Hits Radio East Midlands

Hits Radio East Midlands is an Independent Regional Radio station based in Nottingham, England, owned and operated by Bauer Media Audio UK as part of the Hits Radio network. It broadcasts to the East Midlands.

As of September 2024, the station has a weekly audience of 157,000 listeners according to RAJAR.

Radio 106 launched at 6 am on Tuesday 23 September 1997 as the East Midlands’ Independent Regional Radio station. Billed as Radio for Grown Ups, with an advertising campaign on Central TV for the launch, and an episode of Central TV's '24 hours' in 1998 documented the launch and the relaunch of the station, the station was launched by ex-Radio Trent managing director Ron Coles with former Centre Radio MD Ken Warburton as programming controller. The first presenter on air was Dickie Dodd.

Radio 106's launch schedule included a heavy emphasis on speech content, including daily guests on mid-morning shows and a nightly 3-hour phone-in. Specialist music output featured country, soul and Motown at weekends. The station's launch team included Kevin Fernihough, Mark Keen, Willie Morgan, Kenny Hague, Jake Yapp, Peter King and Sarah Graham.

Against competition from established BBC Local Radio and GWR-owned commercial stations, Radio 106 recorded poor listening figures, so within seven months of launch, the station's owners Border Radio Holdings opted for a complete relaunch.

In April 1998, John Myers took control of the station, which was rebranded as "Century 106" and relaunched with a new team of presenters, including Adrian Allen and Chris Ashley. Former Radio Trent presenter David Lloyd became the station's Managing Director and Programme Controller with ex-Trent colleagues including Tony Lyman, Craig Strong, Gary Burton and Andy Marriott joining the presenting line-up. Other additions to the team included Steve Jordan (breakfast) and Bernie Keith (afternoons).

In May 2000, Century 106, along with the other Century stations in the North East and North West, were sold to Capital Radio. David Lloyd left the station to join Galaxy 105 in Leeds while presenter Adrian Allen walked out mid-show in protest. The sale to Capital brought an increase in the station's sports coverage - as emphasised in the slogan music, fun and football. More new presenters joined Century, including Ian Skye, Jason King, Stuart Ellis, Sam Pinkham and Paula White.

When Capital later merged with GWR, the Office of Fair Trading ordered Century to be sold off. Chrysalis bought Century 106 for £29.5m and planned to rebrand the station as Heart 106, to go with 100.7 Heart FM in the West Midlands as the area matched that of the ITV Central region and would make it more attractive to advertisers.