Greatest Hits Radio Bolton & Bury (formerly Tower FM) is an

Independent Local Radio Independent Local Radio is the collective name given to commercial radio stations in the United Kingdom. As a result of the buyouts and mergers permitted by the Broadcasting Act 1990, and deregulation resulting from the Communications Act 2003, ...

station serving the

Bolton Bolton (, locally ) is a large town in Greater Manchester in North West England, formerly a part of Lancashire. A former mill town, Bolton has been a production centre for textiles since Flemish weavers settled in the area in the 14th ...

and Bury areas of

Greater Manchester Greater Manchester is a metropolitan county and combined authority area in North West England, with a population of 2.8 million; comprising ten metropolitan boroughs: Manchester, Salford, Bolton, Bury, Oldham, Rochdale, Stockport, Tam ...

. Following its sale to Bauer Radio, the station was closed and merged with the

Greatest Hits Radio Greatest Hits Radio is a classic hits radio network in the United Kingdom, owned and operated by Bauer. Overview The network launched on 5 January 2015 as the "Bauer City 2 Network", and rebranded on 7 January 2019 due to the success of Rad ...

network in September 2020.

Overview

The radio station was given the name ''Tower'' as a local link to both towns in the station's coverage area; Turton Tower near to Bolton and Peel Tower on Holcombe Hill at Ramsbottom near Bury. Originally an RSL (restricted service licence) radio station, the team behind the project won the full-time licence and the station began broadcasting on 20 March 1999. As an RSL, Tower FM broadcast from Bury via a link to the transmitter on Peel Tower. The station later moved to Bolton once the main base was established on Gaskell Street. Both towns served as the main target service area for the station, although it could also be heard in most of Greater Manchester and even parts of Cheshire. In early 2007, the station's then-owners approached UK media regulator OFCOM to ask permission to move the station's base from Bolton to the Haydock or Newton Le Willows area of Merseyside as part of a plan to co-locate Tower with two other stations from the

UTV Media Wireless Group Limited is a radio and digital broadcasting network with headquarters in Belfast, Northern Ireland and with radio operations in the Republic of Ireland and the United Kingdom. It currently operates five stations in Ireland and ...

group -

Wish FM Wish FM was a local radio station serving Wigan in Greater Manchester and the St Helens area of Merseyside from studios in the Orrell area of Wigan. Following its sale to Bauer Radio, the station was closed and merged with the Greatest Hits ...

in Wigan and Wire FM in Warrington. The original plan was abandoned but from the autumn of 2009, all three stations were based at studios in the Orrell area of Wigan.

Station rebrand

On 8 February 2019, Tower FM and the Wireless Group's local radio stations were sold to

Bauer Radio Bauer Media Audio UK is a UK-based radio division of the Bauer Media Group. History In early 2008, German magazine publisher Bauer bought the radio division of British company Emap, which had been established as East Midland Allied Press in ...

. The sale was ratified in March 2020 following an inquiry by the

Competition and Markets Authority The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) is the competition regulator in United Kingdom. It is a non-ministerial government department in the United Kingdom, responsible for strengthening business competition and preventing and reducing anti-com ...

. On 27 May 2020, it was announced that Tower FM will join Bauer's

network. On 13 July 2020, local programming outside weekday breakfast was replaced by networked output from the GHR network, with Tower FM retaining its own branding. In September 2020, Tower FM merged with several local stations in the North West of England and North Wales, as Greatest Hits Radio North West. The station's local breakfast show was replaced by a regional drivetime show. Localised news bulletins, traffic updates and advertising were retained.Most of acquired Bauer stations to become Greatest Hits Radio
Stuart Clarkson, Radio Today, 27 May 2020 The station's Orrell studios were closed.

References

{{coord, 53.5384, -2.6949, region:GB_type:landmark, display=title Mass media in the Metropolitan Borough of Bolton

Tower A tower is a tall structure, taller than it is wide, often by a significant factor. Towers are distinguished from masts by their lack of guy-wires and are therefore, along with tall buildings, self-supporting structures. Towers are specifi ...

Radio stations established in 1999 Bauer Radio Greatest Hits Radio 1999 establishments in England Defunct radio stations in the United Kingdom