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 | www |
Orion Media is a UK commercial radio group run by radio veteran Phil Riley and backed by Lloyds 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, successfully trading off the goodwill created by the very popular Gem-am oldies service, 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 its four FM stations in the West Midlands region were to be renamed 'Free Radio' - replacing the individual names BRMB, Mercia, Wyvern and Beacon.[3][4] The rebranding took place at 7pm on Monday 26 March 2012.[5]
On 24 May 2012, Orion Media announced it would relaunch its Gold West Midlands stations on AM frequencies and DAB as Free Radio 80s later in the year.[6] The station, which aired networked programming from London with opt-outs for sports programming, switched to locally produced output playing 1980s music alongside news and information and live football commentaries on Monday 4 September 2012, ending a franchise agreement with Global Radio which allowed the station to carry Gold branding and output.
Stations
| Station name | Based in | Broadcast Areas | Frequency & Multiplex | Format | Transmission Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Free Radio Birmingham | Birmingham | Birmingham | 96.4FM, CE Birmingham | Hot AC | 19 September 1974 |
| Free Radio Coventry & Warwickshire | Birmingham | Coventry and Warwickshire | 97.0, 102.9FM, NOW Coventry | Hot AC | 23 May 1980 |
| Free Radio Herefordshire & Worcestershire | Worcester | Herefordshire and Worcestershire | 97.6, 96.7, 102.8FM | Hot AC | 4 October 1982 |
| Free Radio Shropshire & Black Country | Wolverhampton | Black Country and Shropshire | 97.2, 103.1FM, NOW Wolverhampton | Hot AC | 12 April 1976 |
| gem106 | Nottingham | East Midlands | 106.0FM, NOW Nottingham, NOW Leicester | Adult Contemporary | 23 September 1997 |
| Free Radio 80s | Birmingham | West Midlands | 990, 1017, 1152, 1359AM, CE Birmingham, NOW Wolverhampton, NOW Coventry | 1980s music | 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
- ^ Free Radio Will Launch in Spring 2012 Free Radio web page - Accessed 09 January 2012
- ^ BRMB, Mercia, Beacon, Wyvern to be Free, Radio Today, 9 January 2012
- ^ Gold to be Free Radio 80s in West Mids, Radio Today, 24 May 2012