Q Radio (formerly known as Citybeat and Belfast CityBeat) is a Northern Irishradio station. It broadcasts to Greater Belfast on 96.7 MHzFM and on DAB Digital Radio across all of Northern Ireland. From 5 April 2007, Citybeat became available on 102.5FM for North Belfast, Newtownabbey and Carrickfergus. On 2 November 2007, Citybeat launched a third FM transmitter also broadcasting on 102.5FM for Bangor. Citybeat reaches a weekly audience of 127,000 listeners in Belfast, around 22% of the adult population.[citation needed] It has won both Arqiva 'Station of the Year' and Sony Awards. The station was rebranded as Q Radio on-air at 6pm on Sunday 9 August 2015.
Citybeat has won more Sony Radio Academy Awards than any other commercial radio station in Northern Ireland along with a number of other top awards. Recent awards include:
Under the ownership of Owen Oyston, CityBeat had a couple of short lived affiliate stations on AM, namely Goldbeat 828 (Formerly Townland Radio) in Cookstown, and Heartbeat 1521 (formerly Radio 1521) in Craigavon. Citybeat handed back the licences to the Radio Authority just two years after buying the stations due to lack of commercial viability.[citation needed] Heartbeat was on the air from 1996 to 1999 and Goldbeat broadcast between 1995 and 1999. The licence for Craigavon has to date never been re-advertised however Cookstown was re-advertised on FM in 2002 and was granted back to Citybeat (by then under new ownership of CN group) in February 2003 Mid FM was launched as the local radio station for Mid-Ulster (from the same building and studio as Townland/Goldbeat broadcast). In 2006 Citybeat sold the station to Northern Media (owners of Ballymena 7fm); they rebranded the station to Six FM.
From 2000 to 2004, Citybeat also broadcast RSL stations Castle FM in Carrickfergus and Bangor FM in Bangor to support local festivals. In August 2000 Citybeat also provided Fast FM in Irvinestown as a trial broadcast for the pending commercial licence for Omagh and Enniskillen. The licence was later awarded to Q Network RadiosQ101.2.
Prior to its relaunch in 1996, Citybeat was known as BCR or Belfast Community Radio, a community focused station which failed to attract listener interest. BCR launched at 7.30am on 6 April 1990 and managed to stay on the air for six years. BCR presenters prior to the 1996 relaunch included Rick Nugent, Maurice Jay, Mal Reynolds, Kenny Tosh Stuart Robinson, Phil Doyle, Paul Orr and Stephen Nolan. At the time of its demise, BCR was pulling in little over 30,000 listeners. Stuart Robinson was the last presenter on BCR when it switched to Citybeat at midnight on 30 September 1996.[citation needed] Citybeat officially launched at 8am on 30 September with the new breakfast show presented by Dave Stephens and Caroline Bartley.
The station broadcast from the basement of Russell Court Complex on Belfast's Lisburn Road. In 1997 (as Citybeat) the station moved to Stranmillis before moving in 2006 to Ormeau Road.
Rick Nugent was the first presenter on BCR who launched the station with "Maira O'Connell" and "Feet of a Dancer". Nugent left when Citybeat started in 1996 but returned as Nolan's replacement in 2003 before leaving again in 2005.
General station informationedit
Q Radio's FM transmitters are based on the Black Mountain transmitting station for 96.7FM, Carnmoney Hill for 102.5FM in Newtownabbey and Bryansburn Road, Bangor Town Centre for 102.5FM in North Down. Programmes are broadcast from modern studios located on the Ormeau Road close to Belfast city centre.
From October 2001, Q Radio has been available on the Northern Ireland Digital Multiplex - giving the station province wide coverage. The 6 digital transmitter sites are Black Mountain (Greater Belfast), Colinward (North Belfast/South East Antrim), Limavady (North Coast), Sheriffs Mountain (Londonderry / North West), Strabane (The West) and Brougher Mountain (Fermanagh and Tyrone).
Q Radio's newer transmitters both broadcast on 102.5FM and deliver the station to areas previously sheltered by the Cavehill, such as North Belfast, Newtownabbey, Glengormley and Carrickfergus. Another transmitter also on 102.5FM provides coverage for Bangor and North County Down.
Q Radio's main 96.7 MHz FM transmitter on Black Mountain has a power output of 600W with mixed polarisation.
Competitionedit
Q Radio regularly attracts the largest market share of all commercial radio in the Belfast area. Its current audience is 144,000 listeners weekly in Belfast, however the station also attracts additional audience on FM outside Belfast, on DAB digital radio across Northern Ireland and online listening which is not included in this figure. (RAJAR fig. qrt03/09).
