A new ‘proudly local’ radio station is launching in Manchester which will reunite a host of well known local radio and TV personalities including former Key 103 DJs Chelsea Norris, Steve Penk, Spence Macdonald and Darren Proctor. Happy Radio UK is the brainchild of former Key 103 and Greatest Hits DJ Darren Proctor and festival organiser Max Eden, who have teamed up to launch the brand new local radio station.
The presenter line up sees those former Key 103 favourites like Chelsea, Spence and Steve all back on the same station for the first time in years. Former Key 103 breakfast presenter Spence will take on Happy Radio's flagship breakfast show while Steve Penk, famous for his radio wind-ups, will be on air in the afternoons. Darren will be on mid-mornings while Chelsea will present a weekend show every Saturday.
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Real Housewives of Cheshire star Lauren Simon is also on board to host her own "Happy Hour" each day from 3pm to 4pm. Her new radio career is set to feature in the upcoming 15th series of the ITVBe show which is filming now.
Darren and business partner Max, who runs the Hale Barns Carnival and Bowdonbury Festival, have teamed up to "spearhead the return of local radio" and have invested in new radio studios in Sale ahead of the full launch of Happy Radio UK on April 4. Their aim is to bring "proper local radio" back to the region, amid moves by the commercial radio sector to go increasingly national in their approach.
Darren said: "During Covid lockdowns we could see there was a massive gap for proper local radio in our area. The way things are going with commercial radio is that everything is going national.
"It fits for them to cover the whole of UK, that's their business plan, but there’s a real need for local radio still and that’s what people want.
"We wanted a radio station that plays music that makes you feel good, nice uptempo songs, something that makes you feel good. Putting that positivity back in the local area.
"It will have the look and feel of a big national radio station, but it's local. We will champion local events and local people."
Happy Radio will be broadcast across South Manchester and Cheshire, with hopes to spread further too as the station progresses, and will be available to listen on Alexa Smart Speaker, via the Happy Radio UK App on iOS / Android and will be broadcast on DAB in a few weeks time.
The brand new radio station launches on Monday April 4 at 7am. The full weekday line-up will see Spence Macdonald from 7am to 10am, Darren Proctor 10am to 1pm, Steve Penk 1pm to 3pm, Lauren Simon 3pm to 4pm, Ian Roberts and Michelle Eagleton from 4pm to 7pm and Jason Hardy 7pm to 10pm.
Popular former Key 103 and BBC Radio Manchester presenter Chelsea will present her new Saturday show from 10am to 12noon. Meanwhile Granada TV’s Paul Crone will present ‘The Cronezone Show’ on Sunday from 10am to 12 noon.
Darren said getting everyone back together has prompted many conversations about happy years at Key 103 back in the day - and that they hope to bring the best of those times back with Happy Radio UK. There are plans for more outside broadcasts and radio roadshows that proved so popular back in the day.
Darren, from Bowdon, said: "It was great, I'm not saying the old days were the best times, but when you lived here, what fantastic memories we gave to all the people listening, and I just thought why not do it again? There's no reason you can't start that again. It's about having fun, getting out there and being seen in the local area. We want to have a great time with it and make it a credible well known brand."
Max, from Wilmslow, added: "You want a local radio station to be out there, on the high street and at events, we want to be really active in the area, so it has that presence. We're both really passionate about it, both as local residents ourselves and we want to champion and promote all things local and give local businesses a great local platform to promote their businesses".
Darren started at Key 103 back in 1999, and stayed with the station when it rebranded to Hits Radio and Greatest Hits in 2018, but he left in December.
He said: "At the start of the new year I started to speak to people about coming on board, people I've worked with over the years. All the people we've got involved not only do we know them, they're people who really want to do it, to bring back that one-to-one connection that people feel is missing from commercial radio right now.
“Everyone says how much they miss the old Key 103 days and the response I’ve had is just incredible already."
Happy Radio UK launches on Monday 4th April 2022, you can download the brand new Happy Radio UK app at www.happyradiouk.com
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