North Arlesburian Commercial Radio

North Arlesburian Commercial Radio, branded as NACR (pronounced "nacer" on-air since 2009, and formerly letter-by-letter) is a North Arlesburian radio station owned by the National Media Group. It has been a ratings leader since 2012.

History

NABC/RNA era

The progenitor of the current NACR is the North Arlesburian Radio Club, one of the country's first independent radio stations, founded in 1930. Broadcasts were cut short by the April 1974 revolution, by 1975, the station was nationalized and incorporated into the NABC's corporate structure, in a time when they were becoming Radio North Arlesbury. The former NARC frequencies on the AM band were given to Program 3 and the FM frequencies to Program 4.

Programs 3 and 4 changed their respective names to NACR on March 12, 1979. The AM service (Program 3) would be the conventional regular service and the FM service (Program 4) would be known as NACR FM Stereo. The name NACR was chosen after a constitutional revision which meant that only the two NACR networks (AM and FM Stereo) would carry advertisements. One of their most iconic programs, transferred from the former NARC, When the Telephone Rings, a phone-in request show, was famous for giving "free phrases" for advertisers in exchange for money and the song that was being requested.

Privatization

Following the introduction of a new advertising policy at RNA (known as "advertising with limitations") at RNA, the government began a process of privatization. In March 1993, the winner of the license was The Mail, a popular tabloid, and owner of The Mail FM. However, The Mail didn't know that running two radio stations at once was a bad decision and forcibly re-structured its network. Most of the RNA-owned FM Stereo network merged with that of The Mail FM's and quickly began to lose ground.

New owners (The Sound of Music Radio Group) took over NACR and turned it into a rock station in 1997. Other innovations during this period included the premiere of The Man Who Bit the Dog which remained on air until 2003, after which it was transferred to Best Rock FM. Eventually the format did not catch on and the creation of Best Rock FM, which was plagued by having a limited transmitter network, turned the station into a mere competitor of HFM.

NMG steps in

Under NMG ownership, the station became a clone of Horizon Radio Group's direct competitor HFM. The playlist was now more generalized and intended to target a peripheral demographic between that of NARC's retro and oldies playlist and City FM's youth-centric playlist.

Repositioning and leadership

In 2010, NACR adopted a new philosophy: the station would play songs made from the year 2000 onward.