Broadcast area | Northern Ireland |
---|---|
Frequency | |
RDS | Downtown |
Programming | |
Format | Hot Adult Contemporary |
Ownership | |
Owner | Bauer Media Audio UK |
Cool FM Cool FM Old Skool Downtown Country Greatest Hits Radio Northern Ireland | |
History | |
First air date | 16 March 1976 |
Former frequencies | AM: 1026 kHz |
Links | |
Webcast | Rayo |
Website | Official Website |
Downtown Radio is a Hot Adult Contemporary music radio station based in Newtownards, County Down, that serves all of Northern Ireland using a network of FM and DAB transmitters.
As of September 2024, the station has a weekly audience of 289,000 listeners according to RAJAR. [1]
The station, also known as DTR or simply Downtown, began broadcasting on 16 March 1976 - the same day as Prime Minister Harold Wilson resigned. The station had a mini scoop, breaking the news over an hour before BBC Radio Ulster.[ citation needed ]
Downtown Radio has very much become part of the broadcasting landscape of the entire nine-county province of Ulster. Many of its presenters, such as Trevor 'Big T' Campbell and Candy Devine, are household names - Campbell and Devine have been with Downtown since it began broadcasting.
Initially, Downtown was only contracted to broadcast to the Greater Belfast area, on 1026kHz AM and 96MHz (later 97.4MHz) FM. However, following the collapse of plans for a station in the Derry region (Northside Sound) in 1983, Downtown applied to the former Independent Broadcasting Authority to extend its coverage. Transmitters covering the north west, the Causeway Coast and Fermanagh/South Tyrone were opened in 1986 and 1987, and the station briefly rebranded itself as "DTRFM" to reflect its new audience reach.
The station reverted to Downtown Radio again in 1990 following the introduction of its sister station, Cool FM, although the latter only broadcast on the 97.4 frequency in the Greater Belfast area. Other transmitters remained with Downtown.
New FM transmitters in South Down/Armagh, and Mid and East Antrim opened in the 1990s to improve reception in those areas.
The station has been very highly regarded in the past for its news output, and was a regular stop-off point for radio journalists covering The Troubles in Northern Ireland over a 30-year period. It was the first radio station in Ireland to offer hourly news bulletins. Changes in management made in 2007, as well as the success of the peace process, have led to Downtown reducing its news output somewhat. It is notable for being one of the few Independent Local Radio stations to still cater for minority tastes such as gospel and jazz. The country music programmes broadcast several times a week are among Downtown's highest listenership ratings. In December 2012, Downtown opened a small studio in Derry ahead of the city’s year of being UK City of Culture, situated in the Food Quarter within Foyleside Shopping Centre. It remains open and in use, mainly at the weekend with presenter-led programming on Saturday afternoon and Sunday covering a range of events in the region.
On 12 November 2023, it was announced that the station would cease broadcasting on medium wave (AM) before the end of the year. [2] AM programming ceased on 7 December 2023.
Past presenters include Eamonn Holmes and Frank Mitchell.[ citation needed ]
BBC Radio Solent is the BBC's local radio station serving Hampshire, Dorset and the Isle of Wight, broadcasting on FM, DAB, digital TV and via BBC Sounds from studios on Havelock Road in Southampton.
BBC Radio Devon is the BBC's local radio station serving the county of Devon.
BBC Radio Sheffield is the BBC's local radio station serving South Yorkshire, north Derbyshire and North Nottinghamshire.
BBC Radio York is the BBC's local radio station serving the county of North Yorkshire.
BBC Radio Newcastle is the BBC's local radio station serving Newcastle upon Tyne, the neighbouring metropolitan boroughs, Northumberland and north east County Durham.
BBC Radio Bristol is the BBC's local radio station serving the cities of Bristol and Bath and the unitary authorities of Bath and North East Somerset, North Somerset and South Gloucestershire.
Cool FM is an Independent Local Radio station based in Newtownards, Northern Ireland. The station is owned and operated by Bauer and forms part of Bauer's Hits Radio Network.
