West Sound (Ayrshire) was an Independent Local Radio station based in Ayr, Scotland, originally independent, but the licence is now owned and operated by Bauer, laterally it was part of the Scottish Greatest Hits brand of stations. It broadcast to Ayrshire from an AM transmitter close to Symington on 1035Khz and on FM from the Darvel transmitter on 96.7MHz, although it originally launched on 96.2MHz.
| |
|---|---|
| Broadcast area | Ayrshire |
| Frequency | MW: 1035 kHz DAB: 11B |
| Programming | |
| Format | Classic Hits |
| Ownership | |
| Owner | Bauer Media Audio UK |
| West FM Westsound (Dumfries & Galloway) | |
| History | |
First air date | 16 October 1981 |
| Links | |
| Website | Westsound Ayrshire |
The station launched on 16 October 1981 Broadcasting initially from 7am to 8pm. At the start and end of broadcasting each day, a specially composed station theme called Mystic Waters was played.
As of December 2022, the station had a weekly audience of 69,000 listeners according to RAJAR.[1]
The station rebranded from West Sound to Greatest Hits Radio Ayrshire on 3 April 2023.[2][3] On 12 November 2023, it was announced that the station would cease broadcasting on medium wave before the end of the year, but would continue on DAB.[4]
Programming
editMuch of the station's programming was produced from the studios of Clyde 2 in Clydebank, Forth 2 in Edinburgh and Tay 2 in Dundee.
Some output was produced from GHR's Birmingham, London and Manchester studios and broadcast on both networks in Scotland and England.[5]
News
editWestsound Ayrshire broadcast local news bulletins hourly from 6am to 7pm on weekdays and from 7am to 1pm at weekends. Headlines were broadcast on the half hour during weekday breakfast and drivetime shows, alongside sport and traffic bulletins.
National bulletins from Sky News Radio were carried overnight with bespoke networked Scottish bulletins at weekends, produced from Radio Clyde's newsroom in Clydebank.
Presenters
edit- Ewen Cameron
- Cat Harvey
- Stuart Webster
- Andy Crane
- Alex Lester
- Mark Goodier
- Des Paul
- Tony Dibbin
- Paul Gambaccini
- Kate Thornton
- Fred MacAulay
- Simon Mayo
- Arlene Stuart
- Kasra Khaleghi
References
edit- ^ "RAJAR". www.rajar.co.uk. Archived from the original on 25 October 2022. Retrieved 30 March 2023.
- ^ Scott, Hazel (12 January 2023). "West Sound is changing to Greatest Hits Radio Ayrshire from April 2023". West Sound. Bauer Media Audio UK. Archived from the original on 14 January 2023. Retrieved 14 January 2023.
- ^ Martin, Roy (12 January 2023). "Bauer to rebrand seven heritage Scottish stations to Greatest Hits Radio". RadioToday. Archived from the original on 14 January 2023. Retrieved 14 January 2023.
- ^ Bauer to turn off AM services in Scotland, Ireland and Northern Ireland Radio Today, 12 November 2023
- ^ "Public File (Ayrshire)". Planetradio.co.uk. Retrieved 3 April 2023.
External links
edit55°27′23″N 4°37′04″W / 55.4563°N 4.6177°W
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