Swansea Sound
| 300px | |
| City of license | Swansea |
|---|---|
| Broadcast area | Swansea area |
| Branding | The Heart Of South West Wales |
| Slogan | The Best of Today's Music and Yesterday's Where Great Music Lives |
| Frequency | 1170 MW, DAB Radio & Online |
| First air date | 30 September 1974 |
| Format | Soft AC/Classic hits |
| Audience share | 7.9% (December 2009, [1]) |
| Owner | UTV Radio |
| Sister stations | 96.4 The Wave |
| Website | Swansea Sound |
Swansea Sound (Welsh: Sain Abertawe) is an independent local radio station broadcasting to Swansea and surrounding areas,[1] aimed at a core 40+ demographic. The station, launched in 1974 as the first of its kind in Wales, is owned and operated by UTV Radio alongside its sister station, 96.4 The Wave.[2]
History
Swansea Sound began broadcasting on 30 September 1974 as the first commercial radio station in Wales,[2] and the first commercial radio station to broadcast bilingually in the English and Welsh languages.[3] Originally, the station broadcast on 1170 AM and 95.1 FM before moving its FM frequency to 96.4 in the early 1980s.
In 1995, the station was split into two separate services - a practice that had been widely adopted within the commercial radio industry in order to avoid relinquishing frequencies – with a new station called 96.4 Sound Wave (now 96.4 The Wave) launched on the FM frequency, while Swansea Sound continued to broadcast as normal on 1170 AM.[4][5]
The station can also be heard online and on DAB Digital Radio across Swansea and South West Wales, although its medium wave signal can be heard beyond the official transmission area in North Devon and across the Bristol Channel. The transmitter is located at Winch Wen, on the side of Kilvey Hill and for technical reasons does not use the same mast on the top of Kilvey Hill as its sister station.The DAB service covers a larger transmission area than its AM service.
Programming
The majority of Swansea Sound's output is produced and broadcast from its Gowerton studios (shared with 96.4 The Wave). The nightly late show and a Sunday afternoon show, Flashback 40, originates from sister AM station Signal 2 in Stoke-on-Trent. A syndicated show from Chris Country Radio also airs on Monday evenings.
Alongside music-led daytime programming, Swansea Sound also airs Welsh language output in the evenings including hourly news bulletins, music and talk. Specialist programming includes weekly country music & religious shows and a Sunday morning-phone in. A locally voicetracked show also airs overnight.
The station's presenters include Kev Johns (weekday breakfast), Leighton Jones, Mark Powell and Gareth Wyn Jones.[6]
News and Sport
Swansea Sound broadcasts local news bulletins hourly from 6am to 9pm on weekdays and from 8am to 12pm on weekends. Headlines are broadcast on the half hour during weekday breakfast and drivetime shows.[7] On weekday evenings, bulletins from 7-9pm are presented in Welsh, followed by local headlines in English.
The station also simulcasts hourly Sky News Radio bulletins at all other times.
Swansea Sound also broadcasts live commentary on Swansea City matches, alongside a weekly football phone-in, Swansea Till I Die, on Friday evenings throughout the season.
In 2013, the station also broadcast live commentary of British and Irish Lions test match rugby matches in Australia, as part of a deal with sister station talkSPORT.[8]
References
- ↑ Broadcast Radio MCAs maps
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 The Welsh Academy Encyclopedia of Wales. Cardiff: University of Wales Press 2008.
- ↑ Mercator Media Monographs 1: The Welsh Language in the Media
- ↑ Station Name, Media,
- ↑ Station details - Swansea Sound, Swansea Sound Media
- ↑ Swansea Sound - On Air
- ↑ Swansea Sound public file
- ↑ http://www.swanseasound.co.uk/news/local/swansea-sound-roars-with-the-lions/
External links
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