UTV Radio
Encyclopedia
UTV Radio is a UK media company, and owner of several radio stations in the United Kingdom
and Republic of Ireland
. It is a growing branch of UTV Media.
The Wireless Group had its British origins in the company Talk Radio, named after the national AM
station around which it was formed, which was later purchased by TalkCo, a consortium whose members included MVI
, News International
, Radio Investments and LMC Radio headed by chief executive Kelvin MacKenzie
, the former editor of The Sun
newspaper. It bought the Wireless Group in 1998 for £15.5m.
The company became the fifth largest UK radio group when it purchased The Radio Partnership
in 1999, gaining control of its nine local commercial stations. In 2000 the station Talk Radio was relaunched as talkSPORT
.
In May 2005, it was announced that the Northern Ireland media company UTV plc (now UTV Media) had made an agreed offer to buy the company, subject to shareholder and regulatory approval. In June 2005 the takeover proceeded, with McKenzie being replaced by UTV executive Scott Taunton
. On 12 September 2005 it was announced that the company is to be rebranded as UTV Radio. This brand was to bring together UTV's new acquisitions along with its existing stations in Ireland. The acquisition of Juice FM
in Liverpool
was announced on the same date.
UTV Radio mainly own radio stations that broadcast in highly populated city areas, throughout the United Kingdom
and Ireland
.
, the other group, Contemporary hit radio
and lastly the Soft AC format which holds only one station. The contemporary stations all have sister stations in the classic hits and soft AC band, with a DAB
multiplex holding these stations along with the contemporary group.
Today's Best Mix is the slogan that UTV Radio run across all of their FM stations. This slogan can be interpreted in different ways.
UTV Radio produce some network shows which broadcast throughout the majority of the GB stations, making the music varied.
(Talk 107
was an independent station which ceased broadcasting in December 2008.)
was an AM radio station in the South Wales Valleys
and ceased broadcasting on 30 April 2009.)
in Dublin, Live 95FM
in Limerick
, Q102 in Dublin, LMFM in Louth/Meath, and 96FM County Sound in Cork
, which incorporates a separate radio entity, 103fm - itself subdivided across County Cork
.
In May 2004, UTV announced that it had entered the competition for a new ILR franchise for Belfast
, Northern Ireland
. In March 2005 the Office of Communications announced that it had awarded the franchise to UTV. U105
- which began broadcasting on 14 November 2005 - is UTV's first radio station in Northern Ireland
. It is available on FM Radio in Belfast
and on the Freeview platform in Northern Ireland. It is based in Havlock House, sharing premises with UTV Television. The station is primarily aimed at the over-45 age group.
UTV sells airtime for its ILR stations through its subsidiary UTV Radio Solutions (formerly BMS). This competes with the major ILR network sales house, Independent Radio Sales, and also sells airtime for Galway Bay FM
and Beat 102-103
, the first Independent Regional Radio station in Ireland, covering the south east. (Ironically UTV does not itself sell airtime on UTV Television, it is handled by ITV
Sales).
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
and Republic of Ireland
Republic of Ireland
Ireland , described as the Republic of Ireland , is a sovereign state in Europe occupying approximately five-sixths of the island of the same name. Its capital is Dublin. Ireland, which had a population of 4.58 million in 2011, is a constitutional republic governed as a parliamentary democracy,...
. It is a growing branch of UTV Media.
The Wireless Group had its British origins in the company Talk Radio, named after the national AM
Amplitude modulation
Amplitude modulation is a technique used in electronic communication, most commonly for transmitting information via a radio carrier wave. AM works by varying the strength of the transmitted signal in relation to the information being sent...
station around which it was formed, which was later purchased by TalkCo, a consortium whose members included MVI
MVI
MVI stands for Musical Video Interactive, a DVD-based means of packing audio, video and interactive visual content onto one disk...
, News International
News International
News International Ltd is the United Kingdom newspaper publishing division of News Corporation. Until June 2002, it was called News International plc....
