SGR-FM

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SGR-FM

Broadcast area	Ipswich and Bury St Edmunds
First air date	October 28, 1975
Frequency	97.1 MHz, 96.4 MHz
Format	Contemporary
Owner	GCap Media
Website	www.sgrfm.co.uk/

SGR FM is a radio station that evolved from Suffolk Group Radio, which was the parent company for two Independent Local Radio stations serving the county of Suffolk in England. The older of the radio stations was Radio Orwell, which began transmissions in Ipswich in October 1975. It was one of the original group of ILR stations set up by the Independent Broadcasting Authority following a (slight) relaxation of the rules governing broadcasting in Britain. Other stations that were included in the original 15 or so were LBC, Capital Radio and BRMB.

The western side of Suffolk got its own radio station in the form of Saxon Radio, which began broadcasting in Bury St Edmunds in November, 1982. The two stations operated separate breakfast shows, and then programmes were networked from either site to both transmitters. Most of the programmes came from Ipswich, and a few came from Bury St Edmunds. In 1984-85, the stations experimented with a drive-time news and current affairs programme which had presenters in both studios (The Home Run). This proved too expensive to continue for long, and the programme was cut back to one presenter in the Ipswich studio.

The Radio Orwell logo

A number of journalists and presenters cut their teeth at Suffolk Group Radio. One of the best known names is Andy Archer, who had been a presenter on Radio Caroline, an offshore pirate radio station. Other on-air names over the years include Nigel Rennie and Patrick Eade (both now with BFBS, Tim Ewart (Now with ITN), Melvyn Prior (now with BBC Radio Lincolnshire), Stephen Foster, Rachel Sloane, Nick Risby and Mark Matthews (all now with BBC Radio Suffolk), Allan Lee (now with Newstalk ZB, Auckland, New Zealand), Tim Gough (now with Saga 106.6 FM), Peter Slater (now with BBC Radio Five Live), Mark Pryke (now Managing Director at KL-FM King's Lynn), Kevin Stewart (now Chief Executive of the Tindle Radio Group), Mike Betton (now MD of the Lincs FM Group, Rob Chandler (now at Radio Broadland), Graham Bannerman (who went on to BBC Radio 1 and TV continuity announcing), Pete Barraclough, Peter Robinson, Stan Aston, Norman Lloyd and Mark Wesley.

In 1990, the stations were taken over by the successful Radio Broadland based in Norwich and East Anglian Radio group was formed, run by the Broadland management team. EAR re-launched Orwell and Saxon as one station under the SGR fm banner in 1992 and also launched SGR Colchester in Essex as well as Amber Radio, with studios in Ipswich and Norwich, operating on the AM transmitters previously used by the SGR stations to simulcast. EAR was then bought by the giant GWR Group network in 1996.

But in October 2006, stiff competition in the Ipswich area had began as Town 102 fronted by Nick Morrell (an ex SGR DJ) went on air.

The current SGR licence claims that the station is a contemporary/chart music and information station for the under 40s in the Ipswich and Bury St. Edmunds area.