1.
Broadcasting
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Broadcasting began with AM radio, which came into popular use around 1920 with the spread of vacuum tube radio transmitters and receivers. Before this, all forms of communication were one-to-one, with the message intended for a single recipient. Over the air broadcasting is usually associated with radio and television, the receiving parties may include the general public or a relatively small subset, the point is that anyone with the appropriate receiving technology and equipment can receive the signal. The field of broadcasting includes both government-managed services such as radio, community radio and public television, and private commercial radio. The U. S. Code of Federal Regulations, title 47, part 97 defines broadcasting as transmissions intended for reception by the general public, private or two-way telecommunications transmissions do not qualify under this definition. For example, amateur and citizens band radio operators are not allowed to broadcast, as defined, transmitting and broadcasting are not the same. Transmissions using a wire or cable, like television, are also considered broadcasts. In the 2000s, transmissions of television and radio programs via streaming digital technology have increasingly been referred to as broadcasting as well, the earliest broadcasting consisted of sending telegraph signals over the airwaves, using Morse code, a system developed in the 1830s by Samuel F. B. Morse, physicist Joseph Henry and Alfred Vail and they developed an electrical telegraph system which sent pulses of electric current along wires which controlled an electromagnet that was located at the receiving end of the telegraph system. A code was needed to transmit natural language using only these pulses, Morse therefore developed the forerunner to modern International Morse code. Audio broadcasting began experimentally in the first decade of the 20th century, by the early 1920s radio broadcasting became a household medium, at first on the AM band and later on FM. Television broadcasting started experimentally in the 1920s and became widespread after World War II, satellite broadcasting was initiated in the 1960s and moved into general industry usage in the 1970s, with DBS emerging in the 1980s. Originally all broadcasting was composed of signals using analog transmission techniques but in the 2000s. In general usage, broadcasting most frequently refers to the transmission of information, Analog audio vs. HD Radio Analog television vs.9 zettabytes. This is the equivalent of 55 newspapers per person per day in 1986. Historically, there have been several methods used for broadcasting electronic media audio and/or video to the public, Telephone broadcasting. Telephone broadcasting also grew to include telephone services for news and entertainment programming which were introduced in the 1890s. These telephone-based subscription services were the first examples of electrical/electronic broadcasting, Radio broadcasting, audio signals sent through the air as radio waves from a transmitter, picked up by an antenna and sent to a receiver
2.
Bauer Media Group
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The portfolio includes print shops, postal, distribution and marketing services. Bauer Media Group has a workforce of approximately 11,000 employees in 17 countries, Bauer Verlagsgruppe has been managed by five generations of the Bauer family. Originally a small printing house in Germany, Bauer Media Group entered the UK with the launch of Bella magazine in 1987, under the name of H Bauer Publishing they became Britains third largest publisher. Bauer further expanded in the UK with the purchase of Emap Consumer Media, the group acquired Australian magazine publisher, ACP Magazines from a London-based private equity firm, CVC Capital Partners, in 2012. That increased the turnover to more than €2 billion. In November 2010, Heinz Heinrichs daughter Yvonne Bauer became CEO, in the UK there are two divisions of the Bauer Media Group. The original UK business trades as H Bauer Publishing under CEO David Goodchild and its sister company is known as Bauer Media with CEO Paul Keenan. David Goodchild is also CEO of Bauers Australasian businesses, titles include womens weekly and TV listings magazines, namely Bella, Take a Break, thats life. This is as well as a number of puzzle magazines, in 1987 Bella was H Bauers first venture into publishing in the UK. In 1990, H Bauer launched a womens magazine named Take a Break. H Bauer also has a title, thats life. The H Bauer Publishing brand also includes puzzle magazines that carry the Take a Break name,1991 saw H Bauers first TV listings publishing with the launch of TVQuick magazine. TVQuick ceased publication in July 2010, in 1999 H Bauer launched TVChoice at a much lower price point than other titles on the market. TVChoice overtook its competitor in the February 2008 audited ABCs and has been the number one weekly newsstand magazine in the UK since. In September 2003, H Bauer launched Total TVGuide to cover the number of programmes available on Freeview. Bauer Media is a media group, with locations across the UK. Following their purchase of Emap in 2007, The Bauer Media Group acquired a collection of media brands and this includes heat and Grazia as well as a radio portfolio of national radio brands such as KISS FM UK and Magic, and regional radio brands across major UK cities. In 2013, Bauer Media also acquired the Absolute Radio Group from Times of India, Bauer Media also broadcasts TV music channels including The Box TV, in a joint venture with Channel 4
3.
Birmingham
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Birmingham is a major city and metropolitan borough of West Midlands, England lying on the River Rea, a small river that runs through Birmingham. It is the largest and most populous British city outside London, the city is in the West Midlands Built-up Area, the third most populous urban area in the United Kingdom, with a population of 2,440,986 at the 2011 census. Birminghams metropolitan area is the second most populous in the UK with a population of 3.8 million and this also makes Birmingham the 8th most populous metropolitan area in Europe. By 1791 it was being hailed as the first manufacturing town in the world, perhaps the most important invention in British history, the industrial steam engine, was invented in Birmingham. From the summer of 1940 to the spring of 1943, Birmingham was bombed heavily by the German Luftwaffe in what is known as the Birmingham Blitz. The damage done to the infrastructure, in addition to a deliberate policy of demolition and new building by planners, led to extensive demolition. Today Birminghams economy is dominated by the service sector and its metropolitan economy is the second largest in the United Kingdom with a GDP of $121. 1bn, and its six universities make it the largest centre of higher education in the country outside London. Birmingham is the fourth-most visited city in the UK by foreign visitors, Birminghams sporting heritage can be felt worldwide, with the concept of the Football League and lawn tennis both originating from the city. Its most successful football club Aston Villa has won seven league titles, people from Birmingham are called Brummies, a term derived from the citys nickname of Brum. This originates from the citys name, Brummagem, which may in turn have been derived from one of the citys earlier names. There is a distinctive Brummie accent and dialect, Birminghams early history is that of a remote and marginal area. The main centres of population, power and wealth in the pre-industrial English Midlands lay in the fertile and accessible river valleys of the Trent, the Severn and the Avon. The area of modern Birmingham lay in between, on the upland Birmingham Plateau and within the wooded and sparsely populated Forest of Arden. Birmingham as a settlement dates from the Anglo-Saxon era, within a century of the charter Birmingham had grown into a prosperous urban centre of merchants and craftsmen. By 1327 it was the third-largest town in Warwickshire, a position it would retain for the next 200 years, by 1700 Birminghams population had increased fifteenfold and the town was the fifth-largest in England and Wales. The importance of the manufacture of goods to Birminghams economy was recognised as early as 1538. Equally significant was the emerging role as a centre for the iron merchants who organised finance, supplied raw materials. The 18th century saw this tradition of free-thinking and collaboration blossom into the phenomenon now known as the Midlands Enlightenment
4.
England
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England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west, the Irish Sea lies northwest of England and the Celtic Sea lies to the southwest. England is separated from continental Europe by the North Sea to the east, the country covers five-eighths of the island of Great Britain in its centre and south, and includes over 100 smaller islands such as the Isles of Scilly, and the Isle of Wight. England became a state in the 10th century, and since the Age of Discovery. The Industrial Revolution began in 18th-century England, transforming its society into the worlds first industrialised nation, Englands terrain mostly comprises low hills and plains, especially in central and southern England. However, there are uplands in the north and in the southwest, the capital is London, which is the largest metropolitan area in both the United Kingdom and the European Union. In 1801, Great Britain was united with the Kingdom of Ireland through another Act of Union to become the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. In 1922 the Irish Free State seceded from the United Kingdom, leading to the latter being renamed the United Kingdom of Great Britain, the name England is derived from the Old English name Englaland, which means land of the Angles. The Angles were one of the Germanic tribes that settled in Great Britain during the Early Middle Ages, the Angles came from the Angeln peninsula in the Bay of Kiel area of the Baltic Sea. The earliest recorded use of the term, as Engla londe, is in the ninth century translation into Old English of Bedes Ecclesiastical History of the English People. According to the Oxford English Dictionary, its spelling was first used in 1538. The earliest attested reference to the Angles occurs in the 1st-century work by Tacitus, Germania, the etymology of the tribal name itself is disputed by scholars, it has been suggested that it derives from the shape of the Angeln peninsula, an angular shape. An alternative name for England is Albion, the name Albion originally referred to the entire island of Great Britain. The nominally earliest record of the name appears in the Aristotelian Corpus, specifically the 4th century BC De Mundo, in it are two very large islands called Britannia, these are Albion and Ierne. But modern scholarly consensus ascribes De Mundo not to Aristotle but to Pseudo-Aristotle, the word Albion or insula Albionum has two possible origins. Albion is now applied to England in a poetic capacity. Another romantic name for England is Loegria, related to the Welsh word for England, Lloegr, the earliest known evidence of human presence in the area now known as England was that of Homo antecessor, dating to approximately 780,000 years ago. The oldest proto-human bones discovered in England date from 500,000 years ago, Modern humans are known to have inhabited the area during the Upper Paleolithic period, though permanent settlements were only established within the last 6,000 years
5.
United Kingdom
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The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom or Britain, is a sovereign country in western Europe. Lying off the north-western coast of the European mainland, the United Kingdom includes the island of Great Britain, Northern Ireland is the only part of the United Kingdom that shares a land border with another sovereign state—the Republic of Ireland. The Irish Sea lies between Great Britain and Ireland, with an area of 242,500 square kilometres, the United Kingdom is the 78th-largest sovereign state in the world and the 11th-largest in Europe. It is also the 21st-most populous country, with an estimated 65.1 million inhabitants, together, this makes it the fourth-most densely populated country in the European Union. The United Kingdom is a monarchy with a parliamentary system of governance. The monarch is Queen Elizabeth II, who has reigned since 6 February 1952, other major urban areas in the United Kingdom include the regions of Birmingham, Leeds, Glasgow, Liverpool and Manchester. The United Kingdom consists of four countries—England, Scotland, Wales, the last three have devolved administrations, each with varying powers, based in their capitals, Edinburgh, Cardiff and Belfast, respectively. The relationships among the countries of the UK have changed over time, Wales was annexed by the Kingdom of England under the Laws in Wales Acts 1535 and 1542. A treaty between England and Scotland resulted in 1707 in a unified Kingdom of Great Britain, which merged in 1801 with the Kingdom of Ireland to form the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. Five-sixths of Ireland seceded from the UK in 1922, leaving the present formulation of the United Kingdom of Great Britain, there are fourteen British Overseas Territories. These are the remnants of the British Empire which, at its height in the 1920s, British influence can be observed in the language, culture and legal systems of many of its former colonies. The United Kingdom is a country and has the worlds fifth-largest economy by nominal GDP. The UK is considered to have an economy and is categorised as very high in the Human Development Index. It was the worlds first industrialised country and the worlds foremost power during the 19th, the UK remains a great power with considerable economic, cultural, military, scientific and political influence internationally. It is a nuclear weapons state and its military expenditure ranks fourth or fifth in the world. The UK has been a permanent member of the United Nations Security Council since its first session in 1946 and it has been a leading member state of the EU and its predecessor, the European Economic Community, since 1973. However, on 23 June 2016, a referendum on the UKs membership of the EU resulted in a decision to leave. The Acts of Union 1800 united the Kingdom of Great Britain, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland have devolved self-government
6.
