GMG Radio have won their first radio licence since the launch of Ofcom with their Rock Talk format. The new station will provide a speech and rock music service for 35-64 year-olds, and promises a strong commitment to local news, current affairs and interactive debate for the Manchester area.
It means that the Guardian Media Group will own 3 Manchester-based radio brands – Rock Talk joins Century FM and Smooth FM which cover the whole of the North West of England. The group also owns the Manchester Evening News and the Channel M Television station.
GMG Radio Chief Executive John Myers said: “We’re getting ready to rock in the North West! The station won’t be launching 'til 2008 as we have got to wait for a bulk order of Harley Davidsons for staff!"
Rock Talk will become the 13th licence owned by GMG Radio and comes hot on the heels of the group’s recent acquisitions of the Saga and Century FM radio groups. GMG recently launched another Rock music station – 96.3 Rock Radio in Renfrewshire was rebranded last month after the group bought Q96.
Rock Talk's application proposes the following Format:
[b]Rock Talk will be locally produced and presented 24-hours a day. Speech will not fall below 60% during weekday peak time and 55% during weekend peak time and will cater for the tastes and interests of listeners in the Manchester area. Content will include relevant local travel, weather, sports news, what’son, charitable and community information. Local news for Manchester and the surrounding area is a crucial part of the station and will be broadcast hourly, 24-hours a day. During breakfast and drive-time, bulletins will feature every 20 minutes with the addition of 2 weekday daytime 15 minute news programmes.
Music will comprise of a variety of Rock including Classic Rock, Heavy Rock, Soft Rock and Popular Rock from the past 5 decades with current tracks not accounting for more than 10% of the output. Specialist Rock music programmes will feature in off-peak including sessions and live concerts appropriate to this genre.[/b]
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