- For the category of United States television broadcasters, see Superstation
Superstation in United States television can have several meanings. In its most precise meaning, a superstation is defined by the Federal Communications Commission as "A television broadcast station, other than a network station, licensed by the FCC that is secondarily transmitted by a satellite...
. For the Orcadian community radio station, see The Superstation OrkneyThe Superstation Orkney, also known as just The Superstation, is a local commercial radio station which broadcasts to Orkney. The station is Orkney's only commercial radio station, and broadcasts a broad range of popular and contemporary music, as well as national hourly news updates provided by...
.
The Superstation (or
Radio Radio as it was known in the industry) was set up as an over-night sustaining service for
Independent Local RadioIndependent Local Radio is the collective name given to commercial radio stations in the United Kingdom. The same name is used for Independent Local Radio in Ireland.-Development of ILR:...
. The station broadcast from 10.00pm until 6.00am on many of the UK's
commercialCommerce is a division of trade or production which deals with the exchange of goods and services from producer to final consumer. It comprises the trading of something of economic value such as goods, services, information, or money between two or more entities...
radioRadio is the transmission of signals by modulation of electromagnetic waves with frequencies below those of visible light. Electromagnetic radiation travels by means of oscillating electromagnetic fields that pass through the air and the vacuum of space...
stations.
The concept of The Superstation came from David Campbell and Rob Jones who worked for
VirginVirgin Group Ltd is a branded venture capital organisation founded by British business tycoon Richard Branson. The core business areas are travel, entertainment and lifestyle, among others. Virgin Group's date of incorporation is listed as 1989 by Companies House, who class it as a holding company;...
's radio arm and was backed financially by
Richard BransonSir Richard Charles Nicholas Branson is an English industrialist, best known for his Virgin brand of over 360 companies. Branson's first successful business venture was at age 16, when he published a magazine called Student. He then set up an audio record mail-order business in 1970...
http://www.usp-group.com/record.jsp?type=teamMember&ID=5.
After the stations in
London[]London is the capital of England and the United Kingdom. It has been a major settlement for two millennia, and the history of London goes back to its founding by the Romans, when it was named Londinium. London's core, the ancient City of London, the 'square mile', retains its medieval boundaries...
(specifically
Capital Radio95.8 Capital FM is a popular London local radio station owned by the Global Radio group.-Early years:This local radio station for London, which was based on the first two floors of the Euston Tower, was originally named Capital Radio, and was launched by then-chairman Richard Attenborough at 5:00...
) decided not to take the service, The Superstation found it hard to encourage companies to advertise with them
http://tv.cream.org/specialassignments/radiocream/argilr.htm.
- For the category of United States television broadcasters, see Superstation
Superstation in United States television can have several meanings. In its most precise meaning, a superstation is defined by the Federal Communications Commission as "A television broadcast station, other than a network station, licensed by the FCC that is secondarily transmitted by a satellite...
. For the Orcadian community radio station, see The Superstation OrkneyThe Superstation Orkney, also known as just The Superstation, is a local commercial radio station which broadcasts to Orkney. The station is Orkney's only commercial radio station, and broadcasts a broad range of popular and contemporary music, as well as national hourly news updates provided by...
.
The Superstation (or
Radio Radio as it was known in the industry) was set up as an over-night sustaining service for
Independent Local RadioIndependent Local Radio is the collective name given to commercial radio stations in the United Kingdom. The same name is used for Independent Local Radio in Ireland.-Development of ILR:...
. The station broadcast from 10.00pm until 6.00am on many of the UK's
commercialCommerce is a division of trade or production which deals with the exchange of goods and services from producer to final consumer. It comprises the trading of something of economic value such as goods, services, information, or money between two or more entities...
radioRadio is the transmission of signals by modulation of electromagnetic waves with frequencies below those of visible light. Electromagnetic radiation travels by means of oscillating electromagnetic fields that pass through the air and the vacuum of space...
stations.
Brief History
The concept of The Superstation came from David Campbell and Rob Jones who worked for
VirginVirgin Group Ltd is a branded venture capital organisation founded by British business tycoon Richard Branson. The core business areas are travel, entertainment and lifestyle, among others. Virgin Group's date of incorporation is listed as 1989 by Companies House, who class it as a holding company;...
's radio arm and was backed financially by
Richard BransonSir Richard Charles Nicholas Branson is an English industrialist, best known for his Virgin brand of over 360 companies. Branson's first successful business venture was at age 16, when he published a magazine called Student. He then set up an audio record mail-order business in 1970...
http://www.usp-group.com/record.jsp?type=teamMember&ID=5.
After the stations in
London[]London is the capital of England and the United Kingdom. It has been a major settlement for two millennia, and the history of London goes back to its founding by the Romans, when it was named Londinium. London's core, the ancient City of London, the 'square mile', retains its medieval boundaries...
