SGR-FM
Encyclopedia
Heart Ipswich was a radio station that evolved from Suffolk Group Radio
, which was the parent company for two Independent Local Radio
stations serving the county of Suffolk
in England. The older of the radio stations was Radio Orwell, which began transmissions in Ipswich
on 28 October 1975 on 257m MW. It was one of the original group of ILR stations set up by the Independent Broadcasting Authority
following a (slight) relaxation of the rules governing broadcasting in Britain. Other stations that were included in the original 15 or so were LBC
, Capital Radio
and BRMB
.
In 1984-85, the stations experimented with a drive-time news and current affairs programme ("The Home Run") which had presenters in both studios - Allan Lee in Ipswich and Adrienne Rosen in Bury. This proved too expensive to continue for long, and the programme was cut back to one presenter in the Ipswich studio.
Ipswich Town FC was sponsored by Radio Orwell and had the station's logo on the front of the team's shirts in the mid-1980s.
In 1990, the stations were taken over by the successful Norwich-based Radio Broadland
to form the East Anglian Radio
group, run by the Broadland management team. EAR re-launched Orwell and Saxon as one station under the SGR fm banner in 1992 and also won the licence to start SGR Colchester
in Essex. The group launched a new service called Amber Radio
, with studios in Ipswich and Norwich, on the AM transmitters previously used to simulcast the SGR stations; these later became Classic Gold and then Gold. In 1996, EAR was bought by the GWR Group network, which continued to run the stations for about 10 years until it was taken over by Global Radio.
Suffolk Group Radio
Suffolk Group Radio was the parent company for two Independent Local Radio stations serving the county of Suffolk in England.-The Stations:Radio Orwell began transmissions in Ipswich on 28 October 1975. It was one of the original group of ILR stations set up by the Independent Broadcasting...
, which was the parent company for two 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:...
stations serving the county of Suffolk
Suffolk
Suffolk is a non-metropolitan county of historic origin in East Anglia, England. It has borders with Norfolk to the north, Cambridgeshire to the west and Essex to the south. The North Sea lies to the east...
in England. The older of the radio stations was Radio Orwell, which began transmissions in Ipswich
Ipswich
Ipswich is a large town and a non-metropolitan district. It is the county town of Suffolk, England. Ipswich is located on the estuary of the River Orwell...
on 28 October 1975 on 257m MW. It was one of the original group of ILR stations set up by the Independent Broadcasting Authority
Independent Broadcasting Authority
The Independent Broadcasting Authority was the regulatory body in the United Kingdom for commercial television - and commercial/independent radio broadcasts...
following a (slight) relaxation of the rules governing broadcasting in Britain. Other stations that were included in the original 15 or so were LBC
LBC
LBC Radio operates two London-based radio stations, with news and talk formats. LBC was Britain's first legal commercial Independent Local Radio station, providing a service of news and information to London. It began broadcasting on 8 October 1973, a week ahead of Capital Radio...
, 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 :...
and BRMB
Brmb
brmb is a local radio station based in Birmingham, UK, owned and operated by Orion Media. The station broadcasts on 96.4 FM, DAB Digital Radio in the West Midlands and online...
.
Overview
The western side of Suffolk got its own radio station in the form of Saxon Radio on 240m MW, which began broadcasting in Bury St Edmunds in November 1982. The two stations operated separate breakfast shows, and then programmes were networked from either site to both transmitters. Most of the programmes came from Ipswich, and a few came from Bury St Edmunds.In 1984-85, the stations experimented with a drive-time news and current affairs programme ("The Home Run") which had presenters in both studios - Allan Lee in Ipswich and Adrienne Rosen in Bury. This proved too expensive to continue for long, and the programme was cut back to one presenter in the Ipswich studio.
Ipswich Town FC was sponsored by Radio Orwell and had the station's logo on the front of the team's shirts in the mid-1980s.
