XS Manchester

Last updated

XS Manchester
XS Manchester logo.png
Broadcast area North West England
Frequency FM: 106.1 MHz
DAB: 10C (Northampton)
10D (Herts, Beds and Bucks)
12D (Peterborough)
RDS XS MANC
Programming
Format Indie rock, alternative
Ownership
OwnerCommunicorp UK
History
First air date
5 May 2008;15 years ago (2008-05-05)
Former names
106.1 Rock Radio
Real Radio XS
Links
Website www.xsmanchester.co.uk

XS Manchester is an Independent Local Radio station serving Greater Manchester, broadcasting a mix of indie and alternative rock music, speech and news output. The station is owned and operated by Communicorp UK and broadcasts from studios at Spinningfields in Manchester. It is Communicorp UK's only station that does not broadcast a programme service supplied by Global.

Contents

As of December 2023, the station broadacasts to a weekly audience of 104,000, according to RAJAR. [1]

History

106.1 Rock Radio

The station began technical test transmissions on 10 April 2008 and launched, as 106.1 Rock Radio, on 5 May 2008.

The station organised a 'Free one day festival' to promote its launch. This was held at Cathedral Gardens, with headlining bands Bad Company and Gun with support acts Salford Jets, Letz Zep and Mercury. The performances started at 1:00pm with a countdown to 6:00pm when the station went live. The first voice heard on Rock Radio was the mid-morning presenter Moose. The station featured voiceovers by Nick Coady whose prerecorded humorous comments, considered controversial by some, were heard in between most music tracks.

Due to the mix of output, the original application was made under the name RockTalk. The licence competition included bids by existing licence holders Chrysalis and Emap as well as a number by smaller local groups. [2] Chrysalis Radio's managing director expressed his surprise that the talk/rock hybrid won in preference to a dedicated talk or rock station, both of which had been offered by his group. [3]

Following the award, a decision was made to position the station as a sister to the then newly relaunched Scottish station 96.3 Rock Radio.

Real Radio XS

Real Radio XS logo used until 2016. Real Radio XS logo.png
Real Radio XS logo used until 2016.

On 28 July 2011, GMG Radio announced that the Manchester-based service would be re-branded as Real Radio XS, while the Glasgow-based sister station 96.3 Rock Radio would be sold. The decision was justified by the company on the grounds that the new Real Radio XS service would "benefit from the brand and scale of sister station Real Radio". [4]

On 25 June 2012 it was announced that rival commercial radio operator Global Radio had bought GMG Radio. [5] [6] The division continued to operate separately until 2014 when, following Ofcom's regulatory review into GMG Radio's takeover, Global Radio announced that 106.1 Real Radio XS would be one of eight stations it would be selling to Communicorp. [7]

XS Manchester

In March 2016, following the relaunch of former parent station Real Radio as Heart North West, Real Radio XS was rebranded as XS Manchester. [8]

In May 2017, XS moved from Salford to new studios at the XYZ building in the Spinningfields district of Manchester City Centre. The station shares facilities with sister station Smooth North West and two Global-owned stations, Heart North West and Capital Manchester.

In December 2019, it was reported that Communicorp had sought permission from Ofcom to change the station format, which if approved would lead to the closure of XS, and Global’s Capital Xtra service being broadcast on 106.1FM in Manchester. In March 2020, this request was rejected by Ofcom. [9]

Transmission

XS Manchester transmits from City Tower (formerly the Sunley Building) in Piccadilly in Manchester city centre. [10] It has an ERP of 1kW (500W vertical and 500W horizontal) on 106.1 MHz. [11] The station is also available digitally, on the Trial Manchester small-scale DAB multiplex. [12]

In October 2023, the station was added to the 10D (Herts, Beds and Bucks), 10C (Northampton) and 12D (Peterborough) DAB multiplexes, in place of Communicorp's digital-only station Radio Up, which had previously broadcast automated pop music programming.

