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"The Successful Sound of Southern..."
Southern Sound Radio
Southern Sound Radio, Southern FM
Well established in it's Sussex heartland, this commercial station started broadcasting as far back as 29th August 1983 from studios at Portslade, just outside Brighton, on the Franklin Road, with Louis Robinson at the controls.
It operated on two frequencies, 1332 AM (225meters) and 103.4 vhf FM. 1332 became 1323 shortly afterwards. The launch logo featured an image that would return over latter years in a different guise - a cheeky smiling sun emerging from behind a fluffy cloud! The launch team also included some other well known names - Jono's later partner Russ Williams, talkradio presenter Sean Bolger, Howard Pearce and Jim Hawkins.
In the comparatively early days of commercial radio, some station programming was shared with Surrey's Radio Mercury.
Networked programming came from Tim Lloyd who spent alternating periods at each studio location to present the show before moving to BBC Essex when it launched. When he wasn't around, it was a young, pre-talkRADIO & CITV Tommy Boyd who stood in for him to such great extents that he got himself a Sunday show! And when Tommy wasn't around, the networked slot would be filled by one of his production team Gary 'Steve' Laurence.
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Southern Sound Radio were part of the 1985 frequency audit which saw BBC & ILR stations segregated into differently allocated bands. Still effectively a station for Brighton only, the audit resulted in a move from 103.4 to 103.5. In the mid 80s Southern Sound was lucky enough to be allowed to open a new transmitter for the coastal areas of Seaford and Newhaven, and the inland picturesque town of Lewes on 96.9FM. In 1989, the station was reformatted and relaunched as 'Classic Hits across Sussex' Southern Sound - inkeeping with a general dropping of the word 'radio' by stations nationally. Transmissions began from Eastbourne studios and from the Heathfield transmitter, on 102.4 which took the station's service inland to the north of the county and eastwards to Eastbourne itself. There were differing services for both Brighton and Eastbourne with the new studio set up. The expansion continued as Hastings began to be served on 97.5 but later moved to 102FM. With presumably increasing costs, the Eastbourne studios closed only a few years after opening.
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1991 saw the launch of the launch of South Coast Radio on AM 1323. The station was very much a laid-back oldies and easy listening station which aired across the area. Boomtime in the commercial radio industry was followed by mergers - Southern Radio Group was created by the merger of Southern Sound & Hampshire's Ocean Sound. Continuity is paramount in commercial radio, and in 1992, both stations dropped the 'Sound' name and replaced it with 'FM' and so became what we know today as Southern FM & Ocean FM. Visit the Hampshire pages for details of Ocean FM. Ocean Sound, their AM sister station also became South Coast Radio. See our separate entry for this station which emanated from Portslade studios.
It was something of a subtle takeover by Capital Radio in 1994 - who acquired six other stations across the South Coast - but, with minimal changes, Southern FM continued very much the same way and remains at the high standard of it's mother station in London. They ensured that the logo continued to use the 'Sun' image, albeit in the standard, more cartoon orientated Sun style of the new owners London station. More recently, the red, white & blue new Capital Radio FM branding, including the 'Smile' had been adopted and the current "bubbles".
Information amended from the excellent Aircheck UK webpage
Southern Sound Radio Jingles
- Southern Sound - News - David Arnold
- Southern Sound - Off Air stuff - with a young Steve Power closing the station