Rock FM is an Independent Local Radio station based in Manchester, England, owned and operated by

Bauer Bauer is a German surname meaning "peasant" or "farmer". For notable people sharing the surname, see Bauer (surname). Bauer may also refer to: Education and literature * Bauer's Lexicon, a dictionary of Biblical Greek * Bauer College of Busin ...

as part of the

Hits Radio Hits Radio is a network of 25 contemporary hit radio stations in the United Kingdom, owned and operated by Bauer Media Audio UK. As of October 2022, the network has a combined reach of 6.6 million weekly listeners according to RAJAR. Overv ...

network. It broadcasts to

Lancashire Lancashire ( , ; abbreviated Lancs) is the name of a historic county, ceremonial county, and non-metropolitan county in North West England. The boundaries of these three areas differ significantly. The non-metropolitan county of Lancashi ...

North West England North West England is one of nine official regions of England and consists of the ceremonial counties of England, administrative counties of Cheshire, Cumbria, Greater Manchester, Lancashire and Merseyside. The North West had a population of ...

. As of September 2022, the station has a weekly audience of 209,000 listeners according to RAJAR.

Overview

Originally launched in 1982 as Red Rose Radio, transmitting on 97.3 MHz and 999 kHz (301m MW). The FM frequency transmission changed when the station split to 97.4 MHz in 1990. In 1990, Red Rose Radio was split into two stations - Red Rose Rock FM using the FM frequency and Red Rose Gold on the

medium wave Medium wave (MW) is the part of the medium frequency (MF) radio band used mainly for AM radio broadcasting. The spectrum provides about 120 channels with more limited sound quality than FM stations on the FM broadcast band. During the daytime ...

frequency. Rock FM was given its name as the station was initially going to be based in Blackpool, Lancashire. However the agreement for the studio premises subsequently fell through and the station remained in Preston. The managing director was Dave Lincoln, with Mark Matthews as programme director, and at that time the station was owned by the Miss World Group, later known as

TransWorld Communications Trans World Communications (or TWC for short) was the investment vehicle of businessman Owen Oyston. It operated radio stations and played a part in the Miss World Beauty Pageant. About Initially called The Red Rose Group because of its beginnings ...

(owned by

Owen Oyston Owen John Oyston (born 3 January 1934) is an English former businessman best known as the former majority owner of Blackpool Football Club. Oyston was convicted of rape and indecent assault of a 16-year-old girl in 1996. He served three years and ...

) and which subsequently became part of Bauer Radio (previously ''EMAP Radio''). The total survey area of the station for RAJAR is broadly defined as western, southern and central

including parts of

Greater Manchester Greater Manchester is a metropolitan county and combined authority, combined authority area in North West England, with a population of 2.8 million; comprising ten metropolitan boroughs: City of Manchester, Manchester, City of Salford, Salford ...

and

Merseyside Merseyside ( ) is a metropolitan county, metropolitan and ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in North West England, with a population of List of ceremonial counties of England, 1.38 million. It encompasses both banks of the Merse ...

, but the station is audible on FM from

Cumbria Cumbria ( ) is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in North West England, bordering Scotland. The county and Cumbria County Council, its local government, came into existence in 1974 after the passage of the Local Government Act 1972. Cumb ...

down into

Wales Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the Wales–England border, east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the ...

towards The West Midlands and minor parts of North

Shropshire Shropshire (; alternatively Salop; abbreviated in print only as Shrops; demonym Salopian ) is a landlocked historic county in the West Midlands region of England. It is bordered by Wales to the west and the English counties of Cheshire to th ...

For over thirty years, Rock FM was based at studios in a converted church ( St. Paul's) in

Preston Preston is a place name, surname and given name that may refer to: Places England *Preston, Lancashire, an urban settlement **The City of Preston, Lancashire, a borough and non-metropolitan district which contains the settlement **County Boro ...

. The station consistently rates as the number one commercial radio station in its target service area by reach, share and hours. Over a quarter of all adults in its market listen every week. In January 2020, Bauer announced Rock FM would cease broadcasting from its Preston studios and co-locate with

at Bauer's Northern headquarters in Manchester the following month. The station retains local news, advertising and charity staff at offices elsewhere in the city. As of February 2020, the station broadcasts from studios outside its broadcast area at Bauer's

Manchester Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The t ...

headquarters.

Programming

All of Rock FM's programming is produced and broadcast from Bauer's headquarters in the Castlefield area of

.Rock FM - Public File
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News

Rock FM broadcasts local news bulletins hourly from 6am-7pm on weekdays, from 7am-1pm on Saturdays and Sundays. Headlines are broadcast on the half hour during weekday breakfast and drivetime shows, alongside traffic bulletins. National bulletins from Sky News Radio are carried overnight with bespoke networked bulletins on weekend afternoons, originating from Bauer's Manchester newsroom.

References

External links

* {{Coord, 53.8, N, 2.6, W, display=title Bauer Radio Hits Radio Radio stations in Lancashire Mass media in Preston Radio stations established in 1982 1982 establishments in England