UTV Radio are set to take Tower FM out of Bolton, and co-locate the station in a brand new £1.2m state-of-the-art media building alongside Wire FM and Wish FM, in the Newton-le-Willows area. The co-location request was agreed by Ofcom on Tuesday (13th Feb) and will see the UTV station move 5 miles outside of its transmission area.
UTV Radio says that the output of Tower FM will not be affected and as such there will be no unfair effect on competitors. The station says its local news and information will benefit from the move, as a news hub in the new building would enhance the ability to react quickly to and cover stories in and around the locality.
The company cites poor facilities at its current stations as the reason for the co-location – adding in its [link=http://www.ofcom.org.uk/radio/ifi/rbl/formats/formats/fc/tower.pdf]proposal to Ofcom[/link] that the result has been a high staff turnover at Tower FM. UTV say that all of their current presenters on the station live outside of the Bolton and Bury TSA already.
UTV Radio's ILR central management team will also move into the new facility in the Newton-le-Willows/Haydock area.
The below map is copyright UTV Radio (GB) and is taken from their recent winning application for the Preston licence, to give you an idea of the locations mentioned.
[center][img]{e_IMAGE}newspost_images/500newtonlewillows.jpg[/img][/center]
Registered members of RadioToday.co.uk are discussing the implications of this news already [link=https://radiotoday.co.uk/e107_plugins/forum/forum_viewtopic.php?4395]here[/link].
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