Wish FM

Not to be confused with Wish 107.5 (DWNU-FM), a FM radio station in Metro Manila, Philippines.

Radio station in Greater Manchester, England

Wish FM

Final logo used from 2016 till 2020.

* Wigan, Greater Manchester, England

Broadcast area| Wigan and St Helens
Frequency| FM: 102.4 MHz

History

First air date

| 1 April 1997

Last air date

| 31 August 2020
Technical information

Transmitter coordinates

| 53°30′33″N 2°43′11″W﻿ / ﻿53.5092°N 2.7197°W﻿ / 53.5092; -2.7197

Wish FM was an Independent Local Radio station serving Wigan in Greater Manchester and the St Helens area of Merseyside from studios in the Orrell area of Wigan.

Following its sale to Bauer Radio, the station was closed and merged with the Greatest Hits Radio network in September 2020.

## Overview

[edit]

Logo used from 2004 to 2010.

Wish FM broadcast on 102.4 FM from a transmitter, powered by a wind generator, sited on Billinge Hill, St. Helens, Merseyside.

It began broadcasting on 1 April 1997, as the first licence applied for and won by Tony Dewhurst and Jeff Graham of the recently formed Independent Radio Group. The station took its name from the initials WIgan and St Helens.

The station was based in Orrell, Wigan, but in early 2007, the station's owners approached UK media regulator Ofcom to ask permission to move the station's base to Newton-le-Willows, Merseyside, as part of a plan to share a single building with two other stations from the UTV Radio group: Tower FM and Wire FM.

However, after following the sale of Stockport-based Imagine FM, UTV Media (now Wireless Group) decided to keep Wish FM in Orrell, and co-located Wire FM and Tower FM into the Orrell studios.

## Station rebrand

[edit]

On 8 February 2019, Wish FM and the Wireless Group's local radio stations were sold to Bauer Radio. The sale was ratified in March 2020 following an inquiry by the Competition and Markets Authority.[1]

On 27 May 2020, it was announced that Wish FM would join Bauer's Greatest Hits Radio network.[2]

On 13 July 2020, local programming outside weekday breakfast was replaced by networked output from the GHR network, with Wish FM retaining its own branding.[3]

In September 2020, Wish FM merged with six local stations in the North West of England and North Wales, as Greatest Hits Radio North West. The station's local breakfast show was replaced by a regional afternoon show. Localised news bulletins, traffic updates and advertising were retained.[4] The station's Orrell studios were closed.

## References

[edit]

1. ^ https://www.bauermedia.co.uk/newsroom/press-releases/cma-today-clears-the-acquisitions-of-lincs-fm-celador-radio-ukrd-and-wireless-local-stations CMA today clears the acquisitions of Lincs FM, Celador Radio, UKRD and Wireless local stations, Bauer Media, 12 March 2020
2. ^ Most of acquired Bauer stations to become Greatest Hits Radio Stuart Clarkson, Radio Today, 27 May 2020
3. ^ Bauer starts to roll out Hits and Greatest Hits to new radio stations Stuart Clarkson, Radio Today, 9 July 2020
4. ^ Most of acquired Bauer stations to become Greatest Hits Radio Stuart Clarkson, Radio Today, 27 May 2020

* v
* t
* e

News Broadcasting

Radio|

| UK National DAB|

* TalkRadio
* TalkSport
* TalkSport 2
* Times Radio
* Virgin Radio UK
* Virgin Radio 80s Plus
* Virgin Radio Anthems
* Virgin Radio Chilled

|

Northern Ireland DAB/FM|

* U105

Republic of Ireland local FM|

* Dublin's Q102
* Cork's 96FM
* C103
* FM104
* Live 95
* LMFM

Former|

| UK National DAB|

* Virgin Radio Groove

|

Great Britain local AM|

* Pulse 2
* Signal 2
* Swansea Sound
* Valleys Radio

Great Britain local FM|

* The Wave
* Peak FM
* Pulse 1
* Radio Wave 96.5
* Signal 1
* Signal 107
* Tower FM
* Wire FM
* Wish FM
* The Wolf

Other media|

* Sport (UK magazine)
* UTV
* UTV Live
* UTV Internet
* u.tv
* UTV Ireland

See also|

* Havelock House, Belfast
* Radio in the United Kingdom

* v
* t
* e

Radio stations in Greater Manchester, England

AM stations|

| LW|

* BBC Radio 4 198

|

MW|

* BBC Radio 5 Live 909, 693
* Talksport 1089, 1053
* Radio Cavell 1350
* Lyca Radio Greater Manchester 1377, 963

