96 Trent FM

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96 Trent FM
Broadcast area	Nottingham, Mansfield and Loughborough
First air date	July 3, 1975
Frequency	96.2 MHz (Nottingham), 96.5 MHz (Mansfield), DAB
Format	Contemporary
Owner	GCap Media
Website	www.trentfm.co.uk

96 Trent FM is an Independent Local Radio station which broadcasts from Nottingham in the United Kingdom. Its frequencies are 96.2 (Nottingham) and 96.5 (Mansfield) megahertz in the FM band - and the station is also available on DAB.

Launched July 3, 1975 as Radio Trent, initially broadcasting on FM and medium wave, the station began transmissions to neighbouring Derbyshire in 1987. Renamed Trent FM in 1988, it launched a separate oldies-format service, GEM-AM, on its medium wave frequencies.

Taken over by the GWR Group in 1993, the Nottingham and Mansfield FM services were branded 96 Trent FM, while the Derby service became known as RAM FM. The medium wave GEM-AM service was then sold off, to become Classic Gold GEM. By spring 2005, Trent was owned by GCap Media, after GWR Group's merger with Capital Radio Group.

After thirty-one years based at a converted hospital building in the historic street leading to Nottingham Castle, the station began broadcasting from new studios at the Chapel Quarter development at Chapel Bar, at midday on January 9 2007.

Trent lost its market leading position in the most recent official RAJAR audience figures.

Contents 1 Current Presenters 2 Former Presenters 3 GCap Ideas Studio at 96 Trent FM 4 External links

[edit] Current Presenters

• Al Booth
• James Cook
• Rachael Craggs
• Mark Dennison
• Tim Disney
• Mark Hitchings
• Matt Wilkinson
• Joanna Russell
• Richard Thornton
• Andy Twigge

[edit] Former Presenters

Former presenters include:

• Chris Ashley
• Bill Bingham
• Colin Bower
• Amanda Bowman, an original Trent Careline presenter who after GEM-AM and then Classic Gold returned to Nottingham for Saga 106.6 FM's morning show
• Alex Burnett, whose Trent debut in 1980 was a rock chart during the children's show Roadrunners. He remained involved in radio for some years but steadily gravitated toward his successful career as a record producer, using the name Sandy Burnett.
• Mark Burrows, later at GEM-AM, now at Saga 106.6 FM.
• Gary Burton, who presented breakfast, mornings and afternoons on Trent, subsequently of BBC 6Music and Heart FM now at 106.6 Smooth Radio.
• Luis Clark, former programme controller at Trent, now at Heart FM
• Richard Clarke and Lucy Horobin, now at Key 103, broadcasting to Emap's other stations in the north-west of England.
• Jeff Cooper
• Jenny Costello, ex Radio 1, now Radio Jackie.
• Danny Cox started at the Trent Derby afternoon show; he took over the Nottingham breakfast show and the weekly top 30 when John Peters moved over to GEM-AM.
• James Daniels, started as swing presenter at Trent FM Nottingham in 1993, moved to Derby when RAM FM was launched in 1994, returned to Trent FM to present the afternoon show from 2000-2003, and then took up the position of Programme Controller at RAM FM in 2003,is still there presently
• Viv Evans
• Tim Gough, who started his career at another 'Original ILR' station, Radio Orwell. He now presents the weekday drivetime show on Saga 106.6 FM in the East Midlands.
• Len Groat, former programme controller at Trent, responsible for music, jingles and renaming lots of presenters. Later, he was on GEM-AM.
• Kenny Hague, later of Leicester Sound.
• Erica Hughes, part of the launch team at Saga 106.6 FM.
• Franklyn Hughes
• Nick Jackson
• Caren James
• David Jensen
• Marcus Langreiter former Producer 1994 - 2005, now programme controller at Severn Sound in Gloucestershire.
• David Lloyd. Lloyd won a Sony award for Trent, was General Manager and Programme Contoller of Leicester Sound, started Lincs FM, and is now presenter on Saga 106.6 FM.
• Tony Lyman, later of Leicester Sound and GEM-AM. He can now be heard on Saga 106.6 FM.
• Andy Marriott, later Trent 945 Derby and GEM-AM. He was also an announcer for Central Television, and is now a presenter on Saga 106.6 FM.
• Anne Marie Minhall, who started as a Careline presenter, later Rob Wagstaff's assistant on Nightlife and Talkback presenter, then GEM-AM and is now on Classic FM.
• Steve Merike, ex Caroline and Radio 1, afternoon presenter on Trent, later GEM-AM and now Saga 106.6 FM.
• Andy Miller, part of the launch team at Trent 945 Derby, now at RAM FM in Derby.
• Guy Morris, later of Leicester Sound
• Graham Neale (Deceased) presented "Castle Rock" on Trent, just after "Newsday", in the 80s.
• Lee Peck
• John Peters, presented the station's first show. He hosted breakfast shows on Trent, GEM-AM and now Saga 106.6 FM
• Peter Quinn
• Dean Roberts, former Evening Show Presenter (Nottingham Nights/Late Night Lounge), later Head of News at Leicester Sound, and is now 96 Trent FM's websitemanager. He was previously at Wyvern FM in Worcester/Severn Sound in Gloucester.
• Paul Robey, later GEM-AM, now Saga 106.6 FM.
• David Ross
• Bob Snyder. The station's first programme director was a former "pirate" who also worked at Piccadilly Radio in Manchester, and Beacon Radio in the West Midlands. Disgusted with British radio, Snyder left for Canada in 1980. He worked with CKLG Vancouver, and then CJDC in Northern BC. He now operates a "show prep" service used by almost 1,000 DJs across North America. (www.tomslake.com)
• Tim Rogers. Started broadcasting career on Radio Trent, went on to also broadcast on Xtra AM in Birmingham and eventually was to be found on Gem Am. He presented National Country Show on the Classic Gold Network which included numerous broadcasts from Nashville, Grand ole Opry etc, a show on Boundary Sound, and now Saga Country on Saga 106.6 FM East Midlands. In February 2007 Tim won the Country Music Association of America International Broadcasters Award for outstanding contributions to Country Music.Quoted by Country Music contempories as "the Country Music Presenter who was the benchmark for us all from the 70's onwards..."
• John Shaw, whose Here Be Dragons late-night Trent show is now in the same Sunday night slot on Saga 106.6 FM is entitled Here Be John Shaw.
• Mark Spivey
• Dick Stone, later programme controller at Trent, and currently in charge of programming on a large number of GCap Media radio stations
• Craig Strong
• Peter Tait (Deceased)
• Brian Tansley, now at the BBC in Nottingham.
• Gary Terzza, who moved to Trent 96.2 after working at Trent in Derby, and now voiceovers on Channel 4.
• Rob Wagstaff, Trent Nightlife and Morning Show presenter, now at Trax FM.
• Pete Wagstaff
• Dave West (Deceased)
• Dale Winton, now a television entertainment show host.
• Colin Woolley
• Kevin Wright (Deceased), Early Breakfast presenter circa 1983.

