to Christmas music, and later replaced this with "Smooth 70s", which played music from the 1970s. The Christmas station returned in 2012, and Smooth 70s closed in September 2013. Along with its sister station, Real Radio, Smooth was an official host of the Blackpool Illuminations switch-on ceremony from 2010, and staged regular, free live music events. The station signed a number of sponsorship deals with companies such as Tetley Tea and ATS Euromaster, and held annual fundraising events in aid of the charities Help for Heroes and Macmillan Cancer Support. GMG Radio was taken over by rival Global Radio in June 2012. Global's purchase of the company was referred to Ofcom, the Office of Fair Trading and the Competition Commission amid concerns that Global's market share may be disproportionately large as a result of the deal, and consequently not in the public interest. GMG Radio subsequently changed its name to Real and Smooth Radio Ltd. A report issued by the Competition Commission in May 2013 highlighted competitiveness issues and recommended a full or partial sale of Real and Smooth. Real and Smooth Radio Ltd and Global continued to operate as separate companies while the takeover was investigated. Smooth moved its operations from Manchester to Global's London headquarters in October 2013. In February 2014, Global were given permission to remove Smooth from the Digital One platform and replace it with another station. Global also sold eight of its regional stations, including three operated under the Smooth brand, and announced that Smooth would replace much of its Gold network on the medium wave frequency. The Smooth brand was relaunched as a network of regional stations in March 2014. History Early years as Jazz FM London station 102.2 Jazz FM was launched on 4 March 1990 with a concert performed by Ella Fitzgerald at the Royal Albert Hall. Jazz FM played mainly soul and jazz music and was broadcast to the London area. A sister station in Manchester called 100.4 Jazz FM was launched on 1 September 1994. The Jazz FM stations were purchased by the Guardian Media Group in 2002, and became part of the company's radio division, GMG Radio Holdings Ltd. In 2003, GMG radio conducted market research into the type of music that listeners in the north-west of England wanted to hear on the radio. The study concluded that many people were dissuaded by the name Jazz, and as a