# Hits Radio

Hits Radio is a network of 26 contemporary hit radio stations in the United Kingdom, owned and operated by Bauer Media Audio UK. The network launched in 2018 with the rebranding of Bauer's Manchester station Key 103 and its merger with The Hits, and since then various other local stations have been rebranded under the Hits Radio banner.
As of December 2024, the network has a combined reach of 7.1 million weekly listeners according to RAJAR.

## Overview

Hits Radio UK broadcasts on DAB in many parts of the UK and online. 25 localised variants air on FM and DAB across England and Wales.
As of May 2024, there are a total of 25 local radio stations in the network providing local programming, news, traffic and sport, along with networked output from Hits Radio UK.
The FM network of stations was formerly known as the Big City Network, Bauer Place and Bauer City 1. The national DAB station was formerly known as The Hits.
Until 17 April 2024, most of the stations broadcast under their local identities, such as Clyde 1 in Glasgow and Radio City in Liverpool. After this date, only the Scottish stations retained their heritage branding, with English and Welsh stations becoming localised outputs of Hits Radio.

## History
### The Hits Radio

On 19 January 2015, The Hits formed the backbone of a new locally branded Bauer City 3 network of radio stations in Northern England and Scotland. The local City 3 branding was dropped on 31 August 2017, in favour of adding The Hits to all local DAB Multiplexes.

### FM stations networking

Initially known as the Big City Network, and latterly Bauer Place and Bauer City 1, networked programming on Bauer's local FM stations in Northern England and Scotland was initially confined to off-peak night time and weekend timeslots.
In February 2014, the stations adopted a standardised audio identity package, produced by Wisebuddah, while retaining their local station branding. Two networked shows were also introduced across most stations - Old Skool and Anthems and In: Demand - produced from Key 103 in Manchester.
Separate schedules for Northern England and Scotland were introduced in August 2015, followed in July 2017 by two networked mid-morning shows for most of the FM stations, produced from Manchester and Glasgow respectively.
In February 2017, the Free Radio group of stations in the West Midlands began carrying off-peak programming from the Northern England network, replacing most of its own regional output from Birmingham.

### Hits Radio rebrand

On 18 April 2018, station owners Bauer announced Key 103 in Manchester would be rebranded and relaunched as Hits Radio Manchester a CHR-led music station aimed at 25-44 year olds on Monday 4 June 2018.
The station was merged with national DAB station The Hits, which in turn was rebranded itself as Hits Radio UK to provide a single national service across the UK on DAB, Freeview and online.
In Manchester, Hits Radio continues to provide local news & information, traffic bulletins and advertising on its local platforms - 103 FM, DAB and online. The station's programming is networked across 24 local FM stations - all of which opt out at times for local output.
Local weekend programming for most of the English stations was replaced with additional network output in July 2019, followed in September 2019 by the introduction of a networked Drivetime show. The Scottish network of stations introduced a networked Drivetime show at the end of March 2020, except for MFR and Radio Borders.
Gem in the East Midlands joined the network in July 2019 to carry late night and overnight programming from Manchester.

