The ground-breaking Lancashire headquartered DAB Digital Radio station will begin broadcasting to more than 150,000 people in Norwich and its surrounding areas from August Bank Holiday Monday.
That Bank Holiday Monday launch date is a significant one for the broadcaster, which has its headquarters and main studios in Preston, as it marks the first anniversary of the opening of Antenna’s first station, serving the city of Manchester.
Antenna, with its invite to ‘Feel the Mood, Love our Music’, has seen tremendous growth over the past year.
It is one of the new generation of agile independent broadcasters committed to offering choice and responding to today’s ‘on demand’ listeners. It has been 12 months of launches and increasing audiences.
The Antenna Radio playlist is crafted by a team of dedicated individuals based on feedback from those listeners. Inviting them to ‘Feel the Mood, Love our Music’ it features songs from the 80s, 90s and 00s, alongside the best current chart music.
As well as Manchester, Antenna now broadcasts in Glasgow, Portsmouth, Aldershot and Woking, covering an adult population of over two million, with more launches to follow Norwich. Antenna also broadcasts to listeners across the country over the internet.
The station is a proud standard-bearer of the UK’s growing digital radio revolution.
More people are listening to commercial radio than BBC stations consistently for the first time in nearly a century, according to reports earlier this month (August).
It is a sea-change driven by a shift in listening habits brought about in part by rising digital radio ownership. As well as choice, DAB radio also offers great sound quality.
Antenna Group’s Station Director Ben Pintilie is delighted with the latest launch. He said: “We are really excited about adding more communities to the Antenna family of listeners.
“People will love our winning formula, the music we offer and the way we operate. Antenna offers something truly different to its audience.
“We play at least 50 minutes of music each hour. Our audiences will always get relevant speech and information delivered in a concise manner No more listening to presenters droning about their recent shopping trip.
“We also pride ourselves on the variety of music we share, from well-known artists to some exciting names that you won’t have heard of yet as they struggle to get air play in the UK. It is a great mix.”
Ben added: “This is a really exciting time in radio for listeners. As they choose to buy digital radios they are coming into a world of choice and variety, so much more than FM can offer.
“We are not afraid to be different. Some of the music we play is multi-platinum selling around Europe and the world, but established stations have a fixed music policy that means listeners here in the UK are missing out on their work.
“Our Lancashire-based team also work with other stations around the world to share our knowledge and experience.
“And we are also proud to work with some of the most amazing, forward thinking people to bring stations like ours into areas like Norwich. It is about offering choice and diversity. That is what DAB Radio is all about.”
Antenna Radio has another five station openings planned across the UK this year as it continues on its ambitious expansion plan. It also has its sights set on becoming a global broadcaster.
Ben said: “We are also talking to a number of regulators around the world to look at how AntennaRadio can launch in other English speaking markets on DAB and DAB+.
“As small scale DAB and DAB+ transmitters are being trialled by more countries around the world, the future for Antenna Radio looks really good.
“We’re at the start of a really exciting journey and it’s great that Norwich will now be coming along with us on that trip. From our based in Lancashire we want the UK to ‘Feel the Mood, Love our Music’ and we’re sure it will. We can’t wait!”
