Heart (radio network)
Heart is a network of thirteen independent adult contemporary radio stations in the United Kingdom, broadcasting a mix of local and networked programming, although only the stations in Scotland and Wales still have their own shows. Ten of the stations are owned and operated by Global, while the other three are owned and operated under separate franchise agreements. The national version of the network is widely available on Global Player, Freeview, Sky, Freesat, Virgin Media and Digital One DAB.
According to RAJAR, the Heart ‘brand’ had an average weekly audience of 12.8 million during the July to September 2025 quarter, with the main Heart network reaching an average weekly audience of 9.4 million during same period. While the overall Heart brand is running neck and neck with its rival BBC Radio 2 the BBC station remains significantly ahead when compared with the main Heart network of stations. While the station’s owner, Global, states that “Heart remains the UK’s biggest radio brand,” Radio 2 remains significantly ahead in terms of hours listened, with an average of 133 million hours per week during the July to September 2025 quarter for the BBC station, compared to 82 million for the Heart ‘brand’ and 59 million for the main Heart network.
History
Launch
Heart began broadcasting in the West Midlands on 6 September 1994 as 100.7 Heart FM, becoming the UK's third Independent Regional Radio station, five days after Century Radio in North East England, and Jazz FM North West.The first song to be played on 100.7 Heart FM was Something Got Me Started by Simply Red. Its original format of "soft adult contemporary" music included artists such as Lionel Richie and Tina Turner. Reflecting this, its early slogan was 100.7 Degrees Cooler!
Heart 106.2 began test transmissions in London in August 1995, prior to the station launch on 5 September. This included live broadcasts of WPLJ from New York City.
In 1996 the station's original "soft AC" music format was replaced with a generally more neutral Hot AC playlist. Century 106 in the East Midlands became the third station of the Heart network in 2005 after GCap Media sold Century. Chrysalis' radio holdings were sold to Global Radio in 2007.
When GCap Media was taken over by Global Radio in 2008, it announced plans to dissolve the 41-station One Network, with one station becoming part of the Galaxy network, four stations forming a West Midlands regional network, seven stations joining Capital FM to form The Hit Music Network and the remaining 29 stations forming the Heart Network.
Heart East Midlands was sold to Orion Media, along with the West Midlands network of local stations, due to the same competition concerns that had forced its earlier sale to Chrysalis.
Network restructuring
Between June and September 2010, Global Radio merged the majority of the 33 Heart stations to create a smaller network of 18 local and regional stations, in line with new OFCOM guidelines on local output requirements. Two Hit Music Network stations were also closed and merged with Heart stations.| Merged station | Closed stations | City of licence |
| Heart Cambridgeshire | Heart Peterborough Heart Cambridge | Peterborough later Cambridge |
| Heart South West | Heart Exeter and Heart Torbay Heart Plymouth Heart South Devon Heart North Devon | Exeter |
| Heart East Anglia | Heart Norwich Heart Ipswich | Norwich |
| Heart Essex | Heart Chelmsford & Southend Heart Colchester Ten 17 | Chelmsford |
| Heart Hertfordshire | Rebranded from Hertfordshire's Mercury 96.6 | Watford |
| Heart Four Counties | Heart Northants Heart Milton Keynes Heart Dunstable Heart Bedford | Dunstable, later Milton Keynes |
| Heart North West and Wales | Heart North Wales Coast Heart Cheshire and North East Wales Heart Wirral | Wrexham |
| Heart South Coast | Heart Dorset & New Forest Heart Hampshire | Fareham |
| Heart Sussex and Surrey | Heart Sussex Mercury FM | Brighton |
| Heart Thames Valley | Heart Berkshire Heart Oxfordshire | Reading |
| Heart West Country | Heart Bristol Heart Somerset Heart Bath | Bristol |
Stations in Gloucestershire, Kent, London, the West Midlands, the East Midlands and Wiltshire were unaffected by the changes. Heart Cymru, serving Gwynedd and Anglesey, moved its studios from Bangor to Wrexham but retained its extended local output of 10 hours on weekdays and 8 hours on Saturdays and Sundays. Heart North West and Wales retained an opt-out on 96.3FM for Welsh language programming.
On 1 January 2011, Orion Media, the owners of Heart East Midlands renamed and relaunched the station as 'Gem 106', ending a franchise agreement with Global Radio formed when Global purchased GCap – the agreement allowed Orion to use the Heart identity and carry networked programming from London. The move saw Heart's networked programming replaced by local output from Nottingham.