### Expansion of network

Five stations were acquired to join the network, of which four retained heritage branding: Pulse 1 (Bradford), Signal 1 (Stoke-on-Trent), The Wave (Swansea) and Fire Radio (Bournemouth). Pulse, Signal, and The Wave began carrying off-peak programming from the Hits Radio network on 15 June 2020. The fifth, The Breeze (Portsmouth, Southampton and Winchester) rebranded as Hits Radio under a licensing agreement with Nation Broadcasting. On 20 July 2020, Pulse 1, Signal 1 and The Wave officially joined the Hits Radio network.
On 31 August 2020, Radio Aire ceased broadcasting and moved to the sister Greatest Hits Radio network - it merged with twelve other stations to form Greatest Hits Radio Yorkshire.
The same day saw Hits Radio South Coast launch, thereby becoming the second FM station to be known on air as Hits Radio. The station had previously broadcast as The Breeze South Coast and the change is made following the purchase in 2019 of The Breeze network from Celador Radio. Nation Broadcasting replaced Hits Radio South Coast with their own Easy Radio South Coast programming from 19 September 2022, with Bauer providing Hits Radio content thereafter on the South Hampshire DAB multiplex.
In October 2020, it was announced that Hits Radio would launch in Suffolk, taking over the DAB capacity which had been used for Greatest Hits Radio since September (previously Town 102), in tandem with the relaunch of Ipswich 102 as Greatest Hits Radio. The change took place on 3 November, at the point Ipswich 102 (and Radio Plymouth) took the GHR affiliation. As in North Yorkshire, a localised feed of Hits Radio is provided, with the ability to split from the network programming content for localised branding, news material and advertising. Hits Radio Suffolk was withdrawn after 1 October 2022, with the capacity reverting to GHR, as a consequence of the FM frequency (the prior Ipswich 102) transitioning to Nation Radio Suffolk.
In November 2021, Bauer announced the two Free Radio breakfast shows - known as Hits at Breakfast - would be merged into one regional show across all four Free Radio licences. The merger was permitted under OFCOM's local content guidelines, although all four Free Radio licences retain opt-outs for local news, traffic updates and advertising.
In November 2022, it was announced that CFM in Cumbria would follow Radio Aire in transitioning from the Hits Radio network to Greatest Hits Radio, with the change slated to take place as of April 2023; CFM's local weekday show would remain, moved from breakfast to broadcast in an afternoon slot on GHR, with Hits Radio content continuing to be available in the area over DAB - replacing the localised digital-only version of GHR broadcast to Cumbria since the local DAB multiplex began broadcasting in late 2021. Around the same time as announcing the CFM change, Bauer confirmed that two of the relay transmitters of Signal 1 would transfer to carrying GHR from January 2023, with the station's main transmitter area - where GHR broadcasts on AM (formerly Signal 2) - retaining the Hits Network positioning.
In January 2023, Bauer announced that Radio Borders would follow CFM in transitioning from the Hits Radio network to Greatest Hits Radio, in April 2023.
In November 2023, Bauer announced that from January 2024, the two individual breakfast shows on both Radio City and Rock FM would come to an end and would be merged to form a simulcast show on both stations. The new show is presented by Joel Ross and Leanne Campbell and broadcast from Bauer's Liverpool studios at the Hits Radio Tower. The stations continue their separate branding and news bulletins.

### Heritage station rebrand

In January 2024, it was announced that fifteen of Bauer's local radio stations in England and Wales - which form part of the Hits Radio network - would be rebranded as Hits Radio from 17 April 2024. No changes are expected to the network's local, regional and national programming, including local news and traffic bulletins, as a result of the rebrand.
On 8 August 2024, Bauer announced that Kiss would be replaced on FM in London, the Severn Estuary and Norwich by Hits Radio, with Kiss retaining its frequency in Bristol. In September 2024, it was confirmed Hits Radio would launch in Bristol, London, Norwich and Somerset & South Wales on 23 September, and that the 97.2 FM frequency would join the other Kiss frequencies in flipping to Hits. Hits Radio would ultimately be launched at 10.00pm on 22 September 2024 across the West Of England on 97.2 MHz, 101.0 MHz & 106.5 MHz, in London on 100.0 MHz and in Norfolk on 106.1 MHz. The first song that played on the former Kiss frequencies was Pink with Trustfall and Hattie Pearson was the presenter who launched the stations.
On 4 August 2024, Bauer announced that after 27 years of the West FM name, the station would be rebranded to 'Clyde 1 Ayrshire' from 16 September 2024 and share all output with Clyde 1 whilst retaining local news, weather and travel bulletins.
On 25 October 2024, the regional mid-morning show in the West of England ended. Following this, on 1 November 2024, the regional mid-morning show in the South of England ended.
On 6 January 2025, Forth 1’s breakfast show expanded, replacing MFR, Northsound 1 and Tay FM’s separate local breakfast shows.
On 10 January 2025, it was announced Star Radio had been acquired by Bauer. Local output will end, with the station becoming a relay of Hits Radio.
On 31 March 2025, it was announced that Bauer Media UK is launching Hits Radio 90s and Hits Radio 00s on DAB+.

