City Manchester First air date 14 August 2006 | Slogan The Beat Of Gay UK Format CHR/Pop | |
Broadcast area Greater Manchester, Greater London, Sussex, Birmingham, Glasgow, Cambridge Frequency 88.4 MHz, Online, DAB Radio | ||
Gaydio is a radio station for the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) community in the United Kingdom, broadcast on 88.4FM in Greater Manchester, on DAB digital radio in Greater London, parts of the Home Counties, the Sussex coast, Birmingham, Glasgow, Cambridge, Portsmouth and online through their website, mobile apps and the UK Radio Player.
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Gaydio became the UK's first LGBT FM radio service when it launched full-time on Friday 18 June 2010, expanding into digital radio when it acquired Gaydar Radio in 2013. The station's output attracts around 850,000 listeners per month, making it one of the biggest LGB&T media platforms in the UK.
History
Gaydio was conceived by Ian Wallace and Toby Whitehouse initially to accompany the 2006 Manchester Pride festival, providing coverage of the Pride parade, the main stage acts and several events from around the festival site.
A temporary Restricted Service Licence (RSL) was obtained for two weeks, transmitting then on 87.7FM across central Manchester. The first broadcasts came from Princess House, in Manchester's gay village, from the former offices of The Lesbian & Gay Foundation.
Gaydio re-appeared for a second broadcast on World AIDS Day 2006 in a joint broadcast with BBC Radio Manchester, taking over their DAB frequency for most of the afternoon and evening.
A second RSL - this time for 28 days - commenced on 5 February 2007 and ended 4 March 2007.
Gaydio returned for a third RSL on 6 August 2007 (also for four weeks) with Chris & Emma at breakfast and Brian Day back again in the afternoons for an extended show. This period offered a number of new shows, including the Terry Longdon and Rowetta drivetime show. Numerous outside broadcasts included the live broadcast of the Mr Gay UK competition from Blackpool. Some old favourites returned including The A.M.P. (Alternative Music Programme) and The Matinee with James Dean and Madame Aries (Showtunes).
Gaydio's final temporary broadcast and fourth RSL began on 4 August 2008 (another 28-day licence), and featured the return of several shows, including Chris and Emma at breakfast, Kriss Herbert late mornings, and Brian Day in the afternoon. The Terry and Ro show continued, and at the weekend programmes included the Lazy Breakfast with Antony & Laura, Billy Grant and Alice late morning/early afternoon, Pride Live with Toby Whitehouse, Murry Murat and Matt Goddard, and the Matinee with James Dean and Madame Aries.
The group completed an OfCom application for a full term licence which was granted on 7 November 2008 when OfCom announced that Gaydio had been awarded a 5-year full-time community service FM licence. This made Gaydio the UK's first licensed, full-time LGBT station. It was allocated the 88.4FM frequency for Greater Manchester (and simulcast online).
The station launched full-time on Friday 18 June 2010 at a few minutes after 6pm, by former Galaxy breakfast host Nicksy. The first song was 'I Gotta Feeling' by the Black Eyed Peas. The Gaydio studios are located at Manchester One, formally the Portland Tower in Manchester city centre, which is also the site of the transmitter.
Relaunch
Gaydio relaunched as a national station on Monday 7 January 2013 following the acquisition of DAB Radio licences previously owned by Gaydar Radio owners QSoft. The station now holds several UK radio licences including the original FM licence in Greater Manchester (88.4FM), a DAB licence for London (11B DRg), a DAB licence for Sussex (11B NOW Sussex Coast).
The new sound of Gaydio - a mostly upbeat dance format - was accompanied by a new slogan 'The Beat Of Gay UK', and was launched at 7am on Monday 7 January 2013 with the return of the 'Chris and Emma at Breakfast' show broadcast across all three licensed areas and online.
Former Gaydar Radio presenter, Matt Crabb joined the station in September 2013 taking over Evenings. Other big names from Gaydar such as Phil Marriott along with Neil and Debbie also joined the schedule in 2014 after the demise of internet radio station JemmOne.
In September 2015 as part of the 'Small Scale DAB Trials' licensed by Ofcom, Gaydio launches on DAB Digital Radio in 3 other cities, including Cambridge, Birmingham and Glasgow. It also will simulcast the Manchester service on DAB across Manchester.
Split Programming
Due to different licence requirements, Gaydio has to split its programming at various points during the day. Community-based programming for Manchester is broadcast on their FM frequency and online, while the DAB channels carry mainly music programming.
On 18 July 2013 the station announced plans to run an DAB trial in Merseyside, Cheshire and North Wales for 6 weeks (29 July - 8 September 2013) to coincide with the Liverpool Pride festival. This operated on the multiplex operated by MuxCo. The DAB service was a relay of the current FM service, including the North West local programming and advertising. It also conducted a pop up service on the Central Scotland Multiplex (Edinburgh and Glasgow) from 14 July - 31 August 2014 to support Pride Glasgow and The Commonwealth Games
In 2015 Gaydio Manchester announced and launched DAB local broadcasting.
In 2016 Gaydio won the community radio station bid for the Brighton licence. Details of that service have not yet been released.