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for a sale price worth £37.5 million. In early 2012, Orion announced plans to rebrand BRMB, Beacon, Mercia and Wyvern into one station as a means of generating greater revenue. They were renamed as Free on 26 March 2012. Many of these stations had previously operated an AM-based Gold service, all of
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Free 80s rebranded as
Greatest Hits Radio West Midlands, replacing Absolute Radio on 105.2 FM. In Coventry and Warwickshire the station broadcast on 1359 kHz (although this later closed on 30 June 2020), and continues on DAB only in Herefordshire and Worcestershire, forming part of
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Bauer's
Birmingham newsroom broadcasts local news bulletins hourly from 6am to 7pm on weekdays and from 7am to 1pm at weekends. Headlines are broadcast on the half-hour during weekday breakfast and drivetime shows, alongside traffic bulletins. National bulletins from
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strand, an hour-long chat show on Monday and Friday evenings. On 17 May 2016, the network's head of sport, Tom Ross, presented his final programme after 35 years working for BRMB, Xtra AM, Capital Gold and Free.
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network – Orion continued to run the AM stations as part of the Gold network on a franchise agreement, albeit with additional local opt-outs for extra sports coverage, including live football commentaries.
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on 990, 1017 and 1152 kHz and on DAB in
Birmingham, Wolverhampton and Shropshire. The AM transmitters were later closed, 990 and 1017 kHz on 30 April 2020, and 1152 kHz on 30 June 2020.
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Greatest Hits Radio
Birmingham & The West Midlands produces a mix of local and networked programming from Bauer's Birmingham studios.
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As of March 2024, the station broadcasts to a weekly audience of 411,000 listeners, according to
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was formed in 2009, following the purchase of five
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and weekend breakfast shows are networked from the
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Greatest Hits Radio's output originates from the network's
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for an undisclosed fee, reportedly between £40 and £50 million.
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On 24 May 2012, Orion Media announced it would relaunch its
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Greatest Hits Radio - Herefordshire & Worcestershire
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Birmingham & The West Midlands
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Greatest Hits Radio Birmingham & The West Midlands
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studios in the city centre to a smaller facility at 54
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Greatest Hits Radio Birmingham & The West Midlands
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Greatest Hits Radio Birmingham & The West Midlands
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BAUER MEDIA TO LAUNCH THE GREATEST HITS RADIO NETWORK
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651:"Free Radio 80s replaces Gold on AM & DAB"
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1681:Radio stations in the West Midlands (region)
1631:List of radio stations in the United Kingdom
1357:List of radio stations in the United Kingdom
776:Greatest Hits Radio - West Midlands (county)
370:On 7 January 2019, Free 80s was replaced by
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625:"Gold to be Free Radio 80s in West Mids"
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864:GHR Birmingham & The West Midlands
351:stations on AM frequencies and DAB as
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695:Orion Media sold to Bauer for £50m
676:Bauer buys radio group Orion Media
567:from the original on 31 March 2012
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226:, England, owned and operated by
561:"Orion stations morph into Free"
1641:1. Black Country and Shropshire
1370:2. Black Country and Shropshire
653:. Radio Today. 31 August 2012.
752:, RadioToday, 30 November 2015
740:, RadioToday, 23 November 2021
563:. Radio Today. 27 March 2012.
234:network. It broadcasts to the
96:The Good Times Sound Like This
1:
1293:Greatest Hits Radio Midlands
728:Radio Today, 15 November 2018
716:Bauer Media, 15 November 2018
535:"Midlands radio sale cleared"
627:. Radio Today. 24 May 2012.
537:. Radio Today. 2 July 2009.
448:are carried at other times.
240:Greatest Hits Radio Midlands
238:. The station forms part of
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938:GHR Dumfries & Galloway
704:, The Telegraph, 6 May 2016
595:, Free Radio, 4 August 2015
208:Greatest Hits West Midlands
18:Radio station in Birmingham
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948:GHR Glasgow & The West
685:, The Guardian, 6 May 2016
614:, Radio Today, 17 May 2016
586:The new season on Free 80s
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220:Independent Local Radio
1506:Hits Radio Birmingham
1227:Hits Radio Birmingham
1107:Radio stations in the
963:GHR Tayside & Fife
681:5 October 2016 at the
476:West Midlands (county)
435:headquarters in Soho.
