Radio Mercury first started broadcasting in October of 1984 from the lovely Broadfield House in Crawley, West Sussex, UK. Our first frequencies were 103.6fm and 1521am but to further the reach and provide a better quality for our listeners we changed to 102.7fm with an additional transmitter for Horsham on 97.5.
From the very beginning Radio Mercury was designed to be
the local station for the local populations of for Surrey and Sussex and we worked hard to make sure all were catered for. Our music policy was predominately classic hits with some new releases whilst our specialist programmes at the weekend were designed to please devotees of soul and disco, country, nostalgia, classical and comedy.
the local station for the local populations of for Surrey and Sussex and we worked hard to make sure all were catered for. Our music policy was predominately classic hits with some new releases whilst our specialist programmes at the weekend were designed to please devotees of soul and disco, country, nostalgia, classical and comedy. In 1991 we took over or rather merged our near neighbours in local radio -the Guildford based County Sound, which was re-branded to the Mercury name. We broadcast local programmes during the day from studios based in Guildford, Haslemere and Crawley. The evening and overnight programmes were centrally broadcast from Crawley head office - although local advertising, jingles and promotions were still broadcast to their respective transmitters by special software which was revolutionary in local radio at the time. It was also around this time that we split programming on the AM frequencies and a new service was born, mainly oldies and conversation, this for a short time retained the County Sound name. However, due to a certain copyright claim and to establish a better link and brand identity the AM service name was changed to Mercury Extra AM.
They say all good things come to an end and that was certainly the case for the local radio in the UK, at least in the early 2000’s there was a mass take over of small local independent stations by big national radio groups. Radio Mercury was one such casualty and following the first take over, the music policy was changed to top 40 hits and programming became a lot less local. Another take over occurred shortly after that, with even more programming coming from outside the area. The audience noticed and didn't like it, with a market share going from its peak of 48% down to just over 7%. Radio with no heart.
However, thanks to the power of the internet,
we're back!
we're back!
This is Radio Mercury Remembered,
a classic hits and great memories station.