Piccadilly 103 plays the music of the FM years — the pop, dance and chart records that carried Manchester radio from the late eighties onwards. Free, around the clock, from anywhere.
Live now
Piccadilly 103
Press play. No app, no sign-up, no advert before it starts. Find it at 103.0 on the tuner.
What it plays
Chart pop and dance from the FM era onwards: the club records that crossed over, the pop singles everybody knew, and the run of hits that filled Manchester radio through the nineties and beyond.
Faster and brighter than our heritage channels, and deliberately so.
Where the name comes from
In 1988 Piccadilly Radio split its FM and AM services. The FM side launched as Piccadilly Key 103 on 103.0, and in time the Piccadilly part of the name was dropped altogether. That station went through further changes and rebrands in the years that followed.
We have traced the whole sequence, including what the frequency carries today, on our what is Key 103 called now page.
Piccadilly 103 is an independent heritage channel. It is not connected to, and should not be confused with, any station currently broadcasting on 103.0 FM in Manchester.
Shows on this channel
Alongside the continuous stream we are building a set of recorded shows for this channel — properly put together, with a running order and continuity, rather than a playlist on shuffle. They will appear here as they are finished.
If you presented on Piccadilly, or you simply know this music better than most, we would like to hear from you.
What this is not
We should be clear, because it matters. This is not a recording of Piccadilly Radio, and we are not the original station. Piccadilly Radio 261 is an independent, non-profit heritage project with no connection to Bauer Media or any current rights-holder of the Piccadilly name.
The original station's archive is held by Manchester Central Library, and the Manchester Digital Music Archive has done a great deal to preserve it. If you want the genuine article, that is where it lives. What we can offer is the sound.
The rest of the network
Piccadilly 103 is one of six live channels, all free and all running around the clock:
- Piccadilly Radio 261 — the flagship stream, at 261 on the dial
- Piccadilly 261 Heritage — the 1974 sound, at 1152
- Piccadilly 80s — non-stop 1980s hits, at 88.8
- Piccadilly 90s — 1990s anthems and Madchester, at 91.9
- Piccadilly Gold — timeless classics, at 95.5
- Piccadilly 103 — this channel
Each one sits at its own position on the tuner on our Stations page. Slide the needle and it will find them.
Read the story behind it
We have written the history up properly rather than leaving it to a single page: what happened to Piccadilly Radio, what Key 103 is called now, and the presenters and DJs who passed through, from Chris Evans to Karl Pilkington.
And if you listened at the time, tell us what we should be playing. These channels get better the more people tell us what they remember.