The Midlands
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The Midlands is a cultural and geographic area roughly spanning central England that broadly corresponds to the early medieval Kingdom of Mercia. It borders South East England, South West England, North West England, Yorkshire and Humber, East of England and its largest city is Birmingham, and it was an important location for the Industrial Revolution of the 18th and 19th centuries. The greater part of the area is formed of two English statistical regions, the West Midlands and East Midlands, the Midlands does not correspond to any current administrative area, and there is therefore no strict definition. With more restricted boundaries than the area known as the Midlands. These are also constituencies of the European Parliament, the East Midlands region comprises the shire counties of Derbyshire, Leicestershire, Lincolnshire, Northamptonshire and Nottinghamshire and the unitary county of Rutland. The two regions have a population of 10,135,000, and an area of 11,053 sq mi. The largest Midlands conurbation, which includes the cities of Birmingham, various part of the Midlands are somewhat poetically referred to as the Heart of England, especially in tourist literature. The various areas of the Midlands have their own character, giving rise to a high number of local history. Nottingham played a part in the English Civil War, which is commemorated in a number of place names. Areas such as Derbyshires Amber Valley and Erewash combine attractive countryside with industrial heritage and are home to historic canals, the Black Country, broadly the boroughs of Dudley, Sandwell, Wolverhampton and Walsall, played an important part in the Industrial Revolution. The Midlands is predominantly low-lying and flat in character, although isolated hills such as Turners Hill have extensive views. Upland areas lie in the west and north of the region with the Shropshire Hills to the west, close to the Welsh border, the Shropshire Hills reach heights of over 500 m, including the Long Mynd, Clee Hills and Stiperstones ridge. Wenlock Edge, running through the middle of the Shropshire Hills AONB, is a long, low ridge, the Peak District reaches heights of between 300 m and 600 m with Kinder Scout being the highest point at 636 m. Further south, the Welsh border reaches over 700 m high, at Black Mountain, other small areas of lower hills in the Midlands include Cannock Chase in Staffordshire, Charnwood Forest in Leicestershire, and the Lincolnshire Wolds in Lincolnshire. The Cotswolds – designated an AONB in 1966, – extend for over 90 miles through six counties, but centred on Gloucestershire. They reach a highest point of 330 m at Cleeve Hill, the Malverns are formed of some of the oldest rock in England and extend for some 13 km through two West Midlands counties as well as northern Gloucestershire in the southwest. The highest point of the hills is the Worcestershire Beacon at 425 m above sea level, the Midlands has a temperate maritime climate. With cold, cloudy, wet winters and comfortable, mostly dry, the temperature usually ranges from −0.4 °C during winter nights to 24.1 °C during summer days
7.
Global (company)
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Global is a British media company formed in 2007, which owns a large number of radio stations across the country. The company has expanded through a number of acquisitions, including Chrysalis Radio, GCap Media, Global also has a television broadcasting division and runs artist management services. A year later on 31 October 2008 Global Radio officially took control of all GCap Media, the GCap Media name was dropped at this time. The GCap purchase gave Global the network of FM stations which GCap had operated as The One Network, plus Classic FM, XFM, Capital Xtra, Gold, following the acquisition of GCap Media, Global was required to sell off a number of stations in the Midlands. The stations were bought by Orion Media, headed by Phil Riley, the remaining stations briefly formed The Hit Music Network before being merged with the Galaxy network and Capital London into the Capital network. On 25 June 2012, Global acquired GMG Radio for a sum thought to be between £50 and £70 million, it continued to be run separately while a review was conducted. In May 2013, the Competition Commission ruled that Global would be required to sell seven stations across the network, when this failed Global Radio launched an appeal against the decision. The appeal was based on three grounds, Real and Smooth as alternatives to the Greater Manchester stations, reliance on significant adverse effects in the North-West Globals remedy proposal. On 6 February 2014, it was announced that a number of stations would be sold to the Irish broadcaster Communicorp, most stay under their current brands though the Real stations will be renamed Heart and carry the Heart network off-peak programming as provided by Global. Global will retain control of all stations, relaunching the existing Heart North West. Real XS in Paisley will be retained by Global and join the XFM network and it was announced in June 2015 that Darren Singer would be appointed as Globals Chief Financial Officer. In February 2017, Global changed its name from This is Global Limited to Global Media & Entertainment Limited. It also changed all its social media handles from thisisglobal to global, Global also combined the three sub-companies, Global Radio, Global Entertainment and Global Television into just Global. A group of playing chart music. On 3 January 2011, Capital London, The Hit Music Network, known as 95 –106 Capital, The UK’s No.1 Hit Music Station all stations ID locally as Capital. An all-urban station based in London, originally named Choice FM, until Summer 2010 it was sold as part of the Galaxy network for marketing purposes only, but retained its own separate branding and programming. From then on, with Galaxy ultimately absorbed into Capital, Choice sat as its own brand within Globals lineup, on 7 October 2013 Choice FM was rebranded as Capital Xtra and made available nationally via DAB radio. Heart is a network of adult-contemporary pop stations which currently broadcasts in numerous areas of England, Wales, the network began with a single regional station in the West Midlands and subsequently a second station in London
8.
GCap Media
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GCap Media was a British commercial radio company formed from the merger of the Capital Radio Group and GWR Group. The merger was completed in May 2005 and it was listed on the London Stock Exchange and was a constituent of the FTSE250 Index. On 31 March 2008 the company agreed a takeover by Global Radio for £375 million and this was completed on 6 June 2008, and the company became a wholly owned subsidiary of Global Radio. On 1 November 2008, Global Radio discontinued using the name GCap Media, Capital Radio Group was, until May 2005, a London-based British radio group. The company was set up to operate a General Entertainment Independent Local Radio service in October 1973. Capital Radio was the second commercial radio station to launch in the UK. In the 1980s the station was allowed to operate services on AM. In 1993, Capital bought BRMB, and in 1994 the Southern Radio Group which owned, fox FM in Oxfordshire and Red Dragon FM in Wales were also purchased in the 90s. Capital also acquired the Century FM stations in 2000 as well as Border Television in order to acquire its radio stations, all in all, Capital Radio Group controlled 22 analogue and 59 digital radio licences. In July 1998 Capital Radio Group bought the financially troubled alternative radio station, in the early 21st century, Capital Radio Group expanded its range of FM stations, and also started broadcasting digital-only stations such as Capital Disney and Capital Life. GWR Group was a British radio company with assets including the nationwide station Classic FM. The letters GWR were chosen because its launch coincided with the reopening of the Great Western Railway in Bristol in 1985, between 1996 and 1999 GWR was a major shareholder in London News Radio, which owned and operated Londons LBC and News Direct radio stations. These stations were sold to Chrysalis Radio in 2002, GWR was owned by Daily Mail and General Trust plc, various asset management firms, Sir Peter Michael and other small shareholders. Until the merger, the group was chaired by Ralph Bernard and its office was in Passage Street. During its existence, GWR acquired the Marcher Radio Group, Mid Anglia Radio Group, Chiltern Radio Group and East Anglian Radio Group to name,1985, Wiltshire Radio merges with Radio West to form GWR. 1988, GWR joins Classic FM partnership,1996, GWR acquires full control of Classic FM. 1998, GWR wins Digital One license,1999, Digital One begins broadcasting, launches Internet radio broadcasts. This allowed it to syndicate a number of programmes across its network of radio stations, on Friday and Saturday evenings the network splits, with most stations taking Non-Stop Party and Party Anthems while the other stations take School Daze and Hairbrush Divas
9.
Free Radio Birmingham
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Free Radio Birmingham is an Independent Local Radio station serving Birmingham and surrounding areas. It is owned and operated by Bauer Radio and broadcasts on 96.4 FM and DAB Digital Radio, the station is part of the Bauer City 1 network, which broadcasts a mix of chart, contemporary and classic hits alongside local news and information. The original station name, BRMB, was not an acronym, instead, the original company, Birmingham Broadcasting Ltd. wanted something that combined a US-style call-sign with the company name - e. g. Birmingham - and broadcasting -, equalling BRMB. In 1988, as a response to government disapproval of the simulcasting of programmingon both FM and mediumwave, a station was launched on the 1152 kHz frequency. Xtra AM became BRMBs gold service, playing classic hits, while BRMB itself began to cater for a younger audience. At this stage, BRMB was part of Midlands Radio plc, however, they sold the other stations to the GWR Group whilst Capital kept hold of BRMB and Xtra AM. Xtra was on the air for nine years until the majority of its programming was switched to London, in July 2009, the station was sold officially to a company backed by Lloyds Development Capital and Phil Riley which was named Orion Media. On 9 January 2012, Orion Media announced that BRMB would be rebranded as Free Radio Birmingham, along with its sister West Midlands stations Beacon, Mercia and Wyvern. Live football commentaries on Aston Villa and Birmingham City matches continued to broadcast on Free Radio 80s on AM, on 6 May 2016, the stations owners, Orion, announced they had been bought by Bauer for an undisclosed fee, reportedly between £40 and £50 million. In February 2017, most of Free Radios off-peak networked output from Birmingham was replaced by programming from the Bauer City 1 network in Manchester, Local programming is produced and broadcast from Free Radios Birmingham studios from 6am-7pm on weekdays, 2-6pm on Saturdays and 12-4pm on Sundays. Free Radio Birmingham also carries networked programming from sister station Key 103 in Manchester via the Bauer City 1 network, 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 stations local presenters include Dan Kelly, Naomi Kent, Dan Morrissey, the stations networked presenters include Paddy McGuinness, Darryl Morris, Marvin Humes and Wes Butters. Free Radio Birmingham broadcasts local news bulletins hourly from 6am to 7pm on weekdays, headlines are broadcast on the half hour during weekday breakfast and drivetime shows, alongside sport and traffic bulletins. National bulletins from Sky News Radio are carried overnight with bespoke networked bulletins on weekend afternoons, BRMB was originally based in Aston Road North, in the Aston area of Birmingham, near the Spaghetti Junction. These were the former Alpha Television Studios, the home of ATV, the current Free Radio studios are based in the Brindleyplace development near Broad Street in Birmingham city centre. Since August 2011, local programming for the Coventry and Warwickshire station has been produced, the FM signal - 10kW ERP - is broadcast from the Sutton Coldfield transmitter, and can be received throughout a large part of the West Midlands. Free Radio in Birmingham organises a number of public events including the Walkathon. The station also sponsors the Bupa Great Birmingham Run and the Acorns Midnight Walk
10.
Free Radio Coventry & Warwickshire
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Free Radio Coventry & Warwickshire is an Independent Local Radio station serving Coventry and Warwickshire, England. The station, which is owned and operated by Bauer Radio, broadcasts from studios shared with Free Radio Birmingham, 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 station called Xtra AM which played music from the 1960s and 1970s. During this period numerous presenters from other GWR stations joined Mercia, including Craig Strong, Tim Gough, Rachael Hopper, from 2002 onwards, the slogan was Playing the best mix of the 80s, 90s and today. In 2007, it reverted to the old slogan of Todays Best Mix, in July 2009, the station was sold officially to a company, backed by Lloyds Development Capital and Phil Riley, called Orion Media. Currently, eight hours of programming are broadcast each weekday with four hours on weekend afternoons. Outside of these hours, programming is networked with the rest of the Bauer City 1 network. On 9 January 2012, Orion Media announced that Mercia would be rebranded as a Free Radio station from April 2012, along with its sister West Midlands stations Beacon, BRMB and Wyvern. The Mercia brand was phased out on Wednesday 21 March 2012 in preparation for the rebrand, on 6 May 2016, the stations owners, Orion, announced they had been brought by Bauer for an undisclosed fee, reportedly between £40 and £50 million. Local programming for Coventry and Warwickshire is produced and broadcast from Free Radios Birmingham studios from 6-10am and 3-7pm on weekdays, 2-6pm on Saturdays, the four Free Radio stations also share a regional daytime programme from 10am-3pm on weekdays, presented from the Birmingham studios by Dan Morrissey. Free Radio Coventry and Warwickshire also carries networked programming from sister station Key 103 in Manchester via the Bauer City 1 network, 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 stations local presenters include John Dalziel, Roisin McCourt and Tom Newitt, the stations networked presenters include Paddy McGuinness, Darryl Morris, Marvin Humes and Wes Butters. Free Radio Coventry and Warwickshire broadcasts local news bulletins hourly from 6am to 7pm on weekdays, headlines are broadcast on the half hour during weekday breakfast and drivetime shows, alongside sport and traffic bulletins. National bulletins from Sky News Radio are carried overnight with bespoke networked bulletins on weekend afternoons, Official Coventry website Official Warwickshire website
11.
