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106.1 Rock Radio - news archive

This is an archive of news about 106.1 Rock Radio. Some links may no longer work, due to the transient nature of the internet.

Virgin's Classic Rock revamp
From Radio Today. Posted May 16 2008, 1.23am
Virgin is putting up a fight against Planet Rock and GMG's new Rock Radio network by giving Virgin Radio Classic Rock a major overhaul, which will see the station offer live news and travel updates, along with new programmes, jingles and strapline.Broadcasting on Sky, Virgin, online and on DAB in London, the station will now enjoy cross-promotion from Virgin Radio, and position itself as the UK's Rock Authority. (more)

Rock Radio's Sweeney speaks out
From Radio Today. Posted May 9 2008, 12.09am
Rock Radio's afternoon presenter Mike Sweeney has been featured in an online television interview about the state of the industry, and about his new radio programme in Manchester. (more)

Rock Radio 'Religious Music'
From UTalk Marketing. Posted May 6 2008, 5.02pm
New launch campaign (more)

Rock arrives in Manchester
From Radio Today. Posted May 5 2008, 8.45pm
Thousands of classic rock fans packed the city centre of Manchester on Monday afternoon to witness the launch of GMG's new station for the area. 106.1 Rock Radio launched at 6pm after free free five hour music festival fronted by 70s rockers Bad Company 2008 and 90s band GUN. (more)

Rocking for charity in Scotland
From Radio Today. Posted April 25 2008, 8.10am
Rock Radio in Scotland has recently raised £10,000 for charity, and was joined by Alan Thornton and Joolz from GUN along with Toby Jepson to hand over the cheque. (more)

James H Reeve joins Rock Radio
From Radio Today. Posted April 22 2008, 10.13am
James H Reeve is the latest Mancunian broadcaster to join Manchester's Rock Radio. The former BBC and Key 103 presenter will host weekend breakfast on the new station.GMG Radio have also announced their signings for weekday mid-mornings and evenings. (more)

Rock Radio names breakfast jock
From Radio Today. Posted April 15 2008, 11.26am
Steve Berry has been announced as the breakfast presenter on Manchester's soon-to-launch Rock Radio. Berry is known for his work as a specialist motorcycling presenter on Top Gear. Mancunian broadcaster Mike Sweeney was recently announced as the weekday presenter on the station. (more)

WNEW back on the air in New York
From Media Network Weblog. Posted April 14 2008, 5.33pm
WNEW, progressive rock radio, is back - streaming live on the Internet and going out in digital mode at 102.7-HD2 in greater New York City. The original WNEW-FM was the legendary NYC rock station that helped break artists like Bruce Springsteen and The Police,. At the helm of this new rock adventure is Programme Director Norm Winer, an award-winning radio industry veteran, [...] (more)

Sweeney get ready to Rock
From Radio Today. Posted April 2 2008, 10.09am
Mancunian broadcasting legend Mike Sweeney is the first presenter to sign up to Manchester’s newest radio station, 106.1 Rock Radio.The Salford-born broadcaster will host the drive-time show on the station when it launches at 6pm on May 5th. (more)

Sweeney gets ready to Rock
From Radio Today. Posted April 2 2008, 10.09am
Mancunian broadcasting legend Mike Sweeney is the first presenter to sign up to Manchester’s newest radio station, 106.1 Rock Radio.The Salford-born broadcaster will host the drive-time show on the station when it launches at 6pm on May 5th. (more)

GMG rocks the North East
From Radio Today. Posted April 1 2008, 2.30pm
Rock Radio North East, GMG Radio's latest radio station, launched today at midday. Although the service is only available regionally on DAB, the schedule will include live programming. (more)

Bad Company at Rock Radio
From Radio Today. Posted March 27 2008, 12.19pm
GMG's Rock Radio in Scotland is planning yet another exclusive gig for listeners, bringing 70's rocker band Bad Company to a local venue. (more)

GMG Rock the North East
From Radio Today. Posted February 15 2008, 12.08pm
GMG Radio are extending their Rock Radio brand with the launch of an independent digital service across the north east. (more)

Rock Radio jock gets branded
From Radio Today. Posted February 1 2008, 12.14am
It might not seem like much of a headline, but when you realise the tattoo in question is of the radio station logo, it gets a little more interesting. (more)

