M & M R A MAK I NGWAVES Downtown Radio's Birthday Scoop transmitter Downtown Radio I Newtownards has weathered a quality and stormy 20 years during which time it has carved out reach has "We relate to our given the sta- listeners and they relate a niche for itself at the forefront of news reporting in tion an audi- ence that to us. We have always Northern Ireland. Reason enough to celebrate! stretches beyond the promoted an open door Dermott Hayes reports. physicalbor- der that policy for them." always promoted an open door policy divides North- DO VI for them." ern Ireland Chief executive and Among Downtown's loyal crew that from the MD David Sloan. otpd..t>tr date back to the station's early days on Republic of air is Ulsterman Sloan, who read the Ireland. station's first nationwide exclusive on The first newsflash carried on the air, and is now MD and chief executive; Local Base/World Reach fledgling Downtown Radio on March John Paul Ballantine, the first DJ to Unlike many local stations in the UK, Sample Hour 16, 1976 was a nationwide exclusive. spin a record at the station, and now Downtown is owned by a local compa- Chief executive David Sloan ny, Community Radio Big T, March 28 1996 (12:00-13:00) remembers it well. "It was Services, PLC, which in Harold Wilson's [then UK turn is owned by 81 Righteous Brothers/You've Lost primeminister]resigna- local shareholders. That Lovin' Feeling tion," he recalls. "I ripped it Besides owning the two Blue Mink/Banner Man off the machine myself, ran radio stations, Cool FM Wet Wet Wet/Morning down to the newsroom and and Downtown Radio, Eddy Grant/Gimme Hope Joanna read it out on air. We were the company also owns Middle Of The RoadlChirpy Chirpy only five hours on air by Scannervision, a video Cheep then, but people began to display in the hub of William Bell/Judy GlaylPrivate take us seriously." Belfast's Golden Mile Number It's a story he loves to commercial centre, and GinalJust A Little Bit tell. Back then David Sloan it operates three of the John Parr/St Elmo's Fire was a newsroom reporter. province'smostsuc- Take That/Back For Good Now he's the chief execu- cessful nightclubs. Katrina & The Waves/Honeylamb tive. It was good reporting, Itisthestation's Sweet/Little Willy but more importantly,it formidablereputation Boyzone/Coming Home Now illustrates how Downtown for news coverage that Dolly Parton/9 To 5 started as it intends to con- hasalsogivenita Elton John/Candle In The Wind tinue. respected international Tokens/The Lion Sleeps Tonight That scoop was just the standing. Its reporters first in a 20 -year history of provide correspondence abreast with audience needs. There are extensive and ground-Pictured (with cake) are (l -r) presenters Candy Devine,Dougie coverage for radio sta- over 20 specialist programmes broad- breaking news coverageMarshall, Derek Marsden, Big T, Jerry Lang and LyndaJayne. tions in the US, Aus- cast every week and the station has that has made the station a tria, South Africa, Aus- had a one -hour long classical music byword for high standards and excel- head of music for the station's younger tralia and Thailand, and have been programme throughout its 20 -year his- lence in news coverage and reporting in sister Cool FM and James Donnelly, praised in the UK House of Commons. tory. News and current affairs amount Northern Ireland. oneof thestation'sfounders, now It has even transmitted live satellite to more than 20% of total program- chairman of the board. telephoneconversationsduringhis ming. Chronicle Of Strife climb with Dawson Stelfox, the first When it started, its only competi- Its news coverage has also become a Partying In Belfast Irishman to ascend to the summit of tion was BBC Radio Ulster. Now there unique daily chronicle of the life of the In celebration of the 20th birthday the Mount Everest. are 16 stations broadcasting through- war -torn northern Irish province, a station had what Sloan described as Downtown is engaged in its own out the province, but Downtown has daily catalogue of strife, murder, bomb- "the party of the year" in Ross's Auc- ongoing audience researchtokeep maintained its dominant position. ings and death. "Our reporters were tion Rooms in Belfast on March 1. often on the scene before the army," There were 500 guests with music sup- says Sloan. plied by local hero Brian Kennedy, for- Downtown's style in covering the merEurovisionchampion,Niamh Downtown Radio's Monday news tends to lean towards the "when Kavanagh and The Drifters. As part of it happens, as it happens" of radio ver- the birthday celebrations and to fur- ite. There is no fixed format for the ther buttress the station's unique bond Programme Schedule news apart from a three -minute bul- with its listeners, it has gone on the letin every hour on the hour. But news road this month with a tour of 20 towns 06:00 Alec Fennell-Music show and traffic news. updates are also provided every 20 of Ulster, complete with weather and 07:00 Ivan Martin & Richard Young With First Edition minutes in the morning and a bulletin traffic reports from the "DTEye in the 09:00 Johnny Hero-Music show with occasional interview. every half hour. Sky." While news is the central ethos of Causes for celebration are abun- 12:00 Big T-All Time Hits From '60s -'90s. the station, its appeal as a regional dant. The station's licence has just 14:00 Lynda Jayne-Magazine with interviews, current affairs commercial station is much broader received another eight -year renewal. and populist. More than 300 hours a Five new transmitters have come on both local and international. week of special interest programming board-four for Downtown and one for 16:00 Jerry Lang-Drive-time show with music and traffic news. are broadcast-from rock, folk and jazz Cool FM-and thelatestaudience 18:30 Cause For Concern-With Alan Ferguson. music to sacred music, religious pro- research figures show its position as grammes, drama, travel, business and Ulster's top station remains unassail- 19:00 Golden Greats-Music with Dougie Marshall. current affairs. Its appeal is, above all, able. 21:00 Rock File-Music with Henry Cluney. strictly local. Every week over 300.000 people Sloan says it is Downtown's "local- tune in to Downtown Radio. The com- 22:00 Candy Devine-Music and features such as "Pillow Talk" ness" that provides the station's endur- bined market share of the Ulster audi- on current affairs topics. ing appeal. "The fact is, we relate to our ence amounts to one-third of the avail- 01:00 The Allnighter-With Mark Wesley listeners and they relate to us. We have ablelisteninghours.Attentionto MUSIC & MEDIA0APRIL 13, 1996