Latest news about Downtown Radio

Downtown Radio to switch to non-stop Christmas music from December 1st

Downtown Radio is flipping to all Christmas music from December 1st in a partnership with Ballymena BID. The station is aiming to help shine a light on rising child poverty levels across Northern Ireland.

Two Bauer stations switch to 100% Christmas music

Magic in the UK and Downtown Radio in Northern Ireland have both dropped their usual playlists and flipped to 100% Christmas music. In London, Magic breakfast presenters Ronan and Harriet kick-started the festive tunes on November 26th, whilst in Ireland, Downtown changed format on December 1st with the help of Leona Lewis...

Winners announced at Irish radio awards event

Five radio stations in Northern Ireland picked up awards at the All-Ireland radio awards, the IMROs, last Friday. BBC Radio Ulster, BBC Radio Foyle, Q Radio and Cool FM/Downtown were recognised in various categories. Broadcaster Stephen Nolan won Best Interactive Speech Programme whilst John Toal got the Specialist Music Broadcaster of the Year award. Q Radio’s Connor Brennan won Gold for Newcomer of the Year whilst Cool FM/Downtown Radio’s Sarah McKinley won Silver...

RAJAR Q1 2020: Regional and local radio facts and figures

XS Manchester has doubled its listening hours year-on-year after the station was saved from closure. The Communicorp station now has 132,000 weekly reach (last year 94,000) and 1.28 million hours (last year 546k), giving it more total hours than Manchester’s heritage station Hits Radio. Also in the north west, Radio City Talk, which will close at the end of this month, leaves with 32,000 weekly listeners, down from 45,000 a year ago. Sticking with Bauer, local stations are mostly on the up. Of the 15 local services for Greatest Hits Radio in Scotland and England, eight are up and seven are down...

New logo and transmitter for Downtown Radio

Downtown Radio is marking its 44th year on the air with the launch of a brand-new FM transmitter and new visual logo. The new frequency will broadcast from Carnmoney Hill on 103.4FM and will complement the stations existing FM network across Northern Ireland. Downtown can now be heard on 96.4FM, 96.6FM, 102.3FM, 102.4FM, 103.1FM, 103.4FM and 1026AM plus DAB. Also, former Cool FM DJ Glen Pavis is joining Gary Myles on the Downtown Breakfast Show whilst Owen Larkin is crossing over from Q Radio for a new afternoon programme...

Nominations for the 2020 IRN Awards revealed

The nominations for the 2020 IRN Awards have been announced by Sky News presenter Kay Burley. There are 12 categories including the Student Journalist of the Year prize which is supported by the Broadcast Journalism Training Council. The awards event itself will take place at Sky Cinema in west London on Thursday 26th March 2020, also hosted by Kay. IRN Editor and Chair of Judges, Dave Terris said: This is a stellar list of nominations representing the gold standard in commercial radio news and sport...

Downtown Radio moves country music off FM

A new evening show is launching on Downtown Radio’s FM frequencies next month with Kirstie McMurray. At the moment, Big T hosts Classic Country on both Downtown Radio and Downtown Country. But starting in March, former Cool FM and Downtown Radio breakfast presenter Kirstie McMurray, who currently hosts breakfast on Downtown Country, will be on-air 7pm till 10pm on Downtown Radio’s FM service...

Downtown Radio goes 100% Christmas for Northern Ireland

All mainstream shows across Downtown Radio will play a 100% Christmas playlist from Monday 2nd December. It’s a first for radio in Northern Ireland but follows fellow Bauer station Magic which flipped to 100% Christmas music earlier this week. Breakfast presenters Gary and Glen will be ‘pressing play’ in the studio at 8.30am this Monday as the Breakfast Show kickstarts the station-wide activity. Stuart Robinson, Programme Controller for Bauer Media Group – Northern Ireland, said: “We are big fans of Christmas here at Bauer Media Group – Northern Ireland, so we thought what better way to celebrate the season than by creating the"...

Cool FM signs two year deal with Ulster Rugby

Cool FM has teamed up with Ulster Rugby in an exclusive two-year deal, extending to sister stations Downtown Radio and Downtown Country. The partnership will see Cool FM deliver new match day initiatives at the home games across the year, with content online, on air, and across news programming.