This is a timeline of the development of radio in Greater Manchester, from when the first local station for the area began broadcasting.
Before 1970
1922
15 November – The British Broadcasting Company begins regular radio broadcasts from its Manchester station 2ZY at the Metropolitan-Vickers works in Trafford Park. It broadcasts the BBC's first children's programme.
1970s
1970
10 September – BBC Radio Manchester launches at 6am.
1971
No events.
1972
BBC Radio Manchester begins broadcasting on MW. Previously the station had only been available on VHF.
1973
No events.
1974
2 April – Piccadilly Radio begins broadcasting at 5am.
1975 - 1979
No events.
1980s
1980
No events.
1981
No events.
1982
No events.
1983
November – Pirate radio station KFM begins broadcasting to Stockport.
1984
During the first half of 1984, the BBC conducts five trials of community stations in Greater Manchester. Each trial, which covers a specific area of Greater Manchester, lasts for a few weeks, broadcasts only on MW and operated for a few hours each day, opting out of BBC Radio Manchester. The station airdates are BBC Radio Bury (late 1983/early 1984), BBC Radio Oldham, BBC Radio Rochdale (eight weeks from 14 May 1984), BBC Radio Trafford and BBC Radio Skelmersdale (summer 1984).
1985
February – KFM stops broadcasting.
1986
No events.
1987
No events.
1988
1 September – The Radio 1 FM 'switch on' day sees three new transmitters brought into service, one of which, at Holme Moss, covers the Manchester area. 3 September – Key 103 and Piccadilly Gold launch. Piccadilly Gold is a continuation of Piccadilly Radio whereas Key 103 is a new chart station aimed at younger listeners. 30 October – BBC Radio Manchester is renamed BBC GMR.
1989
Evening programmes begin on BBC GMR but the programming is regional as it is broadcast on all four of BBC North West's local radio stations. Local programming ends at 7.30pm with the regional output, broadcasting under the banner of Network North West, continuing until 12midnight. 22 October – Sunset Radio begins broadcasting in central Manchester.
1990s
1990
17 February – KFM begins transmitting legally to Stockport and the wider south Manchester area having been granted an Incremental Radio licence by the IBA.
1991
May – Network North West is subsumed into the BBC Night Network. Consequently, the evening programming heard on BBC GMR is the same across all ten of the BBC's local stations in northern England. Also, local programming ends slightly earlier, at 7.05pm (7pm at the weekend), although BBC GMR occasionally opts out to provide local evening sports coverage. KFM is bought by Signal Radio and its new owners merge the station with Echo 96, resulting in the station being relaunched as Signal Cheshire with a coverage area which includes much of the county of Cheshire.
1992
Soul Nation Radio and The Super Station broadcast across Manchester on 104.6 FM and 97.7 FM.
1993
BBC GMR stops broadcasting on MW. August – Sunset 102 stops broadcasting and two months later the station goes into liquidation. The liquidator reapplies for the licence but loses to Faze FM which launches a dance station on the frequency the following year.
1994
March – Manchester United Radio launches. 20 June – Fortune 1458 launches in Manchester, headed by former Piccadilly Radio boss Colin Walters. The station uses BBC Radio Manchester's old MW frequency. 1 September – 100.4 Jazz FM begins broadcasting. It covers all of north west England and is one of the first five regional stations to be licensed across the UK. 16 October – Kiss 102 begins broadcasting.
1995
No events.
1996
May – A second FM transmitter is launched for BBC GMR. Radiating from Saddleworth on 104.6 FM, it provides better coverage to the Upper Tame Valley. 3 June – Asian Sound begins broadcasting on MW across. The station's official broadcast area is east Lancashire but it can be heard across most of Greater Manchester. 9 September – Following a change in ownership, Manchester station Fortune 1458 is relaunched as Lite AM.
1997
1 April – Wish FM starts broadcasting to Wigan. 29 September – Following the purchase of Faze FM, owner of Kiss 102 and Kiss 105, by Chrysalis Radio, Kiss 102 is renamed Galaxy 102. For a brief period in 1997, BBC GMR broadcasts as an all-talk station called GMR Talk.