Rock Radio Gig Raises £12k for Charity
From Merry Media. Posted January 14 2008, 11.47pm
A one off exclusive sell-out rock gig for 96.3 Rock Radio live at The Garage in Glasgow raised over £12,000 for charity last Thursday. Among the acts performing were Logan, the Sensational Alex Harvey Band and Thunder. . (more)

Rock party raises over 12k
From Radio Today. Posted January 14 2008, 12.00am
GMG's Rock Radio has raised over 12 thousand pounds during a special 1st birthday rock gig at The Garage in Glasgow. (more)

Mediacom gets GMG contract
From Radio Today. Posted December 19 2007, 4.01pm
GMG Radio has appointed MediaCom to handle the media buying for its 13 stations across the UK. GMG Radio’s brands - Smooth, Real, Century and Rock Radio brands and MediaCom - will begin new campaigns adopting a broad multi-media approach in 2008. (more)

Rock Radio Birthday Gig a Sell-Out
From Merry Media. Posted December 18 2007, 1.06am
96.3 Rock Radio is celebrating its first birthday with a series of gigs with the first on 10th January at the Garage in Glasgow a sell-out, raising funds for Nordoff-Robbins Scotland. . (more)

Global's The Arrow drops live DJs
From Media Guardian. Posted December 10 2007, 2.08pm
Rock radio station The Arrow is to axe its DJs as part of a further retreat from digital by its new owner. By John Plunkett (more)

1st birthday concert for Rock
From Radio Today. Posted November 28 2007, 8.32am
Rock Radio is putting the final touches together for its first birthday in January. The GMG Radio station is planning to rock Glasgow with an exclusive gig featuring Logan, Doogie White and Toby Jepson, along with 700 listeners. (more)

Rock Jock Elliot gets naked
From Radio Today. Posted November 16 2007, 7.48am
Rock Radio's breakfast presenter Kieron Elliot will be reaching an all time high next month as he jumps from a plane from 5000ft, at a speed of around 140mph, totally naked. It's all in aid of their new nominated charity, Nordoff-Robbins. (more)

A Real promotion for Gavin
From Radio Today. Posted October 12 2007, 10.35am
Gavin Bruce has been promoted from sales manager at Real Radio Scotland to sales director of all three GMG Radio Glasgow-based stations. Gavin will manage the commercial departments of Real Radio, Smooth Radio and Rock Radio. (more)

Perfect match for Rock Radio
From Radio Today. Posted September 27 2007, 12.19pm
96.3 Rock Radio has created a sponsorship deal which could be the perfect partnership. The GMG classic rock station has joined forces with the Scottish Rocks basketball team station to become official radio partner of Scotland's only professional players. (more)

New classic rock radio station to launch in Dublin
From Media Network Weblog. Posted September 24 2007, 11.46am
A new radio station will commence broadcasting to the Dublin area this weekend under a temporary licence from the Broadcasting Commission of Ireland, and will operate every Friday, Saturday and Sunday until 2 December. The Rock, based in Dun Laoghaire, will broadcast classic rock music aimed at the over-30s on 94.9 MHz FM and 1278 kHz AM. (Source: Radiowaves.fm) (more)

GMG gets ready to Rock
From Radio Today. Posted September 19 2007, 3.54pm
GMG Radio will rock Manchester with a mix of classic rock and speech - with a launch date of May 6th, Radio Today can reveal. 106.1 Rock Radio has today appointed former Smooth FM sales director Joe Radcliffe to the position of station director ready for the launch next year. (more)

GMG Radio gets ready to Rock
From Radio Today. Posted September 19 2007, 3.54pm
GMG Radio will rock Manchester with a mix of classic rock and speech - with a launch date for 106.1 Rock Radio of May 6th, Radio Today can reveal. The station has also announced the appointment of former Smooth FM sales director Joe Radcliffe to the position of station director ready for the launch next year. (more)

New station for Manchester
From Radio Today. Posted September 3 2007, 12.37pm
A new radio station is set to launch in Manchester this month. In addition to new FM stations such as Rock Radio and Salford City Radio, a team of around 20 radio professionals are busy putting the final touches together for Manchester Radio Online, which launches this Sunday, 9th September. (more)

