History
The station was launched on 1 September 1981 by presenter Graham Thornton and the first song played was Pilot of the Airwaves by Charlie Dore. Radio Aire originally broadcast on 362 metres medium wave (828 kHz AM) and 94.6 VHF but was moved to 96.3 FM (VHF) in 1986.
On 17 July 1990, Radio Aire split frequencies, forming Aire FM and Magic 828. In 1992, the name was changed to Radio Aire FM and then, 96.3 Aire FM in 1995. A change of format in 1996 saw another station name change to The New 96.3 Aire FM before The New was dropped in 1998. By March 2001, Radio Aire had reverted back to its original name.
Radio Aire is situated on Burley Road (Kirkstall Road) next to Yorkshire Television's studios and was the first Independent Local Radio station to have studios specially built for the purpose of radio transmission.
The station, together with Magic 828 was bought by EMAP in 1995 and it became part of their Big City Network of stations and has maintained a generic branding with sister stations across Northern England since about 2000. Following the acquisition of EMAP Radio, the station is now part of Bauer Radio.
Read more about this topic: 96.3 Radio Aire
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