Six new digital radio stations for Manchester

By James Cridland for media.info
Posted 15 June 2015, 5.00am edt

Announced last week, Ofcom has selected Manchester as one of ten locations in the UK to trial the next generation of digital radio. Cheshire-based Niocast Digital has been awarded a licence to operate a 9-month experiment in the city. The pilot will allow six new digital radio stations to be heard across Manchester and will explore how groups of radio stations can work together to increase listening to digital radio.

The full line-up includes:

• Oldham based Revolution 96.2, available on FM in parts of Manchester
• LBGT station Gaydio, which is already on 88.4 FM in the Manchester area
• New to Manchester is the Asian broadcaster Panjab Radio, which is on DAB and AM in other parts of the country.
• New radio stations to broadcast include the country music station Chris Country, which has until now only been available online. It was part of the failed bid from Listen2Digital for a national spot on DAB. Also new to broadcast is Steve Penk's Wind-Up Radio.
• Finally, a brand new radio station, Manchester Business Radio, is to launch - serving the city's business community.

MBR’s Managing Director, David Duffy, said ‘Manchester is the logical choice for Britain’s first dedicated business radio station. It’s was the birthplace of industry and innovation, and has become a world-class city attracting start-ups and established business. We are delighted that Ofcom has recognised this and look forward to working with the business community and launching Manchester Business Radio in the next few weeks’.

Manchester Business Radio’s Director of Programming and Content, John Evington, explained the station’s ethos: ‘We aim to reach and connect with anyone in Manchester involved in running a business or looking to start out in business. We'll celebrate the achievements and success stories and offer a unique media platform to the city’s key opinion-formers and business leaders. Our ambition is to become the essential source of news, views, opinions, ideas and inspiration for Manchester’s business community 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.’

The station will be based at the heart of Manchester’s business district on Deansgate and will be working closely with Greater Manchester Chamber of Commerce to ensure that the needs of the business sector are fully met.

Manchester Business Radio, and the other stations, are expected to launch on DAB Digital Radio in early September.