Mercury FM

Mercury FM was a radio station in the Surrey and Sussex area of the United Kingdom that was founded on 20 October 1984 and closed on 25 July 2010. The station broadcast on FM 97.5 MHz in Horsham and 102.7 MHz in East Surrey and Crawley and later merged with Heart Sussex to form Heart Sussex and Surrey.

History

Radio Mercury began airing on 20 October 1984, on 103.6 FM and 1521 AM. A year later, the FM frequency changed to 97.5 in Horsham and 102.7 in East Surrey and Crawley. In 1991 the station merged with County Sound Radio in Guildford to form the Allied Radio plc. Mercury then went from playing a broad mix of music to being mainly a Top 40 station, County Sound was later renamed "Extra AM" and then again was shortly renamed to "Mercury Extra AM" to make the connection between the two stations better known. It also became known as The Breeze, until the Classic Gold Network took over the AM licence of 1521 kHz. Mercury was renamed "Mercury FM" after the takeover of the group by GWR, later GCap Media. Before that Mercury lost the County Sound region again, and Eagle Radio took the Surrey 96.4fm transmitter, and County Sound returned to 1476am. The station was incorporated into GCap's "One Network" of stations, until the merger between GCap and Chrysalis Radio, forming Global Radio. As part of this merger, many of the former One Network stations were rebranded and reformatted under the "Heart" network. However it was decided that given the proximity of Mercury's coverage area to the existing Heart 106.2 station, it would retain its identity and be formatted as a "Hit Music" station.

Heart Hertfordshire

Heart Hertfordshire (previously known as Hertfordshire's Mercury 96.6) is a local radio station owned by Adventure Radio and operated by Global Radio as part of the Heart network. It broadcasts to southern Hertfordshire.

In 2005, it was sold by GCap Media to the Adventure Radio Company although it still carries programming from GCap's successors Global Radio as well as having its website maintained by Global. The station was rebranded on Monday 26 July 2010, but as it is not owned outright by Global Radio, it operates as a franchise.

History

The Radio Authority in 1993 advertised thirteen new local radio licences across the UK, one being awarded to the St Albans and Watford Broadcasting Company, a wholly owned subsidiary of the former Chiltern Radio Network. Based in Hatfield Road, St Albans and promising "classic and contemporary hits, sport, local and national news", Oasis Radio went on-air on 22 October 1994 as a complementary sister station to Chiltern Radio (Herts, Beds and Bucks)- both stations being receivable in its target area. Oasis played softer adult contemporary music than "The Hot FM" format from Chiltern.

Mercury FM (disambiguation)

Mercury FM was a radio station in Crawley and Horsham.

For other radio stations formerly named Mercury FM, see: