Gaydio

Gaydio

City	Manchester
Broadcast area	Greater Manchester, Greater London, Sussex, Birmingham, Glasgow, Cambridge
Slogan	The Beat Of Gay UK
Frequency	88.4 MHz, Online, DAB Radio
First air date	14 August 2006
Format	CHR/Pop
Owner	Gaydio Community Interest Company
Website	http://www.gaydio.co.uk

Gaydio is a radio station for the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) community in the United Kingdom, broadcast on 88.4FM in Greater Manchester, on DAB digital radio in Greater London, parts of the Home Counties, the Sussex coast, Birmingham, Glasgow, Cambridge, Portsmouth and online through their website, mobile apps and the UK Radio Player.

Gaydio became the UK's first LGBT FM radio service when it launched full-time on Friday 18 June 2010,^[1] expanding into digital radio when it acquired Gaydar Radio in 2013.^[2] The station's output attracts around 850,000 listeners per month, making it one of the biggest LGB&T media platforms in the UK.

History

Gaydio was conceived by Ian Wallace and Toby Whitehouse initially to accompany the 2006 Manchester Pride festival, providing coverage of the Pride parade, the main stage acts and several events from around the festival site.

A temporary Restricted Service Licence (RSL) was obtained for two weeks, transmitting then on 87.7FM across central Manchester. The first broadcasts came from Princess House, in Manchester's gay village, from the former offices of The Lesbian & Gay Foundation.

Gaydio re-appeared for a second broadcast on World AIDS Day 2006 in a joint broadcast with BBC Radio Manchester, taking over their DAB frequency for most of the afternoon and evening.

A second RSL - this time for 28 days - commenced on 5 February 2007 and ended 4 March 2007.

Gaydio returned for a third RSL on 6 August 2007 (also for four weeks) with Chris & Emma at breakfast and Brian Day back again in the afternoons for an extended show. This period offered a number of new shows, including the Terry Longdon and Rowetta drivetime show. Numerous outside broadcasts included the live broadcast of the Mr Gay UK competition from Blackpool. Some old favourites returned including The A.M.P. (Alternative Music Programme) and The Matinee with James Dean and Madame Aries (Showtunes).

Gaydio's final temporary broadcast and fourth RSL began on 4 August 2008 (another 28-day licence), and featured the return of several shows, including Chris and Emma at breakfast, Kriss Herbert late mornings, and Brian Day in the afternoon. The Terry and Ro show continued, and at the weekend programmes included the Lazy Breakfast with Antony & Laura, Billy Grant and Alice late morning/early afternoon, Pride Live with Toby Whitehouse, Murry Murat and Matt Goddard, and the Matinee with James Dean and Madame Aries.

The group completed an OfCom application for a full term licence ^[3] which was granted on 7 November 2008^[4] when OfCom announced that Gaydio had been awarded a 5-year full-time community service FM licence. This made Gaydio the UK's first licensed, full-time LGBT station. It was allocated the 88.4FM frequency for Greater Manchester (and simulcast online).

The station launched full-time on Friday 18 June 2010 at a few minutes after 6pm, by former Galaxy breakfast host Nicksy. The first song was 'I Gotta Feeling' by the Black Eyed Peas. The Gaydio studios are located at Manchester One, formally the Portland Tower in Manchester city centre, which is also the site of the transmitter.

Relaunch

Gaydio relaunched as a national station on Monday 7 January 2013 following the acquisition of DAB Radio licences previously owned by Gaydar Radio owners QSoft. The station now holds several UK radio licences including the original FM licence in Greater Manchester (88.4FM), a DAB licence for London (11B DRg), a DAB licence for Sussex (11B NOW Sussex Coast).^[5]

The new sound of Gaydio - a mostly upbeat dance format - was accompanied by a new slogan 'The Beat Of Gay UK', and was launched at 7am on Monday 7 January 2013 with the return of the 'Chris and Emma at Breakfast' show broadcast across all three licensed areas and online.^[6]

In September 2015 as part of the 'Small Scale DAB Trials' licensed by Ofcom, Gaydio launches on DAB Digital Radio in 3 other cities, including Cambridge, Birmingham and Glasgow. It also will simulcast the Manchester service on DAB across Manchester.

