Liberty Broadcasting Company has announced that its new London radio station, 963 Liberty Radio, will begin transmission on Friday 29 November with a raft of famous-name presenters.
Richard Skinner, Simon Bates, Anna Raeburn, Bruno Brookes, Penny Smith, Annabell Giles, Zoe Ball, Carol Keating, Emma Forbes, Sally Meen and Russell Grant have all been signed up to present slots which are aimed at a “wide range of listeners, primarily aged between 25-44 years”.
The weekday line-up will feature Richard Skinner and Carol McGiffin presenting the early morning show, followed by Simon Bates presenting a phone-in show addressing current topics. Anna Raeburn will host a counselling slot in the afternoons while drive-time will be fronted by Bruno Brookes.
Weekend programming will include a mixture of light entertainment from Shelley Webb who will be looking at mainstream sports from a female angle while Penny Smith will cover personality interviews with politicians and celebrities.
The launch is being supported by a £2 million integrated marketing campaign which will include advertising, direct marketing and public relations. A series of 60, 40 and 20 second TV commercials will start from 28 November until 15 December and will run the station’s tag line “Putting a Smile on the Face of London.” TV advertising will be supported by a poster campaign running on 1,000 superlite sites and two 96-sheet poster sites across London during the launch period. Prior to Christmas, Liberty will also initiate a direct marketing programme which will involve a door drop to 2.1 million homes throughout London.
A spokesman for the station told Newsline that though 963 Liberty is biased towards women it would not be another Viva!-type format and is hoping to attract men as well: research had apparently shown that women did not want a “female-only” station and the demise of Viva! had proved this.
MediaTel subscribers can access the latest Radio data in the Radio Planner in Talking Windows and Quarter 3 Rajar figures can be accessed by clicking here.
Liberty Broadcasting Company Trevor House 100 Brompton Road London SW3 1ER Tel: 0171 225 6755 Fax: 0171 225 6725
