U105, the new FM radio station for Belfast and the surrounding area will go live in 105 days on Monday 14 November 2005, several months ahead of schedule.
Roy Bailie, Chairman of U105 told RadioMAD.net: ?Since we were awarded the licence by the communications regulator Ofcom in March, we have wanted to get U105 up and running as quickly as possible.
?Construction work for the studios is already well underway at UTV?s headquarters on the Ormeau Road, so we?ve decided to take the brave step of bringing our plans forward several months and will now launch U105 on November 14. In effect, this means that U105 will be the first major city licence awarded by Ofcom to go on air, which is a tremendous achievement for everyone associated with the station.?
John Rosborough, Managing Director, U105 said: ?With 105 days to go before we start broadcasting this is an incredibly exciting time for U105. We are busy at the moment recruiting staff as U105 will create 30 new jobs and look forward to announcing our U105 presenters in the coming months.?
U105 will appeal primarily to those aged over 45 living in Belfast and the surrounding area and will provide a strong new listening alternative for this age group. It will be entirely locally produced and presented combining topical speech with a wide choice of music from the 60?s through to the present day. U105 will be backed by a ?2million marketing campaign.
From Monday 14 November 2005, U105 will broadcast on 105.1 FM to Belfast and the surrounding area, and on the Freeview digital TV platform to all of Northern Ireland.