Related Research Articles

Century Radio was the brand name of a group of Independent Local Radio stations in England. The brand was developed with the launch of 100-102 Century Radio in North East England in 1994, with John Myers as managing director and John Simons as programme director. The brand grew when Myers launched 106 Century FM for the East Midlands, and further when 105.4 Century Radio was launched in North West England in 1998. Ocean FM used the Century format, but not the brand.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Heart North West</span> Radio station in Manchester

Heart North West is a regional radio station owned and operated by Global as part of the Heart network. It broadcasts to North West England from studios in the Spinningfields area of Manchester city centre.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Smooth North West</span> Radio station in Manchester

Smooth North West is a regional radio station owned by Communicorp UK and operated by Global as part of the Smooth network. The station broadcasts to the North West of England from studios at Spinningfields in Manchester.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Heart Yorkshire</span> Radio station in Leeds

Heart Yorkshire is a regional radio station owned by Communicorp UK and operated by Global as part of the Heart network. It broadcasts to South and West Yorkshire from studios in Leeds.

GMG Radio was a company that owned the Real Radio and Smooth Radio networks. As GMG Radio, the company was the radio division of the Guardian Media Group until it was bought in 2012 by Global Radio, however pending regulatory review of the merger the company was renamed Real and Smooth Limited and operated as a separate entity, until May 2014.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Real Radio</span> Radio station

Real Radio was a network of five regional radio stations broadcasting to North East England, North West England, Scotland, Wales and Yorkshire. Each station broadcasts a mix of local and networked programming. On Tuesday 6 May 2014, the stations were merged with the Heart network.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Heart South Wales</span> Radio station in Cardiff

Heart South Wales is a regional radio station that broadcasts to South and West Wales from studios in Cardiff Bay. The station is owned and operated by Global Radio and forms part of the expanded Heart radio network of stations.

From 2010 to 2014, Smooth Radio was an independent, commercial, national radio station in the United Kingdom. Owned by Real and Smooth—a company formerly known as GMG Radio—the station was aimed at the over-40 demographic, and competed for its audience with BBC Radio 2. It was broadcast on the DAB Digital Radio Digital 1 national multiplex, Sky, Freesat, Freeview, Virgin Media, online and on regional FM and DAB frequencies in the North West, London, North East, West Midlands, Scotland and East Midlands. Nationally the station attracted a weekly average audience of 3 million.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Heart (radio network)</span> British radio network

Heart is a British radio network and brand of 13 adult contemporary local stations operated by Global throughout the United Kingdom, broadcasting a mix of local and networked programming. Ten of the Heart stations are owned by Global, while the other three are operated under franchise agreements. The national version of the network is widely available on Global Player, Freeview, Sky, Freesat, Virgin Media and Digital One DAB.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nation Radio Scotland</span> Radio station in Renfrewshire and Glasgow, Scotland

Nation Radio Scotland is a Scottish Independent Local Radio station for Renfrewshire, Glasgow and West Central Scotland, owned by Nation Broadcasting.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Smooth London</span> English regional radio station

Smooth London is a regional radio station owned and operated by Global as part of the Smooth Radio network. It broadcasts to the Greater London area from Croydon transmitting station on 102.2 MHz. It broadcasts a soft adult contemporary radio format from Global's studios in Leicester Square, London, and replaced 102.2 Smooth FM on 26 March 2007.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Smooth East Midlands</span> Radio station in Nottingham

Smooth East Midlands is an Independent Local Radio station for the East Midlands, 107.4 MHz, 97.2 MHz, 106.8 MHz 106.0 MHz which replaced Saga 106.6 FM at 6 am on Monday 26 March 2007. It is owned by Communicorp UK and operated by Global as part of the Smooth network of stations. Connect FM closed and merged with Smooth East Midlands on 1 October 2019. in Kettering, Corby, Wellingborough, Northampton, Peterborough and Rushden

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Global Media & Entertainment</span> British media company

Global Media & Entertainment Limited, trading as Global, is a British media company formed in 2007. It is the owner of the largest commercial radio company in Europe having expanded through a number of historical acquisitions, including Chrysalis Radio, GCap Media and GMG Radio. Global owns and operates seven core radio brands, all employing a national network strategy, including Capital, Heart, Gold, Classic FM, Smooth and LBC.

