Key 103
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| 200px | |
| City of license | Manchester |
|---|---|
| Broadcast area | Greater Manchester |
| Slogan | Your Music, Your Life |
| Frequency | FM: 103.0 MHz DAB: 11C |
| First air date | 2 April 1974 (as Piccadilly Radio) 3 September 1988 (as Key 103) |
| Format | CHR/Pop |
| Audience share | 6.4% (June 2014, RAJAR) |
| Owner | Bauer Radio |
| Sister stations | Key 2 Key 3 |
| Webcast | Radioplayer |
| Website | www.key103.co.uk |
Key 103 is a local radio station owned and operated by Bauer Radio as part of the City 1 network. It broadcasts to Manchester from studios in Castlefield.
Overview
Originally named Piccadilly Radio, from its set up in 1974, the station was renamed in August 1988 when it was decided to re-brand Piccadilly Radio's FM frequency to the new name Key 103, with a younger target audience in mind.[citation needed] The original Piccadilly Radio, now known as Key 2 continued to broadcast on the AM frequency of 1152 kHz.
The station broadcasts on the analogue frequency 103FM, from a 4KW transmitter on Saddleworth Moor and broadcasts on DAB Digital Radio from City Tower (formerly Sunley Tower) on the CE Manchester multiplex. Key 103's programming can also be heard from their website, but only within the UK.
The station won three awards at the 2008 Sony radio awards. These consisted of Bronze in the entertainment category for the breakfast show 'Toolan in the Morning', Gold in the competition award for 'Sell Me The Answer' and Gold in the Station of the Year category.[citation needed]
Technical
The DAB digital Radio signal is broadcast from transmitters located at Winter Hill and City Tower, Manchester on the CE Manchester multiplex. These transmissions are only aimed towards the city and are not as extensive as the FM frequency.
Programming
The majority of programming - local and networked - is produced and broadcast from Key 103's studios in Castlefield, however some networked output originates from sister stations Clyde 1 in Glasgow, Radio City in Liverpool and Forth 1 in Edinburgh. The Vodafone Big Top 40 is produced by Global Radio at its Capital studios in London for broadcast on 145 commercial radio stations in the UK.
The station's main presenters are Mike Toolan and Chelsea Norris (Mike and Chelsea in the Morning) and Debbie Mac (Home Run).[1]
News
Key 103 broadcasts local news bulletins hourly from 6am to 7pm on weekdays (except 2pm), from 9am to 1pm on Saturdays and from 9am to 12pm on Sundays. Headlines are broadcast on the half hour during weekday breakfast and drivetime shows, alongside sport and traffic bulletins.
The Manchester newsroom also produces bespoke networked bulletins for northern England at weekends with Sky News Radio bulletins carried overnight.