1554:Smooth West Midlands
1536:Capital Mid-Counties
1287:Smooth West Midlands
968:GHR North of Scotland
591:17 March 2017 at the
372:Absolute Classic Rock
156:Hits Radio Birmingham
1530:Heart West Midlands
1263:Heart West Midlands
1109:West Midlands Region
1056:Bauer Media Audio UK
700:5 April 2018 at the
610:18 June 2016 at the
397:at the end of 2021.
317:West Bromwich Albion
142:Bauer Media Audio UK
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812:Greatest Hits Radio
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366:Greatest Hits Radio
323:matches, under the
232:Greatest Hits Radio
127:Greatest Hits Radio
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902:North West England
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349:Gold West Midlands
188:Former frequencies
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1440:BBC Radio 4
1282:
1245:BBC Radio 1
1215:BBC Radio 4
1209:BBC Radio 3
1197:BBC Radio 2
1137:BBC Radio 4
933:GHR Ayrshire
892:GHR Teesside
869:GHR Midlands
863:
745:
733:
721:
709:
690:
671:
659:. Retrieved
645:
633:. Retrieved
619:
600:
581:
569:. Retrieved
555:
543:. Retrieved
529:
517:. Retrieved
513:
504:
442:
418:
407:
404:
384:
376:
369:
357:
352:
346:
336:The Goalzone
335:
333:
328:
324:
302:
261:
244:
215:
214:
178:Former names
117:Classic Hits
99:
95:
15:
1661:Bauer Radio
1586:multiplexes
1524:Classic FM
1481:FM stations
1424:AM stations
1307:multiplexes
1257:Classic FM
1241:97.2, 103.1
1235:96.7, 102.8
1190:FM stations
1121:AM stations
661:9 September
635:9 September
545:9 September
519:10 February
452:Frequencies
410:Alex Lester
401:Programming
391:Hagley Road
305:Aston Villa
263:Orion Media
106:Programming
64:107.2 MHz (
1655:Categories
1615:Signal 107
1465:Talksport
1341:Signal 107
1170:1089, 1053
1168:Talksport
1061:Hits Radio
846:GHR London
496:References
421:Manchester
224:Birmingham
75:Birmingham
31:Birmingham
1174:Radio XL
1158:828, 1458
1032:Yorkshire
986:GHR South
425:Liverpool
416:network.
395:Edgbaston
382:network.
283:Heart 106
182:Free 80's
133:Ownership
60:West Mids
51:Frequency
1627:See also
1353:See also
1164:909, 693
925:Scotland
856:Midlands
828:GHR East
698:Archived
679:Archived
655:Archived
629:Archived
608:Archived
589:Archived
571:10 April
565:Archived
539:Archived
480:105.2 FM
466:107.2 FM
325:Goalzone
92:Branding
87:Grt_Hits
1592:Local:
1416:England
1313:Local:
1269:WCR FM
1113:England
510:"RAJAR"
487:: 11C (
253:History
204:Website
194:1359 MW
192:1152 MW
162:History
123:Network
73:: 11C (
1608:Former
1334:Former
838:London
482:&
460:&
287:Global
279:Beacon
275:Wyvern
271:Mercia
218:is an
112:Format
1638:Notes
1574:107.2
1568:106.7
1562:106.2
1556:105.7
1550:104.0
1544:102.2
1538:102.0
1532:100.7
1526:100.1
1364:Notes
1295:107.7
1289:105.7
1283:105.2
1277:102.2
1271:101.8
1265:100.7
1259:100.1
1203:BRMB
1014:Wales
360:Bauer
285:from
247:RAJAR
228:Bauer
199:Links
138:Owner
1520:97.9
1508:96.4
1502:92.7
1496:90.5
1490:88.3
1467:1053
1253:98.7
1247:97.9
1229:96.4
1223:95.6
1217:92.7
1211:90.5
1205:89.1
1199:88.3
1176:1296
663:2012
637:2012
573:2012
547:2012
521:2024
472:only
439:News
423:and
329:Gold
319:and
292:Gold
281:and
267:BRMB
258:Gold
1584:DAB
1461:693
1442:198
1414:in
1305:DAB
1139:198
1111:of
485:DAB
470:DAB
393:in
83:RDS
71:DAB
1657::
1452:MW
1433:LW
1149:MW
1130:LW
512:.
478:–
464:–
315:,
311:,
307:,
277:,
273:,
269:,
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242:.
56:FM
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