Nation Radio North East

Technopedia Center

Faculty of Engineering and Computer Science
S1 Informatics S1 Information Systems S1 Information Technology S1 Computer Engineering S1 Electrical Engineering S1 Civil Engineering

faculty of Economics and Business
S1 Management S1 Accountancy

Faculty of Letters and Educational Sciences
S1 English literature S1 English language education S1 Mathematics education S1 Sports Education

Nation Radio North East - Wikipedia

Coordinates: 54°55′06″N 1°25′12″W / 54.91839°N 1.419921°W

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

54°55′06″N 1°25′12″W / 54.91839°N 1.419921°W / 54.91839; -1.419921

Nation Radio North East
Sunderland

Broadcast area	Tyne and Wear, County Durham, Northumberland, Teesside and North Yorkshire
Frequency	FM: 103.2 MHz (Darlington) FM: 102.8 MHz & 106.8 MHz (Durham) FM: 103.4 MHz (Sunderland & Wearside)
Branding	“The Best Variety of Hits”
Programming
Format	Contemporary
Network	Nation Radio
Ownership
Owner	Nation Broadcasting
History
First air date	5 November 1990 (as Wear FM) - 33 years ago
Former names	Wear FM (1990–1995) Sun City FM (1995–1997) Sun FM (1997-2024)
Links
Webcast	Radioplayer
Website	Nation Radio North East

Nation Radio North East is an Independent Local Radio station broadcasting from studios in Sunderland to across the North East region of England which includes Northumberland, Tyne and Wear, County Durham, Teesside and parts of North Yorkshire. It is owned by Nation Broadcasting.

Overview

Nation Radio North East broadcasts on FM, DAB, as well as online. The station plays a mix of contemporary and classic popular music alongside local news and travel.

Audience

As of September 2024, the station broadcasts to a weekly audience of 25,000, according to RAJAR.^[1]

History

Wear FM

The station was launched by the Sunderland Community Radio Station in 1990 and broadcast as Wear FM, based at the University of Sunderland. Wear FM gained international acclaim for its community programming and social inclusion and won the Sony Award for UK Radio Station of the Year in 1992.

Wear FM ceased transmissions in 1995 when it was taken over by the Minster Sound Group, who relaunched the station as Sun City FM. The station's studios in the Forster Building were taken over by the University of Sunderland.

Sun City FM

Sun City took over when Wear FM ceased broadcasting in 1995. Sun City 103.4's operator was financially penalised in that year by the Radio Authority for not fully adhering to elements of their Promise of Performance.

Sun FM

A sale to Border Radio Holdings followed with the new owners rebranding the station as Sun FM. In January 1999, Brian Lister joined as managing director. Sun FM became part of the Capital Radio Group when they acquired Border Radio in April 2000 as part of a three-way deal with Granada TV.

In March 2001, Radio Investments Limited purchased Sun FM and its parent company Bucks Broadcasting. This sale also included the other group station, Mix 96 in Aylesbury. Radio Investments later became known as The Local Radio Company and, in June 2009, was itself acquired by UKRD Group.

In 2018, UKRD Group sold Sun FM to Wales-based radio operator Nation Broadcasting.^[2] In March 2020, Nation Broadcasting bought neighbouring Durham Radio and Alpha Radio, merging the stations into Sun FM to enlarge the broadcast area to include large parts of County Durham.

Nation Radio North East

On 2 April 2024, Nation Broadcasting announced that Sun FM will be rebranded to Nation Radio North East as of 1 May 2024. They will also expand the station onto the local DAB multiplexes across the North East to include Newcastle, Gateshead, Middlesbrough, Bishop Auckland and Darlington.^[3]^[4]

Current programming

As Nation Radio North East, local programming is broadcast from 6am-10am Monday to Friday, presented by Simon Grundy and 3pm-7pm Monday to Friday, presented by Dave Sherwood. The rest of the time it takes networked programming from Nation Radio UK, with opt-outs for news, sport, travel and weather updates.

Transmission

Nation Radio North East's transmission facility is located on farmland at Haining, to the south-west of Sunderland.^[5] It transmits with an ERP of 300 watts.^[6]

References

^ "RAJAR".
^ UKRD sells Sun FM to Nation Broadcasting, Radio Today, 30 April 2018
^ Nation Radio North East launches on 1 May 2024, Nation Radio, 2 April 2024
^ Sun FM to rebrand as Nation Radio North East and expand on DAB, Steve Collins, Radio Today, 2 April 2024
^ mb21 – The Transmission Gallery
^ Sun FM (United Kingdom)

External links

Official website

v t e City of Sunderland, Tyne and Wear
Settlements	Sunderland Washington Houghton-le-Spring Hetton-le-Hole Springwell Village
Education	Academy 360 Argyle House School Biddick Academy Castle View Enterprise Academy Christ's College Farringdon Community Academy Hetton Academy Kepier School Monkwearmouth Academy Oxclose Community Academy Red House Academy St Aidan's Catholic Academy St Anthony's Girls' Catholic Academy St Robert of Newminster Catholic School Sandhill View Academy Southmoor Academy Sunderland College Thornhill Academy University of Sunderland Venerable Bede Church of England Academy Washington Academy
Places of interest	Barnes Park Donnison School City Hall Sunderland Museum and Winter Gardens Stadium of Light Penshaw Monument Herrington Country Park Mowbray Park National Glass Centre Roker Park Sunderland Empire Theatre St Peter's Church, Monkwearmouth Sunderland International Airshow Washington Old Hall Monkwearmouth Station Sunderland Aquatic Centre The Bridges WWT Washington Keel Square Northern Spire Bridge Beacon of Light
Economy	Doxford International Business Park Nissan Motor Manufacturing UK The Bridges Sunniside The Galleries Vaux Site
Local media	Sunderland Echo Sun FM Spark Sunderland Sunderland Global Media
Twinned places	Essen Saint-Nazaire Washington, D.C. Harbin
Sport	Sunderland A.F.C. Sunderland A.F.C. Women

v t e Nation Broadcasting
Radio	Swansea Bay Radio Bridge FM Nation Radio Wales Radio Carmarthenshire Radio Pembrokeshire Nation Radio UK Nation Radio Scotland Dragon Radio Wales Nation Radio North East Easy Radio South Coast Nation Radio South Coast Nation Radio East Yorkshire Nation Radio Suffolk
Former	Radio Ceredigion Scarlet FM Your Radio

v t e Radio stations in North East England
Major stations	BBC Radio Newcastle BBC Radio Tees Capital North East Frisk Radio Greatest Hits Radio North East Greatest Hits Radio Teesside Heart North East Hits Radio North East Greatest Hits Radio Scottish Borders and North Northumberland Smooth North East Nation Radio North East Hits Radio Teesside
Community radio	Nova Radio North East Radio Hartlepool Radio Sunderland for Hospitals Radio Teesdale Spark Sunderland Spice FM Darlo Fans Radio Zetland FM
Student radio	Click Teesside Newcastle Student Radio Purple Radio
Pirate radio	Radio 270
Defunct stations	Alpha Radio Durham FM Great North Radio Minster Northallerton
See also List of radio stations in the United Kingdom

Categories:

Hidden categories: