Greatest Hits Radio Bolton & Bury (formerly Tower FM) is an

Independent Local Radio Independent Local Radio is the collective name given to commercial radio stations in the United Kingdom. As a result of the buyouts and mergers permitted by the Broadcasting Act 1990, and deregulation resulting from the Communications Act 2 ...

station serving the

Bolton Bolton ( , locally ) is a town in Greater Manchester in England. In the foothills of the West Pennine Moors, Bolton is between Manchester, Blackburn, Wigan, Bury, Greater Manchester, Bury and Salford. It is surrounded by several towns and vill ...

and Bury areas of

Greater Manchester Greater Manchester is a ceremonial county in North West England. It borders Lancashire to the north, Derbyshire and West Yorkshire to the east, Cheshire to the south, and Merseyside to the west. Its largest settlement is the city of Manchester. ...

. Following its sale to Bauer Radio, the station was closed and merged with the Greatest Hits Radio network in September 2020.

Overview

The radio station was given the name ''Tower'' as a local link to both towns in the station's coverage area; Turton Tower near to Bolton and

Peel Tower Peel towers (also spelt pele) are small fortified keeps or tower houses, built along the England, English and Scotland, Scottish Border country, borders in the Scottish Marches and North of England, mainly between the mid-14th century and ab ...

on Holcombe Hill at Ramsbottom near Bury. Originally an RSL (restricted service licence) radio station, the team behind the project won the full-time licence and the station began broadcasting on 20 March 1999. As an RSL, Tower FM broadcast from Bury via a link to the transmitter on Peel Tower. The station later moved to Bolton once the main base was established on Gaskell Street. Both towns served as the main target service area for the station, although it could also be heard in most of Greater Manchester and even parts of Cheshire. In early 2007, the station's then-owners approached UK media regulator OFCOM to ask permission to move the station's base from Bolton to the Haydock or Newton Le Willows area of Merseyside as part of a plan to co-locate Tower with two other stations from the UTV Media group - Wish FM in Wigan and Wire FM in

Warrington Warrington () is an industrial town in the Borough of Warrington, borough of the same name in Cheshire, England. The town sits on the banks of the River Mersey and was Historic counties of England, historically part of Lancashire. It is east o ...

. The original plan was abandoned but from the autumn of 2009, all three stations were based at studios in the Orrell area of Wigan.

Station rebrand

On 8 February 2019, Tower FM and the Wireless Group's local radio stations were sold to

Bauer Radio Bauer Media Audio UK is a UK-based radio division of Bauer Media Group owning brands; Absolute Radio, Greatest Hits Radio, Jazz FM, Hits Radio, KISS, Planet Rock, Magic, Kerrang! Radio and Heat Radio. History In early 2008, German ma ...

. The sale was ratified in March 2020 following an inquiry by the

Competition and Markets Authority The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) is the principal competition regulator in the United Kingdom. It is a non-ministerial government department in the United Kingdom, responsible for promoting competitive markets and tackling unfair beh ...

. On 27 May 2020, it was announced that Tower FM will join Bauer's Greatest Hits Radio network. On 13 July 2020, local programming outside weekday breakfast was replaced by networked output from the GHR network, with Tower FM retaining its own branding. In September 2020, Tower FM merged with several local stations in the North West of England and North Wales, as Greatest Hits Radio North West. The station's local breakfast show was replaced by a regional drivetime show. Localised news bulletins, traffic updates and advertising were retained.Most of acquired Bauer stations to become Greatest Hits Radio
Stuart Clarkson, Radio Today, 27 May 2020 The station's Orrell studios were closed.

References

{{coord, 53.5384, -2.6949, region:GB_type:landmark, display=title Mass media in the Metropolitan Borough of Bolton

Tower A tower is a tall Nonbuilding structure, structure, taller than it is wide, often by a significant factor. Towers are distinguished from guyed mast, masts by their lack of guy-wires and are therefore, along with tall buildings, self-supporting ...

Radio stations established in 1999 Bauer Radio Greatest Hits Radio 1999 establishments in England Defunct radio stations in the United Kingdom