Rock Radio was a brand of radio stations in the United Kingdom owned by

GMG Radio GMG Radio, and for a short while Real and Smooth Limited, was a company that owned the Real Radio and Smooth Radio networks. As GMG Radio, the company was the radio division of the Guardian Media Group until it was bought in 2012 by Global Rad ...

96.3 Rock Radio Nation Radio Scotland (formerly ''XFM Scotland (2014), 96.3 Rock Radio'' ''Real XS,'' ''Q96'' and ''96.3QFM'') is a Scottish independent local radio station for Renfrewshire, Glasgow and West Central Scotland, owned by Nation Broadcasting. ...

was the first station in the network. It operated in West Central Scotland. The station was launched on the frequency which was formerly used by Paisley local radio station Q96. A digital station named

Rock Radio Rock Radio was a brand of radio stations in the United Kingdom owned by GMG Radio. 96.3 Rock Radio was the first station in the network. It operated in West Central Scotland. The station was launched on the frequency which was formerly used b ...

was launched on DAB on 1 April 2008 in the North East of England, and extended to Yorkshire and the Severn Estuary from 2010. It was initially a presenter-led station, then switched to automated rock service similar to The Arrow, but later changed to

simulcast Simulcast (a portmanteau of simultaneous broadcast) is the broadcasting of programmes/programs or events across more than one resolution, bitrate or medium, or more than one service on the same medium, at exactly the same time (that is, simultane ...

programmes from the Manchester station. 106.1 Rock Radio launched in

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 ...

in May 2008. The station was a new city licence awarded to GMG under the name Rock Talk, which originally proposed to broadcast talk programming in peak hours and rock music in the off-peak. The station is currently available on FM in Manchester but is not currently on DAB in its target area. Since September 2009, automated evening content on 96.3 Rock Radio had been replaced by presented programmes from 106.1 Rock Radio. In September 2011 106.1 Rock Radio was renamed 106.1 Real Radio XS.

See also