About Night Tracks

Night Tracks was a quality Adult Contemporary music service that was broadcast between midnight and 6 am (GMT) from the European Klassik Rock studios in Maidstone, Kent. Night Tracks was of particular interest to UK ILR stations as formed an ideal overnight sustaining service and was available FREE to any ILR station, provided prior approval had been obtained. It was easily received on the ASTRA Satellite Transponder 35. The negligible cost of an ASTRA receiver was the only outlay needed to wave goodbye to internal overnight programmes that strained budgets!

The service was "un-branded" in that it identified itself as "Night Tracks". It could be incorporated as part of a schedule because it was tailored to sound as if it was being broadcast from the client station. Presenters referred to "the Breakfast Show" rather than naming the next presenter. No references were made to European Klassik Rock and weather and travel was presented generically. All of this ensured Night Tracks slotted seamlessly into any station's programming.

Night Tracks was aimed at listeners between 20 and 50. We knew that our European Klassik Rock audience also enjoyed this overnight service during this period - although there was a significant difference between the two. The only important similarity between the services was that we continued to ensure there was a freshness and lack of repetition in music choice. Musically, Night Tracks featured the best in quality pop mixed with gold tracks stretching back to the mid-'60s. We actively discriminated against hard rap and heavy dance tracks. However, quality dance flavoured tracks had a place on our playlists.

In addition to listeners who heard us via the ASTRA Satellite, Cable and DAB, we were joined by a further tier of listeners from stations taking the Night Tracks overnight service. Along with ILR stations, we were relayed by RSL stations across the UK, English language broadcasters in mainland Europe and many hospital radio and student radio stations in the UK.