The 1st of December, 1975 was a Monday, the start of the normal working week, and for me, the beginning of a 50-year career in Radio.
Mind you, it had been a longstanding interest before that, so with a QUB Engineering degree under my arm the opportunity to work in the medium and be part of a new station was one eagerly grasped. At that stage, Downtown Radio was little more than a muddy building site, but over the following months this gave way to a custom-designed studio block linked to an office building into which arrived more engineering staff, the presenters, journalists, and sales executives, all aiming to be broadcasting ‘on or before St. Patrick’s Day, 1976’.
And so, with a day to spare, the IBA test transmissions – bringing stereo to NI listeners for the first time – ceased and Downtown burst into life at 6am on the 16th of March, with John Paul opening with a song called ‘Peace’ by Peter, followed by ‘Concrete and Clay’ by Randy Edelman. In the following programmes we heard from Hendi, Big T (Trevor Campbell), Brian McSharry, Candy Devine and Bill Smyth. Audience reaction was immediate, and overwhelmingly positive. In a news hungry province, bulletins every hour on the hour were essential and appreciated, as was the sense of everyday life reflected in a wide variety of programmes with local humour to the fore.
By the first audience survey that summer, some 70% of the population were tuning in each week, and throughout the 70s as the station settled and developed a similar figure was maintained. In 1977 I had moved from Engineering to an assistant role in Programme management, and in 1979 became Head of Programming.
In the 80s Downtown expanded to cover the North West and the West of the Province, and in 1990 Cool FM was launched as the station of ‘the times’ in Greater Belfast, while Downtown remained the station of ‘the place’ on the other frequencies. That decade saw awards both national and international won for a range of programmes, including several dramas.
The year 2000 was the right point for a new challenge, that came in the shape of Station Director at Belfast City Beat, which had turned a corner but had yet to achieve its potential. Through working with the team there, by 2004 it had record listening figures and become the NTL Station of the Year, with 5 Sony Gold Awards and one silver for Stephen Nolan’s early evening phone in show.
That year Ofcom announced a new FM licence for Belfast, and this was my cue to join UTV to lead their application, which succeeded against 10 other Radio groups. U105 went on air in November 2005, to serve listeners aged 45 and over. After four years at UTV, when U105 had exceeded the listening figures projected, it was time to move on and undertake various projects, including a review of Community Radio for BBC NI.
I also returned to my old haunt of Sunday night radio with ‘Take it Easy’ back for a further series on Downtown running for 10 years from 2010; and to bring in the New Year, which I did a record-making 40 times on Radio.
In 2012 with more Community Radio licensing on the horizon, an opportunity was sought to serve the ‘Baby Boomers’ – a phrase used in the application, that was approved and became Belfast 89 in June 2015 with which I was involved for three years before turning attention to the possibilities for DAB Digital Radio.
Right now it’s full speed ahead on a book project, jointly with Ivan Martin, to tie in with Downtown’s 50th anniversary in March of next year. As well as telling a fascinating story, it’s a great chance to catch up with radio colleagues again from over the years.
Radio has evolved greatly – from a handful of stations to over a hundred available locally on air, with many more available online, a number of which are little more than streaming services. At its most effective, radio remains a one to one medium, relating to and connecting with the listener in real time. That much hasn’t changed in 50 years!
Mind you, it had been a longstanding interest before that, so with a QUB Engineering degree under my arm the opportunity to work in the medium and be part of a new station was one eagerly grasped. At that stage, Downtown Radio was little more than a muddy building site, but over the following months this gave way to a custom-designed studio block linked to an office building into which arrived more engineering staff, the presenters, journalists, and sales executives, all aiming to be broadcasting ‘on or before St. Patrick’s Day, 1976’.
And so, with a day to spare, the IBA test transmissions – bringing stereo to NI listeners for the first time – ceased and Downtown burst into life at 6am on the 16th of March, with John Paul opening with a song called ‘Peace’ by Peter, followed by ‘Concrete and Clay’ by Randy Edelman. In the following programmes we heard from Hendi, Big T (Trevor Campbell), Brian McSharry, Candy Devine and Bill Smyth. Audience reaction was immediate, and overwhelmingly positive. In a news hungry province, bulletins every hour on the hour were essential and appreciated, as was the sense of everyday life reflected in a wide variety of programmes with local humour to the fore.
By the first audience survey that summer, some 70% of the population were tuning in each week, and throughout the 70s as the station settled and developed a similar figure was maintained. In 1977 I had moved from Engineering to an assistant role in Programme management, and in 1979 became Head of Programming.
In the 80s Downtown expanded to cover the North West and the West of the Province, and in 1990 Cool FM was launched as the station of ‘the times’ in Greater Belfast, while Downtown remained the station of ‘the place’ on the other frequencies. That decade saw awards both national and international won for a range of programmes, including several dramas.
The year 2000 was the right point for a new challenge, that came in the shape of Station Director at Belfast City Beat, which had turned a corner but had yet to achieve its potential. Through working with the team there, by 2004 it had record listening figures and become the NTL Station of the Year, with 5 Sony Gold Awards and one silver for Stephen Nolan’s early evening phone in show.
That year Ofcom announced a new FM licence for Belfast, and this was my cue to join UTV to lead their application, which succeeded against 10 other Radio groups. U105 went on air in November 2005, to serve listeners aged 45 and over. After four years at UTV, when U105 had exceeded the listening figures projected, it was time to move on and undertake various projects, including a review of Community Radio for BBC NI.
I also returned to my old haunt of Sunday night radio with ‘Take it Easy’ back for a further series on Downtown running for 10 years from 2010; and to bring in the New Year, which I did a record-making 40 times on Radio.
In 2012 with more Community Radio licensing on the horizon, an opportunity was sought to serve the ‘Baby Boomers’ – a phrase used in the application, that was approved and became Belfast 89 in June 2015 with which I was involved for three years before turning attention to the possibilities for DAB Digital Radio.
Right now it’s full speed ahead on a book project, jointly with Ivan Martin, to tie in with Downtown’s 50th anniversary in March of next year. As well as telling a fascinating story, it’s a great chance to catch up with radio colleagues again from over the years.
Radio has evolved greatly – from a handful of stations to over a hundred available locally on air, with many more available online, a number of which are little more than streaming services. At its most effective, radio remains a one to one medium, relating to and connecting with the listener in real time. That much hasn’t changed in 50 years!
RSS Feed