For the category of United States television broadcasters, see Superstation

Superstation

Superstation in United States television can have several meanings. In its most precise meaning, a superstation is defined by the Federal Communications Commission as "A television broadcast station, other than a network station, licensed by the FCC that is secondarily transmitted by a satellite...

. For the Orcadian community radio station, see The Superstation Orkney

The Superstation Orkney

The Superstation Orkney, also known as just The Superstation, is a local commercial radio station which broadcasts to some parts of mainland Orkney and Caithness. The station is Orkney's only commercial radio station, and broadcasts 'a broad range of popular and contemporarymusic'...

.

The Superstation (or Radio Radio as it was known in the industry) was set up as an over-night sustaining service for 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:...

. The station broadcast from 10.00pm until 6.00am on many of the UK's commercial

Commerce

While business refers to the value-creating activities of an organization for profit, commerce means the whole system of an economy that constitutes an environment for business. The system includes legal, economic, political, social, cultural, and technological systems that are in operation in any...

 radio

Radio

Radio is the transmission of signals through free space by modulation of electromagnetic waves with frequencies below those of visible light. Electromagnetic radiation travels by means of oscillating electromagnetic fields that pass through the air and the vacuum of space...

 stations.

Brief history

The concept of The Superstation came from David Campbell and Rob Jones who worked for Virgin

Virgin Group

Virgin Group Limited is a British branded venture capital conglomerate organisation founded by business tycoon Richard Branson. The core business areas are travel, entertainment and lifestyle. Virgin Group's date of incorporation is listed as 1989 by Companies House, who class it as a holding...

's radio arm and was backed financially by Richard Branson

Richard Branson

Sir Richard Charles Nicholas Branson is an English business magnate, best known for his Virgin Group of more than 400 companies....

 http://www.usp-group.com/record.jsp?type=teamMember&ID=5.

After the stations in 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...

 (specifically Capital Radio

Capital Radio

Capital London is a London based radio station which launched on 16 October 1973 and is owned by Global Radio. On 3 January 2011 it formed part of the nine station Capital radio network.- Pre-launch :...

) decided not to take the service, The Superstation found it hard to encourage companies to advertise with them http://tv.cream.org/specialassignments/radiocream/argilr.htm. This led to many of the original high profile presenters/celebrities leaving.

Technical

The Superstation would leave a gap for local stations who had sold their own advertising air-time to "opt-out" of the national programme. A name check ident and a gap of around 1 second would be the signal for a tech-op to fire the carts

8-track cartridge

Stereo 8, commonly known as the eight-track cartridge, eight-track tape, or simply eight-track, is a magnetic tape sound recording technology. It was popular in the United States from the mid-1960s through the late 1970s, but was relatively unknown in many European countries...

 containing the local adverts.

The typical duration for one of these ad breaks was either 2.10 or 2.40. So, in order to fill the gap, either four or five 30 second adverts and one 10 second jingle

Jingle

A jingle is a short tune used in advertising and for other commercial uses. The jingle contains one or more hooks and lyrics that explicitly promote the product being advertised, usually through the use of one or more advertising slogans. Ad buyers use jingles in radio and television...

 into the end sweeper would be used.

Each station had a log with the exact duration of each break.

Not all stations had their own ad breaks, so music montages would be played down the line so there was continuous output. A 3-5 second sweeper sound followed the montage and signalled the next part of the programme was about to start http://google.com/search?q=cache:7h_-0eJK9R4J:www.digitalspy.co.uk/forums/showthread.php%3Ft%3D329698+the+superstation+erica+hughes&hl=en&ct=clnk&cd=3&gl=uk.

Jingles

The station had a sung jingle

Jingle

A jingle is a short tune used in advertising and for other commercial uses. The jingle contains one or more hooks and lyrics that explicitly promote the product being advertised, usually through the use of one or more advertising slogans. Ad buyers use jingles in radio and television...

 package produced by Midlands based music producer Muff Murfin, these jingles were originally created for W.T.R.K-"Electric 106"

WISX

WISX is a Hot adult contemporary radio station licensed to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. They are owned by Clear Channel Communications.-Beautiful Music Era: WQAL/WWSH:...

 in the U.S. All of the original presenter line-up had their own name "shouts", the newer presenters generally used their own name ident

Ident

The Ident Protocol, specified in RFC 1413, is an Internet protocol that helps identify the user of a particular TCP connection. One popular daemon program for providing the ident service is identd.-How ident works:...

s. The station also had American

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 voice-over

Voice-over

Voice-over is a production technique where a voice which is not part of the narrative is used in a radio, television production, filmmaking, theatre, or other presentations...

 style "sweepers

Radio sweepers

A radio sweeper is a short, pre-recorded sample used by radio stations as segues between songs that give listeners a brief station identifier or promo, generally 20 seconds or less: "You're listening to the soft sounds of [NAME] radio. Easy listening throughout the Bay area." For example.Dry radio...

