Nation Radio North East
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| File:Sunfm.jpg | |
| Broadcast area | Sunderland |
|---|---|
| Frequency | 103.4 MHz |
| Programming | |
| Format | Contemporary |
| Ownership | |
| Owner | Local Radio Company |
| History | |
First air date | November 5 1990 |
Sun FM is a radio station serving the City of Sunderland and also available in northern parts of County Durham in England. It broadcasts on the frequency 103.4 MHz and plays a mix of contemporary and classic popular music alongside local news and travel.
History
The station, or to be more exact, the station broadcasting on the 103.4 frequency, has undergone a number of changes in its relatively short history, going through 3 owners, 3 names and possessing a history of industrial problems.
Wear FM
The station now known as SUN FM was launched in 1990 as Wear FM (Sunderland Community Radio Association) was led by its then director Brian Lister. Covering Durham and Sunderland, the station faced competition for its licence when it reapplied for it in February of 1994. Competition came from the Wearside Broadcasting Company. Times were not good at the station - tension between management and staff reached boiling point, and this led to a walkout at the North East community station Wear FM in early March of that year, as protests raged about how the station was being run. They felt that, due to their base being at the University of Sunderland, a takeover by the same was imminent. Wear FM ceased transmissions in 1995.
From SUN City 103.4 to SUN FM
Sun City took over when Wear FM ceased broadcasting in 1995. But the bad run of form continued when Sun City 103.4's operator was financially penalised by the Radio Authority for not coming up with elements of their Promise Of Performance, an agreement which formed part of their licence remit. This is a dark and rarely mentioned moment in the history of GWR Group plc. A sale to Border Radio, owners of the Century brand, followed with a new name of Sun City FM. In January 1999 Brian Lister joined what was then Sun FM in Sunderland as Managing Director. Sun FM was wholly owned by Border Radio and later became part of the Capital Radio Group when they acquired Border Radio in April 2000. Granada TV acquired the Border TV business for £50m, with the total deal of £146m to allow Capital Radio to hold on to the radio business. It was Scottish Radio Holdings that proved strong competition in the process, with SRH bidding £141m, but failing with an increased offer from the London based business.
Later, with Capital streamlining their businesses, and focusing on large area based stations, part of their 'Capital Cities' portfolio, Radio Investments Limited purchased Sun FM and its handling company 'Bucks Broadcasting' in March 2001. This sale also included the other group station, MIX 96 in Aylesbury. (Capital, along with sales of its 30% share in Wolverhampton's The Wolf to Forever Broadcasting, netted around £9.5 cash in the deals.) Brian Lister continued his work with RIL and was appointed Group Development Director in July of 2001, responsible for licence applications and development work around the UK. One of the most prominent moments for Sun FM irrespective of its owners, was the sacking of presenter Phil Holmes who allegedly fell asleep during his Breakfast Show. Phil had been carrying out some station business quite late the previous night, hence perhaps a perfectly justifiable reason for falling asleep on the job. Apparently not for the management - Phil did some work away from the radio scene, before reappearing at Metro Radio and Alpha FM in Darlington.
Today
Today, Sun FM plays chart hits and oldies, and provides local news, sport and information on 103.4FM from its Sunderland based studios, reaching southwards through its designated broadcast area to Washington, Ryhope, Houghton-Le-Spring and Murton, and outwards to Newcastle, South Shields, Chester-Le-Street and Durham itself. It operates in the RIL corporate image, of blue, yellow and white.
Presenters
The current list of Sun FM's Presenters can be seen here: Sun FM's Presenters List