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Mercury 96.6 is an Independent Local Radio station broadcasting to southern Hertfordshire in South East England. In 2005, it was sold by former owners GCap Media to the Adventure Radio Company.
History
The Radio Authority in 1993 13 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 the 22nd October 1994 as a complementary sister station to Chiltern Radio- both stations being available in its target area- Oasis played softer Adult contemporary music than Chiltern's Hot FM format.
In 1996 the GWR Group acquired the Chiltern Radio Network along with Oasis Radio, which relaunched as The New 96.6FM- Classic Hits of the 70s, 80s and 90s. The station took on the same sound as the rest of the 'Mix Network' group of stations, albeit with more 70s tracks. The sound which was described as mostly bland, music-driven, with DJ's not permitted to talk at length was in stark contrast to the previous locally-focused warm, friendly style.
In 1997 the station was sold to Essex Radio plc and relaunched as 96.6 Oasis FM. Adverts were taken out in local newspapers such as the Watford Chronicle and on the backs of buses in the area to inform listeners that they were "back after the break"- a cheeky comment on the previous managements' incarnation, which didn't have a proper name (The New 96.6FM) and which never really captured the listener's imagination. Capital Radio started selling advertising space on behalf of the newly-relaunched station which relocated to the Christopher Place shopping centre in St. Albans.
1999 saw yet another change to the station. The Daily Mail bought Essex Radio plc under its sub-division DMG Radio Ltd. This meant a name change to 96.6 Mercury FM - a name shared by other stations in the company's portfolio, which were:
102.7 Mercury FM- Reigate and Crawley
Mercury FM 96.2- West Kent and North Surrey
Mercury FM 107.9- Medway Towns, Kent
and paired off with flagship station Essex FM. Each station used the slogan of Hotter and Fresher, signifying a shift towards a more contemporary slant in the station's music policy. The semi-network was disbanded after the GWR Group bought DMG Radio in 2002, in effect re-purchasing Mercury 96.6. The Mercury stations in Medway and West Kent were sold to the Kent Messenger media group.
In 2003 Mercury 96.6 moved from St. Albans to an industrial estate on the outskirts of Watford in an attempt to re-focus the station as a Watford-only station. This was due to Radio Authority regulations on local ownership of stations as the GWR Group already purchased nearby Chiltern FM, which has overlapping coverage in St. Albans and Hemel Hempstead. This move was in a bid to hold onto the station before the Radio Authority was replaced by Ofcom and in a bid to compete with rival Capital Radio in London. Mercury FM by then took on the Better Music Mix format that originates from GWR FM (Bristol).
2005 was the year that the St. Albans and Watford Broadcasting Company was sold to Adventure Radio Holdings, an entertainment consortium which are owners of a theme park in Southend-on-Sea, Essex. This is believed to be in preparation for a bid by the theme park owner to operate a new radio licence set to be advertised in the town of Southend in 2006.
Nowadays despite being independently owned, Hertfordshire's Mercury FM still carries network programming provided by GCap, particularly in the evenings. Daytime shows still have the 'Today's Best Mix' format and have recently introduced an hour devoted to Asian/Hip-Hop music for the area's British Asian community.
Slogans
1995 Oasis Radio for South Hertfordshire
1996 The New 96.6FM- "Classic Hits of the 70s 80s and 90s"
1997 96.6 Oasis FM- "Where the Hits Never Dry Up", "The More You Listen, The More You Listen"
1999 96.6 Mercury FM- Hotter and Fresher
2003 Watford's Mercury 96.6- Today's Best Mix
2006 Hertfordshire's Mercury 96.6- Just great songs
Programmes
Music Control- Sally Bailey/Kevin Hughes
Late Night Love- Graham Torrington
Sunday Music Café
References
Radio Authority Pocket Book 1993-2005
Commercial Radio Companies Association Pocket Book 2005-2006
MediaUK.com //www.mediauk.com/radio/149
See also
"Mercury 96.6"