XS Manchester
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 | |
Owner | Communicorp UK |
History | |
First air date | 5 May 2008 (15 years ago) |
Former names | 106.1 Rock Radio Real Radio XS |
Links | |
Website | www.xsmanchester.co.uk |
XS Manchester is an
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
Following the award, a decision was made to position the station as a sister to the then newly relaunched Scottish station
Real Radio XS
On 28 July 2011,
On 25 June 2012 it was announced that rival commercial radio operator
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.
References
- ^ "Quarterly Listening". rajar.co.uk. Retrieved 6 March 2023.
- ^ Rock Talk
- ^ Plunkett, John (8 February 2007). "Rock Talk wins Manchester bid". MediaGuardian. London: Guardian News and Media.
- ^ RADIO TODAY - GMG drop Rock Radio for Real Radio XS
- ^ GMG Radio sold to Global for £50m Mark Sweeney, The Guardian, 25 June 2012
- ^ Global Radio seals £50m purchase of GMG Radio Maisie McCabe, Media Week, 25 June 2012
- ^ Martin, Roy (6 February 2014). "Communicorp buys 8 Global stations". RadioToday. Retrieved 16 March 2016.
- ^ Macpherson, Ande (23 February 2016). "Real Radio XS to rebrand as XS Manchester". RadioToday. Retrieved 16 March 2016.
- ^ Collins, Steve (31 March 2020). "Ofcom rejects XS Manchester's request of format change". RadioToday. Retrieved 1 July 2021.
- ^ "mb21 - The Transmission Gallery". tx.mb21.co.uk. Retrieved 21 December 2022.
- ^ "Technical parameters for broadcast radio transmitters". Ofcom. 9 May 2022. Retrieved 21 December 2022.
- ^ "Niocast Digital". Niocast Digital. Retrieved 21 December 2022.