Free Radio Herefordshire & Worcestershire
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Free Radio Herefordshire & Worcestershire is an Independent Local Radio station serving Herefordshire and Worcestershire. The station, owned and operated by Bauer Radio, broadcasts from studios in Worcester on 96.7,97.6, and 102.8 FM, Radio Wyvern originally went on-air on 4 October 1982. The original Wyvern name derived from the River Wye and River Severn, the initial Presentation team consisted of Sammy Southall at Breakfast, Roy Leonard in the morning, Graham Hughes in the afternoon and rock shows, and Mike George at drivetime. Weekend presenters included Jeff Roberts, Rob Yarnold and Bob Lee, managing Director from 1984 until 1996 was Norman Bilton who joined Wyvern from Two Counties Radio in Bournemouth and Metro Radio in Newcastle. The station has played host to many well-known broadcasters over the years, Neil Fox began his professional broadcasting career here in 1984, and the line Wyvern News, this is Howard Hughes became very familiar to listeners. Rich Edwards, who joined in the early days, presented on Classic Hits until its abrupt closure in 2007. David Holdsworth, now with the BBC was the stations News Editor, several of the original presenters including Mike George, Graham Hughes, and Roy Leonard went on to long careers with BBC radio and television. Some time later, it was rebranded as Classic Hits, and by this time a local service. In 2007, Laser Broadcasting abruptly relaunched the AM station as SunshineRadio, Wyvern was latterly acquired by GWR and later, Global Radio, who moved the station to new studios at Kirkham House in the Perdiswell Park area of Worcester. In July 2009, the station was officially to a company backed by Lloyds Development Capital. Following the take over In January 2010, Wyvern FM rebranded as Wyvern and launched a new station slogan, Local programming is retained at breakfast and weekday drivetime. The Wyvern brand was phased out on 21 March 2012 in preparation for the rebrand, on 6 May 2016, the stations owners, Orion, announced they had been brought by Bauer for an undisclosed fee, reportedly between £40 and £50 million. Local programming is produced and broadcast from Free Radios Worcester studios from 6-10am and 3-7pm on weekdays, 2-6pm on Saturdays, the four Free Radio stations also share a regional daytime programme from 10am-3pm on weekdays, presented from the Birmingham studios by Dan Morrissey. Free Radio Herefordshire & Worcestershire also carries networked programming from sister station Key 103 in Manchester via the Bauer City 1 network, 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 stations local presenters are Richard Hurst and Helen Wheels, David Francis, the stations networked presenters include Paddy McGuinness, Darryl Morris, Marvin Humes and Wes Butters. Free Radio Herefordshire and Worcestershire broadcasts local news bulletins hourly from 6am to 7pm on weekdays, headlines are broadcast on the half hour during weekday breakfast and drivetime shows, alongside sport and traffic bulletins. Local bulletins are produced from Free Radios Birmingham newsroom, national bulletins from Sky News Radio in London are carried overnight with bespoke networked bulletins on weekend afternoons from Key 103s Manchester newsroom. Sammy Southall Elliott Webb Robin Banks Dean Roberts Davinia Palmer Neil Fox Mike George Richard Clarke Sam and Mark Official website Radio Wyvern launch documentary
12.
Free Radio Shropshire & Black Country
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Free Radio Shropshire & Black Country, is an Independent Local Radio station serving Shropshire and the Black Country in the West Midlands region of England. The station, owned and operated by the Bauer Media Group, Beacon Radio began broadcasting to Wolverhampton and the Black Country from studios at 267 Tettenhall Road in Wolverhampton on mediumwave 303 metres, and 97.2 MHz at 6 a. m. on 12 April 1976. The first presenter was Mike Baker and the first song to be played was Eric Carmens Sunrise, the station originally set out to broadcast Beautiful Music including soul and country rock with a heavy bias towards American chart music with artists like Linda Ronstadt and The Eagles. The station became successful, although facing competition from the established commercial station. However, the station came in for criticism from the UK licensing authority for being too American sounding, due to this, the senior management and output changed in mid-1979. Its licence was later expanded in 1987 to cover Shropshire, ostensibly broadcasting from its offices in Shrewsbury on 103.1 MHz. Since January 1989, the station has been FM-only, with Beacons former AM frequencies of 990 and 1017 kHz becoming branded as a separate service Nice n Easy Radio WABC, nevertheless, the station used the same musical logo as the New York station in its jingles. The British station was shortened to Radio WABC in 1992, in 1998 the local service essentially closed, and the service was networked under the banner of WABC Classic Gold. This service is owned and operated by Orion Media as Free Radio 80s. The company had reorganised in the late 1990s into Beacon Broadcasting. In 1995 GWR Group plc bought Beacon Broadcasting Ltd from BBCL, the FM licences transferred to GCap Media following the GWR Groups Merger with Capital Radio Group. GWR re-branded the FM service as Beacon FM in 1997, before reverting to Beacon Radio 1 April 2005, in July 2009, the stations were sold officially to a company backed by Lloyds Development Capital and Phil Riley called Orion Media. From Monday 5 July 2010, the two Beacon stations merged to one station with the loss of separate programming for Shropshire. Separate news and travel bulletins for Shropshire and the Black Country have been retained at peak times alongside advertising. On 9 January 2012, Orion Media announced that Beacon would be rebranded as Free Radio Shropshire & Black Country, along with its sister West Midlands stations BRMB, Mercia and Wyvern. The Beacon brand was phased out on Wednesday 21 March 2012 in preparation for the rebrand, in October 2013, the station left its Wolverhampton studios and moved to new smaller studios at Black Country House in nearby Oldbury. Local programming is produced and broadcast from Free Radios Oldbury studios from 6-10am and 3-7pm on weekdays, 2-6pm on Saturdays, the four Free Radio stations also share a regional daytime programme from 10am-3pm on weekdays, presented from the Birmingham studios by Dan Morrissey. Free Radio Shropshire & Black Country also carries networked programming from sister station Key 103 in Manchester via the Bauer City 1 network, 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
13.
Gem 106
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Gem 106 is an English regional radio station broadcasting to the East Midlands, owned and operated by Bauer Radio. The station is transmitted from the Copt Oak transmitter close to the M1 north of Leicester in the National Forest, Radio 106 launched at 6am on Tuesday 23 September 1997. Billed as Radio for Grown Ups, the new station was led by ex-Radio Trent managing director Ron Coles with former Centre Radio MD Ken Warburton as programming controller. The first presenter on air was Dickie Dodd, Radio 106s launch schedule included a heavy emphasis on speech content, including daily guests on mid-morning shows and a nightly 3-hour phone-in. Specialist music output featured country, soul and motown at weekends, the stations launch team included Kevin Fernihough, Mark Keen, Willie Morgan, Kenny Hague, Jake Yapp, Peter King and Sarah Graham. In April 1998, John Myers took control of the station, other additions to the team included Steve Jordan and Bernie Keith. In May 2000, Century 106, along with the other Century stations in the North East, David Lloyd left the station to join Galaxy 105 in Leeds while presenter Adrian Allen walked out mid-show in protest. The sale to Capital brought an increase in the sports coverage - as emphasised in the slogan music, fun. More new presenters joined Century, including Ian Skye, Jason King, Stuart Ellis, when Capital later merged with GWR, the Office of Fair Trading ordered Century to be sold off. Heart 106 was launched on 29 August 2005, a further, more subtle rebrand was applied in September 2006 which saw the dropping of the frequencies from station names across the Heart Network. On 25 June 2007, Chrysalis announced the sale of Heart, along with its sister stations The Arrow, LBC and Galaxy, for £170 million to Global Radio. Following Globals takeover of GCap Media, the Office of Fair Trading again ordered Global to sell off Heart and four other Midlands stations - BRMB, Mercia FM, Wyvern FM and Beacon Radio. In May 2009, the stations were sold to Orion Media, on 9 November 2010, Orion Media announced that Heart 106 would be relaunched and renamed as Gem 106 on 1 January 2011. Under the rebrand, the station ended its agreement with Global Radio which allowed it to use the Heart identity. Gem 106 was launched at midnight on Saturday 1 January 2011 with a programme presented by Orions director of programming and marketing David Lloyd. The GEM name stands for Great East Midlands, the created and used from 1988 onwards for GEM-AM an AM. The majority of the programming is locally produced and broadcast from Nottingham. The station also carries the nationally syndicated Vodafone Big Top 40 With Marvin Humes on Sunday afternoons, as of March 2016, Gem refreshed their imaging and jingle package using a custom package from Wise Buddah
14.
Free Radio (network)
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Free Radio is a group of five Independent Local Radio stations in the West Midlands of England. The network, owned and operated by Bauer Radio, was launched on Monday 26 March 2012 as a result of the rebranding of four stations - BRMB, Beacon, Mercia and Wyvern. On Tuesday 4 September 2012, a secondary AM station broadcasting 1980s chart music, the FM stations form part of the Bauer City 1 network, carrying local and network programming. BRMB began broadcasting to Birmingham and the areas on 19 February 1974 - the fourth ILR station to launch in the UK. Beacon Radio has served Wolverhampton and the Black Country since 12 April 1976 with its area expanded to cover Shropshire in 1987. Mercia Sound was launched in Coventry and Warwickshire on 23 May 1980, the group was bought for £18 million by Capital Radio plc in 1993, who sold Mercia to the GWR Group but retained BRMB. GWR went on to buy Beacon from its holding company BCCL in 1995, the four licences came under the same ownership in 2005 when GWR and Capital merged to form GCap Media. The stations were bought in May 2009 by a led by former Chrysalis Radio chief executive Phil Riley. On 9 January 2012, Orion announced that it would rebrand its four West Midlands stations as Free Radio from March 2012 onwards. The former on-air station brands were phased out on Wednesday 21 March 2012 in preparation for the rebrand, on 6 May 2016, the networks owners, Orion, announced they had been bought by Bauer for an undisclosed fee, reportedly between £40 and £50 million. As of August 2016, Free Radio is now aligned with the Bauer City 1 network, the four stations began carrying networked programming from Bauers Manchester studios in February 2017. On 24 May 2012, Orion Media announced it would relaunch its Gold West Midlands stations on AM frequencies, the station broadcasts locally produced programming playing 1980s chart music alongside news & information and sports programming. The station launched on Tuesday 4 September 2012, the four Free Radio local stations broadcast programming to each of their coverage areas at breakfast and drivetime on weekdays and on weekend afternoons. The four stations share a regional programme each weekday from 10am-3pm, output outside of these hours consist of programming from the Bauer City 1 network, broadcast largely from sister station Key 103 in Castlefield, Manchester. Local news bulletins are broadcast on all stations hourly from 6am to 7pm on weekdays and from 7am to 1pm on weekends with headlines on the hour during weekday breakfast
15.
Gold (radio)
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Gold is a network of oldies radio stations which was formed by the merger of the Capital Gold network and the Classic Gold Network in August 2007. The Classic Gold network was formed from the AM transmissions of the former GWR Groups station licence areas. The original DJs on the incarnation of Capital Gold included Tony Blackburn, Kenny Everett. Most Gold programming is broadcast from the Gold network studio in Leicester Square, London, simon Hirst left Gold in June 2014, leaving Dibbin and Andrews as Golds sole remaining DJs. Capital responded by launching an oldies station,1548 AM Capital Gold on 1 November 1988 on its AM frequency while Capital on FM became 95.8 Capital FM. Both stations received brand-new jingle packages from Muff Murfin and TM Productions in Dallas and these were later followed up by new packages from Californian jingle house Who Did That Music which went on to become well known and essential parts of its music programming. Capital Gold featured a strong presenting lineup such as Diddy David Hamilton and Tony Blackburn, Kenny Everett returned to daily broadcasting at Capital Gold, hosting daytime shows on weekdays until 1994, when his deteriorating health meant he was unable to continue. The mid-late 1990s saw Capital Gold rated Londons most popular AM radio station and this was followed in 1994 with the purchase of the Southern Radio Group. Both Capital Radio plc and GWR Group lobbied the then Radio Authority to allow syndicated programmes to be broadcast on its AM-owned stations. Listeners to the local stations listed above were dismayed that such a huge chunk of local broadcasting were to be eliminated resulting in the loss of jobs. Capital Radio boss David Mansfield maintained that AM listenership had steadily declined and required a consistent, initially the four hours were scheduled in the afternoon drivetime slot with a networked breakfast/morning show hosted by comedian Mike Osman. This surprised many people in the industry as this sidelined Capital Golds biggest radio name at the time Tony Blackburn who had presented the weekday breakfast show to weekends. However, a few months later Blackburn was moved back on the weekday schedule although on the afternoon drivetime slot while local breakfast shows were reintroduced to meet the four-hour requirement. A new jingle package from now defunct jingle company AJ Productions, in 1999 Capital Radio plc acquired Red Dragon FM and its medium wave service Touch Radio in South Wales with the end result being that Capital Gold replaced Touch Radio. 1999 saw the stations reach increase yet again- across the UK, prominent football clubs featured on the show included Arsenal, Spurs, West Ham, Queens Park Rangers, Chelsea and Wimbledon. In 1999 CE Digital, a made up of Capital Radio plc and Emap Radio won local DAB digital radio licences for Manchester, Birmingham. This was followed by wins by Capital Radio plc in Kent, Sussex. Capital Gold actively encouraged listeners to switch to DAB Digital Radio as the benefits of digital enable stereo broadcasts for the first time in its history
16.