## Stations

* Hits Radio UK car Radio Data System display.
| Hits Radio branded: UK | Studios | Formerly |
| Hits Radio UK | Birmingham, London, Manchester and Newcastle | The Hits |
| Hits Radio branded: England, Wales & Northern Ireland | Studios | Formerly |
| Hits Radio Birmingham | Birmingham | Free Radio Birmingham |
| Hits Radio Black Country & Shropshire | Birmingham | Free Radio Black Country & Shropshire |
| Hits Radio Cambridgeshire | — | Star Radio |
| Hits Radio Cornwall - DAB only | Redruth | Pirate FM |
| Hits Radio Coventry & Warwickshire | Birmingham | Free Radio Coventry & Warwickshire |
| Hits Radio Cumbria - DAB only | — | CFM |
| Hits Radio Dorset | — | Fire Radio |
| Hits Radio East Midlands - DAB only | Nottingham | Gem |
| Hits Radio East Yorkshire & North Lincolnshire | Leeds | Viking FM |
| Hits Radio Herefordshire & Worcestershire | Birmingham | Free Radio Herefordshire & Worcestershire |
| Hits Radio Lancashire | Liverpool/Manchester | Rock FM |
| Hits Radio Lincolnshire - DAB only | Lincoln | Lincs FM |
| Hits Radio Liverpool | Liverpool/Manchester | Radio City |
| Hits Radio London | London | Kiss 100 |
| Hits Radio Manchester | Manchester | Key 103 |
| Hits Radio North East | Newcastle | Metro Radio |
| Hits Radio Norfolk | — | Kiss 105-108 |
| Hits Radio Northern Ireland - DAB only | — | — |
| Hits Radio Oxfordshire | — | Jack 3 & Chill |
| Hits Radio South Wales | Swansea | The Wave |
| Hits Radio South Yorkshire | Sheffield | Hallam FM |
| Hits Radio Staffordshire & Cheshire | Birmingham | Signal 1 |
| Hits Radio Teesside | Newcastle | TFM |
| Hits Radio West of England | — | Kiss 101 Kiss 97.2 Sam FM (Bristol) |
| Hits Radio West Yorkshire | Leeds | Pulse 1 |
| Heritage branded: Scotland | Studios | Formerly |
| Clyde 1 | Clydebank | — |
| Clyde 1 Ayrshire | Clydebank | West FM |
| Forth 1 | Edinburgh | — |
| Northsound 1 | Edinburgh | — |
| MFR | Edinburgh | — |
| Tay FM | Edinburgh | — |

## Spin-off stations
### Hits Radio Pride

On 29 July 2020, Bauer announced a spinoff pop-up station to Hits Radio, Hits Radio Pride, which launched at 8am on 28 August 2020. The new station would be the first time a major radio broadcaster in the United Kingdom has launched a station that was targeted to the LGBTQ+ community. The service is taking capacity on a select number of Bauer owned ensembles including Northern Ireland, Liverpool, Swansea, Bradford, Stoke and London. Bauer acquired additional DAB capacity as part of the deal to buy Wireless Group's local radio portfolio in 2019.
In Liverpool, Hits Radio Pride took capacity previously used by Radio City Talk. In Northern Ireland the service replaced Magic Chilled.
The station is sponsored by Cooperative Bank for an initial run of 6 months. Additional content is produced by Reform Radio, as part of a grant awarded by the Audio Content Fund. Tough Talks’; is an 'intimate conversations between contributors from the LGBTQ+ community reflecting on the struggles that they face within society.'
Hits Radio Pride also works with LGBT+ helpline Switchboard (UK) to promote support services.
The station started online and smart speaker test transmissions on 21 August 2020. It consisted of a looped promo featuring tracks from MNEK, Kylie Minogue, Calvin Harris, Kim Petras, Years & Years and Lady Gaga, along with promo trailers. The multiplex variation request submitted to Ofcom suggested the station would arrive on DAB multiplexes from 26 August 2020.

