Bauer City stations gear up to become Hits Radio | 22/03/2024

Radio stations in the Bauer City 1 / Hits Radio network have started advising listeners in their day-to-day programming that from April they will become Hits Radio for their respective regions.
Whilst their names are going, each station will still act as a part of a network, delivering local news, local ads, and local breakfast shows around common programming.
For some stations it's not such a straightforward change: Pirate FM in Cornwall and Wave 105 on the South Coast will both become Hits Radio on Digital Radio, but their spaces on the FM spectrum will be taken by Greatest Hits Radio, for its deemed 'greater demand'.
The exact date at which the hard change will take place has now been announced as April the 17th. Based on that it's probable that the current stations disappear throughout the previous evening, April the 16th.

[@jamjam-dx]

Bauer have announced the date for these changes as Wednesday, April 17th.

[@DJDeryn]

Scotland will be next

[@MarcBrady-ph6zv]

@@DJDerynScotlands stations aren’t changing. Only those in England. Radio Clyde & Radio Forth etc will remain the same name.

[@davidmclaughlin5599]

It’s already on hits radio bolololol

[@MarcBrady-ph6zv]

@@davidmclaughlin5599 They operate independently though. They are owned by Hits Radio but are not branded as Hits Radio.

[@CJT80]

@@MarcBrady-ph6zvthey are owned by Bauer, Hits Radio is a brand

[@clarkejoseph49]

I’m still sad that Rock FM is gone.
That was my favourite station growing up as a kid.

[@MattyGGamer]

Thank you for sharing. Interesting to hear how all the stations cover the news even if it is the same message on all off them😂. Sad to see these stations be rebranded but makes sense since most of them were already broadcasting hits radio programming.

[@DXingSlovenija]

First buy all the local stations and rebrand them so they are the onlyone left, then leave the band (like they did with AM) and do the same thing all over again on DAB
If people think internet is some magical place where u can have a radio station for free and be rich, am sorry to burst ur buble, but there is so much competition on the internet that even getting noticed is challenging
On FM u start transmitting and people notice u, and if they like u they start listening to u, competition is limited to ur local town or maybe the whole country
On the internet u start broadcasting, u have to pay some big radio database (that people use) to include u, u have to pay for ads so people even know u exist and then u have to compete with all the stations that do the same thing as u all around the world
Our world is becoming a sad place, now even ads cost money (yes streaming companies offer ads in their cheaper offerings (no not for free, u pay to watch them)

[@richchester187]

So far I've not seen any good comments on what bauer have done.
I wonder why. As if we don't all know.

[@a.wilson4380]

Wave 105 in Hampshire has just rebranded to GHR last night and the station is already immediately sounding different. Buaer have in a matter of hours erased history of the original station so fast such as website links and social media connections.

[@markalexander2879]

Its not so much video or Bauer killed the radio star but social media killed it. Advertisers do not pay for local/regional radio any more as advertising is moving from broadcast media to social media.
It is very sad but a sign of the times. Remember ITV did it years ago with their regional channels.

[@rockrollcake]

this has happened in the radio industry (take heart or greatest hits for instance), national brands gobbling up local brands. its sad really

[@weizkule]

why?

[@tompickeringsradioandtvcap287]

Wave 105 rebrands to Greatest Hits Radio

[@QureshiAzan-nk6icII]

All Stations are Rebranding to Hits Radio (Excluding Forth 1 Clyde 1 and other scottish radio stations)

[@DJDeryn]

For now

[@MarcBrady-ph6zv]

@@DJDerynDon’t see Hits Radio binning names like Clyde & Forth which have been around for decades. That would be a stupid move 😂

[@DJDeryn]

@@MarcBrady-ph6zv well they done it for city and Viking

[@MarcBrady-ph6zv]

@@DJDeryn But Radio Clyde is a well-known station not just in Scotland. They won’t rebrand it.

[@DJDeryn]

@@MarcBrady-ph6zv i totally agree

[@jakesgreatadventures]

If you think about it this is pretty dystopian a big brand taking over all of them

[@ArcadeFred]

Seems the stations that are shutting down are just broadcasting hits radio in their final weeks with their own branding

[@radiojinglesandmore]

It’s sad to say that they have been doing that for a few years now

[@Jack-GamesReal1]

Bauer destroying local radio by the dozen

[@TheOne18263]

Killing off radio , killing off FM, killing off true meaning of local and community