Wish FM broadcasts on 102.4 FM from a transmitter, powered by a wind generator, sited on Billinge Hill, St. Helens, Merseyside and has been on air since 1 April 1997. It was the first licence applied for and won by Tony Dewhurst and Jeff Graham of the recently formed Independent Radio Group. The station takes its name from the initials WIgan and St Helens. The station is based in Orrell, Wigan, but in early 2007, the station's owners approached UK media regulator Ofcom to ask permission to move the station's base to Newton-le-Willows, Merseyside, as part of a plan to share a single building with two other stations from the UTV Radio group: Tower FM and Wire FM. However, after selling-off Stockport-based Imagine FM, UTV Media decided to keep Wish FM in Orrell, and co-located Wire FM and Tower FM into the Orrell base.
Station rebrand
On 8 February 2019, Wish FM and the Wireless Group's local radio stations were sold to Bauer Radio. The sale was ratified in March 2020 following an inquiry by the Competition and Markets Authority. On 27 May 2020, it was announced that Wish FM will join Bauer's Greatest Hits Radio network. On 13 July 2020, local programming outside weekday breakfast was replaced by networked output from the GHR network, with Wish FM retaining its own branding. In September 2020, the station will rebrand as Greatest Hits Radio and merge with six stations in the North West of England and North Wales. The station's local breakfast show will be replaced by a regional drivetime show. Localised news bulletins, traffic updates and advertising will be retained. The station's Orrell studios will close.
Programming
Local programming is produced and broadcast from studios in Orrell from 6am–10am on weekdays. Networked programming originates from the Greatest Hits Network's Manchester, Liverpool, Birmingham and Glasgow studios and from Bauer's Golden Square headquarters in Soho.
News
Wish FM broadcasts local news bulletins hourly from 6 am to 6 pm on weekdays, from 8 am to 1 pm on Saturdays and from 8 am to 12 pm on Sundays. Headlines are broadcast on the half-hour during weekday breakfast and drivetime shows. The station also simulcasts hourly Sky News Radio bulletins at all other times.
