme of 78 records featuring singers such as Al Bowlly
Al Bowlly
Albert Allick Bowlly was a Southern-African singer, songwriter, composer and band leader, who became a popular Jazz crooner during the 1930s in the United Kingdom and later, in the United States of America. He recorded more than 1,000 records between 1927 and 1941...

, which Todd and Potter had used in Pennies from Heaven. Another Director was England rugby player, Mike Burton, who also started Gullivers Travels, a sports travel agency.

In 1983 two of the station's engineers were killed on an outside broadcast. The pneumatic mast of their radio car touched an overhead 11kV power line whilst they were preparing for a live broadcast from Stinchcombe. The inquiry into the accident found Severn Sound guilty of Health and Safety offences and fined the company £2,500. Many new safety procedures for radio cars were introduced across the industry as a result of the accident.

The station was sold to the Chiltern Radio Group after some resistance in 1989 and later taken over by the GWR group in 1995. GCap Media
GCap Media
GCap Media was a British commercial radio company formed from the merger of the Capital Radio Group and GWR Group. The merger was completed in May 2005. It was listed on the London Stock Exchange and was a constituent of the FTSE 250 Index. On 31 March 2008 the company agreed a takeover by...

 was sold to Global Radio
Global Radio
Global Radio UK Ltd. is a British commercial radio company, the largest in the country following acquisitions of Chrysalis Radio and GCap Media.The company's Chief Executive Officer is Stephen Miron, while the Group Chairman is Charles Allen...

 in 2008.

Spilt frequencies

In 1990 Severn Sound spilt frequencies, with its 774 kHz AM frequency being renamed Three Counties Radio, expanding to cover Hereford
Hereford
Hereford is a cathedral city, civil parish and county town of Herefordshire, England. It lies on the River Wye, approximately east of the border with Wales, southwest of Worcester, and northwest of Gloucester...

 & Worcester
Worcester
The City of Worcester, commonly known as Worcester, , is a city and county town of Worcestershire in the West Midlands of England. Worcester is situated some southwest of Birmingham and north of Gloucester, and has an approximate population of 94,000 people. The River Severn runs through the...

. This was an "oldies" station and was a mix of local programmes and networking from Chiltern Radio Network
Chiltern Radio Network
The Chiltern Radio Network was the parent group of several radio stations which operated two radio brands in the UK in the 1990's.-Branding:The two main brands were:...

's Supergold
Supergold
Supergold was a oldies radio sustaining service operated by Chiltern Radio Group in the United Kingdom.-History:The Supergold service was launched at 10am on Sunday 24 June 1990, following requests from the Radio Authority for radio stations to split frequencies into separate AM and FM services or...

service. Presenters who moved from Severn Sound to Three Counties included Tony Peters & Sally Low Hurry. John Hellings was brought in as breakfast presenter. In 1992 Three Counties Radio was rebranded as Severn Sound Supergold (it also stopped being promoted in Hereford & Worcester) and was rebranded again in 1996 by new owners GWR as Severn Sound Classic Gold. Ownership rules meant that GWR had to sell all their Classic Gold licences to UBC Media and another rebrand to Classic Gold 774 followed. Today the heritage name "Severn" is no longer mentioned on 774AM after it was rebranded again in 2007 to Gold, with only 4 hours of local programming on weekdays (12–4pm).

Past AM presenters include Sally Low Hurry, John Hellings, Nigel Snow, Tony Simon, Nicky James, Alan Thompson, Adrian Ball and Pete Simm.

Rebrand

In September 2008, it was announced that Severn Sound would become Heart
Heart Network
Heart is a radio network of 17 adult contemporary independent local radio stations in central & southern England and north Wales. Each station broadcasts local breakfast and drive time shows and simulcasts network programming at all other times...

 Gloucestershire as part of a national rebranding exercise by owners Global Radio
Global Radio
Global Radio UK Ltd. is a British commercial radio company, the largest in the country following acquisitions of Chrysalis Radio and GCap Media.The company's Chief Executive Officer is Stephen Miron, while the Group Chairman is Charles Allen...

