100.7 Heart FM launch package

And so began the first true commercial radio brand, from the edge of Birmingham on 6th September 1994. Heart is coming.

Other stations had shared names, as their franchise areas grew, but as the Radio Authority’s first new regional stations came on air, here was the glimmer of something different. And, contrasting with Century’s 50/50 music :speech ratio and Jazz’s obvious format, Heart was a pure music station competing with the first tier of ILR, enjoying a mainstream adult format, and founded on something other than the area it served. As such, this AC format was an ideal platform for brand spread, and its considered marketing nous, some way ahead of so much of the industry, equipped it well. Indeed, in later times there was a healthy tension between whether the brand was driving the on-air product; or vice versa. Even in its embryonic days, it behaved like a national brand.

This was the first venture for Chrysalis, although the Company had been an industry investor.

Just like so many stations, the Heart music format evolved along the way, moving less soft as the months wore on; then more contemporary; and then back again. 

When Heart in the West Midlands was joined 364 days later by its London sister, Heart 106.2, the foundation for the future was set. In the arms of Chrysalis, and the gifted, canny Huntingford/Riley/Thomson triumvirate, the brand grew to the East Midlands, although its own intentions to grow further were thwarted. It is for others to tell those fascinating stories.

Had those acquisitions been successful, Heart would have covered much of the UK in a text book way. Life, however, is rarely simple. Lacking the scale to win, Chrysalis was itself acquired by Global Radio in 2005. It fell then to Global Radio to assemble the national brands which commercial radio simply had to build if it were to survive in a World of online advertising, inflated transmission costs and a more competitive FM BBC, amidst the longest recession ever.

The success of Heart is now clear to see. A proud, clear brand of stature with nationwide coverage, enjoyed by 9.7m (2019) adult listeners and respected by the hard-to-please London ad agencies. It is a credit to the Radio Authority for licensing the early stations; Chrysalis for launching and building it; and Global for taking the painful yet necessary steps to take it across the Country. And well done too to the team who passed under the Broad Street brickwork to play a part in the early days of this very first - Heart.