[1] Launched on 3 July 1975 as Radio Trent and based in the converted Nottingham Women's Hospital at 29–31 Castle Gate, Nottingham, the station broadcast on FM and medium wave and was managed initially by Dennis Maitland, a commercial director at the highly acclaimed offshore pirate station, Radio London.

Its first programme controller was Bob Snyder from Piccadilly, an ex offshore pirate broadcaster who'd been working on commercial radio franchise applications.

[2] Subsequently, Bev Smith from ATV, was appointed before the arrival of Chris Hughes in the post under new MD Ron Coles, both from BBC local radio.

As Head of Presentation and then Deputy Programme Director, Len Groat, an ex Metro broadcaster, programmed music and assembled the station's jingle identification packages.

Renamed Trent FM in 1988, it launched a separate oldies-format service, GEM-AM, on its own medium wave frequencies alongside that of Leicester Sound.

Trent FM's Castle Gate building housed six of these studios, and the facility remained with the station when it moved to its new home at Chapel Quarter, Nottingham in January 2007.