Radio Broadland
Heart Norwich was an Independent Local Radio station for Norfolk and North Suffolk, including Norwich, Great Yarmouth and Lowestoft, until early 2009...
to form the East Anglian Radio
East Anglian Radio
East Anglian Radio was a company based in Norwich that operated radio stations in the Norfolk, Suffolk and Essex counties of the UK.The stations they owned were:...
group, run by the Broadland management team. EAR re-launched Orwell and Saxon as one station under the SGR fm banner in 1992 and also won the licence to start SGR Colchester
SGR Colchester
Heart Colchester was a radio station broadcasting to Colchester and the surrounding areas. The station was launched in 1993 by the East Anglian Radio group, which also operated the Ipswich-based SGR fm, Radio Broadland in Norwich, and Amber Radio across Suffolk and Norfolk.-History:The station,...
in Essex. The group launched a new service called Amber Radio
Amber Radio
Amber Radio was a golden oldies radio station operating from Norwich, part of East Anglia in the United Kingdom.It was the AM sister station of SGR and Radio Broadland and served Norfolk and north Suffolk and Ipswich and Bury St Edmunds.-History:...
, with studios in Ipswich and Norwich, on the AM transmitters previously used to simulcast the SGR stations; these later became Classic Gold and then Gold. In 1996, EAR was bought by the GWR Group network, which continued to run the stations for about 10 years until it was taken over by Global Radio.
Heart rebrand
On 5 January 2009, SGR FM was rebranded as Heart, as part of a major rebrand involving twenty nine One Network stations. By that time, local programming was restricted to daily breakfast and weekday afternoon & drivetime shows with all other output networked from London. As part of the rebrand, the station pulled out of a contract to broadcast live commentary on Ipswich Town FC games after just one season.Network restructuring
On 21 June 2010, Global Radio announced plans to close Heart Ipswich and merge the station with Heart Norwich as part of plans to reduce the Heart network of stations from 33 to 16. The new station, Heart East Anglia, began broadcasting from Norwich on 3 September 2010Past presenters
- Andy Archer (recently at BBC Radio NorfolkBBC Radio NorfolkBBC Radio Norfolk is the BBC Local Radio service for the English county of Norfolk, broadcasting since 11 September 1980. It broadcasts from the studios of BBC East in The Forum, Norwich on 95.1 FM , 104.4 FM , 95.6 FM , 855 kHz AM/MW , 873 kHz AM/MW BBC Radio Norfolk is the BBC Local...
) - Nigel Rennie (now at BFBS)
- Tim Ewart (now at ITN)
- Melvyn Prior (now at BBC Radio LincolnshireBBC Radio LincolnshireBBC Lincolnshire is the BBC Local Radio service for the English county of Lincolnshire — apart from the northern parts, which are covered by BBC Radio Humberside...
) - Rachel Sloane (now at BBC Radio SuffolkBBC Radio SuffolkBBC Radio Suffolk is the BBC Local Radio service for the English county of Suffolk, commencing broadcasts on 12 April 1990. Its studios are at Broadcasting House in St Matthews Street, Ipswich on 95.5 , 95.9 , 103.9 and 104.6 FM...
) - Nick Risby (now at BBC EastBBC EastBBC East is the BBC English Region serving Norfolk, Suffolk, north Essex, Cambridgeshire, northern and central Hertfordshire, most of Northamptonshire, Bedfordshire, and parts of Buckinghamshire.-Television:...
) - James Hazell (now at BBC Radio SuffolkBBC Radio SuffolkBBC Radio Suffolk is the BBC Local Radio service for the English county of Suffolk, commencing broadcasts on 12 April 1990. Its studios are at Broadcasting House in St Matthews Street, Ipswich on 95.5 , 95.9 , 103.9 and 104.6 FM...
) - Mark Matthews (now at BBC Radio SuffolkBBC Radio SuffolkBBC Radio Suffolk is the BBC Local Radio service for the English county of Suffolk, commencing broadcasts on 12 April 1990. Its studios are at Broadcasting House in St Matthews Street, Ipswich on 95.5 , 95.9 , 103.9 and 104.6 FM...