(specifically
Capital Radio95.8 Capital FM is a popular London local radio station owned by the Global Radio group.-Early years:This local radio station for London, which was based on the first two floors of the Euston Tower, was originally named Capital Radio, and was launched by then-chairman Richard Attenborough at 5:00...
) decided not to take the service, The Superstation found it hard to encourage companies to advertise with them
http://tv.cream.org/specialassignments/radiocream/argilr.htm. This led to many of the original high profile presenters/celebrities leaving.
Technical
The Superstation would leave a gap for local stations who had sold their own advertising air-time to "opt-out" of the national programme. A name check ident and a gap of around 1 second would be the signal for a tech-op to fire the
cartsStereo 8, commonly known as the eight-track cartridge, eight-track tape, or eight-track, is a magnetic tape sound recording technology, popular from the mid-1960s to the early 1980s. Stereo 8 was created in 1964 by a consortium led by Bill Lear of Lear Jet Corporation, along with Ampex, Ford Motor...
containing the local adverts.
The typical duration for one of these ad breaks was either 2.10 or 2.40. So, in order to fill the gap, either four or five 30 second adverts and one 10 second
jingleA jingle is a memorable slogan, set to an engaging melody, mainly broadcast on radio and sometimes on television commercials.- History :The jingle had no definitive debut: its infiltration of the radio was more of an evolutionary process than a sudden innovation...
into the end sweeper would be used
Each station had a log with the exact duration of each break.
Not all stations had their own ad breaks, so music montages would be played down the line so there was continuous output. A 3-5 second sweeper sound followed the montage and signalled the next part of the programme was about to start
http://216.239.59.104/search?q=cache:7h_-0eJK9R4J:www.digitalspy.co.uk/forums/showthread.php%3Ft%3D329698+the+superstation+erica+hughes&hl=en&ct=clnk&cd=3&gl=uk.
Jingles
The station had a sung
jingleA jingle is a memorable slogan, set to an engaging melody, mainly broadcast on radio and sometimes on television commercials.- History :The jingle had no definitive debut: its infiltration of the radio was more of an evolutionary process than a sudden innovation...
package produced by Midlands based music producer Muff Murfin, these jingles were originally created for
W.T.R.K-"Electric 106"WISX is a [[Rhythmic AC]] radio station licensed to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. They are owned by Clear Channel Communications and its slogan is "Move to the Music" which is used to describe their upbeat mix of mostly Rhythmic hits of the 80's, '90s and today.-Beautiful Music Era:...
in the U.S. All of the original presenter line-up had their own name "shouts", the newer presenters generally used their own name
identThe Ident Protocol, specified in RFC 1413, is an Internet protocol that helps identify the user of a particular TCP connection. One popular daemon program for providing the ident service is identd.-How Ident Works:...
s. The station also had
AmericanThe United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
voice-overVoice-over is a production technique where a non-diegetic voice is broadcast live or pre-recorded in radio, television, film, theatre and/or presentation....
style "
sweepersRadio sweepers are used by radio stations as segues between songs that give listeners a brief station identifier or promo, generally 20 seconds or less: "You're listening to the soft sounds of [NAME] radio...
" voiced by J.R Nelson who was part of the Z100 morning crew. Some of the more famous ones went:-
- "Hot, H - O - T, The hits of today and the hits of tomorrow!"
- "Beaming live from the starship voyager 23 thousand miles above the planet earth
Earth is the third planet from the Sun. It is the fifth largest of the eight planets in the solar system, and the largest of the terrestrial planets in the Solar System in terms of diameter, mass and density...
, this is The Superstation."
- "The biggest, the brightest and the best, this is The Superstation."
Presenters
- Ruby Wax
Ruby Wax is an American comedian who made a career in the United Kingdom as part of the alternative comedy scene in the 1980s.-Early life:...
.
- Jonathan Ross
Jonathan Ross may refer to:* Jonathan Ross , English television and radio personality* Jonathan Ross , United States Senator, Justice of the Vermont Supreme Court* Jonathon Ross , former Australian rules footballer...
(now at BBC Radio 2BBC Radio 2 is one of the BBC's national radio stations and the most popular station in the UK. Much of its daytime playlist-based programming is best described as Adult Contemporary or AOR, although the station is also noted for its specialist broadcasting of other musical genres...
).
- Johnnie Walker
Johnnie Walker MBE is a popular British veteran radio disc jockey and broadcaster....
(now at BBC Radio 2BBC Radio 2 is one of the BBC's national radio stations and the most popular station in the UK. Much of its daytime playlist-based programming is best described as Adult Contemporary or AOR, although the station is also noted for its specialist broadcasting of other musical genres...
).
- Bob Harris
Bob Harris may refer to:In sport:* Bob Harris , American baseball player* Bob Harris , Scottish footballerIn TV and radio:* Bob Harris , "Whispering" Bob Harris, British radio presenter...