Split Programming

Due to different licence requirements, Gaydio has to split its programming at various points during the day. Community-based programming for Manchester is broadcast on their FM frequency and online, while the DAB channels carry mainly music programming.

On 18 July 2013 the station announced plans to run an DAB trial in Merseyside, Cheshire and North Wales for 6 weeks (29 July - 8 September 2013) to coincide with the Liverpool Pride festival. This operated on the multiplex operated by MuxCo. The DAB service was a relay of the current FM service, including the North West local programming and advertising. It also conducted a pop up service on the Central Scotland Multiplex (Edinburgh and Glasgow) from 14 July - 31 August 2014 to support Pride Glasgow and The Commonwealth Games

In 2015 Gaydio Manchester announced and launched DAB local broadcasting.

Presenters

Current Presenters

Fierce Angel with Mark Doyle (Thursdays at 10pm)
David Dunne (Friday evening 10pm - midnight)
Tara McDonald with I Like This Beat (Sunday evening 9-10pm)
Kieron Richardson (Sunday afternoon 4-6pm)

External links

Gaydio official site

References

Coordinates: 53°28′41″N 2°14′17″W / 53.4781°N 2.238191°W / 53.4781; -2.238191

Radio stations in Greater Manchester, England

Longwave AM stations	198 (BBC Radio 4) 252 (RTÉ Radio 1)

Medium wave AM stations	909/693 (BBC Radio 5 Live) 1089/1053 (Talksport) 1152 (Key 2) 1215 (Absolute Radio) 1350 (Radio Cavell) 1377 (Asian Sound Radio) 1458 (Gold)

FM stations	88.4 (Gaydio) 89.3/89.8 (BBC Radio 2) 90.1 (Legacy FM) 91.5/91.9 (BBC Radio 3) 92.8 (Unity Radio) 93.7/94.1 (BBC Radio 4) 94.4 (Salford City Radio) 95.1/104.6 (BBC Radio Manchester) 96.2 (96.2 The Revolution) 96.5 (Bolton FM) 96.9 (ALL FM) 97.0 (Crescent Radio) 97.2 (Wythenshawe FM) 97.7 (Radio X) 98.9/99.3 (BBC Radio 1) 99.7 (Oldham Community Radio) 100.4 (Smooth Radio) 101.1 (Classic FM) 102.0 (Capital) 102.4 (Wish FM) 103.0 (Key 103) 103.6 (Tameside Radio) 104.9 (Imagine FM) 105.4 (Heart) 106.1 (XS Manchester) 106.6 (North Manchester FM) 107.4 (Tower FM) 107.8 (Pure Radio). The FM BBC Radio stations are broadcast from two transmitters, Holme Moss and Saddleworth.

DAB	Stations: Absolute Radio Absolute Radio 80s Absolute Radio 90s Asian Sound Radio BBC Radio 1 BBC Radio 2 BBC Radio 3 BBC Radio 4 BBC Radio 4 Extra BBC Radio 5 Live BBC Radio 5 Live Sports Extra BBC Radio 6 Music BBC Asian Network BBC World Service BBC Radio Manchester BFBS Radio Classic FM Capital Capital Xtra Heart North West Heat Radio Key 103 Key 2 Key 3 Kiss LBC Magic UK Planet Rock Premier Christian Radio Radio X Smooth Extra Smooth Radio North West Talksport UCB UK Christian Multiplexes: CE Manchester (local)

United Kingdom radio markets Aberdeen Glasgow London Liverpool Manchester Northern Ireland South West England West Midlands West Yorkshire Worcester See also: List of radio stations in the United Kingdom

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