Many of these presenters started out at NHR-Nottingham Hospital Radio or the United Biscuits station!

Until the mid-1990s, Trent pioneered personality-led Independent Local Radio with a distinctive on-air style. Sister stations were spawned with the same jingle packages - Leicester Sound in Leicester and Radio Trent 945 in Derby. Early experimentation with networking between these stations was a sign of things to come, including a period when evening presenters could refer only to "the radio station".

With the frequency splits of the late 1980s the mediumwave service became part of GEM-AM. Trent presenters were redeployed and jingles commissioned based on the sounds of the 1960s. They were joined by new presenters such as Steve Voce and Krissi Carpenter. Most of the on air line up of Saga's new East Midlands station are former Trent presenters, as are many of the management team.

[edit] GCap Ideas Studio at 96 Trent FM

The 96 Trent FM building also houses the majority of the production studios for GCap Ideas, the commercial arm of GCap Media. GCap Ideas Studio produces the commercial output of GCap Media's regional radio stations, through 8 dedicated studios. 96 Trent FM's Castle Gate building housed 6 of these studios, and the facility remained with 96 Trent FM when it moved to its new home at Chapel Quarter Nottingham in January 2007.

GCap Ideas Studio's current production staff include Phill Danks (Head of Production), Neil Hocking (Studio Manager/Commercial Producer), Claire Puplett (Commercial Producer), Ben Davis (Commercial Producer), Amy Harris (Commercial Producer), Carl Woods (Commercial Producer), Steve Henderson (Commercial Producer) Katrona Jefferys (Commercial Producer), Shelly Smith (Commercial producer)and Ian Williams (Distribution).

[edit] External links

• Listen to Trent
• 96 Trent FM's website
• Transmitter Maps.
• Trent FM jingles.
• Trent in Derby
• More Trent History
• Radio Trent Tribute Site
• Tim Disney Official Site
• Peter Tait Tribute