Archive for December, 2005
Twelve months of radio news..
It has been a busy year in the wonderful world of radio – GCap Media PLC created – Emap and SRH become one, UTV buy The Wireless Group, GMG bought and sold shares in Reading 107 and TLRC bought and won lots of licences!
Here are some highlights as featured on RadioToday.co.uk during the last 12 months: (You can click on a headline to read the full story). Subscribers of the RadioToday.co.uk Breaking News Email Alerts were informed of these storys before anyone else! Why not sign up and be first with the radio news in 2006.
DAB Digital Radio expansion
After extensive consultation, Ofcom today published its final statement on the further development of Digital Audio Broadcasting (DAB) radio.
Ofcom will allocate three blocks of VHF Band III spectrum to fill the gaps in local multiplex coverage, so providing the opportunity to every part of the UK to receive local DAB Digital Radio services (including both commercial and BBC local and nations radio services), and one block to a further national commercial multiplex to provide additional choice for as many listeners as possible.
Ofcom explains Community awards
Ofcom today explain why they awarded seven community radio stations recently, and decided not to award 32 others.
The seven awards made on December 12th were: West Hull Community Radio (West Hull), Radio Reverb (East and Central Brighton), Colchester Garrison FM (Colchester), Spirit of Plymouth (Plymouth), Resonance FM (Central London), Desi Radio (Southall, West London) and Sound Radio (Hackney, East London)
Ofcom explains Ipswich award
Ofcom have today published the reason behind awarding the Ipswich licence to Town FM Ltd on 12 December 2005.
The licence attracted eight applications, several of which were of a high standard say Ofcom, making this award a particularly difficult decision for the Radio Licensing Committee.
Cumbria and Wales switched on
Digital One, the national commercial digital radio multiplex operator, has switched on two new transmitters, in Kendal and Blaenplwyf.
The Kendal transmitter brings national commercial DAB digital radio coverage to more than 142,944 people in Kendal and the southern Lake District. The Blaenplwyf transmitter reaches 46,132 people around the Aberystwyth area of Wales.
East Anglia switched on
Digital One, the national commercial digital radio multiplex operator, has switched on three new transmitters, in Great Yarmouth, Oulton and Great Massingham.
The Great Yarmouth transmitter brings national commercial DAB digital radio coverage to more than 110,000 people, the Oulton transmitter reaches 156,000 people and Great Massingham reaches 107,140. The areas covered by the three transmitters include Great Yarmouth, Lowestoft, Kings Lynn and parts of coastal East Anglia.
Archers loses popular figure
BBC Radio 4′s The Archers has lost one of its most popular characters. Betty Tucker died of a second heart attack, less than a week after listeners were shocked by the first.
As well as the rest of Ambridge, Betty will be missed most by her husband Mike, daughter Brenda, son Roy and his wife Hayley, as well as her granddaughter, Phoebe Aldridge.
Free audio from the Radio Shop!
Park Media (Owners of ProductionPark.com and Radio Shop) are pleased to offer a great audio download offer for Christmas.
Hospital, Student and Community radio station – if you haven?t got your Christmas Imaging on-air, or just need fresh material instead of repeating last years audio, have a read of this special offer..
Clyde's Cash for Kids success
This year?s Radio Clyde Cash for Kids lunches raised over ?400,000 with a little help from the radio station?s jet-set friends at the Hilton Hotel in Glasgow on Friday 9th December.
Travis frontman Fran Healy flew up from London to perform a special unplugged session after the lunch and this prompted Sir Tom Hunter to donate an additional ?100,000 to Cash for Kids to show his appreciation.
Talk 107 unveil presenters
UTV Radio’s talk107, due to launch in Edinburgh on February 14th 2006 have given a preview of some of the presenters expected to be on the station.
Stand-Up comedian Susan Morrison will form one part of the double-headed breakfast show, and Simon Pia will form part of the drivetime show. Evening News columnist and broadcaster Stephen Jardine will be part of the weekend line-up.
