Archive for November, 2011
Severn and Wyre to close next month
Shropshire local radio station The Severn and Kidderminster’s The Wyre are to be closed by owner MNA Broadcasting at the end of next month.
There are expected to be a small number of redundancies as a result and Ofcom has been told of the group’s intention to return the licences.
Leona Graham covers Absolute afternoons
Leona Graham is taking over Absolute Radio’s afternoon show for three months from the New Year.
The appointment comes as Nick Jackson leaves the station’s 1-5pm slot to spend more time with his family and embark on new projects.
Audioboo content to create programmes
Social audio platform Audioboo has formed an alliance with independent production outfit Trevor Dann’s Company.
The partnership will allow TDC to compile and curate original radio programmes using Audioboo content.
JACK girls get half-naked with a bloke
JACK fm Hertfordshire has teamed up with Veolia Water to get a message across to listeners.
The girls dressed up in bikinis and selected a “token bloke” to tell people to wrap their water pipes up with lagging to avoid freezing.
Radio is 1st for new music discovery
New research by Bauer shows that radio is the number one destination for listeners to find out about new music.
The survey was created by Bauer Radio to find out how active online listeners view the role of radio in the music mix.
Radio 4 producer wins Guardian award
A mature student from Nottingham Trent University has picked up the prize for Broadcast Journalist of the Year at the Guardian’s Student Media Awards.
28 year old Clare Freeman, who’s now working as an assistant producer at BBC Radio 4, scooped the award for a radio documentary about male victims of domestic violence which she made for her final year college project.
Black Cat Radio runs St Neots RSL
A station led by BBC local radio presenter Tony Gillham is going live on FM in the Cambridgeshire town of St Neots this week as part of an attempt to get a full-time community radio licence in the next round of Ofcom licensing.
Black Cat Radio, which missed out to Huntingdon Community Radio in the last set of licence awards for the area, is launching a month-long RSL on Thursday (1st December).
GMG celebrates £750k raised for Heroes
GMG’s Smooth Radio and Real Radio are celebrating their total donation of £750k to Help for Heroes.
The money has been raised by auctions and events on three Help for Heroes Days held by the stations, which goes directly to wounded soldiers.
BFBS break underwater broadcast record
Richard Hatch, a presenter with Forces Broadcaster BFBS, has broken the world record for the longest underwater broadcast.
The 4hours 43minute show was done at The Underwater Studios in Basildon, Essex and broadcast around the world as part of an event to raise money for a number of forces charities through the station’s ‘Big Salute’ charity project.
Bauer stations put on panto promotion
Twelve of Bauer Radio’s ‘Place Portfolio’ stations are promoting local pantomimes and Sainsburys as part of one of the group’s first ever ‘product placement’ promotions.
Stations including Magic 105.4, Forth, Clyde, Key, Metro and Hallam will source content from the pantomimes to be used on air as well as give away trips to the theatre shows and vouchers to spend in the supermarket.
Academy to debate Liverpool radio scene
A panel from BBC Radio Merseyside, Juice FM and Radio City will debate what makes radio great in Liverpool at an upcoming event.
The Radio Academy evening on December 7th will be held in the Radio City Tower, 350ft above the skyline of Liverpool, and hosted by Derek Hatton.
Two new Preco studios for Middlesex Uni
Middlesex University has installed two new fully equipped radio stations as part of its new Arts, Design & Media building.
The studios were created by Preco Broadcast Systems in a joint venture with Veale Associates.
BBC Radio Sheffield & 3CR swap studios
Two local radio stations are swapping studios tomorrow morning (Monday) to debate the North-South divide argument.
The BBC Radio Sheffield team will broadcast on Three Counties Radio in Luton whilst the 3CR crew will air their show in Sheffield.
Radio 1Xtra announces new commissions
BBC Radio 1Xtra has announced details of three new documentaries which will air over the next month on the digital station.
1Xtra Live – Story of the Cities, Story of the Classic UK Clubs and It’s Grime Up North are to be broadcast in the Sunday night 9-10pm slot as part of the station’s ’1Xtra Stories’.
Asian Sound asks to add extra station
East Lancashire AM station Asian Sound has requested a Format change to allow the creation of an extra radio station on one of its two frequencies.
It aims to continue a full service on 963 KHz whilst targeting the Asian Arabic Muslim community on its 1377 kHz frequency.
Alan Titchmarsh signs for Classic FM
Former Radio 2 presenter Alan Titchmarsh is joining Global Radio’s Classic FM to host a new Saturday morning show starting in the New Year.
