Not under the original name. Piccadilly Radio, which went on air in Manchester on 2 April 1974, split in 1988: the FM half became Key 103 (now Hits Radio Manchester) and the AM half became Piccadilly Gold (now Greatest Hits Radio, with its 1152 AM signal switched off on 26 April 2021). Piccadilly Radio 261, an independent non-profit heritage project, carries the sound and the name online.
What happened to the original station
Piccadilly Radio went on air at 5am on Tuesday 2 April 1974 and for a generation was simply what the radio sounded like in Manchester. On 3 September 1988 it was split in two, and the two halves have had separate lives since:
- The FM half became Key 103, which is now Hits Radio Manchester on 103 FM.
- The AM half became Piccadilly Gold, then Magic 1152, and is now Greatest Hits Radio. Its 1152 AM signal was switched off on 26 April 2021.
So the stations that grew out of Piccadilly are still broadcasting, but none of them uses the Piccadilly name on air any more.
Where Piccadilly Radio 261 fits in
Piccadilly Radio 261 is not the original station. It is an independent, non-profit heritage project with no connection to Bauer Media. It exists because the sound of that era had nowhere to go, and it is a live station, not a museum: free to listen, around the clock, with no app and no sign-up.
The “261” is a nod to the 261 metres on medium wave where Piccadilly began in 1974.
Where to listen
- The Piccadilly sound, live: our live channels, including Piccadilly 80s, Piccadilly 90s, Piccadilly Gold and Piccadilly 103.
- The 1988 FM descendant: Hits Radio Manchester on 103 FM.
- The 1988 AM descendant: Greatest Hits Radio, now on FM and digital in Greater Manchester.
Want the whole story?
Start with what happened to Piccadilly Radio, then see the full history, or read about the plaque that marks the station’s first studios.
Sources
Dates are drawn from publicly documented radio history, including Wikipedia’s articles on Hits Radio Manchester and Greatest Hits Radio Manchester & The North West, and Bauer’s announcement of its medium-frequency changes. If you worked at Piccadilly and something here is wrong, please tell us and we will put it right.