Rock Radio was a brand of radio stations in the United Kingdom owned by GMG Radio.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Smooth North East</span> Radio station in Nunthorpe

Smooth North East is a regional radio station owned by Communicorp and operated by Global as part of the Smooth network. It broadcasts to North East England from studios in Newcastle upon Tyne.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Real Radio XS (Digital)</span> Radio station

Real Radio XS was a classic rock independent local radio service broadcast on DAB in various parts of the United Kingdom. It was formerly part of the Rock Radio group of stations owned by GMG Radio, and whilst initially a separate station, latterly carried programming sourced from 106.1 Real Radio XS in Manchester.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Real Radio XS</span> Radio station

Real Radio XS was a radio station brand operated by Real and Smooth Ltd based in Salford, Greater Manchester, broadcasting a variety of peak-time news, rock music and talk output. The Manchester-based version of the service was broadcast to Greater Manchester on FM, and to a number of areas on DAB: the closure of the MXR regional multiplexes ended most digital carriage of the service, with the last remaining digital transmission, to Yorkshire, ending in 2014. The other Real Radio XS service, covering Paisley and Renfrewshire on FM and central belt Scotland digitally, became Xfm Scotland in 2014 following Global's purchase of the franchise, before closing entirely in 2015. The Manchester frequency now transmits as XS Manchester under the control of Communicorp UK, whilst the Scottish license was re-advertised by Ofcom and now carries Nation Broadcasting-owned Nation Radio Scotland.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Smooth Radio (2014)</span> Radio station in London

Smooth Radio is a network of local radio stations broadcasting on FM, AM and DAB in the United Kingdom. Smooth Radio features a soft adult contemporary radio format. Launched in March 2014, it replaced the national Smooth Radio that had launched in 2010 on FM and DAB, and most outlets of Gold on AM.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Heart Scotland</span> Regional radio station in Scotland

Heart Scotland is a regional radio station owned and operated by Global as part of the Heart network. The station relaunched as Heart on 6 May 2014, serving central and southern Scotland from studios in Glasgow city centre.

A timeline of notable events relating to Global Radio, a British media company founded in 2007.

References

  1. ↑ "Quarterly Listening". rajar.co.uk. Retrieved 6 March 2023.
  2. ↑ Rock Talk
  3. ↑ Plunkett, John (8 February 2007). "Rock Talk wins Manchester bid". MediaGuardian. London: Guardian News and Media.
  4. ↑ RADIO TODAY - GMG drop Rock Radio for Real Radio XS
  5. ↑ GMG Radio sold to Global for £50m Mark Sweeney, The Guardian, 25 June 2012
  6. ↑ Global Radio seals £50m purchase of GMG Radio Maisie McCabe, Media Week, 25 June 2012
  7. ↑ Martin, Roy (6 February 2014). "Communicorp buys 8 Global stations". RadioToday. Retrieved 16 March 2016.
  8. ↑ Macpherson, Ande (23 February 2016). "Real Radio XS to rebrand as XS Manchester". RadioToday. Retrieved 16 March 2016.
  9. ↑ Collins, Steve (31 March 2020). "Ofcom rejects XS Manchester's request of format change". RadioToday. Retrieved 1 July 2021.
  10. ↑ "mb21 - The Transmission Gallery". tx.mb21.co.uk. Retrieved 21 December 2022.
  11. ↑ "Technical parameters for broadcast radio transmitters". Ofcom. 9 May 2022. Retrieved 21 December 2022.
  12. ↑ "Niocast Digital". Niocast Digital. Retrieved 21 December 2022.

53°28′50″N2°15′12″W / 53.480543°N 2.253398°W / 53.480543; -2.253398

This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.