Xfm Manchester
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| Xfm Manchester | |
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| Broadcast area | Greater Manchester |
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| Frequency | 97.7 MHz |
| First air date | 15th March 2006 |
| Format | Alternative music |
| Audience share | 1.7% (September 2007, [1]) |
| Owner | Global Radio |
| Website | www.xfmmanchester.co.uk |
Xfm Manchester is a commercial radio station broadcasting "alternative" music to Manchester in North West England.
It builds on the brand and format established by Xfm London. Some programming is shared but the majority is produced specifically for Manchester.
The station launched at 8am on Wednesday 15th of March 2006 - the first song to be played was the iconic Manchester anthem "I am the Resurrection" by The Stone Roses, followed by "Song 2" by Blur.
Many presenters were formerly members of iconic Manchester bands and institutions. These include the Inspiral Carpets' keyboard player Clint Boon, The Smiths' bass player Andy Rourke, Factory Records boss Tony Wilson, and the Hacienda's Dave Haslam. Elbow's Guy Garvey is the only presenter to still be a member of his most famous band. DJs Adam Cole, Gareth Brooks, Mark Kaye and comedian Paul Tonkinson completed the initial presenter line-up.
Long-time local radio presenter Terry Christian was cited in the licence application document alongside Boon but he remains at the relaunched BBC Radio Manchester.
Xfm's newly built studios are actually based in Salford, at Exchange Quay. They previously shared with GMG station Century 105.4, and did so for just over a year since the disposal of the Century brand by GCapMedia.[1]
Their 1 kW transmitter is located on the roof of City Tower, formerly known as the Sunley Building, overlooking Piccadilly Gardens in the city centre. This is in the same location as that of another Manchester radio station, Galaxy. However, Xfm Manchester covers a slightly smaller area, with coverage particularly limited in parts of North Manchester. Xfm's expected service area encompasses around 2 million people.
In May 2007 the parent company of XFM, GCap Media, now Global Radio, announced that they would be removing all presenters from the daytime (10am-4pm) lineup and replacing them with a fully interactive show, incorporating listener requests via the website and phone in, 'vox-pops', live music and entertainment news.[2]. This show, named Xu[3] was officially launched on air at 10am, Tuesday the 29th of May.
On 11 February 2008 GCap Media, now Global Radio, announced that they would be selling the analogue license for the station[4]. Since the successful bid made by Global Radio, however, GCap have since decided to maintain the licence alongside that of Xfm Scotland.
In May 2008 it was announced that the Xu programme was to be dropped in favour of networking more shows from Xfm London. Currently, twelve hours of networked programming exist in the weekday schedule, and a number of other shows are broadcast from Xfm London and Xfm Scotland at the weekend.
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[edit] Current Presenters
- Mike McClean The Xfm Breakfast Show
- Rick Shaw Mornings (broadcast from London)
- Jo Good Afternoons (broadcast from London)
- Tim Cocker Drivetime
- Clint Boon Music Response
- John Kennedy X-Posure (broadcast from London)
- Phil Clifton Early Breakfast
- Adam Longworth The Weekender
- Eddy Temple-Morris The Remix
- Danny Wallace Saturday mornings (broadcast from London)
- Steve Harris Weekend Afternoons
- Dave Haslam The Weekender
- Jon Hillcock New Noise
- Gareth Brooks Sunday Breakfast
- Marsha Sunday Roast
- Ian Camfield Import/Export
- Martin Bate The Rock Show
- Sunta Templeton Best of XFM and also co-presents Drivetime
[edit] Notable Former Presenters
- Andy Rourke
- Adam Cole
- Guy Garvey
- Russ Winstanley
- Tony Wilson
- Mick Rock
- Lauren Laverne
- Michelle Mullane
- Mike Sweeney
- Jason Manford
- Paul Tonkinson
- Mark Kaye
[edit] Launch
Xfm Manchester was awarded an FM radio licence on June 9, 2005.
The channel was chosen over other rock station formats such as The Arrow, Virgin Radio Classic Rock, Kerrang! Radio and sister channel The Storm (which has since closed down).
On February 20, 2006, Xfm Manchester commenced sporadic technical tests (consisting of a playlist of songs chosen to appeal to its audience) prior to its launch on 15th March 2006.
[edit] Manchester United commentary
XFM Manchester acquired the rights from 105.4 Century FM to broadcast commentary from all Manchester United games [5] which is a diversion from its usual music programming.
[edit] Station Management
- Matt Bowen Head of News
- Mandy Martin Station Coordinator
- Alan Fleming Engineering Manager
- Steve Dunlop Programme Director
- Cheryl Levington Sales Director
[edit] See also
[edit] External links
- Official site
- Review of XFM after launch
- Xfm Manchester early announcement
- Xfm Manchester launch info
- Licence application document (1.2MB PDF)
[edit] References
- ^ GMG Radio purchace Century FM. Retrieved on 2007-05-29.
- ^ Radio Today: XFM drops daytime jocks. Retrieved on 2007-05-17.
- ^ Xu: Radio to the power of U. Retrieved on 2007-05-29.
- ^ DAB 'not economically viable'. Retrieved on 2008-02-11.
- ^ XFM sign Manchester United commentary deal
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