Christmas Special for Q102
Craig Doyle is pictured recording a two hour Christmas Special for Dublin?s Q102 which will be broadcast this Christmas Eve at 2pm and again on Christmas Day at 8pm.
Craig Doyle said: “I’m delighted to celebrate Christmas with Dublin?s Q102 this year. We have a fantastic line-up of guests and I can promise Dubliners a show to remember.”
Seven Community Radio Awards
Ofcom today announces the award of seven new community radio licences. This brings the total number of community radio licences awarded to date to 62.
Community radio is a new sector of radio being introduced in the UK. It will become the third tier of radio which will complement the mix of services already provided by the BBC and commercial radio sectors.
GMG Radio sell stake in Reading 107
GMG Radio have sold their 60.3% share in Berkshire station Reading 107 to the Goodhead Group plc, a company controlled by Reading Football club chairman John Madejski.
GMG Radio took control of the station just three months ago when they increased their share from 37.8% to 60.3% after Milestone Radio Group decided to sell its stake.
UTV man walks to Absolute Radio
After two highly successful years re-launching UTV owned Q102 in Dublin, Programme Director Ian Walker is to join Absolute Radio?s team as Senior VP Programming and Operations.
Clive Dickens, Absolute Radio?s Programme and Operations Director says: ?Ian is an incredibly talented programmer and manager and with increased demand from AR clients and partners for even more strategic insights coupled with operational expertise he will make a strong addition to the company.’
Unity101 commences broadcasting
On Thursday 8th December 2005, Unity101 Community Radio began broadcasting under one of the new full time five year Community Radio Licences.
Ram Kalyan ?Kelly? Project and Station Manager ? ?My dream has come true to unite and benefit our multi-cultural diverse city, a city which has gone from me to US.?
Digital One adds transmitters
Digital One, the national commercial digital radio multiplex operator, has announced that it has switched on two new transmitters, in Great Yarmouth and Oulton.
The Great Yarmouth transmitter brings national commercial DAB digital radio coverage to more than 110,000 people and the Oulton transmitter reaches another 156,000 people. The two transmitters bring coverage to Great Yarmouth, Lowestoft and parts of coastal East Anglia.
Northeast applications now online
The thirteen applications submitted for the Northeast regional FM radio licence are now available on the Ofcom website.
The applications show the proposals from all thirteen documents. In brief, they are: UK Media and TLRC application as 3 Rivers Radio, GCap Media’s two applications as FUN fm and XFM, UTV’s All Talk FM, Chrysalis’ All Rock Radio The Arrow, Celador’s Touch FM for the 45+ age group, CN-Group’s Northlife providing non-biased speech and music programming, Canwest’s Original FM which is similar to the recently won Solent licence, Saga’s 50+ service, Tim Schoonmaker and Radio UK Holdings Diamond FM (rock music), North East One – offering a grown up station with pop, rock and oldies, and finally GMG Radio apply using two proposals as Rock Talk FM and Smooth FM.
Ipswich licence awarded to Town FM
Town FM, wholly-owned by Provincial Radio Ltd and a subsidiary of Tindle Radio Ltd have today won the local radio licence for Ipswich.
The group beat off competition from seven other groups including Tim Schoonmaker’s company and The Radio Business. It will provide a distinctive speech and music led radio station for Ipswich, with independent local news and information.
High hopes for Original bid
CanWest is the largest media company in Canada and fresh from their win in Solent, they are applying for the Northeast Regional Licence with the same winning format.
Original FM promises an Adult Alternative format of album-led music, from a wide range of artists, with 24 hour local news and quality presentation. The service is designed to appeal to a broad range of age groups with specific interest for 40-59 year olds.
Daryl Denham back at Hallam
One of Hallam FM’s most popular presenters, Daryl Denham, will return to the Sheffield station in January to present Mid Mornings.