, Radio Investments and LMC Radio headed by chief executive Kelvin MacKenzie
Kelvin MacKenzie
Kelvin Calder MacKenzie is an English media executive and former newspaper editor. He is best known for being editor of The Sun newspaper between 1981 and 1994, an era in which the paper was established as Britain's best selling newspaper.- Biography :MacKenzie was educated at Alleyn's School...
, the former editor of The Sun
The Sun (newspaper)
The Sun is a daily national tabloid newspaper published in the United Kingdom and owned by News Corporation. Sister editions are published in Glasgow and Dublin...
newspaper. It bought the Wireless Group in 1998 for £15.5m.
The company became the fifth largest UK radio group when it purchased The Radio Partnership
The Radio Partnership
-About:Initially, the Metro Radio Group was acquired by East Midland Allied Press in 1996...
in 1999, gaining control of its nine local commercial stations. In 2000 the station Talk Radio was relaunched as talkSPORT
TalkSPORT
Talksport , owned by UTV radio, is one of the United Kingdom's three terrestrial analogue Independent National Radio broadcasters, offering a sports and talk radio service broadcast from London to the United Kingdom....
.
In May 2005, it was announced that the Northern Ireland media company UTV plc (now UTV Media) had made an agreed offer to buy the company, subject to shareholder and regulatory approval. In June 2005 the takeover proceeded, with McKenzie being replaced by UTV executive Scott Taunton
Scott Taunton
Scott Taunton is an Australian businessman. Born in Canberra, he was general manager of DNA Internet until March 2000, when the company was acquired by Northern Ireland-based broadcaster UTV Media. He was appointed Managing Director of UTV Internet, which became one of the largest service providers...
. On 12 September 2005 it was announced that the company is to be rebranded as UTV Radio. This brand was to bring together UTV's new acquisitions along with its existing stations in Ireland. The acquisition of Juice FM
Juice FM
107.6 Juice FM is a British Independent Local Radio, set up in 1998 in Liverpool after the closing of alternative music station 107.6 Crash FM and its subsequent purchase by Forever Broadcasting. It launched with a format broadly in keeping with that of Crash, but with a greater amount of...
in Liverpool
Liverpool
Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough of Merseyside, England, along the eastern side of the Mersey Estuary. It was founded as a borough in 1207 and was granted city status in 1880...
was announced on the same date.
UTV Radio mainly own radio stations that broadcast in highly populated city areas, throughout the United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
and Ireland
Ireland
Ireland is an island to the northwest of continental Europe. It is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island on Earth...
.
UTV Radio GB
UTV Radio have four bands of stations. One group contains the format of Hot AC, the other Classic HitsClassic hits
Classic hits is a radio format which generally includes rock and pop music from 1964 to 1989. The term is sometimes erroneously used as a synonym for the adult hits format, but is more accurately characterized as a contemporary style of the oldies format...
, the other group, Contemporary hit radio
Contemporary hit radio
Contemporary hit radio is a radio format that is common in the United States, United Kingdom, Canada and Australia that focuses on playing current and recurrent popular music as determined by the Top 40 music charts...
and lastly the Soft AC format which holds only one station. The contemporary stations all have sister stations in the classic hits and soft AC band, with a DAB
Digital audio broadcasting
Digital Audio Broadcasting is a digital radio technology for broadcasting radio stations, used in several countries, particularly in Europe. As of 2006, approximately 1,000 stations worldwide broadcast in the DAB format....
multiplex holding these stations along with the contemporary group.
Today's Best Mix is the slogan that UTV Radio run across all of their FM stations. This slogan can be interpreted in different ways.
UTV Radio produce some network shows which broadcast throughout the majority of the GB stations, making the music varied.
Hot AC
- Peak FM
- Tower FMTower FMTower FM is a British Independent Local Radio station which broadcasts across the towns of Bolton and Bury and parts of north Manchester from its studios in Wigan....