" voiced by J.R Nelson who was part of the Z100

Z100

-Internet TV:* Z100.TV, a website serving as an international directory of online TV-channels and associated video media-Radio:* WHTZ, 100.3 in New York City* KKRZ, 100.3 in Portland, Oregon* KZRO, 100.1 in Mount Shasta, California, a.k.a...

 morning crew. Some of the more famous ones went:-

"Hot, H - O - T, The hits of today and the hits of tomorrow!"

"Beaming live from the starship voyager 23 thousand miles above the planet earth

Earth

Earth is the third planet from the Sun, and the densest and fifth-largest of the eight planets in the Solar System. It is also the largest of the Solar System's four terrestrial planets...

, this is The Superstation."

"The biggest, the brightest and the best, this is The Superstation."

Presenters

Ruby Wax Ruby Wax Ruby Wax is a BAFTA nominated American comedian who made a career in the United Kingdom as part of the alternative comedy scene in the 1980s.-Early life:... . Jonathan Ross Jonathan Ross Jonathan Ross may refer to:* Jonathan Ross , English television and radio personality* Jonathan Ross , United States Senator, Justice of the Vermont Supreme Court* Jonathon Ross , former Australian rules footballer... . Johnnie Walker Johnnie Walker (DJ) Johnnie Walker MBE is a popular British veteran radio disc jockey and broadcaster....  (now at BBC Radio 2 BBC Radio 2 BBC Radio 2 is one of the BBC's national radio stations and the most popular station in the United Kingdom. Much of its daytime playlist-based programming is best described as Adult Contemporary or AOR, although the station is also noted for its specialist broadcasting of other musical genres... ). Bob Harris Bob Harris (radio) Robert Brinley Joseph "Bob" Harris, OBE , known as "Whispering" Bob Harris, is British radio host who currently works for BBC Radio 2, presenting music two nights a week...  (now at BBC Radio 2 BBC Radio 2 BBC Radio 2 is one of the BBC's national radio stations and the most popular station in the United Kingdom. Much of its daytime playlist-based programming is best described as Adult Contemporary or AOR, although the station is also noted for its specialist broadcasting of other musical genres... ). Steve Davis Steve Davis Steve Davis, OBE is an English professional snooker player. He has won more professional titles in the sport than any other player, including six World Championships during the 1980s, when he was the world number one for seven years and became the sport's first millionaire... . Chris Evans (now at BBC Radio 2 BBC Radio 2 BBC Radio 2 is one of the BBC's national radio stations and the most popular station in the United Kingdom. Much of its daytime playlist-based programming is best described as Adult Contemporary or AOR, although the station is also noted for its specialist broadcasting of other musical genres... ). Janice Long Janice Long Janice Long is an English radio broadcaster currently working on BBC Radio 2. Her show is on Sunday to Thursday nights from midnight to 02:00. She is the older sister of TV and radio personality Keith Chegwin.-Early career:...  (now at BBC Radio 2 BBC Radio 2 BBC Radio 2 is one of the BBC's national radio stations and the most popular station in the United Kingdom. Much of its daytime playlist-based programming is best described as Adult Contemporary or AOR, although the station is also noted for its specialist broadcasting of other musical genres... ). Nicky Horne Nicky Horne Nicky Horne was a road manager for Emperor Rosko in 1969, before presenting shows on BBC Radio 1, from 1970 - 1973.Horne was one of the original line-up on London's Capital Radio, where he presented shows such as Your Mother Wouldn't like it, Mummy's Weekly & 6 of the Best... . Diana Luke Diana Luke Diana Luke is a Canadian-born radio presenter and hynotherapist who grew up in Toronto, Ontario and works in the UK.-Radio:Luke has worked for many radio stations across the country. Her radio career started on Viking Radio in Kingston-upon-Hull in 1987, where she was their first female presenter....  (now at BBC Radio Leeds BBC Radio Leeds BBC Radio Leeds is the BBC Local Radio service for the English metropolitan county of West Yorkshire.- Frequencies :It broadcasts from its studios at St...  and BBC Radio Sheffield BBC Radio Sheffield BBC Radio Sheffield is the BBC Local Radio service for English metropolitan county of South Yorkshire and North Derbyshire. This includes the city of Sheffield, plus Doncaster, Barnsley, Rotherham, Chesterfield and surrounding areas. It was the BBC local radio station, beginning on 15 November 1967... ). NJ Williams.