Daryl spent four years on Hallam between 1996 and 2000 presenting Breakfast and taking the show to a new audience high. Following this he moved to the Virgin Breakfast Show and, more recently, Century FM. Daryl has been back on Hallam this year with a successful Saturday morning show, and is looking forward to being back ‘full time’ from January.
Five apply for Plymouth licence
Ofcom has received five applications for the Plymouth FM commercial radio licence.
A mixture of local groups and national players have applied, from local group Your Radio to former Emap boss Tim Schoonmaker. Ofcom is expected to make a decision in the new year.
Thirteen apply for Northeast licence
Ofcom has received thirteen applications for the North East England FM commercial radio licence.
They include the expected applications from GCap Media (XFM and Fun FM) GMG Radio (smooth fm and RockTalk FM), CanWest (Original), Celador (Touch FM) and Saga.
Rock and Talk for GMG Bid
GMG Radio is planning to launch a powerful hybrid formatted station – half speech and half rock music.
Rock Talk will launch across the north east of England and will broadcast speech all day and classic rock music all night if the group's application for the new licence is successful. Other known bidders at this stage include GCap Media and Celador.
Craig Beck joins Viking FM
A new year means a new gig for Craig Beck who is currently the Deputy PD at Rock FM and Magic 999. Craig will take over the helm as Programme Controller at Viking FM & Magic 1161 from 3rd January 2006.
Craig has been in radio for over ten years, having started his broadcasting career as the Breakfast Presenter and Head of Music at Mercia FM in 1995. Craig then joined EMAP in 1999 as Head of Magic and doing the Magic breakfast show in Preston.
Ofcom advertise licence for Hull
Ofcom today advertises a new local FM commercial radio licence to cover the city of Kingston-upon-Hull and the surrounding area. Expected bidders at this stage include Hull Local Radio, Kerrang!, Trinity FM (TLRC), White Rose Radio (Lincs FM) and Wyke FM (UTV).
Ofcom estimates that this licence could achieve coverage of an area with an adult (aged 15+) population of between 400,000 and 430,000. The exact coverage will be determined by the location of the transmission site and other technical characteristics. The proposed frequency (99.9 MHz) for this licence is subject to international agreement on radio spectrum usage.
Ofcom advertise licence for Newry
Ofcom today advertises a new local FM commercial radio licence to cover the city of Newry, Northern Ireland, and the surrounding area.
Ofcom estimates that this licence could achieve coverage of an area with an adult (aged 15+) population of around 66,000. The exact coverage will be determined by the location of the transmission site and other technical characteristics. The proposed frequency for this licence (100.5 MHz) is subject to international agreement on radio spectrum usage.
UTV Radio publish trading update
Ulster Television today publish an update regarding the trading and integration of UTV Radio (formerly The Wireless Group).
John McCann, Group Chief Executive, said: ?We are very pleased with the performance of UTV Radio, especially talkSPORT where revenues are well ahead of last year. With the football World Cup in 2006, we anticipate continued growth at UTV Radio and we look forward to the launch of Talk 107 in Edinburgh on 14 February.?
The Big Sing needs you
The CRCA are backing a world record attempt taking place this Friday, are looking for your help to simule cast the event.
Depending on how many stations take part, IRN will be providing a live feed of the service with many stations and groups already agreeing the take the broadcast.
The Saint drops satellite channel
Southampton FC radio station 107.8 The Saint is no longer broadcasting on Sky channel 899.
Due to the station now being available on FM as well as the internet and DAB, plus the club’s relegation from the Premiership, they have decided it would be reasonable to step back from the Sky platform.
TLRC's Durham FM has launched
TLRC’s newest radio station has launched this morning (Monday) in Durham. 102.8 and 106.8 Durham FM won the licence after strong competition from two other applicants, CN Group and Laser Broadcasting.
The new sound can now be heard all over Durham after the launch at 6am. The first song played was The King of Rock n Roll by Prefab Sprout.
