Premier Christian Radio

Premier Christian Radio is a British Christian radio station wholly owned by the charity, Premier Christian Media Trust.

Premier Christian Radio broadcasts Christian programming including news, debate, teachings and Christian music to London and the surrounding areas. It operates on three frequencies on medium wave across five transmitters:
 * 1305 (Stevenage, Bishops Stortford, Harlow and Hertford; Crawley, Guildford, Reigate and Woking)
 * 1332 (London)
 * 1413 (Maidenhead, Camberley, Staines, Harrow, Watford; and Chelmsford, Brentwood, Dartford, Maidstone & Sevenoaks)

It also broadcasts on DAB in Greater London. Premier can also be heard nationally on Sky Digital (channel 0123), Freeview (channel 725), on the Digital One national DAB multiplex from September 21, 2009 and globally via its website.

Broadcasters
Presenters include:
 * Andy Peck
 * Andy Walton
 * Bridgitte Tetteh
 * Cindy Kent, former singer with the 1960s folk group The Settlers
 * Dave Rose
 * David Aldous
 * John Pantry, 1970s singer and music producer
 * Justin Brierly
 * Lizzie Crow
 * Loretta Fenton
 * Maria Toth
 * Megan Gerrie
 * Michael Cleere
 * Michael Fanstone
 * Muyiwa
 * Rick Easter
 * Tony Miles
 * Victoria Laurence

Listenership
Premier Christian Radio are known for their strong evangelical audience but their listeners also comprise a number of different Christian denominations, including Anglican, Baptist, Catholic, Methodist and Pentecostal.

In 2004, The Times placed Premier Christian Radio at number one in a chart of the "most upmarket stations" based upon the percentage of its audience (81%) that is ABC1.

History
Premier Christian Radio was founded in 1994, broadcasting exclusively on MW to a Greater London audience when it also began its telephone counselling service, Lifeline.

A series of magazine titles then joined. The charity currently produces Christianity Magazine, Youthwork Magazine, Christian Marketplace and Faithworks Magazine.

In 2001, Premier received an official warning from OFCOM, the Radio Authority for broadcasting "items that were offensive to people of other, non-Christian beliefs". A "yellow card" warning was issued, recognising that Premier had acknowledged its errors and put in place significant new compliance measures to ensure such breaches would not be repeated.

Availability
Premier Christian Radio was at first only available on medium wave in London. It later added broadcasts on the internet, Freeview, Sky, Virgin Media (channel 968, terminated May 6 2009) and London DAB. In 2006, the media group launched Premier.tv, one of the first Christian IPTV channels in the UK.

Its 2007 application for a national DAB licence, as part of the National Grid Wireless consortium, was refused; Premier Radio said "almost 72,000 Premier listeners stepped up and made their voices heard in supporting the bid". In August 2009, Premier achieved its target of meeting the £650,000 yearly fee to broadcast on the national Digital One DAB multiplex and will launch on the multiplex on 21 September 2009.