Trent FM - History

History

Launched on 3 July 1975 as Radio Trent and based in a converted hospital building at 29-31 Castle Gate, Nottingham, the station broadcast on FM and medium wave. The original line up of DJs featured John Peters (the first presenter on air), former Radio Luxembourg presenter Kid Jensen, Jeff Cooper, Peter Quinn, Graham Knight, Chris Baird and Guy Morris. Transmissions began to neighbouring Derbyshire in 1987. Renamed Trent FM in 1988, it launched a separate oldies-format service, GEM-AM, on its medium wave frequencies.

Its owners Midland Radio plc were taken over by the GWR Group in 1993, the Nottingham and Mansfield FM services were branded 96 Trent FM, while the Derby service became known as RAM FM. The medium wave GEM-AM service was then rebranded, to become Classic Gold GEM. By spring 2005, Trent found itself owned by GCap Media, after GWR Group's merger with Capital Radio Group. It became part of GCap's One Network brand, a network of FM and DAB music stations across southern England, the English Midlands and Wales. The station changed hands again in 2008 when Global Radio bought GCap Media.

After thirty-one years based at Castle Gate, the historic street leading to Nottingham Castle, the station began broadcasting from new studios at the Chapel Quarter development at Chapel Bar, at midday on 9 January 2007. Trent lost the 96 prefix in its name in July 2007, to become once again Trent FM.

On 30 June 2008, The Hit Music Network was launched from the Chapel Quarter complex. This network served Trent FM, Ram FM, Leicester Sound, Ten 17, Mercury (Watford) and Mercury FM in Surrey, and Mercia, Beacon Black Country until their sale to Orion, with programming broadcast from Nottingham outside of breakfast, afternoon and drivetime. Although part of the same network, Capital FM and Red Dragon FM continued airing locally produced programming 24 hours a day.

Trent FM broadcast its last local programme on Friday 31 December 2010 ahead of the station's merger with Leicester Sound and Ram FM to form Capital FM East Midlands as part of Global Radio's plans to launch The Capital FM Network. The new station officially began broadcasting at 10am on Monday 3 January 2011 and is based at Trent's Chapel Quarter studios. Trent's weekday breakfast presenters Emma Caldwell and Andy Twigge presented Capital Breakfast for the station until moving to the weekday drivetime show in April 2012. Ram FM's Dino & Pete hosted drivetime until April 2012 when they switched to Breakfast.