Tide turns at Lancashire's Radio Wave as presenters leave

Presenters at the Layton-based station have lost their jobs as their contracts came to an end, with only breakfast hosts Scott and Tatum continuing in their weekday morning slot ahead of the station making its full transition to Greatest Hits Radio Lancashire in early September.

Bauer Media bought a host of local radio licences last year including that of Wave 96.5 which was founded in Blackpool in 1992.

They have brought in their national presenters including former Radio One DJs Mark Goodier and Pat Sharp.

The news of the job losses was greeted with sadness by Fylde coast favourite Hayley Kay who broadcast for 15 years on the popular station.

She said it felt like the end of an era. She said: “It was a privilege to spend 15 years of my working life there, almost 10 of those waking up the Fylde coast. I worked with so many talented people over the years and made friendships that I’ll cherish forever.

“I hope Radio Wave will be remembered as a brilliant, truly local station.”

The station was founded by Blackpool businessman John Barnett to serve the coastal community and has always had strong links, sponsoring a series of community awards such as the Culture, Lifestyle and Business Awards and the Heroes in the Community Awards.

Hayley, who used to broadcast the breakfast show with Ged Mills, said: “I have so many happy memories of the years at Radio Wave. We were lucky enough to broadcast from such a unique place.

“One of the experiences I’ll treasure forever is when Ged and I did the Five Day Breakfast. We lived at the Tower for five days in 2013 and raised £15,000 for Chloe’s Wish to Walk.

“Our annual charity auctions every December were also brilliant events raising phenomenal amounts for various local charities.”

Among those leaving are DJ Ian Shep Shepherd and news editor Andy Mitchell who has been at the station since day one and who writes a column for the Gazette along with Hayley.

The station, which has already introduced a new late show hosted by former BBC Radio 2 presenter Alex Lester, will also welcome further programmes from the Greatest Hits Radio Network’s line-up across weekday daytimes; including Simon ‘Rossie’ Ross, Andy Crane and Rick Houghton.

Graham Bryce, group managing director at Hits Radio Network Brand, said, “I’d like to personally thank all the individuals for their professionalism and outstanding contribution.

"These changes in no way diminish those achievements but merely reflect the changing market in which we operate. We wish them the very best for the future.

"Re-imagining local radio for the future is a vital part of securing its future success, and these changes have been designed to offer listeners access to fantastic new shows alongside all the local news content, local information and traffic and travel that is important to them.”