The local BBC station is BBC Radio Ulster. In addition all national BBC, RTÉ and UK/ROI national commercial stations can be received in Belfast. Some pirate stations (mainly operating along the Armagh border) along with a selection of regular RSL stations and 4 full-time community stations can also be heard in the Q Radio area. A selection of national digital stations are also available on the Northern Ireland DAB multiplex and Queen's University Student Radio in Belfast is broadcast on MW/AM.
Notable past presentersedit
This article's list of people may not follow Wikipedia's verifiability policy. Please improve this article by removing names that do not have independent reliable sources showing they merit inclusion in this article AND are members of this list, or by incorporating the relevant publications into the body of the article through appropriate citations.(January 2018)
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This article has multiple issues Please help improve it or discuss these issues on the talk page Learn how and when to remove these template messages This article does not cite any sources Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources Unsourced material may be challenged and removed Find sources Q Radio Belfast news newspapers books scholar JSTOR March 2015 Learn how and when to remove this template message This section possibly contains original research Please improve it by verifying the claims made and adding inline citations Statements consisting only of original research should be removed January 2018 Learn how and when to remove this template message Learn how and when to remove this template message Q Radio formerly known as Citybeat and Belfast CityBeat is a Northern Irish radio station It broadcasts to Greater Belfast on 96 7 MHz FM and on DAB Digital Radio across all of Northern Ireland From 5 April 2007 Citybeat became available on 102 5FM for North Belfast Newtownabbey and Carrickfergus On 2 November 2007 Citybeat launched a third FM transmitter also broadcasting on 102 5FM for Bangor Citybeat reaches a weekly audience of 127 000 listeners in Belfast around 22 of the adult population citation needed It has won both Arqiva Station of the Year and Sony Awards The station was rebranded as Q Radio on air at 6pm on Sunday 9 August 2015 Broadcast areaGreater Belfast on FM amp Northern Ireland on DABProgrammingFormatAdult Contemporary Top40NetworkQ Radio NetworkOwnershipOwnerNorthern Media GroupTechnical informationPower600W 96 7 LinksWebsiteOfficial Website Contents 1 Young Star Search 2 Awards and nominations 3 Affiliates 4 BCR 1990 1996 5 General station information 6 Competition 7 Notable past presenters 8 See also 9 References 10 External linksYoung Star Search editFrom 2007 to 2010 the radio station was the home of the Young Star Search Northern Ireland s biggest ever talent search for young people Awards and nominations editThis section does not cite any sources Please help improve this section by adding citations to reliable sources Unsourced material may be challenged and removed October 2009 Learn how and when to remove this template message Citybeat has won more Sony Radio Academy Awards than any other commercial radio station in Northern Ireland along with a number of other top awards Recent awards include Stephen Nolan Sony Gold 2002 Stephen Nolan Sony Gold x2 2003 Stephen Nolan Sony Gold x2 2004 Sony Silver NTL Station of the Year 2003 Stephen Nolan Best presenter Irish Entertainment Awards 2003 Joe Ferguson Best presenter Irish Entertainment Awards 2004 Mark amp Dave Best Irish Breakfast Show Irish Entertainment Awards 2006 Marc Mallett IPR Award News Broadcaster of the Year 2007 Keith Law PANI Award for JONJOE SAT NAV spoof The One That Got Away Production Award 2007 Leroy Allen City Beat Lancashire Preston Irish radio station of the year Irish Entertainment Awards 2007 Bronse New York Festival News Programme Belfast Tonight 2007 Arqiva UK Commercial Radio Station of the Year 2007 Stuart Robinson P amp M Awards Nomination 2007 Stuart Robinson Arqiva UK Commercial Radio Awards Nomination 2008 Stuart Robinson amp Work Experience Boy Best presenter Irish Entertainment Awards 2008 Stuart Robinson Belfast Awards Nomination 2008 Keith Law VOX Award Highly commended Use of Humour 2008 09 Keith Law VOX Award Highly Commended Best newcomer 2008 09 Keith Law Radio Awards net Best in category 2009 Keith Law Radio Awards net Grand Prix Northern Ireland 2009 Stuart Robinson Arqiva UK Commercial Radio Awards Nomination 2009 Belfast Tonight Silver Award Best News Programme New York Festival 2009 Keith Law Stuart Robinson and Work Experience Boy Silver Award Best Comedy Feature New York Festival 2009 Stuart Robinson Gold Award Best Station Promotion New York Festival 2009Affiliates editThis section does not cite any sources Please help improve this section by adding citations to reliable sources Unsourced material may be challenged and removed October 2009 Learn how and when to remove this template message Under the ownership of Owen Oyston CityBeat had a couple of short lived affiliate stations on AM namely Goldbeat 828 Formerly Townland Radio in