) - Allan Lee (now at Newstalk ZBNewstalk ZBNewstalk ZB is a nationwide New Zealand talk radio network operated by The Radio Network of New Zealand . It is available in almost every radio market in the country, and has news reporters based in many of them...
, Auckland) - Tim Gough (now Programme Controller for 106.6 Smooth Radio106.6 Smooth Radio106.6 Smooth Radio was an Independent Local Radio station for the East Midlands, which replaced Saga 106.6 FM at 6am on Monday 26 March 2007. In turn it replaced itself by the national Smooth Radio service which was launched on 4 October 2010...
) - Peter Slater (now at BBC Radio Five LiveBBC Radio Five LiveBBC Radio 5 Live is the BBC's national radio service that specialises in live BBC News, phone-ins, and sports commentaries...
)
- Mark Pryke (formerly Managing Director of KL-FMKL.FM 96.7KLFM 96.7 is an independent local radio station located in King's Lynn, Norfolk, England. Its name is an abbreviation of King's Lynn FM, followed by its broadcasting frequency, 96.7....
King's Lynn & presenter at Town 102Town 102Town 102 is a radio station serving Ipswich, owned by Tindle Radio plc.The station's slogan is "Just Great Songs for Ipswich", although the playlist is identical to sister station Dream 100. It features competitions and also provides local news and information for the Ipswich area. Current...
) - Kevin Stewart
- Mike Button (now managing director of the Lincs FMLincs FMLincs FM is an Independent Local Radio station serving Lincolnshire and Newark, from the Humber to The Wash. It is the current holder of the licence which was advertised by the Radio Authority on 4 March 1991.-Background:...
Group) - Rob Chandler (now at Heart FM in Norwich and BBC Radio SuffolkBBC Radio SuffolkBBC Radio Suffolk is the BBC Local Radio service for the English county of Suffolk, commencing broadcasts on 12 April 1990. Its studios are at Broadcasting House in St Matthews Street, Ipswich on 95.5 , 95.9 , 103.9 and 104.6 FM...
) - Craig Ranson (now at UTV RadioUTV RadioUTV Radio is a UK media company, and owner of several radio stations in the United Kingdom and Republic of Ireland. It is a growing branch of UTV Media....
, 107.2 Wire FM) - Graham Bannerman (now at BBC EssexBBC EssexBBC Essex is the BBC Local Radio service for the English county of Essex. It broadcasts from its studios on New London Road in Chelmsford on 103.5 and 95.3 FM, and on 729 , 765 , and 1530 AM. It is also available on DAB and live streaming via the internet.-History:BBC Essex launched on 5...
, previously ITV1ITV1ITV1 is a generic brand that is used by twelve franchises of the British ITV Network in the English regions, Wales, southern Scotland , the Isle of Man and the Bailiwicks of Jersey and Guernsey. The ITV1 brand was introduced by Carlton and Granada in 2001, alongside the regional identities of their...
chief announcer) - Pete Barraclough (now at Sky SportsSky SportsSky Sports is the brand name for a group of sports-oriented television channels operated by the UK and Ireland's main satellite pay-TV company, British Sky Broadcasting. Sky Sports is the dominant subscription television sports brand in the United Kingdom and Ireland...
) - Peter Robinson
- Nick Coady (now a voice-over artist on CNNCNNCable News Network is a U.S. cable news channel founded in 1980 by Ted Turner. Upon its launch, CNN was the first channel to provide 24-hour television news coverage, and the first all-news television channel in the United States...
, the BBCBBCThe British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
and ILR) - Jonathan Gold (now at Heart North West & Wales)
- Paul Franklyn (Frankie) (now a personal trainer and sports coach)
- Tracy Lawrence (now an account director at a London creative agency)
- Matt Foister
- Sarah Lilley
- Paul Morris (now at TOWN 102 FM)
- Nick Pandolfi
- Natasha Sims
- Pamela Kelly (Now an IT professional in Texas)