Media

Hertbeat rebrands as Jack

By | Published on Monday 10 May 2010

A third UK local radio station has adopted the Jack FM moniker for its output, and will revamp its programming to the format used by the other Jack FM stations in Oxford and Bristol, and across North America: a mix of hits from the 60s onwards and a much bigger playlist than the average local FM station in the UK.

Hertfordshire-based Hertbeat FM will become Jack FM this morning, with a new breakfast show and stripped back daytime schedule. What is now Jack FM Hertfordshire is owned by independent company Shadow Radio Holdings Ltd, while the Bristol Jack FM franchise is run by Tomahawk Radio and the Oxford version by a subsidiary of Absolute Radio’s local radio business.

Confirming the name and format change, the Hertfordshire station’s MD Brett Harley told Radio Today that the rebrand was partly motivated because people assumed Hertbeat was part of Global Radio’s Heart FM network. Though his official comment is slightly tongue in cheek.

Harley: “The feedback from listeners and advertisers gets better and better – however, the radio market in the south-east is full of Heart stations – and being Hertbeat we were often being grouped in the same category. So we decided to look at other names for the station. Leicester Sound, Rugby FM and BBC Leeds were all taken – so we picked ‘Jack FM'”.



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