The station started broadcasting on 1548 kHz/194m
AM, 95.2 and 95.9 MHz
FM under the name of
Radio Hallam from its studios at Hartshead in Sheffield city centre on 1 October 1974. The first presenter heard on air was ex-
BBC Radio 1 DJ Johnny Moran – the first record he played was ''I've Got the Music in Me'' by
Kiki Dee, which stuck after a minute and a half. On 1 October 1985, Radio Hallam's broadcast area significantly increased when it began to broadcast to all of
South Yorkshire. In 1987, Radio Hallam merged with neighbouring
Yorkshire stations
Pennine Radio in Bradford and
Viking Radio in Hull to form the now-defunct
Yorkshire Radio Network. The frequencies were changed during the 1980s to 96.1 FM for
Rotherham, 97.4 FM for
Sheffield, 102.9 FM for
Barnsley, and 103.4 for the remainder of South Yorkshire. After a take-over in 1990 of the parent company
YRN by the
Metro Radio Group, the AM frequency became
Great Yorkshire Gold. As part of Hallam's licence agreement, the Rotherham transmitter ceased to be used by the station in the 1990s. Hallam also moved its studio facilities to 900 Herries Road, close to
Sheffield Wednesday's
Hillsborough ground. The office space at Hartshead was formerly used by the
Sheffield Star newspaper. As the
Metro Radio Group was bought by
EMAP, Hallam FM also became part of the
Big City Network in Northern England. In 2011, Bauer Media's
Big City Network was replaced by the Place Portfolio, containing the group's local radio stations. In 2016, Hallam FM was the "Station of the Year" at that year's ARIAS Radio Awards. From late 2019 until early 2020 Hallam FM's Sheffield studios were shared with sister Yorkshire station
Viking FM, following the closure of Viking's studios in Hull. Viking FM was then moved to co-locate with
Pulse 1 in Leeds.
Hits Radio rebrand On 10 January 2024, station owners Bauer announced Hallam FM would be rebranded as
Hits Radio South Yorkshire on 17 April 2024, as part of a network-wide relaunch involving 17 local radio stations in England and Wales. The announcement signalled the end of the Radio Hallam brand after nearly 50 years of broadcasting. On 20 March 2025, Bauer announced it would end its local Hits Radio breakfast show for South Yorkshire to be replaced by a new national breakfast show for England and Wales on 9 June 2025. Local news and traffic bulletins were retained but the station's Sheffield studios were closed. The station's final local programme aired on 6 June 2025. ==Broadcasting==