CN Group

Last updated

CN Group
Type Holding, limited company
IndustryMedia
Founded1815
Headquarters Carlisle, Cumbria
Key people
Products Broadcasting, newspapers, magazines
Website cngroup.co.uk

CN Group Limited was formerly an independent local media business based in Carlisle, Cumbria, England, operating in print and radio. It is now owned by Newsquest and their newspapers are printed in Glasgow.

Contents

The company was formerly known as the Cumbrian Newspapers Group Ltd but changed its name to reflect the fact that is no longer primarily a newspaper publisher. One of its principal subsidiaries, however, is still known as Cumbrian Newspapers Ltd.

History

The company can trace its origins to the founding of the Carlisle Patriot newspaper in 1815, which eventually became the Cumberland News. [1] Historical copies of the Carlisle Patriot, dating back to 1817, are available to search and view in digitised form at The British Newspaper Archive. [2]

Radio

Until 2017 CN Group owned two radio stations: Lancaster-based The Bay and Kendal-based Lakeland Radio. In October 2017 it was announced that both had been sold to the UK media company Global. [3]

The company formerly owned the Touch Radio Network stations in the Midlands outright until selling them to Quidem in June 2009. The two exceptions to this were the Loughborough licence, Oak FM, which was sold to the Lincs FM Group, and the Banbury Touch FM licence, which was sold to a private consortium and relaunched as Banbury Sound. It quickly became apparent that operating these licences outside of the regional network was not a commercially sensible move. As a result, Quidem acquired Banbury Sound in 2010 and Oak FM in 2012, effectively reforming the original CN Midlands network. In September 2019, it was announced that Quidem, the station's current owners, were running at a financial loss and the business had entered into a brand-licensing agreement with Global Radio. This change means that the Quidem group of stations will take one of Global's brands. [4] At the beginning of October, Ofcom opened a consultation following Quidem's request for its six stations to make significant changes to their formats. [5]

CN previously owned Mid FM in Northern Ireland. CN also previously owned Belfast CityBeat until January 2015 when it was sold to the Q Radio Network. [6] [7]

They also had a shareholding in Carlisle-based CFM Radio, holding a further stake in neighbouring Border Television.

Titles

CN Group publishes daily and weekly newspapers and magazines for Cumbria, Northumberland, Dumfries and Galloway and the Scottish Borders. Since the takeover of the CN Group by Newsquest, it is now printed in Glasgow.

List of CN Group titles

Newspapers

  • 24 - The North’s National – a weekday evening paper, launched 20 June 2016, closed 29 July 2016
  • News and Star [8] – daily evening paper circulated with separate East (except Friday and Sunday) and West (except Sunday) editions
  • North-West Evening Mail – daily paper circulated in Furness and other parts of south Cumbria
  • The Cumberland News – weekly (Fridays) covering East Cumbria; separate Main and Late Final editions
  • Cumbrian Gazette – weekly freesheet; separate editions for East and West Cumbria
  • Whitehaven News – weekly (Thursdays)
  • Times & Star – weekly (Fridays); separate Workington, Maryport and Cockermouth editions
  • Hexham Courant – weekly
  • Eskdale and Liddesdale Advertiser – weekly (Thursdays)
  • Advertiser – commercially selective postcode distributed weekly freesheet covering South Cumbria

Magazines

  • Cumbria Life - monthly
  • Carlisle Living - monthly
  • Dumfries & Galloway Life' - monthly (covering Dumfries & Galloway and Scottish Borders); formerly DGB Life
  • In Cumbria - quarterly
  • Events
  • Lakesman' - yearly
  • The Bay' - bimestrial lifestyle magazine dedicated to the unique communities of Morecambe Bay, UK; launched in June 2017

Printing

CN Group prints items such as newspapers (local and national), magazines and leaflets.

Related Research Articles

Cumbria Ceremonial county of England

Cumbria is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in North West England. The county and Cumbria County Council, its local government, came into existence in 1974 after the passage of the Local Government Act 1972. Cumbria's county town is Carlisle, in the north of the county. The only other major urban area is Barrow-in-Furness on the south-western tip of the county.

ITV Border ITV region for Cumbria and South Scotland

ITV Border, previously Border Television and commonly referred to as simply Border, is the Channel 3 service provided by ITV Broadcasting Limited for the England/Scotland border region, covering most of Cumbria, Dumfries and Galloway, the Scottish Borders and parts of Northumberland. The TV service previously covered the Isle of Man from 26 March 1965 until 15 July 2009.

107.1 Rugby FM Independent local radio station in Warwickshire

107.1 Rugby FM was an Independent Local Radio station in Warwickshire. At the time of closure, it was owned and operated by Quidem and broadcast from studios at Honiley, Warwickshire.

Touch FM (Stratford-upon-Avon) Radio station in Stratford Upon Avon

102 Touch FM was an Independent Local Radio station broadcasting to the town of Stratford-upon-Avon and much of the counties of Warwickshire, Worcestershire, The Cotswolds and the surrounding area in the south of the English Midlands.

96.2 Touch FM was a local radio station serving Coventry and Warwickshire, in the West Midlands, England. The station broadcast from studios at Honiley, near Kenilworth, on 96.2 FM and online.