Adult contemporary music
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Adult contemporary is rather a continuation of the easy listening and soft rock style that became popular in the 1960s and 1970s with some adjustments that reflect the evolution of pop/rock music. Adult contemporary tends to have lush, soothing and highly polished qualities where emphasis on melody and it is usually melodic enough to get a listeners attention, and is inoffensive and pleasurable enough to work well as background music. Like most of pop music, its songs tend to be written in a basic format employing a verse–chorus structure, the format is heavy on romantic sentimental ballads which mostly use acoustic instruments such as acoustic guitars, pianos, saxophones, and sometimes an orchestral set. The electric guitars are normally faint and high-pitched, however, recent adult contemporary music may usually feature synthesizers. An AC radio station may play mainstream music, but it excludes hip hop, dance tracks, hard rock, and some forms of teen pop, as these are popular among adults. AC radio often targets the 25–44 age group, the demographic that has received the most attention from advertisers since the 1960s, a common practice in recent years of adult contemporary stations is to play less newer music and more hits of the past. This de-emphasis on new songs slows the progression of the AC chart, over the years, AC has spawned subgenres including hot AC, soft AC, urban AC, rhythmic AC, and Christian AC. Some stations play only hot AC, soft AC, or only one of the variety of subgenres, therefore, it is not usually considered a specific genre of music, it is merely an assemblage of selected tracks from musicians of many different genres. Adult contemporary traces its roots to the 1960s easy listening format, a few offered 90% instrumentals, and a handful were entirely instrumental. Billboard first published the Easy Listening chart July 17,1961, with 20 songs, the chart described itself as not too far out in either direction. Initially, the vocalists consisted of such as Frank Sinatra, Doris Day, Johnny Mathis, Connie Francis, Nat King Cole, Perry Como. The custom recordings were usually instrumental versions of current or recent rock and roll or pop hit songs, some stations would also occasionally play earlier big band-era recordings from the 1940s and early 1950s. After 1965, differences between the Hot 100 chart and the Easy Listening chart became more pronounced, better reflecting what middle of the road stations were actually playing, the composition of the chart changed dramatically. As rock music continued to harden, there was much less crossover between the Hot 100 and Easy Listening chart than there had been in the half of the 1960s. Roger Miller, Barbra Streisand and Bobby Vinton were among the charts most popular performers and these middle of the road stations also frequently included older, pre-rock-era adult standards and big band titles to further appeal to adult listeners who had grown up with those songs. Another big impetus for the evolution of the AC radio format was the popularity of easy listening or beautiful music stations, stations with music specifically designed to be purely ambient, hard rock had been established as a mainstream genre by 1965. From the end of the 1960s, it common to divide mainstream rock music into soft and hard rock. Soft rock was often derived from rock, using acoustic instruments and putting more emphasis on melody
17.
Mercia
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Mercia was one of the kingdoms of the Anglo-Saxon Heptarchy. The name is a Latinisation of the Old English Mierce or Myrce, the kingdom was centred on the valley of the River Trent and its tributaries, in the region now known as the English Midlands. The kingdoms capital was the town of Tamworth, which was the seat of the Mercian Kings from at least around AD584, when King Creoda built a fortress at the town. The reign of King Offa, who is best remembered for his Dyke that designated the boundary between Mercia and the Welsh kingdoms, is known as the Golden Age of Mercia. Mercia was originally a pagan kingdom, but King Peada converted to Christianity around 656, the Diocese of Mercia was founded in 656, with the first bishop, Diuma, based at Repton. After only 13 years at Repton, in 669 the fifth bishop, Saint Chad, moved the bishopric to Lichfield, in 691, the Diocese of Mercia became the Diocese of Lichfield. For a brief period between 787 and 799 the diocese was an archbishopric, although it was dissolved in 803. The current bishop, Michael Ipgrave, is the 99th since the diocese was established, at the end of the 9th century, following the invasions of the Vikings and their Great Heathen Army, much of the former Mercian territory was absorbed into the Danelaw. At its height, the Danelaw included London, all of East Anglia, the final Mercian king, Ceolwulf II, died in 879, the kingdom appears to have thereby lost its political independence. Initially, it was ruled by a lord or ealdorman under the overlordship of Alfred the Great, Mercia is still used as a geographic designation, and the name is used by wide range of organisations, including military units, public, commercial and voluntary bodies. Mercias exact evolution at the start of the Anglo-Saxon era remains more obscure than that of Northumbria, Kent, Mercia developed an effective political structure and adopted Christianity later than the other kingdoms. Archaeological surveys show that Angles settled the north of the River Thames by the 6th century. The name Mercia is Old English for boundary folk, and the interpretation is that the kingdom originated along the frontier between the native Welsh and the Anglo-Saxon invaders. Hunter Blair argued an alternative interpretation, that emerged along the frontier between Northumbria and the inhabitants of the Trent river valley. The earliest person named in any records as a king of Mercia is Creoda, coming to power around 584, he built a fortress at Tamworth which became the seat of Mercias kings. His son Pybba succeeded him in 593, Cearl, a kinsman of Creoda, followed Pybba in 606, in 615, Cearl gave his daughter Cwenburga in marriage to Edwin, king of Deira, whom he had sheltered while he was an exiled prince. The next Mercian king, Penda, ruled from about 626 or 633 until 655, some of what is known about Penda comes from the hostile account of Bede, who disliked him – both as an enemy to Bedes own Northumbria and as a pagan. However, Bede admits that Penda freely allowed Christian missionaries from Lindisfarne into Mercia, and did not restrain them from preaching
18.
Coventry
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Coventry is a city and metropolitan borough in the West Midlands, England. Historically part of Warwickshire, Coventry is the 9th largest city in England and it is the second largest city in the West Midlands region, after Birmingham, with a population of 345,385 in 2015. Coventry is 95 miles northwest of central London,19 miles east-south-east of Birmingham,24 miles southwest of Leicester and 11 miles north of Warwick. Coventry Cathedral was built after the destruction of the 14th century cathedral church of Saint Michael by the German Luftwaffe in the Coventry Blitz of 14 November 1940, Coventry motor companies have contributed significantly to the British motor industry. The city has two universities, Coventry University in the city centre and the University of Warwick on the southern outskirts. The Romans founded a settlement in Baginton, next to the River Sowe, and another formed around a Saxon nunnery, founded c. AD700 by St Osburga, that was later left in ruins by King Canutes invading Danish army in 1016. Earl Leofric of Mercia and his wife Lady Godiva built on the remains of the nunnery, in time, a market was established at the abbey gates and the settlement expanded. By the 14th century, Coventry was an important centre of the cloth trade, the bishops of Lichfield were often referred to as bishops of Coventry and Lichfield, or Lichfield and Coventry. Coventry claimed the status of a city by ancient prescriptive usage, was granted a charter of incorporation in 1345, the plays that William Shakespeare witnessed in Coventry during his boyhood or teens may have influenced how his plays, such as Hamlet, came about. In the 18th and 19th centuries, Coventry became one of the three main British centres of watch and clock manufacture and ranked alongside Prescot, in Lancashire, in the late 19th century, Coventry became a major centre of bicycle manufacture. The industry energised by the invention by James Starley and his nephew John Kemp Starley of the Rover safety bicycle, by the early 20th century, bicycle manufacture had evolved into motor manufacture, and Coventry became a major centre of the British motor industry. Jaguar is owned by the Indian company, Tata Motors, with many of the citys older properties becoming increasingly unfit for habitation, the first council houses were let to their tenants in 1917. With Coventrys industrial base continuing to soar after the end of the Great War a year later, numerous private and council housing developments took place across the city in the 1920s and 1930s. The development of a southern by-pass around the city, starting in the 1930s and being completed in 1940, Coventry suffered severe bomb damage during the Second World War. There was a massive Luftwaffe air raid, part of the Coventry Blitz, firebombing on this date led to severe damage to large areas of the city centre and to Coventrys historic cathedral, leaving only a shell and the spire. More than 4,000 houses were damaged or destroyed, along with three quarters of the citys industrial plants. More than 800 people were killed, with injured and homeless. Aside from London, Hull and Plymouth, Coventry suffered more damage than any other British city during the Luftwaffe attacks, following the raids, the majority of Coventrys historic buildings could not be saved as they were in ruinous states or were deemed unsafe for any future use
19.
Warwickshire
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Warwickshire is a landlocked county in the West Midlands of England. The county town is Warwick, although the largest town is Nuneaton, the county is famous for being the birthplace of William Shakespeare. Commonly used abbreviations for the county are Warks or Warwicks, the county is divided into five districts of North Warwickshire, Nuneaton and Bedworth, Rugby, Warwick and Stratford-on-Avon. The current county boundaries were set in 1974 by the Local Government Act 1972, the historic county boundaries also included Coventry and Solihull, as well as much of Birmingham. The northern tip of the county is only 3 miles from the Derbyshire border, an average-sized English county covering an area of almost 2,000 km2, it runs some 60 miles north to south. Equivalently it extends as far north as Shrewsbury in Shropshire and as far south as Banbury in north Oxfordshire, the majority of Warwickshires population live in the north and centre of the county. The market towns of northern and eastern Warwickshire were industrialised in the 19th century, and include Atherstone, Bedworth, Nuneaton, of these, Atherstone has retained most of its original character. Major industries included coal mining, textiles, engineering and cement production, of the northern and eastern towns, only Nuneaton and Rugby are well-known outside of Warwickshire. The south of the county is rural and sparsely populated. The only town in the south of Warwickshire is Shipston-on-Stour, the highest point in the county, at 261 m, is Ebrington Hill, again on the border with Gloucestershire, grid reference SP187426 at the countys southwest extremity. There are no cities in Warwickshire since both Coventry and Birmingham were incorporated into the West Midlands county in 1974 and are now metropolitan authorities in themselves, the largest towns in Warwickshire in 2011 were, Nuneaton, Rugby, Leamington Spa, Bedworth, Warwick, Stratford and Kenilworth. Much of western Warwickshire, including that area now forming part of Coventry, Solihull, thus the names of a number of places in the central-western part of Warwickshire end with the phrase -in-Arden, such as Henley-in-Arden, Hampton-in-Arden and Tanworth-in-Arden. The remaining area, not part of the forest, was called the Felden – from fielden, areas historically part of Warwickshire include Coventry, Solihull, Sutton Coldfield, Erdington, and some of Birmingham including Aston and Edgbaston. These became part of the county of West Midlands following local government re-organisation in 1974. Some organisations, such as Warwickshire County Cricket Club, which is based in Edgbaston, in Birmingham, Coventry is effectively in the centre of the Warwickshire area, and still has strong ties with the county. Coventry and Warwickshire are sometimes treated as an area and share a single Chamber of Commerce. Coventry has been a part of Warwickshire for only some of its history, in 1451 Coventry was separated from Warwickshire and made a county corporate in its own right, called the County of the City of Coventry. In 1842 the county of Coventry was abolished and Coventry was remerged with Warwickshire, in recent times, there have been calls to formally re-introduce Coventry into Warwickshire, although nothing has yet come of this
20.