- Wire FM
- Wish FMWish FMWish FM is a British Independent Local Radio that serves the Metropolitan Borough of Wigan in Greater Manchester and the Metropolitan Borough of St Helens, Merseyside...
- RadioWave 96.5
- 107.7 The Wolf107.7 The Wolf107.7 The Wolf is a British Independent Local Radio station based in Wolverhampton that serves the city and its surrounding area. The studios and transmitter are at Mander House in the centre of Wolverhampton...
Contemporary
- The Pulse of West YorkshireThe Pulse of West YorkshireThe Pulse is a British Independent Local Radio station that serves the Bradford, Kirklees and Calderdale areas of West Yorkshire. The station was originally known as Pennine Radio...
- 96.4 The Wave
- Signal 1Signal 1Signal One is a British Independent Local Radio station broadcasting from studios in Shelton, Stoke-on-Trent to Staffordshire and Cheshire on 96.4 , 96.9 and 102.6 MHz FM for Cheshire, Stafford and North Staffordshire respectively. It also broadcasts on the Stoke "UTV-EMAP Stoke-on-Trent"...
Independent station
- Juice FMJuice FM107.6 Juice FM is a British Independent Local Radio, set up in 1998 in Liverpool after the closing of alternative music station 107.6 Crash FM and its subsequent purchase by Forever Broadcasting. It launched with a format broadly in keeping with that of Crash, but with a greater amount of...
(Talk 107
Talk 107
talk107 was a radio station based in Edinburgh, Scotland, broadcasting a phone-in based talk format. It was the UK's first local commercial talk licence to be awarded outside London and was the only station of its kind in Scotland...
was an independent station which ceased broadcasting in December 2008.)
Great Britain Local AM stations
(Valleys RadioValleys Radio
Valleys Radio was a British radio station broadcasting to the heads of the South Wales Valleys. The broadcast area was covered by two transmitters, 999kHz from the Aberdâr transmitter, and 1116kHz from the Ebbw Vale transmitter, with the Ebbw Vale signal being the comparatively stronger of the...
was an AM radio station in the South Wales Valleys
South Wales Valleys
The South Wales Valleys are a number of industrialised valleys in South Wales, stretching from eastern Carmarthenshire in the west to western Monmouthshire in the east and from the Heads of the Valleys in the north to the lower-lying, pastoral country of the Vale of Glamorgan and the coastal plain...
and ceased broadcasting on 30 April 2009.)
DAB multiplexes
UTV operates three multiplexes jointly with Bauer Radio.- Stoke & Stafford
- Swansea SW Wales
- UTV-Bauer West Yorkshire
UTV Radio Ireland
UTV Radio Ireland owns a number of Republic of Ireland independent local radio contractors - FM104FM104
FM104 is an Independent Local Radio station broadcast across Dublin, Ireland, on the frequency 104.4 MHz. It is operated by Capital Radio Productions Limited , and is a subsidiary of UTV Radio. The station broadcasts under a sound broadcasting contract from the Broadcasting Commission of Ireland...
in Dublin, Live 95FM
Live 95FM
Limerick's Live 95fm is a radio station in the Republic of Ireland owned by UTV Radio, broadcasting to Limerick city and county-History:The station was launched from O'Connell Street in Limerick as the "New 95FM" on November 6, 1997 as a replacement for the previous local radio franchise holder...
in Limerick
Limerick
Limerick is the third largest city in the Republic of Ireland, and the principal city of County Limerick and Ireland's Mid-West Region. It is the fifth most populous city in all of Ireland. When taking the extra-municipal suburbs into account, Limerick is the third largest conurbation in the...
, Q102 in Dublin, LMFM in Louth/Meath, and 96FM County Sound in Cork
Cork (city)
Cork is the second largest city in the Republic of Ireland and the island of Ireland's third most populous city. It is the principal city and administrative centre of County Cork and the largest city in the province of Munster. Cork has a population of 119,418, while the addition of the suburban...
