The Revolution (radio station)
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| File:Revolution 962.png | |
| Slogan | All Your Favourite Songs/ |
|---|---|
| Frequency | 96.2 MHz DAB: 10B RDS: THE_REV area = Oldham, Rochdale, Tameside and Manchester |
| First air date | 30 August 1999 |
| Format | Adult Contemporary |
| Transmitter coordinates | Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found. |
| Owner | Matthew Ramsbottom |
The Revolution is an Independent Local Radio station broadcasting to the areas of Oldham, Rochdale and Tameside in Greater Manchester, England.
History
The radio station was previously owned by the Oldham Evening Chronicle and UKRD (both were 50% shareholders), and takes its name from the Industrial Revolution, in which the region took a major role, and the initial letters of its three main target areas – Revolution.
When bidding for a full-time broadcasting licence in the mid 1990s, the station would broadcast temporarily for one month per year under the name Oldham FM. When the station was granted the full-time licence, it was launched with the new name 96.2 The Revolution and went live on 30 August 1999.
The station initially launched with a general pop and rock format and remained as such from 1999–2005, being recognised as one of the fastest growing radio stations in the North West of England in radio history.
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. Now the output was a repeat of mainly repetitive mainstream hits. This radical change lead to a walk-out by most of the DJ's, and not long after, the station played back to back music with only a few mainly pre-recorded links in between. This was to remain the situation for a short time.
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. The format was soon changed back to an Adult Contemporary sound, with a broader sound than most of its kind. As well as playing a selection of current chart hits and new artists, some of the station’s key artists today include Stevie Wonder, Aretha Franklin, David Bowie and Chic, to name but a few.
Steve Penk sold the radio station on 8 January 2014.
To date, the release of radio audience figures from RAJAR show the station is on a steady climb, entertaining a wider audience.
The station will be part of Niocast's Trial Manchester DAB Multiples in Manchester on frequency 10B launching September 2015
Current Presenters
- Elliot Eastwick
- Gareth Bird
- Alan Nield
- Jay McCreary
- Gary King (radio)
- Owen Sherratt
- Brendan Kearney
- Andy Hoyle
Past Presenters
- James H Reeve
- Phil Wood
- Pat Sharp
- Donny Osmond
- David Broadbent
- Sarah Hall
- Sara Cunningham
- Gary "Mani" Mounfield
- Martin Coogan
