97.4 Rock FM is part of the EMAP radio group (the guys who make Heat, Smash Hits, The Box, The Hits etc), and broadcasts to Preston, Blackpool, Wigan, Warrington... practically all across Lancashire. The station is based in Preston, in a converted church in St. Pauls Square on the outskirts of the city centre.
The station plays mainstream chart/rock/pop tracks 24/7/365, except for specialist shows, but is somewhat more than a typical "that was blah.. now here's blah" station as the DJs actually speak their opinions.
DAILY SCHEDULE ============== The below is the normal weekday schedule
Breakfast 6am - 10am : Dixie is a new jock for the station joining in February 2002 from Juice FM, Brighton where he also presented the breakfast show. With regular features such as "You're Sick" and "Can you suck it", Dixie makes breakfast
exactly what its meant to be. Being so new I haven't heard much of him but he sounds like he is a welcome addition to the rock fm team.
Previous recent incumbents in the role include "The Bird and the Bee" - Danny B & Jude Vause who mysteriously disappeared a few weeks ago but they weren't much cop, and Bryan Moore who was a longtim RockFMer before leaving to present on another emap station, Metro, in newcastle.
Morning 10am - 1pm : Rick Vaughn - The stations loudmouth takes you through the morning. Rick gives you the "Top 10 at 10" - 10 songs from a year and leave it up to the audience to guess. Not my favourite dj but he's not bad.
Lunchtime : 1 - 4pm : Darren Spence. Darren is another newcomer to Rock FM, joining the station late 2002 from the Galaxy group. General banter, good tunes etc make him a good allround DJ. Nothing special but fine to listen to.
Drive: 4pm - 7pm: Mark Kaye. Mark is joined by Gemma, the travel tart, on the drive home. My problem with this DJ is that he is very opinionated and often just appears arsey. He appears to think he is funnier than he is. This is the only time that I don't like to listen to Rock FM.
Evening Show: 7pm-10pm: Rob Ellis. If ever you could tip someone for the top, it is this man. Preston born and bred, Ellis demonstrates a complete disregard for all the rules and has actually been taken off air once because he went way too far. The man is just so funny though. He talks about whatever he wants to, he has some barmy features, and an all round brilliant show as he is also technically brilliant. You must listen to this show. If you like Chris Moyles, this is for you.
Other jocks present various shows throughout the nighttime.
SPECIALIST SHOWS ================
Club Rock - 5pm onwards Saturdays. El Greggo kicks off 9 hours of dance on Rock FM on a Saturday night starring people such as Mark Freejack & Tall Paul. Club Rock opens the dance with mainly new stuff, with a slight leaning towards cheesy dance. However its a very good show to hear up and coming tracks and to get shout outs on as you are preparing to go out. Definatly recommended.
Adele Roberts - 10pm - 2am Friday night - Adele from Big Brother 3 has her own rnb/dance show on a Friday night. Not as bad as you might imagine, Adele plays some good music and is beginning to sound good technically. Worth a listen if you like that sort of thing.
Baz Todd - Retro - 7pm - 10pm : Retro is just a big show playing all your favourite old skool dance... tracks such as Bang - Shooting Star, Nakatomi Children of the night etc. If you have any of the Rock FM albums you will love this show.
LJ - 10pm - 2am - Sunday night : LJ presents the regions premier RnB/Soul show featuring the smooth grooves chart. If you love this type of music, I guarantee you will love this show. Its not at all what i'm into but I can see its worth!
--
General ========
Rock Fm broadcasts on 97.4 FM practically all across Lancashire. You can also tune in via the website or on digital radio when in lancashire. To contact the studio you can ring 01772 900974 or email firstname.lastname@rockfm.co.uk. For more information check the website on www.rockfm.co.uk.
Rock FM also do a lot of charity work. For more info check out www.helpalocalchild.co.uk
Advantages: Plenty of Different DJ's so The Music Isn't All The Same Stuff, Good Comps and Interactivity Disadvantages: Adverts Can Be Too Much During The Day
JulyBunny 06.06.2005 (06.06.2005)
·
Read review
Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful
Review of 97.4 - Preston
very helpful by (100%):