, which incorporates a separate radio entity, 103fm - itself subdivided across County Cork
County Cork
County Cork is a county in Ireland. It is located in the South-West Region and is also part of the province of Munster. It is named after the city of Cork . Cork County Council is the local authority for the county...
.
In May 2004, UTV announced that it had entered the competition for a new ILR franchise for Belfast
Belfast
Belfast is the capital of and largest city in Northern Ireland. By population, it is the 14th biggest city in the United Kingdom and second biggest on the island of Ireland . It is the seat of the devolved government and legislative Northern Ireland Assembly...
, Northern Ireland
Northern Ireland
Northern Ireland is one of the four countries of the United Kingdom. Situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, it shares a border with the Republic of Ireland to the south and west...
. In March 2005 the Office of Communications announced that it had awarded the franchise to UTV. U105
U105
U105 is a Belfast based radio station, providing a mix of music and speech as well as hourly news bulletins. It is owned by UTV Radio and was launched at 6am on Monday 14 November 2005....
- which began broadcasting on 14 November 2005 - is UTV's first radio station in Northern Ireland
Northern Ireland
Northern Ireland is one of the four countries of the United Kingdom. Situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, it shares a border with the Republic of Ireland to the south and west...
. It is available on FM Radio in Belfast
Belfast
Belfast is the capital of and largest city in Northern Ireland. By population, it is the 14th biggest city in the United Kingdom and second biggest on the island of Ireland . It is the seat of the devolved government and legislative Northern Ireland Assembly...
and on the Freeview platform in Northern Ireland. It is based in Havlock House, sharing premises with UTV Television. The station is primarily aimed at the over-45 age group.
UTV sells airtime for its ILR stations through its subsidiary UTV Radio Solutions (formerly BMS). This competes with the major ILR network sales house, Independent Radio Sales, and also sells airtime for Galway Bay FM
Galway Bay FM
Galway Bay FM is an Irish independent local radio station and operates under a license from the Broadcasting Commission of Ireland. Established in 1989, the station broadcasts from studios in Galway, serving the city and County Galway.-Programming:...
and Beat 102-103
Beat 102-103
Beat 102 103 is an independent regional radio station in Ireland licensed by the Broadcasting Commission of Ireland covering counties Waterford, Carlow, Kilkenny, Wexford and South Tipperary in South East Ireland...
, the first Independent Regional Radio station in Ireland, covering the south east. (Ironically UTV does not itself sell airtime on UTV Television, it is handled by ITV
ITV
ITV is the major commercial public service TV network in the United Kingdom. Launched in 1955 under the auspices of the Independent Television Authority to provide competition to the BBC, it is also the oldest commercial network in the UK...
Sales).
Local FM stations
- Dublin's Q102
- Cork's 96FMCork's 96FM96FM is one of three local radio stations licensed by the Broadcasting Commission of Ireland for Cork City and County in Ireland . It broadcasts from studios at Broadcasting House, St...
- FM104FM104FM104 is an Independent Local Radio station broadcast across Dublin, Ireland, on the frequency 104.4 MHz. It is operated by Capital Radio Productions Limited , and is a subsidiary of UTV Radio. The station broadcasts under a sound broadcasting contract from the Broadcasting Commission of Ireland...
- Limerick's Live 95FM
- LMFMLMFMLMFM is an independent Local Radio station in Ireland. It is also the largest Local radio station outside of Dublin and Cork broadcasting to a population in excess of 300,000 adults. Media group UTV bought the station in a deal worth about €10 million in 2005.LMFM broadcasts on a number of...
- U105U105U105 is a Belfast based radio station, providing a mix of music and speech as well as hourly news bulletins. It is owned by UTV Radio and was launched at 6am on Monday 14 November 2005....
- 103FM County Sound103FM County SoundC103 is one of three local radio stations licensed by the Broadcasting Commission of Ireland for Cork City and County in Ireland...