NOW Coventry
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The company headquarters is located at Crawley Court in the village of Crawley, Hampshire. Its main customers are broadcasters and mobile network operators, and its main asset is a network of over 1,000 radio. It is owned by a consortium of investors led by CPP, Arqiva is a patron of The Radio Academy. Through its NOW Digital subsidiary, it operates various local digital radio ensembles, the company, which has a history that dates back to the beginning of regular public broadcasting in the United Kingdom, was actually only formed in 2005. Below is a history of the various organisations that are now part of Arqiva. The assets were split into a separate company, prior to being sold. The domestic transmitter network was purchased by a US company, Crown Castle, subsequently, in 2004, this was purchased by National Grid plc, which merged in its own private communication network, the name changing to National Grid Wireless in October 2005. This company developed on the back of the growth in mobile phones and this was added to by the purchase of the former BBC network National Grid Wireless, as it became, led a consortium bidding for the second UK national DAB multiplex licence, but was unsuccessful. The licence was awarded instead to 4 Digital Group in July 2007, the Television Act 1954 gave birth to the Independent Television Authority. The ITA appointed and regulated a number of regional programme contractors, the Sound Broadcasting Act 1972 created legal commercial radio in the UK for the first time. It was modelled on ITA, in that programmes were made by local contractors while the regulator, renamed the Independent Broadcasting Authority, the Broadcasting Act 1990 split the IBA into three bodies. The Independent Television Commission regulated commercial TV and the Radio Authority regulated commercial radio, at this point, technical standards regulation, previously carried out in accordance with the IBA engineering Code of Practice, seems to have disappeared from the regulatory landscape. Transcom was acquired by International CableTel Inc. which subsequently built its brand around the NTL name and it ran up huge debts during the dot-com boom which crippled the company for many years. In 1998, NTL acquired the UK antenna sites business of Simoco, in 1999 NTL acquired the UK field service operations business of Simoco. In 2004, NTL sold its broadcast unit to Macquarie Communications Infrastructure Group, in January 2005, Macquarie Communications Infrastructure Group renamed its new subsidiary Arqiva. Inmedia was owned by Kingston Communications and known as Kingston inmedia before being bought by the Carlyle Group in 2004. Arqiva announced the signing of a Sale & Purchase Agreement with BT to acquire the full-time service components of BT’s Satellite Broadcast Services business for £25 million in cash in November 2006. The deal will include long-term customer contracts, operations and personnel located in the USA, France, Italy, deal completion is subject to regulatory approval in the UK and Germany
21.
Worcester
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Worcester is a city in Worcestershire, England,31 miles southwest of Birmingham and 27 miles north of Gloucester. The River Severn flanks the western side of the city centre, the Battle of Worcester was the final battle of the English Civil War, where Oliver Cromwells New Model Army defeated King Charles Is Cavaliers. Worcester is known as the home of Royal Worcester Porcelain, composer Edward Elgar, Lea & Perrins, makers of traditional Worcestershire sauce, the trade route past Worcester which later formed part of the Roman Ryknild Street dates to Neolithic times. The position commanded a ford over the River Severn and was fortified by the Britons around 400 BC and it would have been on the northern border of the Dobunni and probably subject to the larger communities of the Malvern hillforts. It may have been the Vertis mentioned in the 7th-century Ravenna Cosmography, using charcoal from the Forest of Dean, the Romans operated pottery kilns and ironworks at the site and may have built a small fort. In the 3rd century, Roman Worcester occupied an area than the subsequent medieval city. Industrial production ceased and the settlement contracted to a position along the lines of the old British fort at the river terraces southern end. This settlement is identified with the Cair Guiragon listed among the 28 cities of Britain by the History of the Britons attributed to Nennius. This is not a British name but an adaption of its Old English name Weorgoran ceaster, the Weorgoran were precursors of Hwicce and probably West Saxons who entered the area some time after the 577 Battle of Dyrham. The oldest known church was St Helens, which was certainly British, the town was almost destroyed in 1041 after a rebellion against the punitive taxation of Harthacanute. During this time, the relocated to the nearby Bevere Island,2 miles upriver. The following century, the town was attacked several times during The Anarchy, by late medieval times the population had grown to around 10,000 as the manufacture of cloth started to become a large local industry. The town was designated a county corporate, giving it autonomy from local government. Worcester was the site of the Battle of Worcester, when Charles II attempted to regain the crown, in the fields a little to the west and south of the city. Worcester had supported the Parliamentary cause before the outbreak of war in 1642 but spent most of the war under Royalist occupation. After the war it used its location as the site of the final battles of the First Civil War. As part of this and not based upon any historical fact, it invented the epithet Fidelis Civitas, in 1670, the River Severn broke its banks and the subsequent flood was the worst ever seen by Worcester. The closest flood height to what is known as The Flood of 1670 was when the Severn flooded in the rains of July 2007
22.
Herefordshire
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Herefordshire is a historic English county in the West Midlands. It is a county and a unitary non-metropolitan county and district, also named in legislation as the County of Herefordshire. The Welsh unitary county covering the part of Gwent next to Herefordshire is Monmouthshire, Hereford is a cathedral city and is the county town, with a population of approximately 55,800 inhabitants it is also the largest settlement. The county is one of the most rural and sparsely populated in England, the land use is predominantly agricultural and the county is well known for its fruit and cider production, and the Hereford cattle breed. From 1974 to 1998, Herefordshire was part of the former county of Hereford. Herefordshire was reconstituted both as a new district and as a new county by Statutory Instrument as defined in The Hereford and this Order established Herefordshire as a unitary authority on 1 April 1998, combining county and district functions into a single council. Herefordshire is also called a unitary district, but this is not official nomenclature. Herefordshire is officially known as an authority for local government purposes. The Lieutenancies Act 1997 made Herefordshire a ceremonial county, covering the area of the unitary district. For Eurostat purposes it is a NUTS3 region and is one of three counties that comprise the Herefordshire, Worcestershire and Warwickshire NUTS2 region. The River Wye, which at 135 miles is the fifth-longest in the United Kingdom and it flows through both Hereford and Ross-on-Wye before returning to Wales. Leominster is situated on the River Lugg, a tributary of the Wye, there are two Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty in the county. The Wye Valley is located in the valleys south of Hereford, while the Malvern Hills are in the east of the county. Herefordshire is one of the 39 historic counties of England, in 1974 it was merged with neighbouring Worcestershire to form the Hereford and Worcester administrative county. Within this, Herefordshire was covered by the government districts of South Herefordshire, Hereford. However, the county was dissolved in 1998, resulting in the return of Herefordshire and Worcestershire as counties, the current ceremonial county and unitary district have broadly the same borders as the pre-1974 historic county. However this has been from a base, with only Northumberland. The population is White 98. 2%, Asian 0. 8%, Mixed 0. 7%, Black 0. 2%, gypsies and Travellers have historically been Herefordshires largest minority ethnic group
23.
Worcestershire
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Worcestershire is a county in the West Midlands of England. Between 1974 and 1998, it was merged with the county of Herefordshire as Hereford. The cathedral city of Worcester is the largest settlement and county town, other towns in the county include Redditch, Bromsgrove, Stourport-on-Severn, Droitwich, Evesham, Kidderminster, and Malvern. The north-east of Worcestershire includes part of the industrial West Midlands, the county is divided into six administrive districts, Worcester, Redditch, Wychavon, Malvern Hills, Wyre Forest, and Bromsgrove. The county borders Herefordshire, Shropshire, Staffordshire, West Midlands, Warwickshire, to the west, the county is bordered by the Malvern Hills and the spa town of Malvern. The south of the county is bordered by Gloucestershire and the edge of the Cotswolds. Two major rivers flow through the county, the Severn and the Avon, Worcestershire was the heartland of the early English kingdom of the Hwicce. It was absorbed by the Kingdom of Mercia during the 7th century and it was a separate ealdormanship briefly in the 10th century before forming part of the Earldom of Mercia in the 11th century. In the years leading up to the Norman conquest, the Church, supported by the cathedral, Evesham Abbey, Pershore Abbey, Malvern Priory, and other religious houses, increasingly dominated the county. The last known Anglo-Saxon sheriff of the county was Cyneweard of Laughern, on 4 August 1265, Simon de Montfort was killed in the Battle of Evesham in Worcestershire. In 1642, the Battle of Powick Bridge was the first major skirmish of the English Civil War, during the Middle Ages, much of the countys economy was based on the wool trade. Many areas of its forests, such as Feckenham Forest, Horewell Forest. Droitwich Spa, situated on large deposits of salt, was a centre of production from Roman times. These old industries have declined, to be replaced by other. The county is home to the worlds oldest continually published newspaper. Malvern was one of the centres of the 19th century rise in English spa towns due to Malvern water being believed to be very pure, containing nothing at all. The 2011 census found the population of Worcestershire to be 566,169, while this change is in line with the nationwide trend of White British peoples share of the population shrinking, Worcestershire is still much more ethnically homogeneous than the national average. In 2011 England as a whole was 79. 8% White British, the most notable were Dudley, Evenlode, and the area around Shipston-on-Stour
24.
MuxCo
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MuxCo is an operator of digital radio in the United Kingdom. It is, in joint ventures, the licensee for local DAB ensembles in various parts of England, the company is owned by Arqiva and Folder Media. Despite having had several licences since 2008, it did not launch any services until 2013, the first launch, of the multiplex based in Wrexham and Cheshire, was planned for November 2012 but was pushed back to the beginning of 2013. Test transmissions from Moel-y-Parc began on Monday 11 March 2013 and from Wrexham Rhos on Tuesday 12 March 2013, with full transmissions from these two sites scheduled to commence on 18 March 2013. It was announced on 9 March 2013 that the transmission site, St Johns Beacon
25.
Wolverhampton
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Wolverhampton is a city and metropolitan borough in the West Midlands, England. At the 2011 census, it had a population of 249,470, the demonym for people from the city is Wulfrunian. Historically part of Staffordshire, the city is named after Wulfrun, prior to the Norman Conquest, the areas name appears only as variants of Heantune or Hamtun, the prefix Wulfrun or similar appearing in 1070 and thereafter. Alternatively, the city may have earned its name from Wulfereēantūn after the Mercian King. The variation Wolveren Hampton is seen in records, e. g. in 1381. The city grew initially as a market town specialising in the woollen trade, in the Industrial Revolution, it became a major centre for coal mining, steel production, lock making and the manufacture of cars and motorcycles. The economy of the city is based on engineering, including a large aerospace industry. A local tradition states that King Wulfhere of Mercia founded an abbey of St Mary at Wolverhampton in 659, the Mercians and West Saxons claimed a decisive victory and the field of Woden is recognised by numerous place names in Wednesfield. In 985, King Ethelred the Unready granted lands at a place referred to as Heantun to Lady Wulfrun by royal charter and this became the site for the current St. Peters Church. A statue of Lady Wulfrun, sculpted by Sir Charles Wheeler, Wolverhampton is recorded in the Domesday Book in 1086 as being in the Hundred of Seisdon and the county of Staffordshire. The lords of the manor are listed as the canons of St Mary, with the tenant-in-chief being Samson, Wolverhampton at this date is a large settlement of fifty households. In 1179, there is mention of a market held in the town and this charter for a weekly market held on a Wednesday was eventually granted on 4 February 1258 by Henry III. From the 16th century onwards, Wolverhampton became home to a number of industries including lock and key making and iron. Wolverhampton suffered two Great Fires, the first in April 1590, and the second in September 1696, both fires started in todays Salop Street. The first fire lasted for five days and left nearly 700 people homeless and this second fire led to the purchase of the first fire engine within the city in September 1703. There is also evidence that Wolverhampton may have been the location of the first working Newcomen Steam Engine in 1712. In Victorian times, Wolverhampton grew to be a town mainly due to the huge amount of industry that occurred as a result of the abundance of coal. The remains of this wealth can be seen in houses such as Wightwick Manor and The Mount
26.