FM stations|

* Gaydio 88.4
* BBC Radio 2 89.3, 89.8
* Legacy FM 90.1
* Heritage Radio 90.6
* BBC Radio 3 91.5, 91.9
* Unity Radio 92.8
* BBC Radio 4 93.7, 94.1
* Salford City Radio 94.4
* BBC Radio Manchester 95.1, 104.6
* Greatest Hits Radio 96.2
* Bolton FM 96.5
* ALL FM 96.9
* Crescent Radio 97.0
* Wythenshawe FM 97.2
* Radio X 97.7
* BBC Radio 1 98.9, 99.3
* Oldham Community Radio 99.7
* Smooth North West 100.4
* Classic FM 101.1
* Capital 102.0
* Greatest Hits Radio 102.4
* Hits Radio Manchester 103.0
* Tameside Radio 103.6
* Greatest Hits Radio 104.9
* Heart 105.4
* Radio X 90s 106.1
* North Manchester FM 106.6
* Greatest Hits Radio 107.4
* Your FM 107.8

DAB|

| CE Manchester (12C)|

* Absolute Classic Rock
* Absolute Radio Country
* BBC Radio Manchester
* Capital Manchester and Lancashire
* Greatest Hits Radio
* Gold
* Heart North West
* Hits Radio Manchester
* Lyca Radio Greater Manchester
* Magic Chilled
* Magic Soul
* Smooth Country
* Smooth North West

|

Manchester small-scale trial (10B)|

* Asian Star Radio
* Care Radio
* Cheesy FM
* Cosoro Radio
* Eirewave
* Gaydio
* Happy Radio
* Heritage Radio
* Hope FM
* LGR
* Love 80s Manchester
* Mom's Spaghetti
* Panacea Soul
* Pie Radio
* Podcast Radio
* R360 Radio
* Radio Africana
* Radio Diamond
* Radio X 90s
* Sami Swoi Radio
* Skylab Radio
* Strawberry Radio
* Sunrise Radio
* Tomorrowland One World Radio
* Ultimate Beats Radio
* Unity Radio
* Voice of Islam

Former|

* Imagine FM
* Kiss 102
* Revolution 96.2
* Sunset 102
* Tower FM
* Wish FM
* XS Manchester

See also
Radio Regen
List of radio stations in the United Kingdom

* * *

Notes
The FM BBC Radio stations are broadcast from two transmitters, Holme Moss and Saddleworth.

* v
* t
* e

Radio stations in Liverpool and surrounding areas of Merseyside, England

AM stations (MW)|

* BBC Radio 5 Live 909, 693
* Talksport 1089, 1053

FM stations|

* BBC Radio 2 89.3, 89.8
* BBC Radio 3 91.5, 91.9
* BBC Radio 4 93.7, 94.1
* BBC Radio Merseyside 95.8
* Hits Radio Liverpool 96.7
* Capital North West & Wales 97.1
* Hits Radio Lancashire 97.4
* BBC Radio 1 98.9, 99.3
* KCC Live 99.8
* Smooth North West 100.4
* Classic FM 101.1
* Greatest Hits Radio 102.4
* Heart North West 105.4
* Greatest Hits Radio 105.9
* Liverpool Community Radio 106.7
* Capital Liverpool 107.6

DAB|

| Bauer Liverpool|

* Absolute Classic Rock
* Absolute Radio Country
* BBC Radio Merseyside
* Capital Liverpool
* Heart North West
* Hits Radio Liverpool
* Hits Radio Pride
* Magic Chilled
* Magic Soul
* Smooth North West

|

MuxCo NE Wales & W Cheshire
(including Wirral)|

* BBC Radio Cymru
* BBC Radio Cymru 2
* BBC Radio Wales
* Capital
* Centreforce
* Dee on DAB
* Dragon Radio
* Easy Radio
* Fun Kids Junior
* Heart
* Hope FM
* In Demand Radio
* Juice Radio
* Liverpool Live
* Love 80s Liverpool
* Nation Radio
* Nation 80s
* Sandgrounder Radio
* Tomorrowland One World Radio
* Zest Liverpool

Former|

* Mersey 106.7
* Radio City Talk
* Wirral Radio
* Wish FM

See also
List of radio stations in the United Kingdom
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