, which has seen twenty-nine stations renamed as Heart Radio.

The new Heart Gloucestershire branding was launched at 6am on Monday 23 March 2009 with breakfast and drive time programming broadcast from the Bridge Studios in the Eastgate Shopping Centre (The Mall) in Gloucester
Gloucester
Gloucester is a city, district and county town of Gloucestershire in the South West region of England. Gloucester lies close to the Welsh border, and on the River Severn, approximately north-east of Bristol, and south-southwest of Birmingham....

. The rest of its output (1000 - 1600 MF, 1900 - overnight, and all weekend except 0800-1200 Saturday and Sunday) is shared with the rest of the Heart Network
Heart Network
Heart is a radio network of 17 adult contemporary independent local radio stations in central & southern England and north Wales. Each station broadcasts local breakfast and drive time shows and simulcasts network programming at all other times...

 and is broadcast from London. Local news bulletins on the station are now produced by Heart West Country
Heart West Country
Heart West Country is an Independent Local Radio station broadcasting to Bristol and Somerset. The station began broadcasting on 16 July 2010 as a result of a merger between Heart Bristol , Heart Bath and Heart Somerset .-History:The regional station originally broadcast as three separate stations...

 in Bristol following the closure of its Gloucester newsroom during the summer of 2010.

During the floods of summer 2007, Severn Sound was forced to temporarily move to the GWR FM Bristol studios due to a loss of electricity and running water.

Monday–Friday

Time Main presenter(s)/programme Location
0100 – 0400 All 80s, All Night (automated) Leicester Square
Leicester Square
Leicester Square is a pedestrianised square in the West End of London, England. The Square lies within an area bound by Lisle Street, to the north; Charing Cross Road, to the east; Orange Street, to the south; and Whitcomb Street, to the west...

, London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...

0400 - 0600 Nicola Bonn
0600 – 1000 Warren Moore: Heart Breakfast Gloucester
Gloucester
Gloucester is a city, district and county town of Gloucestershire in the South West region of England. Gloucester lies close to the Welsh border, and on the River Severn, approximately north-east of Bristol, and south-southwest of Birmingham....

1000 – 1300 Toby Anstis
Toby Anstis
Toby Anstis is a radio presenter on Global Radio's Heart Network of stations. He presents his morning show weekdays from 10.00am - 1.00pm across the Heart branded network....

Leicester Square
Leicester Square
Leicester Square is a pedestrianised square in the West End of London, England. The Square lies within an area bound by Lisle Street, to the north; Charing Cross Road, to the east; Orange Street, to the south; and Whitcomb Street, to the west...

, London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...

1300 – 1600 Nick Snaith
1600 – 1900 Niall Foster: Heart Drivetime (Local) Gloucester
Gloucester
Gloucester is a city, district and county town of Gloucestershire in the South West region of England. Gloucester lies close to the Welsh border, and on the River Severn, approximately north-east of Bristol, and south-southwest of Birmingham....

1900 – 2200 Simon Dale Leicester Square
Leicester Square
Leicester Square is a pedestrianised square in the West End of London, England. The Square lies within an area bound by Lisle Street, to the north; Charing Cross Road, to the east; Orange Street, to the south; and Whitcomb Street, to the west...

, London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...

2200 – 0100 Simon Beale
Simon Beale
Simon Beale is a radio presenter on the Heart Network which includes London's Heart 106.2.He presents The Late Show Sundays to Thursdays between 10pm and 1am....


Friday variation

Time Main presenter(s) Location
1900 - 0000 Club Classics with Simon Dale Leicester Square
Leicester Square
Leicester Square is a pedestrianised square in the West End of London, England. The Square lies within an area bound by Lisle Street, to the north; Charing Cross Road, to the east; Orange Street, to the south; and Whitcomb Street, to the west...

, London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...


Saturday

Time Main presenter(s)/programme Location
0000 - 0200 Club Classics (automated) Leicester Square
Leicester Square
Leicester Square is a pedestrianised square in the West End of London, England. The Square lies within an area bound by Lisle Street, to the north; Charing Cross Road, to the east; Orange Street, to the south; and Whitcomb Street, to the west...