Shropshire
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Shropshire Council was created in 2009, a unitary authority taking over from the previous county council and five district councils. The borough of Telford and Wrekin has been a unitary authority since 1998. The county has many towns, including Whitchurch in the north, Newport north-east of Telford. The Ironbridge Gorge area is a UNESCO World Heritage Site, covering Ironbridge, Coalbrookdale, there are other historic industrial sites in the county, such as at Shrewsbury, Broseley, Snailbeach and Highley, as well as the Shropshire Union Canal. The Shropshire Hills Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty covers about a quarter of the county, Shropshire is one of Englands most rural and sparsely populated counties, with a population density of 136/km2. The Wrekin is one of the most famous landmarks in the county, though the highest hills are the Clee Hills, Stiperstones. Wenlock Edge is another significant geographical and geological landmark, the River Severn, Great Britains longest river, runs through the county, exiting into Worcestershire via the Severn Valley. Shropshire is landlocked and with an area of 3,487 square kilometres is Englands largest inland county, the county flower is the round-leaved sundew. The area was part of the lands of the Cornovii. This was a tribal Celtic iron age kingdom and their capital in pre-Roman times was probably a hill fort on the Wrekin. Ptolemys 2nd century Geography names one of their towns as being Viroconium Cornoviorum, after the Roman occupation of Britain ended in the 5th century, the Shropshire area was in the eastern part of the Welsh Kingdom of Powys, known in Welsh poetry as the Paradise of Powys. It was annexed to the Angle kingdom of Mercia by King Offa in the 8th century, in subsequent centuries, the area suffered repeated Danish invasion, and fortresses were built at Bridgnorth and Chirbury. Many defensive castles were built at this time across the county to defend against the Welsh and enable effective control of the region, including Ludlow Castle, the western frontier with Wales was not finally determined until the 14th century. Also in this period, a number of foundations were formed, the county largely falling at this time under the Diocese of Hereford. The county contains a number of historically significant towns, including Shrewsbury, Bridgnorth, additionally, the area around Coalbrookdale in the county is seen as highly significant, as it is regarded as one of the birthplaces of the Industrial Revolution. The village of Edgmond, near Newport, is the location of the lowest recorded temperature in England, the origin of the name Shropshire is the Old English Scrobbesbyrigscīr, which means Shrewsburyshire. The name may, therefore, be derived indirectly from a name such as Scrope. Salop is an old name for Shropshire, historically used as a form for post or telegrams
27.
Black Country
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The Black Country is an area of the West Midlands in England, West of Birmingham, including Dudley, Walsall and Sandwell. In the Industrial Revolution, it one of the most industrialised parts of Britain with coal mines, coking, iron foundries. The 14-mile road between Wolverhampton and Birmingham was described as one town in 1785. The first trace of The Black Country as an expression dates from the 1840s, the name is believed to come from the soot from the heavy industries that covered the area, although the 30-foot-thick coal seam close to the surface is another possible origin. The borders of the Black Country can be defined by using the cultural and industrial characteristics of the area. Areas around the canals which had mines extracting mineral resources and heavy industry refining these are included in this definition, cultural parameters include unique foods and dialect. The Black Country Society defines the Black Countrys borders as the area on the thirty foot coal seam and this definition includes West Bromwich and Oldbury, which had many deep pits, and Smethwick. The thick coal that underlies Smethwick wasnt mined until the 1870s, Sandwell Park Collierys pit was located in Smethwick and had thick coal as shown in written accounts from 1878 and coal was also heavily mined in Hamstead further east. Smethwick and Dudley Port were described as a thousand swarming hives of metallurgical industries by Samuel Griffiths in 1872, warley is also included, despite lacking industry and canals, as housing for industrial workers in Smethwick and Oldbury was built there. Another geological definition, the seam outcrop definition, only areas where the coal seam is shallow. Some coal mining areas to the east and west of the geologically defined Black Country are therefore excluded by this definition because the coal here is too deep down, the seam outcrop definition excludes areas in North Worcestershire and South Staffordshire. This is the basis for much of the controversy over definitions and he describes going into the black country of Staffordshire - Wolverhampton, Bilston and Tipton. He introduces the area as that region of mines and forges, commonly called the Black Country. The phrase was used again, though as a rather than a proper noun. An alternative theory for the meaning of the name is proposed as having been caused by the darkening of the soil due to the outcropping coal. In 1642 at the start of the Civil War, Charles I failed to capture the two arsenals of Portsmouth and Hull, which although in cities loyal to Parliament were located in counties loyal to him. As he had failed to capture the arsenals, Charles did not possess any supply of swords, pikes, guns, or shot, all these the Black Country could, from Stourbridge came shot, from Dudley cannon. Numerous small forges which then existed on every brook in the north of Worcestershire turned out successive supplies of sword blades and his method was employed on the Kings behalf
28.
NOW Wolverhampton
–
The company headquarters is located at Crawley Court in the village of Crawley, Hampshire. Its main customers are broadcasters and mobile network operators, and its main asset is a network of over 1,000 radio. It is owned by a consortium of investors led by CPP, Arqiva is a patron of The Radio Academy. Through its NOW Digital subsidiary, it operates various local digital radio ensembles, the company, which has a history that dates back to the beginning of regular public broadcasting in the United Kingdom, was actually only formed in 2005. Below is a history of the various organisations that are now part of Arqiva. The assets were split into a separate company, prior to being sold. The domestic transmitter network was purchased by a US company, Crown Castle, subsequently, in 2004, this was purchased by National Grid plc, which merged in its own private communication network, the name changing to National Grid Wireless in October 2005. This company developed on the back of the growth in mobile phones and this was added to by the purchase of the former BBC network National Grid Wireless, as it became, led a consortium bidding for the second UK national DAB multiplex licence, but was unsuccessful. The licence was awarded instead to 4 Digital Group in July 2007, the Television Act 1954 gave birth to the Independent Television Authority. The ITA appointed and regulated a number of regional programme contractors, the Sound Broadcasting Act 1972 created legal commercial radio in the UK for the first time. It was modelled on ITA, in that programmes were made by local contractors while the regulator, renamed the Independent Broadcasting Authority, the Broadcasting Act 1990 split the IBA into three bodies. The Independent Television Commission regulated commercial TV and the Radio Authority regulated commercial radio, at this point, technical standards regulation, previously carried out in accordance with the IBA engineering Code of Practice, seems to have disappeared from the regulatory landscape. Transcom was acquired by International CableTel Inc. which subsequently built its brand around the NTL name and it ran up huge debts during the dot-com boom which crippled the company for many years. In 1998, NTL acquired the UK antenna sites business of Simoco, in 1999 NTL acquired the UK field service operations business of Simoco. In 2004, NTL sold its broadcast unit to Macquarie Communications Infrastructure Group, in January 2005, Macquarie Communications Infrastructure Group renamed its new subsidiary Arqiva. Inmedia was owned by Kingston Communications and known as Kingston inmedia before being bought by the Carlyle Group in 2004. Arqiva announced the signing of a Sale & Purchase Agreement with BT to acquire the full-time service components of BT’s Satellite Broadcast Services business for £25 million in cash in November 2006. The deal will include long-term customer contracts, operations and personnel located in the USA, France, Italy, deal completion is subject to regulatory approval in the UK and Germany
29.
Nottingham
–
Nottingham is a city and unitary authority area in Nottinghamshire, England, located 128 miles north of London, in the East Midlands. Nottingham has links to the legend of Robin Hood and to the lace-making, bicycle and it was granted its city charter in 1897 as part of Queen Victorias Diamond Jubilee celebrations. Nottingham is a tourist destination, in 2011, visitors spent over £1.5 billion - the thirteenth highest amount in Englands 111 statistical territories. In 2015, Nottingham had an population of 321,550 with the wider urban area. Its urban area is the largest in the east Midlands and the second largest in the Midlands, the population of the Nottingham/Derby metropolitan area is estimated to be 1,610,000. Its metropolitan economy is the seventh largest in the United Kingdom with a GDP of $50. 9bn, the city is also ranked as a sufficiency-level world city by the Globalization and World Cities Research Network. It is also a sporting centre, and in October 2015 was named Home of English Sport. The city also has rugby, ice hockey and cricket teams, and the Aegon Nottingham Open. This accolade came just over a year after Nottingham was named as the UKs first City of Football, on 11 December 2015, Nottingham was named a Unesco City of Literature, joining Norwich, Melbourne, Prague and Barcelona as one of only a handful in the world. The title reflects Nottinghams literary heritage, with Lord Byron, DH Lawrence and it has two universities, the University of Nottingham and Nottingham Trent University, which are attended by over 70,610 students. In modern Welsh it is known poetically as Y Ty Ogofog, when it fell under the rule of a Saxon chieftain named Snot it became known as Snotingaham, the homestead of Snots people. Some authors derive Nottingham from Snottenga, caves, and ham, Nottingham Castle was constructed in 1068 on a sandstone outcrop by the River Leen. Following the Norman Conquest the Saxon settlement developed into the English Borough of Nottingham and housed a Town Hall, a settlement also developed around the castle on the hill opposite and was the French borough supporting the Normans in the castle. Eventually, the space between was built on as the town grew and the Old Market Square became the focus of Nottingham several centuries later, defences, consisted initially of a ditch and bank in the early 12th century. The ditch was later widened, in the mid 13th century, a short length of the wall survives, and is visible at the northern end of Maid Marian Way, and is protected as a Scheduled Monument. On the return of Richard the Lionheart from the Crusades, the Castle was occupied by supporters of Prince John and it was besieged by Richard and, after a sharp conflict, was captured. In the legends of Robin Hood, Nottingham Castle is the scene of the showdown between the Sheriff and the hero outlaw. By the 15th century Nottingham had established itself as a centre of an export trade in religious sculpture made from Nottingham Alabaster
30.
East Midlands
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The East Midlands is one of nine official regions of England at the first level of NUTS for statistical purposes. The eastern part of the Midlands, it consists of Derbyshire, Leicestershire, Lincolnshire, Northamptonshire, Nottinghamshire, the region has an area of 15,627 km2, and was home to over 4.5 million people in 2011. The regions relative proximity to London and its connectivity on the national motorway and it is also the location of East Midlands Airport in north Leicestershire. The high point at 636 m is Kinder Scout, in the Peak District of the southern Pennines in northwest Derbyshire near Glossop. Other upland, hilly areas of 95 to 280 m in altitude, together with lakes and reservoirs, rise in and around the Charnwood Forest north of Leicester, and in the Lincolnshire Wolds. The regions major rivers, the Nene, the Soar, the Trent and the Welland, flow in a direction towards the Humber. The Derwent, conversely, rises in the High Peak before flowing south to join the Trent some 2 miles before its conflux with the Soar, the centre of the East Midlands area lies roughly between Bingham, Nottinghamshire and Bottesford, Leicestershire. The geographical centre of England lies in Higham on the Hill in west Leicestershire, some 88% of the land is rural in character, although agriculture accounts for less than three per cent of the regions jobs. Lincolnshire is the only county of the six, with a true North Sea coastline of about 30 miles due to the protection afforded by Spurn Head. Church Flatts Farm in Coton in the Elms, South Derbyshire, is the furthest place from the sea in the UK, in April 1936 the first Ordnance Survey trig point was sited at Cold Ashby in Northamptonshire. The Royal Society of Wildlife Trusts and The Wildlife Trusts are based next to the River Trent, the National Centre for Earth Observation is at the University of Leicester. The region is home to large quantities of limestone, and the East Midlands Oil Province, Charnwood Forest is noted for its abundant levels of volcanic rock, estimated to be approximately 600 million years old. 25% of the UKs cement is manufactured in the region at three sites in Hope and Tunstead in Derbyshire, and in Ketton Cement Works in Rutland. Of the aggregates that are produced in the region, 25% is from Derbyshire, Lincolnshire and Nottinghamshire each produce around 30% of the regions sand and gravel output. Barwell in Leicestershire had Britains largest meteorite on 24 December 1965, the 2008 Lincolnshire earthquake was 5.2 magnitude. Rockingham Forest was designated as a hunting forest by William the Conqueror. The National Forest is a project in central England run by The National Forest Company. It stretches from the outskirts of Leicester in the east to Burton upon Trent in the west
31.
