Kiss 101

Kiss 101 is a radio station in Bristol broadcasting out to South Wales and West of England playing Hip Hop, dance music and R&B. It now forms part of a national Kiss station, which also includes Kiss 105-108 (East Anglia) and Kiss 100 (London) and is owned by Bauer Radio.

History

The station originally started broadcasting as a pirate radio station called For The People or FTP, which secured a legal licence to broadcast to the city of Bristol in 1990 on 97.2 MHz FM. However after only a year on air, it was acquired by the Chiltern Radio Group and was renamed Galaxy 97.2. Chiltern's Paul Chantler then became the station's programme director and chief executive.

On 4 September 1994, the group won the UK's first regional licence and Bristol's Galaxy 97.2 became Galaxy 101, broadcasting to an area stretching from Swansea in Wales through Bristol and south into Somerset on 101.0 MHz FM. Since reception quality of the new service was poor in central Bristol, the station was permitted by the Radio Authority to retain its 97.2 transmitter, which beforehand was considered an entirely separate licence.