Smooth Radio North West celebrates 15 years as commercial number one

The original Smooth is celebrating 15 consecutive years as the number one commercial radio station in the North West of England.

This follows the release of the latest audience figures which show, despite a slight dip in listeners over the last three months, the station still holds the number one position.

Originally launched as Jazz FM in 1994, the North West regional station became Smooth FM in March 2004. Although its format included heavy restrictions on the types of music played and the amount of speech required, the station soon became a hit, before eventually being rolled out to other stations across the country.

Since then, there have been various changes to the format granted by the regulator which has helped the station, now owned and operated under a brand licence by Communicorp UK, attain its remarkable continuous position.

Over the 15 years, Smooth Radio North West has also hosted many Smooth concerts across the region, including Adele at the Cavern in Liverpool. It has also hosted numerous community focused events, such as Christmas Light Switch Ons.

The station has also helped raise millions of pounds, supporting many worthy causes, including Global’s Make Some Noise, foodbanks and breast cancer charities – benefitting those in the North West.

Communicorp UK’s Chief Executive Officer, Mark Lee said: “Celebrating 15 consecutive years as commercial radio number one in the North West cements Smooth Radio North West as the station that provides the best music which provides an uplifting soundtrack to our listener’s day.

“Thank you to those listeners for continuing to enjoy our offering for all these years, and we can’t wait to see what the next 15 have in store.”