The Wave 96.4 FM

The Wave is an Independent Local Radio station serving Swansea, Neath Port Talbot and East Carmarthenshire.
It is owned and operated by Bauer Radio as part of the Hits Radio network and broadcasts from studios in the Gowerton area of Swansea.
History.
Early years.
Initially broadcasting as 95.1 Swansea Sound on 30 September 1974, the station split into two separate services on 30 September 1995, creating a new music-led station called 96.4 Sound Wave, when it moved its frequency from 95.1 FM to 96.4 FM, while Swansea Sound continued to broadcast on 1170 AM.
The separate stations are based at studios in Gowerton, from where Swansea Sound began broadcasting. In 1998, the FM station changed its name to 96.4 The Wave.
2000s.
The Wave continued providing a local service to the Swansea area. In 2002, The Radio Authority announced plans for a Swansea DAB multiplex to form, allowing The Wave to broadcast on a digital platform under the format of contemporary hit radio. 
2003 saw the station adding the "South Wales' Hit Music" tagline as their slogan as well as a highly popular competition called "A Week on Wheels", which returned the following year as a promotion.
In January 2004, The Wave was officially launched on the new DAB multiplex. The Wave came under management of UTV Radio in 2005, when the company acquired "The Wireless Group", the owner of the station in the early 2000s. The station also ran "Party in the Park" concerts in Singleton Park, Swansea for many years, but due to the financial cost, the event ended in 2006.
Instead, The Wave began a partnership with "Escape into the Park", a similar music event involving mostly contemporary dance music. In 2008, The Wave began using the marketing brand "You Love It, We Play It", which was processed by then-owners UTV Radio. The following year, the station switched to the "Today's Best Mix" strapline.
2010s.
The Wave and Swansea Sound were involved in UTV Media's "Wales Live" scheme, an aborted attempt to provide a service designed to support local news through radio, television and online services. The project was set to launch by October 2010, but ultimately failed.
The Wave received an updated logo design which was made into a car sticker, with the inclusion of "DAB and Online" displayed alongside "96.4 FM" on the bottom of the logo. The Wave, along with other local commercial radio stations within the UK, became a part of the Radioplayer UK project, an internet service formed by the BBC, Global Radio and the Guardian Media Group that supplies a listen live feed of UK radio stations across the world. The Wave's owner, UTV, was renamed the Wireless Group in 2016.
On 8 February 2019, The Wave was sold alongside Swansea Sound and the Wireless Group's network of local radio stations to Bauer Radio.
2020s.
In May 2020, Bauer announced that The Wave would join the Hits Radio network, while retaining its localised on-air branding. The Wave began carrying most of the network's off-peak programming from Manchester from 15 June 2020. The Wave officially joined the Hits Radio network on 20 July 2020.
As of April 2021, The Wave broadcasts 10 hours of local programming on weekdays and four hours on Saturdays and Sundays, alongside hourly local news bulletins and traffic updates at peak times.
Coverage area.
The station's official Ofcom measured coverage area (MCA) covers Swansea, Neath Port Talbot and East Carmarthenshire.
Music policy.
The Wave broadcasts a contemporary hit radio format by syndicating Bauer's Hits Radio playlist.
Ofcom describes the format of The Wave as "a music and information station – mainly chart and contemporary but may include older tracks".
Programming.
Local programming is produced and broadcast from Bauer’s Swansea studios from 6am-1pm and 4-7pm on weekdays and from 12-4pm at weekends.
Networked programming originates from Bauer’s Manchester studios.
News.
Bauer’s Swansea newsroom broadcasts local news bulletins hourly from 6am-7pm on weekdays and from 7am-1pm on weekends. Headlines are broadcast on the half-hour during weekday breakfast and drivetime shows. The local bulletins also air on sister station Greatest Hits Radio South Wales.
The station also simulcasts hourly Sky News Radio bulletins at all other times.