NOW Nottingham
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The company headquarters is located at Crawley Court in the village of Crawley, Hampshire. Its main customers are broadcasters and mobile network operators, and its main asset is a network of over 1,000 radio. It is owned by a consortium of investors led by CPP, Arqiva is a patron of The Radio Academy. Through its NOW Digital subsidiary, it operates various local digital radio ensembles, the company, which has a history that dates back to the beginning of regular public broadcasting in the United Kingdom, was actually only formed in 2005. Below is a history of the various organisations that are now part of Arqiva. The assets were split into a separate company, prior to being sold. The domestic transmitter network was purchased by a US company, Crown Castle, subsequently, in 2004, this was purchased by National Grid plc, which merged in its own private communication network, the name changing to National Grid Wireless in October 2005. This company developed on the back of the growth in mobile phones and this was added to by the purchase of the former BBC network National Grid Wireless, as it became, led a consortium bidding for the second UK national DAB multiplex licence, but was unsuccessful. The licence was awarded instead to 4 Digital Group in July 2007, the Television Act 1954 gave birth to the Independent Television Authority. The ITA appointed and regulated a number of regional programme contractors, the Sound Broadcasting Act 1972 created legal commercial radio in the UK for the first time. It was modelled on ITA, in that programmes were made by local contractors while the regulator, renamed the Independent Broadcasting Authority, the Broadcasting Act 1990 split the IBA into three bodies. The Independent Television Commission regulated commercial TV and the Radio Authority regulated commercial radio, at this point, technical standards regulation, previously carried out in accordance with the IBA engineering Code of Practice, seems to have disappeared from the regulatory landscape. Transcom was acquired by International CableTel Inc. which subsequently built its brand around the NTL name and it ran up huge debts during the dot-com boom which crippled the company for many years. In 1998, NTL acquired the UK antenna sites business of Simoco, in 1999 NTL acquired the UK field service operations business of Simoco. In 2004, NTL sold its broadcast unit to Macquarie Communications Infrastructure Group, in January 2005, Macquarie Communications Infrastructure Group renamed its new subsidiary Arqiva. Inmedia was owned by Kingston Communications and known as Kingston inmedia before being bought by the Carlyle Group in 2004. Arqiva announced the signing of a Sale & Purchase Agreement with BT to acquire the full-time service components of BT’s Satellite Broadcast Services business for £25 million in cash in November 2006. The deal will include long-term customer contracts, operations and personnel located in the USA, France, Italy, deal completion is subject to regulatory approval in the UK and Germany
32.
West Midlands (county)
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The West Midlands is a metropolitan county in western central England with a 2014 estimated population of 2,808,356, making it the second most populous county in England. It came into existence as a county in 1974 after the passage of the Local Government Act 1972. The county itself is a NUTS2 region within the wider NUTS1 region of the same name. The county consists of seven boroughs, the City of Birmingham, the City of Coventry, and the City of Wolverhampton, as well as Dudley, Sandwell, Solihull. The metropolitan county exists in law and as a frame of reference. And as a county it has a Lord Lieutenant and a High Sheriff. A new administrative body for the county, the West Midlands Combined Authority was created in June 2016, there will be a directly elected Mayor of the West Midlands from May 2017. Other county-wide bodies include the West Midlands Police, the West Midlands Fire Service, the county is sometimes described as the West Midlands metropolitan area or the West Midlands conurbation, although these have different, and less clearly defined, boundaries. The main conurbation, or urban area, does not include Coventry for example, Coventry was one of Englands most important cities during the Middle Ages, with its prosperity built upon wool and cloth manufacture. Birmingham and Wolverhampton have a tradition of dating back to the 16th century. Birmingham was known for its manufacture of arms, whereas Wolverhampton became a centre of lock manufacture. The coal and iron ore deposits of the Black Country area provided a source of raw materials. The area grew rapidly during the Industrial Revolution, and by the 20th century had grown into one large conurbation, Coventry was slower to develop, but by the early 20th century, it had become an important centre of bicycle and car manufacture. Around the periphery of this area, three towns remained separate, while Aldridge and Brownhills joined to form a single unit. The West Midlands Passenger Transport Authority was established in 1968, in 1974, the Local Government Act 1972 came into effect, creating the metropolitan county of West Midlands. This area was based on the seven county boroughs and the other non-county boroughs, the new area consisted of seven new metropolitan boroughs, with Aldridge-Brownhills added to Walsall, Halesowen and Stourbridge to Dudley and Sutton Coldfield to Birmingham. A new borough of Sandwell was formed by the merger of West Bromwich, the 1974 reform created the West Midlands County Council that covered the entire area and dealt with strategic issues. Between 1974 and 1986, the county had a system of local government
33.
Wayback Machine
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The Internet Archive launched the Wayback Machine in October 2001. It was set up by Brewster Kahle and Bruce Gilliat, and is maintained with content from Alexa Internet, the service enables users to see archived versions of web pages across time, which the archive calls a three dimensional index. Since 1996, the Wayback Machine has been archiving cached pages of websites onto its large cluster of Linux nodes and it revisits sites every few weeks or months and archives a new version. Sites can also be captured on the fly by visitors who enter the sites URL into a search box, the intent is to capture and archive content that otherwise would be lost whenever a site is changed or closed down. The overall vision of the machines creators is to archive the entire Internet, the name Wayback Machine was chosen as a reference to the WABAC machine, a time-traveling device used by the characters Mr. Peabody and Sherman in The Rocky and Bullwinkle Show, an animated cartoon. These crawlers also respect the robots exclusion standard for websites whose owners opt for them not to appear in search results or be cached, to overcome inconsistencies in partially cached websites, Archive-It. Information had been kept on digital tape for five years, with Kahle occasionally allowing researchers, when the archive reached its fifth anniversary, it was unveiled and opened to the public in a ceremony at the University of California, Berkeley. Snapshots usually become more than six months after they are archived or, in some cases, even later. The frequency of snapshots is variable, so not all tracked website updates are recorded, Sometimes there are intervals of several weeks or years between snapshots. After August 2008 sites had to be listed on the Open Directory in order to be included. As of 2009, the Wayback Machine contained approximately three petabytes of data and was growing at a rate of 100 terabytes each month, the growth rate reported in 2003 was 12 terabytes/month, the data is stored on PetaBox rack systems manufactured by Capricorn Technologies. In 2009, the Internet Archive migrated its customized storage architecture to Sun Open Storage, in 2011 a new, improved version of the Wayback Machine, with an updated interface and fresher index of archived content, was made available for public testing. The index driving the classic Wayback Machine only has a bit of material past 2008. In January 2013, the company announced a ground-breaking milestone of 240 billion URLs, in October 2013, the company announced the Save a Page feature which allows any Internet user to archive the contents of a URL. This became a threat of abuse by the service for hosting malicious binaries, as of December 2014, the Wayback Machine contained almost nine petabytes of data and was growing at a rate of about 20 terabytes each week. Between October 2013 and March 2015 the websites global Alexa rank changed from 162 to 208, in a 2009 case, Netbula, LLC v. Chordiant Software Inc. defendant Chordiant filed a motion to compel Netbula to disable the robots. Netbula objected to the motion on the ground that defendants were asking to alter Netbulas website, in an October 2004 case, Telewizja Polska USA, Inc. v. Echostar Satellite, No.02 C3293,65 Fed. 673, a litigant attempted to use the Wayback Machine archives as a source of admissible evidence, Telewizja Polska is the provider of TVP Polonia and EchoStar operates the Dish Network
34.
Australian Geographic
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Australian Geographic is a media business that produces the Australian Geographic magazine, DMag magazine, specialist book titles, travel guides, diaries and calendars and online media. It published editions of the Australian Encyclopaedia and it previously operated the Australian Geographical retail chain stores and Australian Geographic Travel and Australian Geographic Adventures. Australian Geographic magazine, originally titled Dick Smiths Australian Geographic, is a geographical journal created by Dick Smith in 1986. The magazine focuses mainly on stories about Australia, or about Australian people in other countries, the six editions published each year are available by subscription and on newsstands. They include posters or sheet maps in each edition, as well as photographs, Australian Geographic also has a website that includes the entire magazine digital archive. Each year, a portion of the profits is provided to the Australian Geographic Society, members of the public were invited to become members and make financial contributions to the Society. In a circular relationship, the magazine was represented to be the official journal of the Australian Geographic Society, through its Society, Australian Geographic supports scientific research as well as environmental and community projects. Funds are also used to highlight and support Australian adventurers and produce related diaries, calendars, the Australian Geographic magazine, originally titled Dick Smiths Australian Geographic, was initially published by Australian Geographic Pty Ltd, a private company controlled by Dick Smith. Smith, the founder of Dick Smith Electronics and Dick Smith Foods, after two years he removed his name from the magazine cover. Australian Geographic Pty Ltd also operated the Australian Geographic chain of retail stores, the publications offices were originally based in Terrey Hills north of Sydney. Smith wanted the publication to focus on accuracy by exclusively including articles that were peer-reviewed, Australian Geographic acquired rights to the Australian Encyclopaedia and published editions in 1988 and 1996. In 1995, when subscriptions totalled more than 200,000, in December 1998, the business was bought out by its management. From September 2000 to December 2001, Australian Geographic published a bimonthly science, there were, however, only eight issues published before the magazine went permanently out of print. In November 2006, PBL Medias ACP Magazines purchased the Australian Geographic publishing division, today the Australian Geographic magazine is based at Park Street Sydney. The current editor-in-chief of Australian Geographic is Chrissie Goldrick, while the editor is John Pickrell, from 2007 to 2016 Australian Geographic Retail was owned by Myer Family Investments but after large operating losses it was sold in August 2016 to The Co-op, a retail supplier to universities. The Australian Geographic Society Adventure Award has been awarded since 1987 and is Australias longest-running award for adventure and it is judged on merit and therefore not all of the categories are awarded annually. The award is a celebration of achievement and is not a competition, the award is given in two categories – Adventurer of the Year, and Young Adventurer of the Year. Geographic magazine Australian Geographic 10th Anniversary Collectors Edition No.40 Oct – Dec 1995 Australian Geographic
35.
The Australian Women's Weekly
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The Australian Womens Weekly, sometimes known as simply The Weekly, is an Australian monthly womens magazine published by Bauer Media Group in Sydney. For many years it was the one magazine in Australia but it is now outsold by the Australian edition of the American publication Better Homes. The magazine was started in 1933 by Frank Packer as a weekly publication, the first editor was George Warnecke and the initial dummy was laid out by William Edwin Pidgeon who went on to do many famous covers over the next 25 years. The Weekly celebrated its 50th anniversary of publication in June 1983, PBL launched Womens Weekly versions in Singapore and Malaysia, in 1997 and 2000, respectively, which follow The Weeklys style while containing largely local content. In 2012 the parent company of the magazine, ACP Magazines, audited circulation in June 2013 was 459,175 copies monthly. Readership numbers for September 2014 were estimated to be 1,828,000, the magazine is usually 240 pages long and printed on glossy paper trimmed to A4 page size, although it originally was a Tabloid in size and layout. It typically contains feature articles about the modern Australian woman, for many years, it included a lift-out TV guide. In 1982, publication frequency was reduced from weekly to monthly, Weekly was retained in the name for reasons of familiarity and because a womans monthly was a slang term for menstruation. The final weekly edition was dated 15 December 1982, followed by the first monthly edition dated January 1983, the TV guide was discontinued on introduction of the monthly format. Previous editors of The Weekly have included Alice Mabel Jackson, Deborah Thomas, Julie Zaetta, Ita Buttrose, Jennifer Rowe, the editor was Helen McCabe until January 2016, who has held this position since August 2009. She attempted to improve The Weeklys news coverage, in late 2009, she hired Jordan Baker, formerly a reporter and travel writer for The Sydney Morning Herald, as news editor. In February 2016 Kim Wilson was named as the editor of the magazine
36.