Titchmarsh left the BBC at the end of August after four and half years when his Sunday evening ‘Melodies for You’ programme was scrapped.
Traffic Scotland launches web radio stream
Travel news provider Trafficlink has launched a new radio service with Traffic Scotland to provide national traffic bulletins on a web stream and smartphone apps.
Information on the station, called Traffic Scotland Radio is updated three times an hour, with the people behind it saying the frequency will increase during extreme winter weather or major incidents.
Owen Ryan to be new PD at Hallam FM
Former Gcap and Emap programmer Owen Ryan is returning to the UK from Australia to take up the role of Programme Director of Bauer’s Hallam FM and Magic AM.
He’ll replace Anthony Gay who leaves the station to join Reelworld productions and Pure Tonic Media.
Dave Connor joins Forth from Original
Original 106 breakfast presenter is making the move from Aberdeen to Edinburgh to join Bauer as Forth One’s drive time host.
The former Kingdom FM and Tay FM presenter will join Forth from early 2012 in the 3-7pm slot.
GaydarRadio gives away signed DAB radio
Digital station GaydarRadio is giving listeners a chance to win PURE DAB Digital Radio sets, signed by celebs.
JLS, George Michael, Kelly Roland and Gary Barlow has signed the radios to help raise money for the National Aids Trust for World AIDS Day.
Radio 2 to air Jimmy Savile at Christmas
Legendary radio presenter Sir Jimmy Savile will talk about his life in a special documentary for Radio 2 to air on Christmas Day.
Mostly unheard archive material from one of the late Sir Jim’s final interviews, recorded in February this year, will see the broadcaster get the final word on his remarkable life.
Touch Coventry team do city jobs tour
96.2 Touch FM breakfast presenter Brody Swain and his travel reporter Adam Crowther are kicking off a 24-hour job marathon in Coventry this morning.
The pair plan to make their way around scores of businesses, attractions and charities in the city to help promote local organisations.
Heart continues support for Childline
Global Radio’s Have a Heart charity is helping to spread the word about Childline by backing its “Letter from Santa” campaign.
All Heart station will be hoping to raise more money for the organisation this Christmas across the network.
Radio 2 makes a festive song and dance
Eight special documentaries with the likes of Arlene Phillips, Gloria Estefan and Pete Waterman will feature on BBC Radio 2 this Christmas.
They will all be dance related and run throughout December on the national network.
Biggest ever local giveaway for UTV group
Six of UTV Media’s local radio stations are giving listeners the chance to win a share of £60,000 as part of their biggest ever group competition.
Signal 1, Juice FM, Tower FM, Radio Wave, Wire FM and The Wave are offering Christmas shopping sprees with a selection of local businesses.
Garrison cover army training in Kenya
Garrison FM is airing a series of special reports about life at the British Army’s Training Unit in Kenya after presenter Rafe Parker visited the base.
He spent three days on the equator and interviewed members of the 1 Scots Battle Group who were finishing off their six weeks’ training there – and spoke to other troops involved in exercises.
Absolute Radio announces Xmas line-up
Frank Skinner will front Absolute Radio’s Christmas Day morning show as part of a festive line-up that sees the group’s ‘decades’ stations taking over the main station each evening.
Skinner’s ‘Christmas Cracker’ 10am-12noon show on 25th December will be followed by breakfast presenter Christian O’Connell in the afternoon and then a second chance to hear Bon Jovi’s live gig in Hyde Park from the summer.
Forth One’s Fife parody goes viral
A parody song by Forth One mid-morning presenter Grant Stott has become an internet hit after he performed it for the first time at the station’s Radio Forth Awards.
The song That’s Fife – a skit on Frank Sinatra’s That’s Life – stole the show at the ceremony and has already notched up more than 57,000 YouTube views.
Real Yorkshire looks for radio students
GMG’s Real Radio Yorkshire has announced details of its ‘Real Academy’ training courses which will run over 10 weeks starting next Spring.
It’s the 9th year that the station has run the courses, which teach students about all aspects of the commercial radio industry and finishes with the production of a mock breakfast show.
Fly FM marks 15th birthday with specials
Nottingham Trent-based student radio station Fly FM is celebrating its 15th birthday with a series of special shows presented by people who’ve gon on to work in the industry.
All this week alumni including Absolute Radio’s Mark Crossley and David Cameron Walker, who’s the voice of Radio 1, are doing one-hour shows on the station and there’s also a birthday party planned for Wednesday.
