City FM (North Arlesbury)
City FM (formerly City Radio and between 2014 and 2018 just CITY) is a North Arlesburian radio station. It was founded in 1986 and has been owned by the National Media Group since 1999.
History[edit | edit source]
The station was founded on April 1st, 1986 as a pirate radio station broadcasting from the outskirts of the capital, Plymouth. The channel bought in trainees from Bensonia, Hopeland and the United States in order to emulate the style of radio from those countries. Even as a pirate station, the station's ratings grew significantly.
On December 24th, 1988, at 21:00, City Radio signed off. The station had plans to resume in the near future by legalizing itself. Broadcasts resumed under the new legal format at 09:00 on May 22nd, 1989. Not too long after obtaining the license, it formed the City Radio Network in other large cities nationwide and in the Greater Plymouth Metropolitan Area.
In the late 90s, City was acquired by the National Media Group and ratings lost to HFM, who benefitted from having a better nationwide network of transmitters. NMG proceeded to change the station's profile. The Sierran accents were replaced by entirely local presenters and DJs, a format which is still present.
In 2014, City FM became just City, also adopting a new brand identity and slogan (the City never sleeps). Four years later it reverted back to its previous name, this time styled as [city_fm].