of its sister station in Bristol. Split services GWR Radio began splitting frequencies as required by the British Government – which declared its desire to end simulcasting on both FM and AM. In November 1988 GWR Radio launched Brunel Radio, a golden oldies service (now part of the Gold) network whilst GWR FM launched an opt-out service for West Wiltshire as a more localised service, this was however dropped a few weeks later, citing "poor reception". A fill-in relay for Marlborough was opened on 14 October 1988 on 96.5 MHz FM. After the lifting on sanctions restricting the time spent playing music (so-called 'needle time') in 1988, GWR FM became more and more music-led, playing Top 40 chart music during the daytime, and specialist music (big band music, rock, rap etc.) was over time eliminated. The local element of the station especially its news coverage had progressively become briefer and reduced in length, then moved onto Brunel Classic Gold, before being dropped altogether. Football sponsorship The station sponsored Swindon Town Football Club from 1989 until 1991, during the time that they won promotion to the First Division via the playoffs, but remained in the Second Division due to financial irregularities. GWR FM – Reboot In 1992 a re-launch of the station saw it rebranded as The New GWR FM, with a policy of reduced speech and the dropping of all R&B and hip hop music from the station's output. This policy was gradually extended to other GWR Group stations, such as 2-Ten FM in Reading and 2CR FM in Bournemouth. The GWR Group expanded from the late 1980s through to 2005, purchasing other stations throughout southern England, eventually becoming the largest radio company in the UK. The Mix Network The harmonisation of playlists across the GWR Group led to the creation of The Mix Network in 1997, with GWR Wiltshire at the hub. The radio station's (and the group's) long held philosophy of heavily researching the average person's listening habits and tastes led by Group chairman Ralph Bernard created a tightly formatted sound where popular Top 40 chart hits and ex-Top 40 songs are blended in with older hits. This format, with the strapline "Better Music Mix", was then subsequently adopted by all stations within the GWR Group, including Essex FM, Trent FM and Beacon Radio creating a mini national network. The practice for the Mix Network stations were each