Juice FM

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107.6 Juice FM
Image:JuiceFM.png
Broadcast area Liverpool
Frequency 107.6 MHz
First air date 27 March 1998
Format Pop and dance music
Audience share 4.6% (December 2007, [1])
Owner UTV Radio

Juice 107.6 is an Independent Local Radio, set up in 1998 in Liverpool after the failure of alternative music station 107.6 Crash FM and its subsequent purchase by Forever Broadcasting. It launched with a format broadly in keeping with that of Crash, but with a greater amount of mainstream pop and dance music. The station is now owned by UTV Radio.

Juice FM brands itself as "Music Radio for a Fun, Young Liverpool ." (Previously "Liverpool's More Music Station")

Juice FM broadcasts from a transmitter on Liverpool Cathedral.

Contents

[edit] Crash FM era

The station which became Juice FM began its life from 27 Fleet Street in Liverpool as 107 Crash FM on 27th March 1998, covering Liverpool. They developed from a handful of RSLs in the city and were driven by Janice Long and backed by Kiss 102's Mike Gray, Sir Bob Geldof, Boy George , Primal Scream and Urban Splash.

In the application for a full time licence, Crash FM said it would provide an alternative rock and dance station, aimed at the 15-34-year-old market in Liverpool and would get an audience of over 80,000 tuning in for 8 hours per week in the first year. The original shareholder slate also included CLT although they withdrew before launch with the 25% stake taken by Channel Radio.

It has been reported that Janice Long was sacked from the station she helped to create after management decided to aim for a more commercial audience. She now works on BBC Radio 2.

[edit] Notable DJ/Presenters since launch

[edit] Recent history

The station was acquired by Forever Broadcasting in late 1999 and relaunched as Juice 107.6 on 26th March 2000. By September of the same year, RAJAR had increased significantly.

In September 2003, Forever Broadcasting sold Liverpool's Juice 107.6FM to Absolute Radio (UK) Limited (AR-UK), a consortium made up of Ulster Television (UTV) and Eurocast, for £3.1m. The deal was the first agreed under Royal Assent and considering the new Communications Act. AR-UK were, at the time, making moves in the FM radio licence world, notably in the West Midlands and Glasgow.

The Chairman of AR-UK, John McCann expressed delight upon the acquisition of the Liverpool Juice station and referred to their determination to bid for several new licences in the future. They aimed to build on the success experienced by the Juice management team, putting additional funding into more localised programming, news and marketing, and to make the station number one for the young people of Liverpool. Juice Liverpool made an adjusted operating loss of £760,000 and at 30th September 2002 had net liabilities of £4.02m. Forever did not provide separate statutory accounts for the station. Absolute Radio UK later sold Juice FM to UTV Radio UK who were expanding their UK radio business.

[edit] External links