Wessex FM was an Independent Local Radio station for the Weymouth, Dorchester and Bridport areas of Dorset, originating from studios in Dorchester. It broadcast on 97.2 MHz in Weymouth and Dorchester, and on 96.0 MHz in Bridport.
BBC Radio Ulster is a Northern Irish national radio station owned and operated by BBC Northern Ireland, a division of the BBC. It was established on New Year's Day 1975, replacing what had been an opt-out of BBC Radio 4.
Greatest Hits Radio Manchester & The North West is an Independent Local Radio station based in Manchester, England, owned and operated by Bauer as part of the Greatest Hits Radio Network. It broadcasts to Greater Manchester and North West England.
U105 is a Belfast, Northern Ireland, based radio station, providing a mix of music and speech as well as hourly news bulletins. It is owned by News Broadcasting and was launched at 6am on 14 November 2005.
Radio Nova was a pirate radio station broadcasting from Dublin, Ireland. Owned and operated by the UK pirate radio veteran Chris Cary, the station's first broadcasts were during the summer of 1981 on 88.5 MHz FM and 819 kHz AM.
Manx Radio is the national commercial radio station for the Isle of Man. It began broadcasting on 29 June 1964, almost ten years before legal commercial radio was licensed in the United Kingdom. The Isle of Man, having its own government and laws, was not subject to the rules prohibiting commercial broadcasting in the UK. However, the Manx Government still had to apply to the UK's General Post Office for a frequency and for permission to broadcast. First requested in 1960, a licence was eventually granted in May 1964. It was allocated an FM frequency of 89.0 MHz and a comparatively low power of 50 watts. In October 1964, an additional frequency of 1594 kHz AM was allocated to the station to provide greater coverage, although again at a limited power of 50 watts. It broadcasts primarily in English with several hours per week of Manx language programming.
Radio Tay is a group of two Independent Local Radio stations serving Tayside and northeast Fife in Scotland. Radio Tay is owned and operated by Bauer Radio and forms part of Bauer’s Hits Radio and Greatest Hits Radio network of radio stations. Radio Tay was formerly based at 6 North Isla Street in Dundee, however due to the station vacating the premises, now their only dedicated local show for the Tayside area is broadcast from Radio Forth's studio in Edinburgh.
Q Radio is a Northern Irish radio station. It broadcasts to Greater Belfast on 96.7 MHz FM and on DAB Digital Radio across all of Northern Ireland. From 5 April 2007, Citybeat became available on 102.5FM for North Belfast, Newtownabbey and Carrickfergus. On 2 November 2007, Citybeat launched a third FM transmitter also broadcasting on 102.5FM for Bangor. Citybeat reaches a weekly audience of 127,000 listeners in Belfast, around 22% of the adult population. It has won both Arqiva 'Station of the Year' and Sony Awards. The station was rebranded as Q Radio on-air at 6pm on Sunday 9 August 2015.
The Black Mountain transmitting station is a broadcasting and telecommunications facility, situated on land 301 metres (988 ft) above Ordnance Datum to the west of the city of Belfast, in Northern Ireland. It includes a guyed steel lattice mast which is 228.6 metres (750 ft) in height. The height of the top of the structure above mean sea level is 529 metres (1,736 ft). It is owned and operated by Arqiva.
Q Radio is a network of seven Independent Local Radio stations in Northern Ireland airing an adult contemporary format. The network is the fifth most listened to radio station in Northern Ireland, with a combined figure of 351,000 listeners as of December 2023, according to RAJAR.
Hits Radio Staffordshire & Cheshire, formerly Signal 1, is an Independent Local Radio station owned and operated by Bauer Media Audio UK as part of the Hits Radio network. It broadcasts to Staffordshire and South Cheshire.
BBC Radio Sussex is the BBC's local radio station serving the county of Sussex.
This is a timeline of the development of radio in Northern Ireland.