IPC Ignite, publishers of NME magazine has teamed up with Xfm founder Sammy Jacob and music company DX Media to launch NME Radio. The station will broadcast via 'various digital platforms' from mid-2008 and will be presenter-driven with alternative music 24 hours a day.
NME publishing director Paul Cheal says: “For NME, it's the next logical step. With an average readership of 499,000 each week and 1.6m unique users on NME.COM every month, the NME brand already has fantastic reach amongst an audience who are notoriously difficult to target. Launching a radio service which allows that audience to hear NME recommended artists first, as well as the very best in indie music, is very exciting for our readers, users and of course our advertisers. Partnering with DX Media and the founder of XFM — Sammy Jacob, and housing the operation here at the Blue Fin Building, illustrates just how seriously NME is taking this venture and how important a platform we see NME Radio becoming.”
Sammy Jacob — DX Media's managing director — adds: “'Indie' has become the mainstream although it might be fairer to say the mainstream has become indie, and in the process — like so many other credible genres — has marginalised the very foundations upon which it was built. NME Radio will re-address the balance — giving much needed exposure to the great new acts that tend to get ignored by traditional broadcast media thereby making radio more relevant in an increasingly fragmented market."
NME Radio will have in-house and national sales house representation. It will also become part of integrated pitches for the IPC Ignite sales team.