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Radio X (United Kingdom)
Radio X is a British national commercial radio station focused on alternative music, primarily indie rock, and owned by Global. The station launched in 1989 as a pirate radio station named Q102, before being renamed Xfm in 1992. The station became a legally licensed London-wide station in 1997, and in 2015 began national broadcasting under the name Radio X.
As of July 2025, the station broadcasts to a weekly audience of 2.4 million, according to RAJAR.
In 1989, the pirate radio presenter Sammy Jacob, known as DJ Sammy Jay on London's Horizon Radio and Solar Radio, set up an indie music station called Q102, which started broadcasting rock music on a part-time basis from 1 January 1989, with other hours following the soul format of another local station called CD93.
Jacob was one of the presenters on this forerunner to Xfm alongside Adrian Gibson, Donald Johnson, Steve Lamacq and CD93's Bob Matthews (a DJ also known as Bob Mower), with the format changing to play only indie rock music by 1990. In late 1990, Fiction Records founder, and manager of The Cure, Chris Parry got involved with the London station, even though at that point it still did not have any official authorisation to operate. The Cure's singer Robert Smith used the radio as a platform to promote the release of a Cure remix album Mixed Up during night-time radio shows, broadcast live on the air
By 1991, Q102 was off-air, with Jacob re-organising this rock station as Xfm in Clapton, East London. At this point the station was still a pirate radio station operating out of his parents' flat, though Jacob had plans to get a number of Restricted Service Licences for Xfm, which would make Xfm a legal radio station even though it could only be on the capital's airwaves for short periods of time.
Xfm was officially created in London in 1992 by Jacob and Parry, with the station broadcasting at festivals and legally from Fiction's Charlotte Street headquarters on short-term licences. When the station faced difficulties in 1993, Smith and Parry organised a one-off open air festival titled XFM Great Expectations in London's Finsbury Park on 13 June, with the Cure at the top of the bill. The XFM Great Expectations event was covered by the media including TV channels which talked about the XFM radio in interviews with Smith.
In 1994, Xfm unsuccessfully applied to broadcast full-time across London. However, two years later, Xfm was awarded what was to be the final London-wide FM licence, and the station went on air on a permanent basis on 1 September 1997. During the following year the station played a range of music from its studios in 97 Charlotte Street. Jacob would later go on to co-found NME Radio (now TMM) and CDNX (Camden Experience) in 2008 and 2015 respectively.
In 1998, Xfm was acquired by the Capital Radio Group (now part of Global Radio) and relocated from Charlotte Street to Capital's headquarters at Leicester Square, where it remains today. On 23 August that year, Xfm was closed down for four days, during which a test tape featuring mainstream soft rock acts was looped. The station subsequently relaunched with a more mainstream format, and a new advert featuring a cartoon radio saying "Don't be afraid!", which referred to the perceived inaccessibility of its old format.[according to whom?] The soft rock revamp was not a success, culminating in listener-led protests outside the Capital Radio studios. Listeners also lodged objections with the Radio Authority, which found Xfm to be acting in a manner contrary to its licence requirements, and a degree of alternative output was eventually restored, particularly through night-time playlists and specialist shows.[according to whom?]
Radio X (United Kingdom)
Radio X is a British national commercial radio station focused on alternative music, primarily indie rock, and owned by Global. The station launched in 1989 as a pirate radio station named Q102, before being renamed Xfm in 1992. The station became a legally licensed London-wide station in 1997, and in 2015 began national broadcasting under the name Radio X.
As of July 2025, the station broadcasts to a weekly audience of 2.4 million, according to RAJAR.
In 1989, the pirate radio presenter Sammy Jacob, known as DJ Sammy Jay on London's Horizon Radio and Solar Radio, set up an indie music station called Q102, which started broadcasting rock music on a part-time basis from 1 January 1989, with other hours following the soul format of another local station called CD93.
Jacob was one of the presenters on this forerunner to Xfm alongside Adrian Gibson, Donald Johnson, Steve Lamacq and CD93's Bob Matthews (a DJ also known as Bob Mower), with the format changing to play only indie rock music by 1990. In late 1990, Fiction Records founder, and manager of The Cure, Chris Parry got involved with the London station, even though at that point it still did not have any official authorisation to operate. The Cure's singer Robert Smith used the radio as a platform to promote the release of a Cure remix album Mixed Up during night-time radio shows, broadcast live on the air
By 1991, Q102 was off-air, with Jacob re-organising this rock station as Xfm in Clapton, East London. At this point the station was still a pirate radio station operating out of his parents' flat, though Jacob had plans to get a number of Restricted Service Licences for Xfm, which would make Xfm a legal radio station even though it could only be on the capital's airwaves for short periods of time.
Xfm was officially created in London in 1992 by Jacob and Parry, with the station broadcasting at festivals and legally from Fiction's Charlotte Street headquarters on short-term licences. When the station faced difficulties in 1993, Smith and Parry organised a one-off open air festival titled XFM Great Expectations in London's Finsbury Park on 13 June, with the Cure at the top of the bill. The XFM Great Expectations event was covered by the media including TV channels which talked about the XFM radio in interviews with Smith.
In 1994, Xfm unsuccessfully applied to broadcast full-time across London. However, two years later, Xfm was awarded what was to be the final London-wide FM licence, and the station went on air on a permanent basis on 1 September 1997. During the following year the station played a range of music from its studios in 97 Charlotte Street. Jacob would later go on to co-found NME Radio (now TMM) and CDNX (Camden Experience) in 2008 and 2015 respectively.
In 1998, Xfm was acquired by the Capital Radio Group (now part of Global Radio) and relocated from Charlotte Street to Capital's headquarters at Leicester Square, where it remains today. On 23 August that year, Xfm was closed down for four days, during which a test tape featuring mainstream soft rock acts was looped. The station subsequently relaunched with a more mainstream format, and a new advert featuring a cartoon radio saying "Don't be afraid!", which referred to the perceived inaccessibility of its old format.[according to whom?] The soft rock revamp was not a success, culminating in listener-led protests outside the Capital Radio studios. Listeners also lodged objections with the Radio Authority, which found Xfm to be acting in a manner contrary to its licence requirements, and a degree of alternative output was eventually restored, particularly through night-time playlists and specialist shows.[according to whom?]