Orion Media
| Company type | Private |
|---|---|
| Industry | Media |
| Founded | 2009 |
| Headquarters | Birmingham, England, UK |
Key people | Phil Riley, Chief Executive David Lloyd, Director of Programming & Marketing Adrian Serle, Commercial Director |
| Website | Orion Media |
Orion Media is a UK commercial radio group run by radio veteran Phil Riley and backed by Lloyds TSB Development Capital. It was created from the enforced sale of several radio stations in the English Midlands owned and operated by Global Radio.
History
Following Global Radio's acquisition of GCap Media in 2007, it was deemed that Global had an unfair advantage in the West Midlands market as they owned the vast majority of stations.
The OFT wanted to re-install competition in the Midlands area, causing Global to sell some of their stations. In May 2009, Riley purchased BRMB, Mercia, Wyvern, Beacon in the West Midlands and Heart 106 in the East Midlands from Global Radio for a total price of £37.5 million, beating off competition from several other interested parties [1] These stations accounted for around three per cent of the total commercial radio audience at the time.
In June 2009, the new group was named Orion Media.[2]
In January 2011, Orion's East Midlands station Heart 106 was rebranded and relaunched as Gem 106, following the end of a franchise agreement with Global Radio allowing the station to use the Heart branding and carry networked programming from London.
In January 2012 Orion Media announced that the four FM stations in the West Midlands region were to be named 'Free Radio' - replacing the individual names BRMB, Mercia, Wyvern, Beacon. [3]
Stations
| Station name | Based in | Broadcast Areas | Frequency & Multiplex | Format | Transmission Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| brmb | Birmingham | Birmingham and West Midlands | 96.4FM, CE Birmingham | Contemporary hit radio | 19 September 1974 |
| beacon | Wolverhampton | Black Country and Shropshire | 97.2, 103.1FM, NOW Wolverhampton | Contemporary hit radio | 12 April 1976 |
| wyvern | Worcester | Herefordshire and Worcestershire | 97.6, 96.7, 102.8FM | Contemporary hit radio | 4 October 1982 |
| mercia | Coventry | Coventry and Warwickshire | 97.0, 102.9FM, NOW Coventry | Contemporary hit radio | 23 May 1980 |
| gem106 | Nottingham | East Midlands | 106.0FM, NOW Nottingham, NOW Leicester, NOW Derbyshire | Hot AC | 23 September 1997 |
| Gold (Midlands) | London/Birmingham | West Midlands | 990, 1017, 1152, 1359AM, CE Birmingham, NOW Wolverhampton, NOW Coventry | Classic Hits | 4 April 1989, 15 January 1989 |
References
- ^ Bauer beaten to the punch in radio deal Timesonline News - Accessed 26 May 2009
- ^ Midlands radio sale cleared Radio Today - Accessed 5 July 2009
- ^ Birmingham's BRMB rebrands to Free Radio Guardian Online - Accessed 09 January 2012