Slogan 'We're In Charge' First air date 20 May 2007 | Frequency 106.5 MHz Format Classic Hits | |
Broadcast area Bristol and Bath, Somerset Audience share 4.3% (December 2010, [1]) | ||
Sam FM Bristol is an English language adult hits format radio station that broadcasts on 106.5 MHz FM in Bristol, United Kingdom and is owned by Celador Radio.
Contents
Original 106.5
The station was awarded its original broadcast licence in September 2006 as Original 106.5, and commenced broadcasting on 20 May 2007. It was owned by a group of investors under the name Tomahawk Radio. The station originally broadcast an Adult Oriented format, with 40% of its music coming from past or present Top 20 charts.
Jack FM
106 Jack FM replaced Original, which had previously broadcast using the same frequency, on 2 December 2009 following a staged on-air argument and station hijacking the previous day.
The station was acquired by Celador Radio on 7 September 2010.
Rebrand to Sam FM and merger
From 1 April 2015, the Jack FM name was dropped in favour of Sam FM by the station owner Celador Radio, who decided on changing the name six months beforehand. The station's topical imaging are voiced by actor and comedian Gareth Hale (of Hale and Pace).
On 25 May 2016, OFCOM announced it had granted Celador permission to merge the station with its sister station in Swindon. The company said the Swindon station was not financially viable as a stand-alone service, having made a £50,000 loss in 2015. The station will continue to broadcast its weekday breakfast show from Bristol = shared with the Swindon station - and will retain local news bulletins, traffic updates and what's on information.