Rock Radio & Forth One Favourites in Southern Scotland
From Merry Media. Posted August 29 2007, 9.30am
The Breakfast Show on Rock Radio with Kieron Elliott and the Drivetime Show on Forth One with Yasmin Zemmoura have been voted the Best in Southern Scotland in a poll run by Merry Media.Over the past couple of months, Merry Media has been moving from region to region across the UK to find the best breakfast and drivetime shows on the radio with votes coming from within the radio industry as well as businesses and listeners.Kieron Elliott's show received 12% of the votes, followed by Robin Galloway's breakfast show on sister station Real Radio with 11% of the votes. In third place was Julyan Sinclair on XFM Scotland.. (more)

News restructure at GMG
From Radio Today. Posted June 21 2007, 4.05pm
GMG Radio is to set up three news 'hubs' in Manchester, London and Glasgow to produce bespoke regionalised bulletins for its 11 stations, 24 hours a day. The group, owners of the Real, Century, Smooth and Rock Radio brands, is also announcing new plans for bespoke Content Editors to create news material across broadcast and web platforms. Extra journalists are to be recruited in the North East ahead of the launch of GMG's sixth Smooth Radio station later this year. (more)

Celtic Legend Own Show on Rock Radio
From Merry Media. Posted June 8 2007, 9.33pm
Celtic football legend Bertie Auld has made his radio debut tonight on Scottish radio station 96.3 Rock Radio.. (more)

Rock'n'roll survivor's six-week disc jockey trial lasted 25 years
From The Scotsman. Posted June 7 2007, 12.22am
TOM Russell's gravel tones fill a prime slot on Rock Radio, proving the godfather of rock still commands the scene, says LORI ANDERSON (more)

Survey Says iPod Owners Want FM Radio Tuner
From radio.about.com. Posted April 5 2007, 6.08am
From infosyncworld.com: "A recent online survey by Detroit based rock radio consultants, Jacobs Media, found a full 43 percent iPod owners want an FM radio integrated into the next version... (more)

Ross Macfadyen Joins Rock Radio
From Merry Media. Posted February 15 2007, 12.39pm
One of Scottish radio's most recognised broadcasting talents, Ross Macfadyen has joined the 96.3 Rock Radio team to present a Saturday afternoon show called 'Heid the Ba' from 2pm - 6pm with immediate effect.. (more)

96.3 Rock Radio Launches in Scotland
From Merry Media. Posted January 9 2007, 2.01am
Scotland’s first Classic Rock station 96.3 Rock Radio hit the airwaves in Scotland at 6pm - launched by rock star Rod Stewart.. (more)

Rod Stewart launches Rock Radio
From Radio Today. Posted January 8 2007, 6.04pm
The newest brand for GMG Radio has been launched by pop and rock legend Rod Stewart. 96.3 Rock Radio is the new name for Q96 and serves nearly one million adults in Paisley and Renfrewshire. The first song played was Revolution by The Beatles. (more)

Rock Radio to target whole lotta male listeners
From The Scotsman. Posted January 7 2007, 12.54am
ROCK fans in the west of Scotland will be at the centre of a new battle to control the airwaves with the launch of another station tomorrow. (more)

New national jazz radio station launches in the UK
From Media Network Weblog. Posted December 26 2006, 11.49am
Ray Woodward writes: GCap Media’s latest national radio brand “The Jazz” launched as scheduled at 0900 UTC Christmas Day on the Internet, DAB (mono), Sky Digital 0113 and NTL/Telewest 961. The next new brand to arrive should be GMG’s ‘Rock Radio’ due in Glasgow (96.3) and the Internet on 8 January. Andy Sennitt comments: Although there has been [...] (more)

Donald MacLeod Presenter on 96.3 Rock Radio
From Merry Media. Posted December 24 2006, 5.34pm
45 year old newspaper columnist Donald MacLeod will be presenting a show on the new 96.3 Rock Radio for Renfrewshire and the West of Scotland.. (more)

Ciarán O'Toole Takes on Top Job at Real Radio
From Merry Media. Posted December 8 2006, 2.55am
Ciaran O'Toole has been appointed as the Head of Presentation for Real Radio Scotland as well as the new 96.3 Rock Radio which launches in January.. (more)

