Neha Patil (Editor)

The Revolution (radio station)

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Format
  
Adult Contemporary

Language(s)
  
English

Broadcast area
  
Oldham, Rochdale, Tameside

Slogan
  
Made for Oldham, Rochdale and Tameside

Frequency
  
96.2 MHz RDS: THE_REV DAB: 10B

First air date
  
30 August 1999; 17 years ago (1999-08-30)

Revolution 96.2 (formerly known as 96.2 The Revolution) is an Independent Local Radio station broadcasting to the areas of Oldham, Rochdale and Tameside in Greater Manchester, England.

Contents

History

Oldham F.M. Limited was incorporated on 5 June 1997, Bernard Stone, Philip Hirst and Christopher Hirst of Hirst Kidd and Rennie LTD, owners of Oldham Evening Chronicle, were appointed company directors. The following December David Bruce and Stephen Kitney of UK Radio Developments LTD, as well as Nichola Atkinson, John Gracie and Liam Forristal were also added as company directors.

The new owners began to bid for a full-time broadcasting licence, while using temporary licences broadcasting for one month per year. After two years a licence was granted. On 30 August 1999 Oldham F.M. began broadcasting under the name 96.2 The Revolution. The name was chosen because of the Industrial Revolution, in which the region took a major role, and the initial letters of its three main target areas – Revolution. The station initially launched with a general pop and rock format and remained as such from 1999-2005.

In 2005, the station changed to a more specialist music format. Playing a wide variety of alternative/soul & rock and roll music, mixing brand new artists with gems from the last 40 years. Inspiral Carpets keyboard player Clint Boon took over as head of music. Boon left the station after a short period of time for its then rival, Xfm Manchester.

In 2008 the station's audience went into decline due to several factors and the business was put on the market. The station's format was changed by its then owner, who physically changed the music policy during one afternoon in late August of that year. The output became a repeat of mainly repetitive mainstream hits. This radical change lead to a walk-out by most of the DJ's, resulting in the station playing back to back music with only a few mainly pre-recorded links in between. A fortnight after the walk-out, it was announced that The Revolution had been purchased by broadcaster Steve Penk, formerly of Key 103 and Capital FM. Penk changed the station format back to an Adult Contemporary sound.

In January 2014 Penk sold the radio station to Credible Media. New head Matt Ramsbottom vowed to create stronger links with local businesses and institutions and use the station as an advertising platform.

On 30 August 2015 Niocast Digital began a trial of broadcasting six radio stations on frequency 10B, including Revolution 96.2, to people in Manchester.

Notable past presenters

  • James H. Reeve
  • Pat Sharp
  • Donny Osmond
  • Gary Mounfield
  • Martin Coogan
  • Steve Penk
  • Clint Boon
  • References

    The Revolution (radio station) Wikipedia