Mercia FM

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Mercia

Broadcast area	Coventry
Frequency	97.0 MHz, 102.9 MHz
First air date	May 23, 1980
Format	Contemporary
Audience share	7.1% (September 2007, [1])
Owner	Global Radio
Website	www.mercia.co.uk

Mercia is an Independent Local Radio broadcasting from Coventry. There are two frequencies: 97.0 and 102.9. It is part of The One Network.

The 97.0 FM signal is by far the strongest, from the transmitter at Shilton, near the M6/M69 junction, and is for Coventry, and the much weaker signal 102.9FM for Leamington Spa. However, in some parts of the Midlands, the 97.0 signal is blotted out by 96.9 Chiltern FM from Bedfordshire.

It began as Mercia Sound on 23rd May 1980. The station launched at 0700 BST by Gordon Astley and a news bulletin read by Mike Henfield.

The station broadcast on 95.9 FM and 1359 kHz (220 m MW)from studios in Hertford Place, just outside Coventry City Centre.

In 1987, the station moved FM frequencies, along with most ILR stations at the time to 97.0 FM. Shortly after this a new transmitter on 102.9 FM was created to serve South Warwickshire.

In 1989, along with BRMB in Birmingham, the AM frequency was split from the FM transmissions to create a new radio station called Xtra AM which played music from the 60's and 70's.

Former logo

In 1993, the station's owners, Midlands Radio plc, sold the station to GWR, who rebranded it to their "Today's Best Mix" slogan from 1994 onwards. During this period, numerous presenters from other GWR stations joined Mercia, including Craig Strong (Trent fm, Ram fm, Leicester Sound fm) Tim Gough (Trent fm) Rachel Hopper(Ram fm) and Sean Goldsmith (Trent fm) From 2002 onwards, the slogan was "Playing the best mix of the 80's, 90's and today". In 2007, it reverted back to the old slogan of "Today's Best Mix".

However on 13 August 2007, the FM was dropped from the station's name, and it is now known on air as Mercia, playing (Today's Best Mix), but with brand new jingles and a centralised playlist not from Bristol.

Current presenters at the station include Richard Neale and Helen Knott.