Atlantic 252 live

Atlantic 252 is one of the best-remembered names in British radio, and one of the strangest. From 1 September 1989 until 2 January 2002 it broadcast pop music to the UK on long wave, on 252 kHz, from a 248-metre mast at Clarkstown in County Meath, Ireland. With 500 kilowatts of power by day, it could be heard across much of Britain at a time when commercial pop radio was still limited to local stations. It was a joint venture between the Irish state broadcaster RTÉ and Radio Luxembourg's owner, RTL, with studios in Trim. Its high-rotation mix of mainstream pop and rock found a huge audience: at its peak in 1993 it had six million listeners aged 15 and over. Later the format moved towards indie and dance, and in 2000 to urban music such as garage, house, hip-hop and R&B, before the station closed in 2002 and the frequency briefly became the sports station TEAMtalk 252. The name came back on 24 June 2024, when a new station called Atlantic 252 launched on DAB in parts of North West England — Stockport, Bury, Bolton, Tameside, Rochdale and Oldham — with plans to expand. Its operators chose to remain anonymous, but they brought back Jim Merkel, the voice of the original station, and a modern version of the original logo. The revived station also streams online, which is how it plays on this page.