Magic Radio streams classic hits and feel-good pop from the 1970s through today, broadcasting from London and reaching an estimated 2.4 million listeners across the UK each week. You can stream it live and free right now on Radio Shuffle, wherever you are in the world.
Born as an Easy Listening Station Called Melody FM
Magic did not start out as Magic at all. The station launched in 1990 as Melody FM, an easy listening service for London, according to Wikipedia's history of the station. Media group Emap bought it from Hanson plc for 25 million pounds in 1998 and rebranded it as Magic that December, introducing automation to cut costs at the same time.
A National Experiment That Backfired
Emap tried to scale Magic into a national brand early, networking its mid-morning programming across nine Magic stations spread through northern England starting in January 2002. The experiment did not work: audience figures fell across all nine stations over the following year, and the company reversed course in 2003, pulling programming back to more localized content station by station.
Finding the Formula in the Mid-2000s
Magic found its real growth strategy a few years later, adopting a deliberate more music, less talk philosophy while leaning into high-stakes listener contests and celebrity-driven programming. That approach carried the brand to a genuinely national DAB launch in January 2015, at which point the remaining regional Magic stations across the country were folded together to form the separate Bauer City 2 network instead.
From Emap to Bauer, With a Family of Sister Stations
Emap sold Magic to Bauer Media Group in 2008, and Bauer Media Audio UK still runs it today from The Lantern, the company's Euston studios in London. The brand has since grown a family of digital sister stations, including Mellow Magic, Magic Chilled, and Magic Soul, letting listeners pick a specific mood while the flagship station, now fronted by presenters including Gok Wan, Harriet Scott, and Nicki Chapman, keeps its broad classic hits format on 105.4 FM in London and 106.5 FM in Bristol.
Tune In
From an easy listening station called Melody FM to a national brand with its own family of digital spin-offs, Magic has spent more than three decades reshaping itself around what UK listeners actually want in the background. Stream it free on Radio Shuffle to hear it live.