Network expansion
On 19 March 2012, Global Radio announced it had bought the Cornwall ILR station Atlantic FM from joint owners Tindle Radio and Camel Media. Atlantic FM became part of the Heart Network and merged with Heart Devon on Monday 7 May 2012 to form Heart South West, which is based in Exeter.On 6 February 2014, Global Radio announced it would be rebranding all Real Radio stations as Heart and would be selling Real Radio Yorkshire and the Northern licence for Real Radio Wales to Communicorp. The Communicorp-owned stations use Heart's network programming and branding under a franchise agreement with Global.
Global Radio extended the Heart network to the Real Radio network of regional stations from Tuesday 6 May 2014. The two stations based in Wrexham – Heart North West and Wales and Heart Cymru – became part of the Capital FM Network on the same date.
On 20 November 2017, CN Group announced The Bay would be sold to Global along with sister station Lakeland Radio – the sale was finalised by 1 December 2017. The Bay was rebranded as Heart, with Lakeland Radio becoming Smooth on 4 March 2018.
Music from the 1960s, 1970s & 1980s was removed from the original FM station after Christmas 2017.
Consolidation
In February 2019, following OFCOM's decision to relax local content obligations from commercial radio, it was announced Heart would replace its local breakfast and weekend shows with additional networked programming from London by the end of the year. This reduced total weekly hours of local programming on each station from 43 to 15 and led to dozens of job losses.Drivetime output were reduced from 23 localised shows to 10 programmes covering enlarged areas, formed from the merger of Heart stations. Ten studios producing local programming were closed. Localised news, traffic updates and advertising was retained across all licence areas.
In April 2019, it was reported the local Heart Breakfast shows would be replaced by a national Heart Breakfast show from London on 3 June 2019, presented by Jamie Theakston and Amanda Holden. The merging stations ceased local output on 31 May 2019.
In Hertfordshire, a further change saw Heart Hertfordshire, based in Watford, merged with BOB fm – following its acquisition by Communicorp – to form a single countywide service.
Stations in the North East of England, Wales, central and southern Scotland, the West Midlands and Yorkshire continue to serve their single licence areas as before.
| Merged station | Closed stations | City of licence |
| Heart East | Heart Cambridgeshire Heart East Anglia Heart Essex Heart Four Counties | Milton Keynes |
| Heart Hertfordshire | BOB fm Heart Hertfordshire | Watford |
| Heart North West | Heart North Lancashire & Cumbria Heart North West | Manchester |
| Heart South | Heart Kent Heart Solent Heart Sussex and Surrey Heart Thames Valley | Fareham |
| Heart West | Heart Gloucestershire Heart South West Heart West Country Heart Wiltshire | Bristol |
Heart Scotland re-introduces local programming
In April 2023, it was announced Heart Scotland would reintroduce local breakfast, daytime and weekend programming from 2 May 2023, as part of a major expansion of Global's Scottish radio operations.The end of local and regional programming in England
Heart stations in England ended local and regional programming on 21 February 2025, but retaining local news bulletins and advertising. Scotland and Wales will retain their respective local programming.List of stations
Nations
As of 24 February 2025, Heart's nations studios are:| Heart station | Studios |
| Heart East Heart Hertfordshire Heart London Heart North East Heart North West Heart South Heart West Heart West Midlands Heart Yorkshire | London |
| Heart North Wales Heart South Wales | Cardiff Bay |
| Heart Scotland | Glasgow |
Spin-offs
As of 12 September 2024, Heart's spin-offs consist of ten stations, broadcast from Global's London headquarters:| Years | Heart station | Notes |
| 2019–present | Heart 70s | |
| 2017–present | Heart 80s | |
| 2019–present | Heart 90s | |
| 2022–present | Heart 00s | Replaced Capital Xtra Reloaded on national DAB+. |
| 2024–present | Heart 10s | |
| 2019–present | Heart Dance | Weekend evening "Club Classics" programmes simulcast with Heart |
| 2024–present | Heart Love | |
| 2024–present | Heart Musicals | |
| 2016– | Heart UK | Originally Heart extra with automated daytime between 10am to 4pm Weekdays, relaunched 2020. It is the main feed for Heart network programming, with national advertising for regions that don't have a Heart station on FM. |
| 2020– | Heart Xmas | usually available from September to January, however this varies each year |