Gold 905 is an English-language radio station in Singapore. Owned by the state-owned broadcaster Mediacorp, it broadcasts a classic hits format.
The station traces its origins to the beginning of regulated radio broadcasting in Singapore/Straits Settlements on 1 March 1937; it initially broadcast on AM under the call signZHL, and carried programmes in the languages of English, Chinese, Malay, and Tamil. With the gradual expansion of language-based radio services in Singapore, the station would focus on English-language programmes. It was renamed Radio 1 in 1982; it carried a full service format until 1998, when news programming was relocated to the new NewsRadio 93.8, and 90.5 relaunched as an oldies station.
History
The station was awarded a licence in 1935[1] under the auspices of the British Malaya Broadcasting Corporation. Initially set for a 1936 launch target, the station eventually delayed its launch to 1 March 1937, roughly two months after the expiry of the previous radio station in Singapore, ZHI. The new station carried the callsign ZHL, and broadcast on an AMmedium wave frequency of 630 kHz (which remained unchanged after the Geneva Frequency Plan of 1975, as it was already on a multiple of 9 kHz),[2][3][4] and began FM transmissions in 1967. On 1 January 1994, AM broadcasting was discontinued in Singapore in favour of FM.[5]
Until late-1945, the station, as the country's then-sole extant radio station, broadcast language-based block programming aimed at the local population in English, Chinese dialects, Malay and Tamil. Over time, its language-based programmes were diffused into separate stations serving specific language groups, leaving ZHL as the English-language service of Radio Singapore. On 1 January 1982, the Singapore Broadcasting Corporation rebranded its stations, with the English service being rebranded as Radio 1.[6]
On 28 October 1989, Radio 1 began airing "mellow, middle-of-the-road music" on weekday afternoons through a seven-hour programme block.[7]
One FM became Gold 90.5 on 2 July 1998, playing music from the 1970s, golden oldies and country, with plans to include contemporary jazz and Latin American pop. News-heavy content would move to NewsRadio 93.8.[8] In 2016, the station introduced new Saturday evening shows devoted to classic rock (Rock of Ages) and disco (Solid Gold) as part of a revamp of its DJ lineup.[9]