Jeff Cooper Peter Grant. Phil Kennedy Phil Kennedy Phil Kennedy is a British broadcaster who currently presents with two BBC Local Radio stations.-Biography:Phil's radio career began on Radio Jackie when it was still a pirate radio station, he then moved to Top Shop's instore radio station on London's Oxford Street... . John Kenning. Chris Pearson Chris Pearson (radio) Chris Pearson was born in Dartford, Kent and is a radio presenter on the worldwide BFBS radio network.His career started with the famous north-sea pirate station Radio Caroline...  (now with BFBS British Forces Broadcasting Service The British Forces Broadcasting Service provides radio and television programmes for HM Forces, and their dependents, in Afghanistan, Bosnia, Brunei, Canada, Cyprus, the Falkland Islands, Germany, Gibraltar, Kosovo, the Middle East, Northern Ireland and Tristan da Cunha as well as a live satellite... ). Gary King (later with Atlantic 252 Atlantic 252 Atlantic 252 was a long wave radio station broadcasting to Ireland and the United Kingdom on 252 kHz from its 1988 purpose built transmission site Clarkstown radio transmitter, which provided service to Atlantic 252 from 1989 until 2002. The station's studios were located just 12 km away in...  and BBC Radio 1 BBC Radio 1 BBC Radio 1 is a British national radio station operated by the British Broadcasting Corporation which also broadcasts internationally, specialising in current popular music and chart hits throughout the day. Radio 1 provides alternative genres after 7:00pm including electronic dance, hip hop, rock... ). Erica Hughes (later with Saga 106.6 FM Saga 106.6 FM Saga 106.6FM was an independent radio station for the East Midlands, broadcasting to Derbyshire, Leicestershire, Lincolnshire, Nottinghamshire and Rutland. Part of the Saga Radio Group, the regional station was broadcast from the Riverside Business Park in Nottingham, close to the old...  in the East Midlands). Deborah Kinch (previously 'Delightful' Deborah in the 1980s Steve Wright Steve Wright Stephen Richard "Steve" Wright is an English radio presenter. He presents the afternoon show on BBC Radio 2. He rose to prominence in the early 1980s while working with Peter Dickson on BBC Radio 1.-Early career:...  Posse on BBC Radio 1 BBC Radio 1 BBC Radio 1 is a British national radio station operated by the British Broadcasting Corporation which also broadcasts internationally, specialising in current popular music and chart hits throughout the day. Radio 1 provides alternative genres after 7:00pm including electronic dance, hip hop, rock... , and later at BBC GLR). Francis Currie.

Miscellaneous

• Although The Superstation was initially based in London, it later came from Key 103
  Key 103
  Key 103 is an Independent Local Radio station broadcasting to the city of Manchester and the north west of England. Its output is principally contemporary pop and dance music. Formerly owned by Trans World Communications, EMAP and now by Bauer Radio, Key 103 is part of Bauer's Place Network of...
  
  's studios in Manchester
  Manchester
  Manchester is a city and metropolitan borough in Greater Manchester, England. According to the Office for National Statistics, the 2010 mid-year population estimate for Manchester was 498,800. Manchester lies within one of the UK's largest metropolitan areas, the metropolitan county of Greater...
  
  .

• Thursday night on Erica Hughes' show was home of 'The Brian Bumble Bee' poetry spot, carrying on the spot initially launched on Red Rose Radio
  Red Rose Radio
  Red Rose Radio is the former name of two radio stations in Lancashire, England. Both are owned by the same company, although they now have different names:* 97.4 Rock FM, "contemporary" format, station has also been named Red Rose Rock FM...
  
  .

External links

• Digitalspy.co.uk - The Superstation being discussed on a forum.
• tv.cream.org - The Superstation Radio Cream listing.
• northwestradio.info - Red Rose Gold & Red Rose Rock FM Programme Schedule showing The Superstation listings.
• community-net.co.uk - Details of Phil Kennedy's involvement.
• community-net.co.uk - Details of Diana Luke's involvement.
• radioairearchive.googlepages.com - Audio of The Superstation via Radio Aire in 1990