Tower FM
Tower FM is a British Independent Local Radio station which broadcasts across the towns of Bolton and Bury from its studios in Orrell, in the Metropolitan Borough of Wigan. Bauer Radio announced on 27 May 2020 that Tower FM will be rebranded as Greatest Hits Radio from early September 2020.
 | |
| City | Wigan |
|---|---|
| Broadcast area | Bolton and Bury |
| Frequency | FM: 107.4 MHz |
| First air date | 20 March 1999 |
| Format | Hot AC |
| Owner | Bauer Radio |
| Website | towerfm |
Overview
The radio station was given the name "Tower" as a local link to both towns in the station's coverage area; Turton Tower in 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 radio station only broadcast from Bolton once the main base was established on Gaskell Street, Bolton.
Since that time the station has changed ownership twice and is now owned by Bauer Radio.
The target area for the station are the towns of Bolton and Bury although most of Greater Manchester and even parts of Cheshire can receive the station.
In early 2007, the station's 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 house it in a single building with two other stations from the UTV Radio group - Wish FM in Wigan and Wire FM in Warrington. Latterly a decision was made to colocate the three stations at Wish's current site in Orrell, and Tower moved premises in early autumn 2009.
In February 2019, Tower FM was sold to Bauer Radio, alongside several other stations which were owned by The Wireless Group.
Programming
Local programming is produced and broadcast from Wireless Group's North West studios in Orrell from 6am-7pm on weekdays and 6am-6pm on Saturdays, with additional hours for local sports coverage. The three stations based at Orrell, including Wish FM and Wire FM, also broadcast joint regional programming from 8am-12pm on Sundays.
Networked programming originates from Wireless Group's Signal Radio studios in Stoke-on-Trent.
Schedules include a weekday breakfast, weekday mid mornings, and drivetime shows.[1] Tower FM broadcasts local news bulletins hourly from 6 am to 6 pm on weekdays, from 8 am to 1 pm on Saturdays and from 8 am to 12 pm on Sundays. Headlines are broadcast on the half-hour during weekday breakfast and drivetime shows.[2] The station also simulcasts hourly Sky News Radio bulletins at all other times.