The first and only 24-hour commercial Greek radio station to hold a FM license in London is celebrating 35 years of success this month. It is a clear example of how Greek music and its broadcasting platform have flourished in Great Britain to cater for its demographic.
LGR 103.3 FM first went on-air on 13th November 1989 from its LGR Studios at Haringey, Vale Road.
London Greek Radio exists to enlighten, amuse and improve the lives of our community both in the UK and abroad. In preserving our Greek and Cypriot heritage and bringing together London’s vibrant Greek community, the LGR brand is thriving by celebrating its Greek and Cypriot identity and roots.
The pirate LGR went on-air on 8th October 1983, with its iconic founders Akis Eracleous and Chris Harmanda. The intuitive Mr Harmanda entered broadcasting to give the London Cypriot community a voice, which he and Mr Eracleous indisputably achieved.
In 2018, we tragically lost both Akis and Chris, but they left with us their incredible legacies. The perseverance and bravery of these men, who scaled the rooftops of sites to ensure that each morning we all awoke to the sound of LGR, can never be forgotten.
The staff and volunteers endured great adversity and went to great lengths during the 1980’s to keep London Greek Radio on the air.
LGR is a station with its timeless traits and nostalgia, a strong connection between “family and community”. You often hear, “I grew up listening to LGR as a child with parents, family!”, it’s that unique space it occupies. This is where LGR plays to its strengths and is the reason why London-born Greeks/Cypriots come back to it. This is the modern legacy of London Greek Radio.
LGR presenter Tony Neophytou mentions that “the Greek speaking community have a penchant for radio because of the strength of their attachment to back home. Whether they come from Cyprus, Greece or the Diaspora, anything that recreates a sense of their roots stirs them emotionally.”
The mid-80’s protest at the Camden Electric Ballroom, fundraisers, a most notably 50,000 signature-petition, press campaigns, a lobby of Parliament, with fervent community support: the radio authorities were convinced that LGR should be granted a license.
The pirate LGR left the air at the end of 1988 having decided to apply for one of the new incremental radio licenses. They decided to work together with Afro-Carribean station WNK to share a frequency, winning the North London license with a 12-hour daily allowance. LGR returned to the air legally as London’s first Greek community radio station in November 1989. Unluckily for WNK, went into liquidation around 1993, which officially left LGR reigning 24/7 to this day!
The book, ‘London’s Pirate Pioneers’ (2015) by Stephen Hebditch tells the story of the capital’s pirate radio stations and the people who helped change the British broadcasting system. He writes about LGR’s undeniable legacy in the eighties and the intense pressures it faced to shut down.
On November 13th, 1989, LGR opened its doors as a fully legal station, with offices and a studio located on Vale Road, Haringey. In 2003, LGR purchased a freehold in Finchley and moved to its current studios at LGR House.
The station is an integrated part of the communities’ social lives, including the organised Greekology events. The launching of LGR Club Nights, which helped to boost the credibility and impact of the station. In 2012, its debut at the Marquee Club with Cypriot Eurovision star Ivi Adamou sold-out very quickly. LGR club fixtures are currently the station’s biggest event, with a few dates in London taking place each year.
How to keep LGR relevant for young people in a multi-platform world is a rhetorical question. LGR’s constantly evolving with the modern context, Digital, Freeview TV, recourse to TikTok, Instagam etc.
LGR has recently increased its English language airtime encouraging more Greek-speaking young people to listen every day. The likeable personalities, energetic, lively or softly-spoken voices, there’s a little something for every palate.
The Cypriot migrants settled from the 1950s, 60s, and 70s, were pinned to the rag trade and tuned into pirate LGR every day. The demographics have changed a lot since, so too the dynamics, with the addition in number of Greek Diaspora, London’s lively Hellene community.
‘We’ value our collective identity in a multi-cultural London, our compatriots have integrated into UK culture and desire their heritage, so for LGR to provide access to these roots is of paramount importance.
LGR, with a deeply felt community DNA, celebrity artists and Greek singers have frequented the FM station over the years.
LGR has supported charities including Nepomak.uk Connecting Young Cypriots, Radiomarathon, Alkionides UK Charity, London Autism Group Charity, UK Thalassaemia Society UKTS with enlightening radio shows about autism and thalassaemia.
The Leukaemia Cancer Society credits LGR for creating the cancer charity in the mid-90s, too. The LCS website writing about it said:
“In 1994 London Greek Radio (LGR) put out a mother’s appeal for her son. Flushed with success the group decided to carry on recruiting new donors, raising awareness of blood cancers, and supporting patients with the disease. Within a year of hearing the appeal on London Greek Radio, the group had formed a committee and registered the charity.”
LGR is a commercial station and survives on the income generated from its loyal and valued customers and whilst this is the case, it offers a free service to local charity and community interests. It also serves advertising for many Greek and Cypriot run businesses in and around North London.
The LGR brand is alive and thriving to this very day. Today, in addition to 103.3 FM as always, LGR can now be heard on DAB+ in London and Birmingham. The station was launched recently on Freeview Channel 277, freely TV also, acquiring a nationwide coverage.
Furthermore, listeners extend worldwide at lgr.co.uk and the station has a free app for mobile devices which listeners can download from the App or Play stores embracing the ‘on-the-move’ audience.
The LGR brand is trusted for working with key players in the arts and creative industries. LGR is at the “heart” of the social pulse, co-ordinating as an official media sponsor. Including the Cy Wine Fest and celebrity and star-studied concerts, community events etc.
Today, LGR is thriving by celebrating Greek/Cypriot identity and culture and heritage. Its music news, Chart-toppers, culture-relevant tit-bits designed to appeal to the young demographic. Hearing news about Greece defeating England, to Helena Paparizou’s Eurovision triumph, Eleni Foureira’s 2nd-placer or Euro 2004, makes the first place you want to go be LGR. To hear what we are saying about how we are feeling there about milestone moments with a culture relevance to LGR.
LGR is playing a key role as a source of new talent, as a link between mainstream and our culture and as a vital platform for Greek and Cypriot culture.
There is no better way to mark ’35’ incredible years of LGR and its help in championing identity, than with celebrating with our listeners, showcasing Greek and Cypriot music and culture. We were the Official Radio Sponsors to Cy Wine Fest in October casting a talent spotlight on artists, also, our Greekology showcases homegrown heritage to the wider public.
The audience base of LGR, which includes listeners from the Italian, Spanish, Arab, Jewish, Armenian, Bulgarian, and Turkish Cypriot communities, is well-established and diverse.
LGR’s Managing Director, Tony Jay, said, “More listeners are discovering the ever-growing London Greek Radio family every day, not only Greek-speaking listeners but English, Jewish, Albanian, Arab, Bulgarian, Turkish, Russian and many more that frequently tune in.
He added, “LGR is undergoing a revamp with fresh ideas to attract an even wider audience. Exciting times ahead ‘onwards and upwards’.”
With LGR’s edgier playlists of the biggest Greek and Cypriot tunes, Modern Laika, Greek Pop, Entechna, Golden-Oldies, Alternative, Folk and Current Chart Hits, we continue to serve the listener. It’s this enigmatic reason that the station remains the preferred choice in most Greek and Cypriot homes, offices, shops, factories, workplaces, vehicles and venues.
Our multilingual programmes–English and Greek–reach a large and diverse audience on a global scale. It broadcasts music, interviews, announcements, community events, local news, Greek and Cypriot news in addition to church services. While catering to the lively lifestyle of one of London’s prosperous communities, the wide range of programmes are made to appeal to all age groups.