, London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...

0200 – 0600 Vanessa Elms
0600 - 0800 Matt Wilkinson
0800 – 1200 Niall Foster: Heart Breakfast (Local) Gloucester
Gloucester
Gloucester is a city, district and county town of Gloucestershire in the South West region of England. Gloucester lies close to the Welsh border, and on the River Severn, approximately north-east of Bristol, and south-southwest of Birmingham....

1200 – 1600 Nick Snaith Leicester Square
Leicester Square
Leicester Square is a pedestrianised square in the West End of London, England. The Square lies within an area bound by Lisle Street, to the north; Charing Cross Road, to the east; Orange Street, to the south; and Whitcomb Street, to the west...

, London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...

1600 – 1900 Emma Bunton
Emma Bunton
Emma Lee Bunton is an English pop singer/songwriter and TV and radio presenter. She was a member of the 1990s girl group, the Spice Girls, in which she was known as Baby Spice as she was the youngest member. In 2010, she joined the judging panel on ITV's Dancing on Ice...

1900 – 0000 Club Classics with Steve Denyer

Sunday

Time Main presenter(s)/programme Location
0000 - 0200 Club Classics (automated) Leicester Square
Leicester Square
Leicester Square is a pedestrianised square in the West End of London, England. The Square lies within an area bound by Lisle Street, to the north; Charing Cross Road, to the east; Orange Street, to the south; and Whitcomb Street, to the west...

, London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...

0200 – 0600 Vanessa Elms
0600 - 0800 Matt Wilkinson
0800 – 1200 Carl Hughes: Heart Breakfast (Local) Gloucester
Gloucester
Gloucester is a city, district and county town of Gloucestershire in the South West region of England. Gloucester lies close to the Welsh border, and on the River Severn, approximately north-east of Bristol, and south-southwest of Birmingham....

1200 – 1600 Jason Donovan
Jason Donovan
Jason Donovan is an Australian actor and singer. He initially achieved fame in the Australian soap opera Neighbours, before beginning a career in music in 1988. In the UK he has sold over 3 million records, and his début album Ten Good Reasons was one of the highest-selling albums of 1989...

Leicester Square
Leicester Square
Leicester Square is a pedestrianised square in the West End of London, England. The Square lies within an area bound by Lisle Street, to the north; Charing Cross Road, to the east; Orange Street, to the south; and Whitcomb Street, to the west...

, London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...

1600 – 1900 Rich Clarke
Richard Clarke (radio personality)
Richard "Rich" Clarke is a British radio presenter and DJ from Worcester, England currently employed by Global Radio as a presenter on Capital FM and The Vodafone Big Top 40.-Student radio:...

 & Kat Shoob
Kat Shoob
Katherine 'Kat' Shoob is a British radio presenter on The Vodafone Big Top 40.Shoob modelled for Maxim in September 2006.Shoob presented The Mint, a phone-in quiz that was shown on ITV1 and ITV2...

: The Vodafone Freebees Big Top 40
1900 – 2200 Chris Skinner
2200 - 0100 Simon Beale
Simon Beale
Simon Beale is a radio presenter on the Heart Network which includes London's Heart 106.2.He presents The Late Show Sundays to Thursdays between 10pm and 1am....


See also

  • Heart Network
    Heart Network
    Heart is a radio network of 17 adult contemporary independent local radio stations in central & southern England and north Wales. Each station broadcasts local breakfast and drive time shows and simulcasts network programming at all other times...

  • Heart West Midlands
    Heart West Midlands
    Heart West Midlands is a radio station based in Birmingham, England, as part of the Heart Network, with a regional license to broadcast to the West Midlands...

  • Heart West Country
  • Heart Wiltshire
  • Global Radio
    Global Radio
    Global Radio UK Ltd. is a British commercial radio company, the largest in the country following acquisitions of Chrysalis Radio and GCap Media.The company's Chief Executive Officer is Stephen Miron, while the Group Chairman is Charles Allen...


External links

The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.  The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.
 
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