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Downtown Radio is an Adult Contemporary music radio station based in Newtownards, County Down, that serves all of Northern Ireland using a network of FM and AM transmitters.

The station, also known as DTR or simply Downtown, began broadcasting on 16 March 1976 - the same day as Prime Minister Harold Wilson resigned. The station had a mini-coup, breaking the news over an hour before BBC Radio Ulster.

Downtown Radio has very much become part of the broadcasting landscape of Northern Ireland. Many of its presenters, such as Johnny Hero, Jerry Lang, Trevor 'Big T' Campbell, Dougi Marshall, and Candy Devine are household names (Campbell and Devine have been with Downtown since it began broadcasting).

The station has been very highly regarded in the past for its news output, and has been a regular stop-off point for radio journalists covering Northern Ireland's Troubles over 30 years. It was the first radio station in Ireland to offer news bulletins, hourly on the hour. Changes in management made in 2007, as well as the success of the peace process, have led to Downtown reducing its news output somewhat. It is notable for being one of the few Independent Local Radio stations to still cater for minority tastes such as gospel and jazz. The country music programmes broadcast several times a week are among Downtown's highest listenership ratings. It has also been the springboard for the careers of Eamonn Holmes and ITN reporter John Draper.

Downtown was initially only contracted to broadcast to the Greater Belfast area, on 1026 kHz AM and 96FM. However, following the collapse of plans for a station in the Londonderry region (Northern Sound) in 1983, Downtown applied to the former Independent Broadcasting Authority to extend its coverage. Transmitters covering the North West, the Causeway Coast and Fermanagh/South Tyrone were opened between 1985 and 1987, and the station briefly rebranded itself as 'DTRFM' to reflect its new audience reach.

New FM transmitters in South Down/Armagh, and Mid and East Antrim opened in the 1990s to improve reception in those areas.

The station reverted to Downtown Radio again in 1990 following the introduction of its sister station, Cool FM.

Downtown's main competitors are BBC Radio Ulster, Belfast CityBeat and new Belfast station U105. It is part of the Big City Network.

Editor
Bob Huggins

Deputy Editor
Karen English

Broadcast Journalists
Sara Moore
Brian Moriarty
David Stokes

Sports Correspondent
Nigel Ringland

Big City Network: CFM 路 Hallam FM 路 Key 103 路 Metro Radio 路 Radio City 96.7 路 96.3 Radio Aire 路 97.4 Rock FM 路 TFM Radio 路 96.9 Viking FM

Big City Scotland and Northern Ireland: 102.5 Clyde 1 路 Cool FM  路 Downtown Radio 路 97.3 Forth One 路 Tay FM 路 97.4 MFR 路 Moray Firth Radio 1107AM 路 Northsound 1 路 Radio Borders 路 96.7 West FM 路 West Sound FM

Kiss Network: Kiss 100 路 Kiss 101 路 Kiss 105-108

Magic Network: Magic 105.4 路 Magic AM 路 Magic 828 路 Magic 999 路 Magic 1152 路 Piccadilly Magic 1152 路 Magic 1161 路 Magic 1170 路 Magic 1548

Scottish AM stations: Clyde 2 路 1548 Forth 2 路 Northsound 2 路 Tay AM 路 West Sound (AM)

Other radio assets: Kerrang! 105.2 (West Midlands FM and national digital)  路 Wave 105 路 City Talk 105.9

UK Consumer Titles: Angling Times 路 Bella 路 Bike 路 Bird Watching 路 Car 路 Classic Bike 路 Classic Cars 路 Closer 路 Country Walking 路 Digital Photo 路 Empire 路 FHM 路 First 路 Freesail 路 Garden Answers 路 Garden News 路 Golf World 路 Grazia 路 Improve Your Coarse Fishing 路 Heat 路 Instant Beauty 路 Kerrang! 路 Land Rover Owner International 路 Match 路 Max Power 路 Model Rail 路 Mojo 路 More! 路 Mother & Baby 路 Motorcycle News (MCN) 路 New Woman 路 Parker's 路 Performance Bikes 路 Pop 路 Practical Classics 路 Practical Fishkeeping 路 Practical Photography 路 Pregnancy & Birth 路 Puzzle Magazines 路 Q 路 RAIL 路 RiDE 路 Sea Angler 路 Shopping for Baby 路 Skiing 路 Steam Railway 路 Spirit&Destiny 路 Take a Break 路 That's life! 路 Today's Golfer 路 Top Sante 路 Total TVguide 路 Trail 路 Trout & Salmon 路 Trout Fisherman 路 TV Choice 路 TV Quick 路 Waves 路 What Bike? 路 Your Horse 路 Yours 路 Zoo

US Consumer Titles: ASTROgirl 路 First for Women 路 In Touch Weekly 路 J-14 路 Life & Style Weekly 路 Life Story 路 M 路 QuizFest 路 Soaps in Depth 路 Twist 路 Woman's World

German Consumer Titles: Bravo 路 Das Neue Blatt

Business Publications: AM 路 Fleet News 路 Pet Product Marketing 路 Sewells Information and Research

Distribution: Seymour 路 Frontline

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