Cosmopolitan (magazine)
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Cosmopolitan is an international fashion magazine for women. Often referred to as Cosmo, its content as of 2011 includes articles on issues, relationships, sex, health, careers, self-improvement, celebrities, fashion. Published by Hearst Corporation, Cosmopolitan has 64 international editions, is printed in 35 languages, Cosmopolitan began as a family magazine, launched in 1886 by Schlicht & Field of New York as The Cosmopolitan. There was also a department for the members of the family. Cosmopolitans circulation reached 25,000 that year, but by November 1888, John Brisben Walker acquired the magazine in 1889. That same year, he dispatched Elizabeth Bisland on a race around the world against Nellie Bly to draw attention to his magazine. Under John Brisben Walkers ownership, E. D. Walker, formerly with Harpers Monthly, took over as the new editor, introducing colour illustrations, serials and book reviews. It became a market for fiction, featuring such authors as Annie Besant, Ambrose Bierce, Theodore Dreiser, Rudyard Kipling, Jack London, Willa Cather. The magazines circulation climbed to 75,000 by 1892, in 1897, Cosmopolitan announced plans for a free correspondence school, No charge of any kind will be made to the student. All expenses for the present will be borne by the Cosmopolitan, No conditions, except a pledge of a given number of hours of study. When 20,000 immediately signed up, Walker could not fund the school, also in 1897, H. G. Wells The War of the Worlds was serialized, as was his The First Men in the Moon. Olive Schreiner contributed an article about the Boer War. And Colorado - New Tricks in an Old Game, Jack Londons novella, The Red One, was published in the October 1918 issue, and a constant presence from 1910-18 was Arthur B. Reeve, with 82 stories featuring Craig Kennedy, the scientific detective, Magazine illustrators included Francis Attwood, Dean Cornwell, Harrison Fisher, and James Montgomery Flagg. Hearst formed Cosmopolitan Productions, a company based in New York City from 1918 to 1923, then Hollywood until 1938. Cosmopolitan magazine was titled as Hearsts International Combined with Cosmopolitan from 1925 until 1952. In 1911, Hearst had bought a middling monthly magazine called World To-Day, in June 1914 it was shortened to Hearsts and was ultimately titled Hearsts International in May 1922. In order to spare serious cutbacks at San Simeon, Hearst merged the magazine Hearsts International with Cosmopolitan effective March 1925, after Hearst died in 1951, the Hearsts International disappeared from the magazine cover altogether in April 1952
37.
Dolly (magazine)
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DOLLY was a bimonthly teen magazine started in 1970 by Fairfax Ltd. in Australia and New Zealand, and purchased by ACP in 1988. The magazine became online-only publication and ceased the print edition in December 2016, Dolly was the basis and inspiration for Sassy Magazine in the United States. The magazine also has a website containing games, information on upcoming issues, quizzes, the magazine has now produced over 400 issues and as of 2007 has a readership of 505,000. The magazine was launched in 1970 by Jan Goldie in 1970, the previous editor was Lucy Cousins. The magazine has its headquarters in Sydney, in November 2016 it was announced that the December 2016 issue would be the last print issue of Dolly. The Dolly Model Competition is a branch from the Dolly magazine and it is a competition held for teen readers to enter to have the chance to win a modelling career. The competition first started in 1992 and ended in 2002 when the editor in chief of Dolly, Mia Freedman felt it gave a negative impression towards young teenage girls. In 2012 it returned after a 10-year hiatus, with the announced as 13-year-old Kirsty Thatcher from Brisbane. The winner will be awarded a one year contract with Chadwick Modeling agency, a trip to New York to meet with Chadwicks US affiliates, miranda Kerr is now known world-wide and is a former Victorias Secret model. Past Winners Dolly Doctor is a segment that has run in Dolly since its first issue, john Wright was the first Dolly Doctor. Melissa Kang has been the Dolly Doctor since 1993, a Dolly Doctor standalone app was released in 2015. A comparison of Dolly Doctor with other Australian magazines found that Dolly Doctor gave the most accurate health advice, in 2005, Dolly came into media attention for taking advantage of young people wanting to get into the magazine industry. Dolly was accused of soliciting, publishing and ridiculing unpaid articles from hopeful young women looking for a job in magazine journalism, the accompanying caption which included an arrow pointing to the models genital region said Look Closer, Eww. Not that close and Umm, we think you forgot something
38.
Empire (film magazine)
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Empire is a British film magazine published monthly by Bauer Consumer Media of Hamburg based Bauer Media Group. From the first issue in July 1989, the magazine was edited by Barry McIlheney, Bauer purchased Emap Consumer Media in early 2008. It is the biggest selling magazine in the United Kingdom and is also published in the United States, Australia, Turkey, Russia, Italy. Empire organises the annual Empire Awards which were sponsored by Sony Ericsson, the awards are voted for by readers of the magazine. Empire is populist in both approach and coverage and it reviews both mainstream films and art films, but feature articles concentrate on the former. As well as news, previews, and reviews, Empire has some other regular features. Each issue features a Classic Scene, a transcript from a film scene. The first such classic scene to be featured was the I could have been a scene from On the Waterfront. The regular Top 10 feature lists Empires choice of the top ten examples of something film-related, for example,10 Best Chase Scenes or 10 Best Movie Gags in The Simpsons. The Re. View section covers Blu-ray and DVD news and releases, Kim Newmans Movie Dungeon is a regular feature in the Re. View section, in which critic Kim Newman reviews the most obscure releases, mostly low budget horror movies. How much Is Pint of Milk presents celebrities answers to silly or unusual questions and this is intended as a guide to the chosen celebritys contact with reality, and as such can be more informative than a direct interview by reporting some surprising responses. Each magazine includes a Spine Quote, in which a relatively challenging quote is printed on the spine of the magazine, there are usually some obvious and obscure links from the quote to the main features of that months edition. Readers are invited to identify the source and the links to win a prize. Celebrity Mastermind is another regular in which a celebrity is given questions about the films they were in or they directed, celebrities range from Quentin Tarantino and Christopher Lee to John Carpenter and Michael Keaton. A regular feature since issue 167, the feature is a two-page essay on a film selected by Empire in the Re. View section. The selection of the films seem to be random and follow no specific pattern. Only a few issues since the first masterpiece feature have not featured one –169,179,196,197,198 and 246, Issue 240 had director Frank Darabont select 223 masterpieces. L. A. Confidential was featured twice, once in issue 191 and this list is as follows, Alien – Dinner chestburster The Omen – Glass decapitation An American Werewolf in London – Wolf transformation The Exorcist – Crucifix abuse Risky Business – Ready Ralph
39.
FHM Australia
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FHM was the Australian edition of the British monthly mens lifestyle magazine called FHM. The magazine was published between April 1998 and May 2012 in Australia, FHM Australia was first published in April 1998. The founding company was EMAP Australia, the magazine was part of and published by ACP Magazines. The company acquired EMAP Australia in 2008, guy Mosel served as the editor-in-chief of the magazine, which was published on a monthly basis. In 2006, Lauryn Eagle won the FHM Lara Croft Challenge involved physical challenges of shooting, running, ropes, ladders, FHM Australia went defunct with its May 2012 issue. Each of FHMs international editions publish yearly rankings for the sexiest women alive based on public, dates of magazine issues, winners, ages of winners at the time of selection, and pertinent comments are listed below for the Australian edition
40.
Grazia
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Grazia is a weekly womens magazine that originated in Italy with international editions printed in Albania, Bahrain, Bulgaria, China, Croatia, France, Germany. Greece, Indonesia, India, Japan, Macedonia, Mexico, the Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Pakistan, Serbia, Slovenia, South Korea, Spain, Thailand, the Italian edition of Grazia was first published Mondadori in November 1938. The magazine was modelled on the American magazine Harpers Bazaar, the start of Grazia was a return in Italy to traditionalist values such as cooking and child-rearing. During the fascist rule in the country the magazine followed the Fascist policies, following World War II the magazine was renewed, but its conservative stance remained. From its beginning in 1938 to September 1943, Bruno Munari served as the art director for the magazine and for another Mondadori title and this brought international condemnation from animal lovers owing to the number of unwanted pets which are killed in overcrowded shelters each week. A press statement from the British Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals was critical of Grazia, Grazia has international editions in several countries. Its first international edition was published in Bulgaria in March 2004, the British edition of the magazine began publication in February 2005 and is owned in the UK under licence by Bauer Consumer Media. The Greek version was launched in April 2005, in November of the same year its edition in the United Arab Emirates was first issued. The magazine had an edition in Croatia from February 2006 and in Serbia from June 2006, the Russian edition began publication in March 2007, while the Netherlands followed in August 2007. Grazia India was launched in May 2008 and its Australian edition began publication in July 2008, but folded in February 2013. In February 2009 the Chinese version of Grazia was started, being its twelfth international edition, the French version of the magazine was first published in August 2009. The inaugural issue of Grazia Korea was launched on 20 February 2013 and it features a photospread of actors Lee Byung-hun, Bae Soo-bin and Kim Do-hyun for the play based on the film Masquerade. Grazia Pakistan was launched in February 2017, Grazia had a circulation of 374,213 copies in 1984. The Italian version of the magazine had a circulation of 240,000 copies from January to August 2003, the 2007 circulation of the Italian edition was 218,083 copies. In Italy, the circulation of the rose to 382,000 copies in the first half of 2011. During the same period the British edition of the magazine had a circulation of 219,741 copies, the circulation in the UK for the second half of 2013 was 160,019 copies
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Harper's Bazaar
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Harpers Bazaar is an American womens fashion magazine, first published in 1867. Harpers Bazaar is published by Hearst and, as a magazine, considers itself to be the resource for women who are the first to buy the best. Writers Alice Meynell, Daisy Fellowes, Gloria Guinness, and Eleanor Hoyt Brainerd, when Harpers Bazaar began publication, it was a weekly magazine catering to women in the middle and upper classes. It showcased fashion from Germany and Paris in a newspaper-design format and it was not until 1901 that Harpers moved to a monthly issued magazine which it maintains today. Now Harpers Bazaar is owned and operated by the Hearst Corporation in the U. S. harper & Brothers founded the magazine. This company also gave birth to Harpers Magazine and HarperCollins Publishing, glenda Bailey is the editor-in-chief of U. S. edition of Harpers Bazaar. As the turn-of-the-century began in America, Harpers Bazaar began featuring both illustrations and photographs for its covers and inside features of society and increasingly of fashion. During the late Victorian period, as the suffrage movement was gaining momentum. Bazaar also began profiling prominent socialites, such as the Astors, in 1933, editor-in-chief Carmel Snow brought photojournalist Martin Munkacsi to a windswept beach to shoot a swimwear spread. As the model ran toward the camera, Munkacsi took the picture that made fashion-magazine history, until that moment, nearly all fashion was carefully staged on mannequin-like models in a studio. Snows buoyant spirit and wicked sense of adventure brought life to the pages of Bazaar, Snows genius came from cultivating the best people. Her first big find was art director Alexey Brodovitch, who innovated Bazaars iconic Didot logo, Snow also unleashed the force of nature known as Diana Vreeland, whom she brought on as fashion editor in 1936. The collaboration of these four visionaries resulted in some of the germane fashion shoots of the 20th century and ended only with Snows retirement, at the age of 70, throughout his career at the magazine, Brodovitch, a Russian émigré, revolutionized magazine design. With his directive Astonish me, he inspired some of the greatest visual artists of the 20th century, one of his assistants was future Rolling Stone art director Tony Lane. Sadly, Brodovitchs personal life was less triumphant, plagued by alcoholism, he left Bazaar in 1958 and eventually moved to the south of France, where he died in 1971. Diana, who is said to have invented the word pizzazz, before long, she became fashion editor, collaborating with photographers Louise Dahl-Wolfe and Richard Avedon and, later, art director Henry Wolf. Her eccentricity, perception and wit, as well as her sharp wit and sweeping pronouncements, were memorialized in the movie Funny Face, making her, for many, Richard Avedon began creating fashion portfolios for Harpers Bazaar at the age of 22. His distinctive photographs showed both chic insouciance and boundless vitality, avedons women leapt off curbs, roller-skated on the Place de la Concorde, and were seen in nightclubs, enjoying the freedom and fashions of the postwar era
