| West Sound (Ayrshire) | |
| City: | Ayr |
| Area: | Ayrshire |
| Airdate: | 16 October 1981 |
| Frequency: | MW 1035 kHz |
| Format: | Classic Hits |
| Owner: | Bauer Media Audio UK |
| Sister Stations: | West FM Westsound (Dumfries & Galloway) |
| Website: | Westsound Ayrshire |
West Sound (Ayrshire) was an Independent Local Radio station based in Ayr, Scotland, originally independent, but the licence is now owned and operated by Bauer, laterally it was part of the Scottish Greatest Hits brand of stations. It broadcast to Ayrshire from an AM transmitter close to Symington on 1035Khz and on FM from the Darvel transmitter on 96.7MHz, although it originally launched on 96.2MHz.
The station launched on 16 October 1981 Broadcasting initially from 7am to 8pm. At the start and end of broadcasting each day, a specially composed station theme called Mystic Waters was played.
As of December 2022, the station had a weekly audience of 69,000 listeners according to RAJAR.[1]
The station rebranded from West Sound to Greatest Hits Radio Ayrshire on 3 April 2023.[2] [3] On 12 November 2023, it was announced that the station would cease broadcasting on medium wave before the end of the year, but would continue on DAB.[4]
Much of the station's programming was produced from the studios of Clyde 2 in Clydebank, Forth 2 in Edinburgh and Tay 2 in Dundee.
Some output was produced from GHR's Birmingham, London and Manchester studios and broadcast on both networks in Scotland and England.[5]
Westsound Ayrshire broadcast local news bulletins hourly from 6am to 7pm on weekdays and from 7am to 1pm at weekends. Headlines were broadcast on the half hour during weekday breakfast and drivetime shows, alongside sport and traffic bulletins.
National bulletins from Sky News Radio were carried overnight with bespoke networked Scottish bulletins at weekends, produced from Radio Clyde's newsroom in Clydebank.