100-102 Century FM
Encyclopedia : 1 : 10 : 100 : 100-102 Century FM
100-102 Century FM is the name of a radio station now controlled by GCap Media as part of its Century Network. It has a regional license to broadcast to North East England. Its main competitor is Metro Radio and TFM.
It was the first in the Century brand, which follows a 'personality' format, mixing speech and music. The station, housed in Gateshead beside the Tyne Bridge, was originally called Century Radio, not to be confused with the failed Irish station of the same name. The station's frequencies are 96.2 (Fenham, west Newcastle), 96.4 (Newton), 100.7 (Bilsdale) and 101.8 (Burnhope, near Consett). These are the exact same set of transmitters and strength of signal as Century FM's rival, Galaxy 105-106. The Bilsdale and Burnhope signals are more powerful than any BBC local station. DAB is provided by the MXR North East region 12C multiplex, using additional transmitters at Haining (near Houghton-le-Spring) and Shilbottle (near Alnwick).
The station was set up by the then owners Border Television, with John Myers as managing director and John Simons as programme director. Myers presented the breakfast show under the pseudonym of John Morgan. The first song played on air was 'A Star is Born'.
A 'listener's club' was formed, with parties at locations around the region attended by the station's presenters. The Jingling Gate in Stanley, County Durham was the most common location, but other events were held at the Stadium of Light and the Dolphin Centre in Darlington.
Late-night phone-in presenter Mike 'The Mouth' Elliott sometimes caused controversy by walking out during his show. Elliot took an extended break after this controversy, during which time he appeared in the film Billy Elliot as the boxing coach. He returned to the station for a brief spell. Current late-night programmes are hosted by
Ex-Metro Radio presenter Steve Coleman's highly marketed introduction to the breakfast show was very unpopular, and he was sacked after just three weeks in August 1996. It was revealed that audiences had decreased rapidly, and businesses had threatened to pull their advertising. [link]
Jeff Stephenson replaced Myers as Managing Director, and John Caine replaced Simons. Myers, Simons and Stephenson now work for GMG Radio.
The station broadcasts extensively on football, a passion in the north east, and has a particularly close relationship with Newcastle United. Three famous ex-players for local sides, Malcolm Macdonald, who played for Newcastle United, Bernie Slaven, who played for Middlesbrough, and Eric Gates, who played for Sunderland, are employed on the "Three Legends Football Phone-In".
See also
- 105.4 Century FM (North West England)
External links
- [Official website]
- [MediaUK.]
- [Bilsdale transmitter.]
- [Burnhope transmitter.]
- [Fenham transmitter.]
- [Newton transmitter.]
- [DooYoo.]
From Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia. Original article here. Support Wikipedia by contributing or donating.
All text is available under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License See Wikipedia Copyrights for details.