My wind-up channel is a radio first
Giving listeners more choice, says Steve Penk, is a good thing
I am delighted that I am launching The Steve Penk Wind Up Channel on digital radio in Manchester later this summer.
For a 9 month trial period, digital radio listeners in the Manchester area will be able to listen to a brand new, unique radio station featuring Wind Up/Prank phone calls 24/7.
John Evington and David Duffy at NioCast, who submitted the Manchester multiplex bid to Ofcom, approached me to see if I would be interested in joining the bid, and I am delighted to be part of it.
What excites me the most about this, and the main reason I wanted to get involved, is there will be nothing like my channel anywhere else, it's unique, and a radio station with this format and content 24 hours a day, will be a first for any city in the United Kingdom.
The Steve Penk Wind Up Channel will have no music, but will feature my trademark Wind Up Phone Calls, all day, everyday, plus I plan to showcase Prank calls from other broadcasters from around the world, and may also later introduce a daily (speech based) LIVE breakfast show.
I am determined to make the radio station a must listen in the digital age.
Manchester is a hugely competitive market, I couldn't possibly expect to successfully compete if I was simply introducing another music radio station, against the massively resourced radio stations run by the likes of Global and Bauer, but this will be something very different in that market.
Everyone is playing pretty much the same music these days, so I want to offer something completely different for the listener in a market I know very well.
I am delighted to be part of this exciting new Digital Radio development in Manchester, especially as it's where my radio career originally started.
It will offer listeners something new, something very different, and I absolutely believe that giving listeners more choice is a good thing for the future good health of the UK radio industry.
Ofcom, who regulate radio in the UK, have awarded 10 trial licences across the UK. I hope it's a great success and the Wind Up Channel can be heard, in the future, in other cities around the country on digital radio.
Because of my time on Capital Radio in London, and my heritage in that market, I would love to roll out the channel in London and the South East, again simply because the channel will be unlike any other radio station currently broadcasting in that market.
I personally believe the major growth area in UK broadcasting in the next few years will be speech based radio, and the Penky Wind Up Channel very firmly ticks that box.
The next 12 months should be very exciting.
You'll also be able to listen online to the Steve Penk Wind-up Channel. The Steve Penk Music Channel is also available online.