### Hits Radio Chilled

On Monday 16 September 2024, at 7:00PM (UK) Hits Radio Chilled launched playing “laid back hits and throwbacks”. The first programme was hosted by the Irish singer-songwriter Cian Ducrot with his song ‘All for You‘ being the first song to be played on the station. News jingles had been playing for some weeks before. The station is a rebrand of Magic Chilled.

## Programming

Most of the stations broadcast their own local breakfast shows from 6 to 10 am each weekday - in most cases, these are produced and broadcast from the originating station's studios. However many are grouped together.
Network programming for England and Wales originates from Bauer's London headquarters or studios in Birmingham, Manchester and Newcastle.
In Scotland, it originates from Bauer's studios in Clydebank (near Glasgow) and Edinburgh.
Overnight programming and The Hits UK Chart on a Sunday airs across all Hits Radio stations in England, Wales and Scotland, originating from Bauer's London headquarters.
Until May 2022, CFM, Gem, MFR, Radio Borders and The Wave opted out of networked scheduling, during weekdays, and weekends respectively. This was replaced by networked programming.
As of 23 September 2024, Hits Radio in London, Norfolk and the West of England carry a revised version of the Hits Radio playlist, with some tracks replaced by remixed 'dance' versions; this is likely to fulfil the requirement for 'rhythmic' music on the former Kiss licences. Prior to September 2024 the local Bristol FM/DAB station and digital-only London service had followed the standard Hits playlist, which continues elsewhere.
* England and Wales variations
** Four local licences in the West Midlands region share a regional breakfast show.
** Cumbria, North Yorkshire and Northern Ireland which are DAB-only stations, carry fully networked programming alongside local news and traffic for their broadcast areas.
** Local stations across the East, South and West of England which are FM and DAB stations, carry fully networked programming alongside local news and traffic for their broadcast areas.
** Lancashire and Liverpool share a regional breakfast show.
** North East and Teesside share a regional breakfast show (Steve & Karen's Breakfast Show).
* Scotland variations
** Clyde 1 and Clyde 1 Ayrshire share a regional breakfast show.
** Forth 1, MFR, Northsound 1 and Tay FM share a regional breakfast show.
** Clyde 1 and Clyde 1 Aryshire air Superscoreboard, with live football commentaries at weekends throughout the season, alongside a nightly magazine show on weekday evenings from 6 to 8 pm.
** Clyde 1 and Clyde 1 Aryshire opt out of Hits Party on Saturday evenings to air an extra edition of The GBXperience from 6 to 10 pm.
** The Big Saturday Football Show airs on Saturday afternoons (2pm-6pm) on Forth 1, MFR, Northsound 1 and Tay FM. Whereas, Superscoreboard airs on Clyde 1 and Clyde 1 Aryshire.

## News

Bauer's newsrooms across the UK air local news bulletins hourly from 6 am to 7 pm on weekdays and from 7 am to 1 pm on Saturdays and Sundays.
Headlines are broadcast on the half-hour during weekday breakfast and drivetime shows, alongside traffic bulletins. National bulletins air on Hits Radio UK.
At weekends, bespoke networked bulletins air from 2 pm (until 6 pm on Saturdays and 4 pm on Sundays) - separate bulletins are produced for England & Wales and for Scotland.
At all other times, mainly evening & overnight, hourly national bulletins originate from Sky News Radio in London.

## Notable presenters

* Gemma Atkinson
* James Barr
* Will Best
* Wes Butters
* Sarah-Jane Crawford
* Fleur East=
* Stephanie Hirst
* Joel Ross (Hits Radio Liverpool)
* Jo Russell (Hits Radio East Midlands)
* Sam Thompson
* Owen Warner
* Kimberly Wyatt