Cookstown and Heartbeat 1521 formerly Radio 1521 in Craigavon Citybeat handed back the licences to the Radio Authority just two years after buying the stations due to lack of commercial viability citation needed Heartbeat was on the air from 1996 to 1999 and Goldbeat broadcast between 1995 and 1999 The licence for Craigavon has to date never been re advertised however Cookstown was re advertised on FM in 2002 and was granted back to Citybeat by then under new ownership of CN group in February 2003 Mid FM was launched as the local radio station for Mid Ulster from the same building and studio as Townland Goldbeat broadcast In 2006 Citybeat sold the station to Northern Media owners of Ballymena 7fm they rebranded the station to Six FM From 2000 to 2004 Citybeat also broadcast RSL stations Castle FM in Carrickfergus and Bangor FM in Bangor to support local festivals In August 2000 Citybeat also provided Fast FM in Irvinestown as a trial broadcast for the pending commercial licence for Omagh and Enniskillen The licence was later awarded to Q Network Radios Q101 2 BCR 1990 1996 editThis section does not cite any sources Please help improve this section by adding citations to reliable sources Unsourced material may be challenged and removed October 2009 Learn how and when to remove this template message Prior to its relaunch in 1996 Citybeat was known as BCR or Belfast Community Radio a community focused station which failed to attract listener interest BCR launched at 7 30am on 6 April 1990 and managed to stay on the air for six years BCR presenters prior to the 1996 relaunch included Rick Nugent Maurice Jay Mal Reynolds Kenny Tosh Stuart Robinson Phil Doyle Paul Orr and Stephen Nolan At the time of its demise BCR was pulling in little over 30 000 listeners Stuart Robinson was the last presenter on BCR when it switched to Citybeat at midnight on 30 September 1996 citation needed Citybeat officially launched at 8 am on 30 September with the new breakfast show presented by Dave Stephens and Caroline Bartley The station broadcast from the basement of Russell Court Complex on Belfast s Lisburn Road In 1997 as Citybeat the station moved to Stranmillis before moving in 2006 to Ormeau Road Rick Nugent was the first presenter on BCR who launched the station with Maira O Connell and Feet of a Dancer Nugent left when Citybeat started in 1996 but returned as Nolan s replacement in 2003 before leaving again in 2005 General station information editQ Radio s FM transmitters are based on the Black Mountain transmitting station for 96 7 FM Carnmoney Hill for 102 5 FM in Newtownabbey and Bryansburn Road Bangor Town Centre for 102 5 FM in North Down Programmes are broadcast from modern studios located on the Ormeau Road close to Belfast city centre From October 2001 Q Radio has been available on the Northern Ireland Digital Multiplex giving the station province wide coverage The 6 digital transmitter sites are Black Mountain Greater Belfast Colinward North Belfast South East Antrim Limavady North Coast Sheriffs Mountain Londonderry North West Strabane The West and Brougher Mountain Fermanagh and Tyrone Q Radio s newer transmitters both broadcast on 102 5 FM and deliver the station to areas previously sheltered by the Cavehill such as North Belfast Newtownabbey Glengormley and Carrickfergus Another transmitter also on 102 5 FM provides coverage for Bangor and North County Down Q Radio s main 96 7 MHz FM transmitter on Black Mountain has a power output of 600W with mixed polarisation Competition editQ Radio regularly attracts the largest market share of all commercial radio in the Belfast area Its current audience is 144 000 listeners weekly in Belfast however the station also attracts additional audience on FM outside Belfast on DAB digital radio across Northern Ireland and online listening which is not included in this figure RAJAR fig qrt03 09 The local BBC station is BBC Radio Ulster In addition all national BBC RTE and UK ROI national commercial stations can be received in Belfast Some pirate stations mainly operating along the Armagh border along with a selection of regular RSL stations and 4 full time community stations can also be heard in the Q Radio area A selection of national digital stations are also available on the Northern Ireland DAB multiplex and Queen s University Student Radio in Belfast is broadcast on MW AM Notable past presenters editThis article s list of people may not follow Wikipedia s verifiability policy Please improve this article by removing names that do not have independent reliable sources showing they merit inclusion in this article AND are members of this list or by incorporating the relevant publications into the body of the article through appropriate citations January 2018 Stuart Robinson 1996 2010 Marc Mallett 1997 2007 Maurice Jay 1996 1997 2001 2005 Stephen Nolan 1996 2003 Rick Nugent 1996 2003 2005 Ronan Kelly 2003 Christine Bleakley 1996 1998 Mal Reynolds 1990 1996See also editQ Radio NetworkReferences editExternal links editOfficial website Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Q Radio Belfast amp oldid 1177166308, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