Tom Russell Joins 96.3 Rock Radio
From Merry Media. Posted December 8 2006, 2.45am
Tom Russell will be the mid-morning presenter on the new 96.3 Rock Radio when it launches in January for Renfrewshire and the West of Scotland.. (more)

Rod Stewart Launching 96.3 Rock Radio
From Merry Media. Posted December 3 2006, 5.54pm
Rock legend Rod Stewart is to launch the new Scottish radio station 96.3 Rock Radio in January it has been announced. The station, which is being rebranded from Q96, broadcasts to Renfrewshire and the West of Scotland.. (more)

Ready to rock?
From The Scotsman. Posted November 23 2006, 1.51am
MIDDLE-AGED air guitarists everywhere get ready. Glasgow commercial radio station will relaunch on 8 January 2007 as 96.3 Rock Radio. (more)

GMG set launch date for Rock
From Radio Today. Posted November 20 2006, 3.54pm
GMG Radio has announced the launch date of Scotland's first classic rock station, which is set to take over from Q96.96.3 Rock Radio will officially launch on Monday 8th January 2007 across Renfrewshire, Glasgow and Dunbartonshire on FM and across the west of Scotland on DAB Digital Radio. (more)

BCI signs contract with new alternative rock station in Dublin
From Media Network Weblog. Posted October 27 2006, 4.14pm
The Broadcasting Commission of Ireland (BCI) has today signed a ten year sound broadcasting contract with Dublin Rock Radio Ltd (trading as Phantom FM) for the provision of an alternative rock music service on the FM band to Dublin City and County. The service will broadcast on 105.2FM on a twenty-four hour basis, with a minimum [...] (more)

Q96 Replaced by 96.3 Rock Radio
From Merry Media. Posted October 24 2006, 1.22pm
GMG Radio have revealed that the new station which will be replacing Q96 in the West of Scotland will be 96.3 Rock Radio and will launch in January 2007.. (more)

Guardian Media Group to launch rock station for Scotland
From Brand Republic. Posted October 24 2006, 11.10am
LONDON - Guardian Media Group Radio is to relaunch its Q96FM station as Rock Radio 96.3, a classic rock station, which will appeal to fans of Led Zeppelin's 'Whole Lotta Love' and Boston's 'More Than a Feeling'. (more)

96.3 Rock Radio to replace Q96
From Radio Today. Posted October 24 2006, 7.01am
GMG Radio have revealed the new name for Q96 in Renfrewshire. 96.3 Rock Radio will commence broadcasting in January 2007 and play artists such as Aerosmith, Pink Floyd and Led Zeppelin.The station successfully re-located to Real Radio in Glasgow earlier this month, as Ofcom agreed to let the station broadcast from outside the broadcast area of the station. (more)

Guardian Media Group launches Rock Radio in Scotland
From Media Guardian. Posted October 24 2006, 1.00am
8am: Led Zeppelin fans in Scotland should grab their air guitars for the launch of the country's first classic rock radio station. By Julia Day. (more)

Bristol licence attracts six
From Radio Today. Posted June 12 2006, 1.00pm
A total of six applications have been submitted to run a new commercial radio station in Bristol. These are Bristol FM, Chill (GCap Media), Diamond 106.5 (Macquarie), Original 106 (Canwest), Rock Radio (Absolute Radio Int/Town and Country Broadcasting Ltd) and Wicked FM (UK Media and Radio). Half of the applicants propose a rock music service, two offer an adult format with the remaining one offering to Chill out the people of Bristol. (more)

Northeast applications now online
From Radio Today. Posted December 13 2005, 3.54pm
The thirteen applications submitted for the Northeast regional FM radio licence are now available on the Ofcom website. The applications show the proposals from all thirteen documents. In brief, they are: UK Media and TLRC application as 3 Rivers Radio, GCap Media's two applications as FUN fm and XFM, UTV's All Talk FM, Chrysalis' All Rock Radio The Arrow, Celador's Touch FM for the 45+ age group, CN-Group's Northlife providing non-biased speech and music programming, Canwest's Original FM which is similar to the recently won Solent licence, Saga's 50+ service, Tim Schoonmaker and Radio UK Holdings Diamond FM (rock music), North East One - offering a grown up station with pop, rock and oldies, and finally GMG radio apply using two proposals as Rock Talk FM and Smooth FM. (more)