.
- Steve Davis
Steve Davis, OBE, is an English professional snooker player. He has won more professional titles in the sport than any other player, including six World Championships during the 1980s....
.
- Chris Evans
- Janice Long
Janice Long is an English radio broadcaster currently working on BBC Radio 2. Her show is on Sunday to Thursday nights from midnight to 03:00...
(now at BBC Radio 2BBC Radio 2 is one of the BBC's national radio stations and the most popular station in the UK. Much of its daytime playlist-based programming is best described as Adult Contemporary or AOR, although the station is also noted for its specialist broadcasting of other musical genres...
).
- Nicky Horne
Broadcaster Nicky Horne was a road manager for Emperor Rosko in 1969, before presenting shows on BBC Radio 1, from 1970 - 1973.Horne was one of the original line-up on London's Capital Radio, where he presented shows such as Your Mother Wouldn't like it, Mummy's Weekly & 6 of the Best...
.
- Diana Luke
Diana Luke is a Canadian-born radio presenter and hynotherapist who works in the UK. Diana grew up in Toronto, Ontario.-Radio:Diana has worked for many radio stations across the country. Her radio career started on Viking Radio in Kingston-upon-Hull in 1987, where she was their first female...
(now at BBC Radio LeedsBBC Radio Leeds is the BBC Local Radio service for the English metropolitan county of West Yorkshire.- Frequencies :It broadcasts from its studios at St...
and BBC Radio SheffieldBBC Radio Sheffield is the BBC Local Radio service for English metropolitan county of South Yorkshire and the north Midlands. It was the BBC local radio station, beginning on 15 November 1967. It broadcasts from its studios in Sheffield on 88.6 , 94.7 , 104.1 FM, 1035 AM and DAB...
).
- NJ Williams.
|
Jeff Cooper Jeff Cooper is a British radio presenter and producer. He also manages onLine New music & rock station, radio2XS....
Peter GrantPeter "G" Grant was an English music manager. Grant managed the popular English bands The Yardbirds, Led Zeppelin and Bad Company, amongst others, and was also a record executive for Swan Song Records. Grant has been described as "one of the shrewdest and most ruthless managers in rock history,"...
.
Phil KennedyPhil Kennedy is a British broadcaster who currently presents with two BBC Local Radio stations.-Biography:Phil's radio career began on Radio Jackie when it was still a pirate radio station, he then to Top Shop's instore radio station on London's Oxford Street...
.
Chris PearsonChris Pearson was born in Dartford, Kent and is a radio presenter on the worldwide BFBS radio network.His career started with the famous north-sea pirate station Radio Caroline...
(now with BFBSThe British Forces Broadcasting Service was established by the British War Office in 1943. Today it provides radio and television programmes for HM Forces, and their dependents, in Afghanistan, Belize, Bosnia, Brunei, Canada, Cyprus, the Falkland Islands, Germany, Gibraltar, Kosovo, the Middle...
).
Gary King (later with Atlantic 252Atlantic 252 was a long wave radio station broadcasting to Ireland and Britain on 252 kHz from its 1988 purpose built transmission site Clarkstown radio transmitter, which provided service to Atlantic 252 from 1989 until 2002. The station's studios were located just 12 km away in Mornington...
and BBC Radio 1BBC Radio 1 is a British national radio station operated by the BBC which also broadcasts internationally, specialising in current popular music and chart hits throughout the day. Radio 1 provides alternative genres after 7:00pm including electronic dance, hip hop, rock or interviews. It is aimed...
).
Erica Hughes (later with Saga 106.6 FMSaga 106.6FM was an independent radio station for the East Midlands, broadcasting to Derbyshire, Leicestershire, Lincolnshire, Nottinghamshire and Rutland. Part of the Saga Radio Group, the regional station was broadcast from the Riverside Business Park in Nottingham, close to the old...
in the East Midlands).
Deborah Kinch.
Francis Curry. |
Miscellaneous
- Although The Superstation was initially based in London, it later came from Key 103
Key 103 is an Independent Local Radio station broadcasting to the city of Manchester and the north west of England. Its output is principally contemporary pop and dance music. It is owned by Bauer Radio and is part of the company's Big City Network of stations. The station is based in Castlefield,...
's studios in ManchesterManchester is a city and metropolitan borough of Greater Manchester, England. In 2007, the population of the city was estimated to be 458,100...
.
- Thursday night on Erica Hughes' show was home of 'The Brian Bumble Bee' poetry spot, carrying on the spot initially launched on Red Rose Radio
Red Rose Radio is the former name of two radio stations in Lancashire, England. Both are owned by the same company, although they now have different names:* 97.4 Rock FM, "contemporary" format, station has also been named Red Rose Rock FM...
.
External links