96.2 The Revolution

Broadcast area	Oldham, Rochdale, Tameside and Manchester
Slogan	All Your Favourite Songs/Independent and Proud
Frequency	96.2 MHz
First air date	August 30, 1999
Format	Adult Contemporary
Transmitter coordinates	53°32′33″N 2°07′00″W / 53.5425°N 2.1168°W / 53.5425; -2.1168Coordinates: 53°32′33″N 2°07′00″W / 53.5425°N 2.1168°W / 53.5425; -2.1168
Owner	Steve Penk

The Revolution is an Independent Local Radio station broadcasting to the areas of Oldham, Rochdale and Tameside in Greater Manchester, England.

History [edit]

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.

To date, the release of radio audience figures from RAJAR show the station is on a steady climb, entertaining a wider audience.

Present day [edit]

The station broadcasts on 96.2FM and online via www.therevolution962.com.

The FM transmitter is located at the Oldham Civic Centre, and can be heard throughout Tameside, Rochdale, Oldham and parts of Manchester.

Due to the station being in financial problems all presenters apart from Elliot Eastwick are voluntery working for free this has been the case for the last 2 years. The team believe in local radio.

2013 [edit]

Steve Penk Decided to call it a day from is breakfast show to spend more time with is family, steve penk still runs day to day things at the revolution

Current Presenters [edit]

• Alan Nield
• Elliot Eastwick
• Gareth Bird
• Jay McCreary
• Phil Wood
• Gary King (radio)
• Owen Sherratt
• Brendan Kearney

Past Presenters (under current owner) [edit]

• Steve Penk
• James H Reeve
• Pat Sharp
• Donny Osmond
• David Broadbent
• Wayne Dutton
• Sarah Hall
• Sara Cunningham (News)
• Anthony Sturch
• Wayne Bavin

External links [edit]

• Official web site
• Media UK directory entry