Magic (UK radio station)

The Magic name was first used in 1990 when Leeds station Radio Aire launched an oldies station called Magic 828 on its MW frequency. Seven years later, the Magic brand was rolled out on MW across Yorkshire and north east England and the stations adopted a soft adult contemporary music format. In 1998, easy music station Melody FM, which had also launched in 1990, was purchased by media group Emap from Hanson plc for a reported £25 million and rebranded to Magic that December and the change saw Emap introduce automation for the first time - weekday afternoons were split with a 'non-stop music hour', first sponsored by the now defunct energy company Calortex, and later by the Emap-owned Red magazine. Magic was criticised for automating a further eleven hours of its daily output (7pm-6am) given the reach and size of the station. In an attempt to cut costs, Magic began networking its mid-morning show, hosted by Richard Skinner, and automated overnight output with the eight other Magic stations in the North of England in January 2002. Audience figures fell on all nine stations in the twelve months that followed, some arguing a lack of local content had driven listeners to tune away. Networking was ended in January 2003, although the eight 'northern' Magic stations continued to share a mid-morning show, hosted by Mark Thorburn, and were subsequently networked again, with the exception of local breakfast shows, following a repositioning of the northern Magic group in mid-2006. These stations were later rebranded into the Bauer City 2 network in 2015. The end of networking heralded a programming shift; Magic adopting its 'more music, less talk' ethos. Former Capital FM head and radio consultant Richard Park was brought in to increase the station's audience share. In September 2003, Magic saw its first major revamp: live programming replaced automated output in the evening, and Independent Radio News-employed personnel staffed the station's daytime news output, removing shared presenting/newsreading responsibilities, a legacy from Melody FM. IRN retained the contract to supply Magic's news bulletins until 2015, when the service was brought in-house. Later years saw a reliance on weekend celebrity-hosted content and large cash prizes to entice listeners - the award of £110,600 to Nicola Diss, the winner of the popular Magic Mystery Voices contest on 12 January 2006 was the largest cash prize given away on UK radio since 1999, a sum surpassed just a few months later by the prize collected by listener Dawn Muggleton in the Smooth Secret Song competition on London rival 102.2 Smooth FM, scooping £118,454 on 19 April 2006. However, Magic regained the honour on 30 March 2007 with listener Maria Crosskey winning £168,600 in a six-month-long Mystery Voices contest, although she was later disqualified (see 'Mystery Voices' below). In 2008, Emap sold its radio stations, including Magic, to Bauer Media Group. Magic, along with urban/dance station Kiss, rock music station Absolute Radio and a number of other radio brands, broadcasts from Bauer Radio's headquarters at The Lantern in Euston. It had previously broadcast from studios on Winsley Street (Mappin House), and, from September 2014 to March 2024, Golden Square in Soho. On 2 April 2024, Magic ceased transmitting on the Freeview digital television platform after 21 years, as it and other Bauer stations completed their withdrawal from linear TV platforms, having dropped satellite transmission in late 2023. On 27 December 2024, Magic rebranded to Magic Radio dropping the strapline "More Of The Songs You Love" and changing it to "The Best Variety from the 80s to Now". Magic Radio refreshed their jingles which are now branded as "Magic Radio" instead of "Magic". The station also changed its format, moving from soft adult contemporary to adult contemporary, playing more music from the 2010s and 2020s, retaining the usual 80s, 90s & 00s music. On 31 March 2025, Magic Radio switched to DAB+ across the UK. The change means that listeners can now hear the station in stereo. The same day also saw Magic Radio launch in Bristol on 106.5FM, at 12:07am. On 16 May 2025, Magic Radio completed its refresh by launching a new logo. ==Sister stations==