Cumbrian Coast line

The Cumbrian Coast line is a rail route in North West England, running from Carlisle to Barrow-in-Furness via Workington and Whitehaven. The line forms part of Network Rail route NW 4033, which continues via Ulverston and Grange-over-Sands to Carnforth, where it connects with the West Coast Main Line.

Carlisle railway station Railway station in Cumbria, England

Carlisle railway station, or Carlisle Citadel, is a Grade II* listed railway station serving the city of Carlisle, Cumbria, England. It is on the West Coast Main Line, 102 miles (164 km) south-east of Glasgow Central and 299 miles (481 km) north north-west of London Euston. It is the northern terminus of the Settle and Carlisle Line, a continuation of the Midland Main Line from Leeds, Sheffield and London St Pancras. It is so named because it is adjacent to Carlisle Citadel, a former medieval fortress. The station is owned by Network Rail.

Whitehaven railway station Railway station in Cumbria, England

Whitehaven is a railway station on the Cumbrian Coast Line, which runs between Carlisle and Barrow-in-Furness. The station, situated 39 miles (63 km) south-west of Carlisle, serves the town of Whitehaven in Cumbria. It is owned by Network Rail and managed by Northern Trains.

Parton railway station Railway station in Cumbria, England

Parton is a railway station on the Cumbrian Coast Line, which runs between Carlisle and Barrow-in-Furness. The station, situated 38 miles (61 km) south-west of Carlisle, serves the villages of Lowca and Parton in Cumbria. It is owned by Network Rail and managed by Northern Trains.

Workington railway station Railway station in Cumbria, England

Workington is a railway station on the Cumbrian Coast Line, which runs between Carlisle and Barrow-in-Furness. The station, situated 33 miles (53 km) south-west of Carlisle, serves the town of Workington in Cumbria. It is owned by Network Rail and managed by Northern Trains.

Maryport railway station Railway station in Cumbria, England

Maryport is a railway station on the Cumbrian Coast Line, which runs between Carlisle and Barrow-in-Furness. The station, situated 27 miles (43 km) south-west of Carlisle, serves the town of Maryport in Cumbria. It is owned by Network Rail and managed by Northern Trains.

Wigton railway station Railway station in Cumbria, England

Wigton is a railway station on the Cumbrian Coast Line, which runs between Carlisle and Barrow-in-Furness via Whitehaven. The station, situated 11 miles (18 km) south-west of Carlisle, serves the village of Wigton, Allerdale in Cumbria, England. It is owned by Network Rail and managed by Northern Trains.

Dalston railway station (Cumbria) Railway station in Cumbria, England

Dalston is a railway station on the Cumbrian Coast Line, which runs between Carlisle and Barrow-in-Furness via Whitehaven. The station, situated 3+34 miles (6 km) south-west of Carlisle, serves the village of Dalston in the City of Carlisle district of Cumbria, England. It is owned by Network Rail and managed by Northern Trains.

The Touch FM network was a group of local commercial radio stations owned by Quidem. The network included stations in Coventry, South Staffordshire, Warwick, Stratford-upon-Avon, Nuneaton & Hinckley, Loughborough, Banbury and Rugby.

Banbury Sound was an Independent Local Radio station serving the Banbury and Brackley areas of north Oxfordshire. At the time of closure, it was owned and operated by Quidem and broadcast from studios at Honiley, Warwickshire.

Touch FM was an independent local radio station broadcasting to Burton, Lichfield, Tamworth and South Derbyshire, England.

<i>Lookaround</i> British regional television news programme

Lookaround is the evening news programme produced by ITV Tyne Tees & Border and broadcasting to Cumbria, Dumfries & Galloway and the Scottish Borders. It broadcasts for thirty minutes each Monday to Friday from 18:00, covering regional news stories, features, sport and weather. It is presented by Amy Lea & Ian Payne. Shorter bulletins air at other times.

Touch FM (Warwick) Radio station in Kenilworth

107.3 Touch FM was an independent local radio station broadcasting to the Warwick, Leamington Spa and Kenilworth areas of Warwickshire.

The Cumberland & Westmorland Herald is a local newspaper in Cumbria, England.

Capital Mid-Counties Radio station

Capital Mid-Counties is a regional radio station owned by and operated by Global as part of the Capital network. It broadcasts to Coventry, Warwickshire, Worcestershire, south Staffordshire, the Cotswolds and north Oxfordshire.

References

  1. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 23 August 2015. Retrieved 2 August 2015.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  2. Digitised copies of the Carlisle Patriot
  3. "CN Group announce sale of it's[sic] radio stations". CN Group. Archived from the original on 1 December 2017. Retrieved 20 November 2017.
  4. Radio Today - Quidem enters brand licensing agreement with Global, 02 September 2019
  5. OfCom - Banbury Sound, Rugby FM and Touch FM Requests to change Format, 02 October 2019
  6. Belfast radio station CityBeat bought by Q Radio Network - BBC News, BBC News, 29 January 2015
  7. Citybeat Belfast becomes Q – Belfast’s City Beat | Radio Today, RadioToday, 10 August 2015
  8. "News, Sport and What's On in Carlisle | News & Star".