Partridge vs Penk in local radio showdown

It’s difficult to work out who’s the cheesier - Radio Norwich’s finest Alan Partridge or Oldham station 96.2 The Revolution’s Steve Penk.

The former presenter of ITV’s TV’s Naughtiest Blunders (before he was replaced by, er, a voiceover) Penk has just bought the Revolution, overturning its indie playlist overnight in favour of James Blunt and sparking a mass walkout among its furious roster of DJs. In a move strangely reminiscent of Partridge, the former television “star” has also been forced out of retirement to become a breakfast DJ on the station, which has 17,000 listeners.

He told Media Guardian:

My drafted programme schedule is full of gaps, I need to find three or four people. I think I will probably have to. Economics will probably dictate that I’ll have to present, that way I can save myself some money.

Rather than the Chocolate Oranges (”available from Rawlinsons”) beloved of Partridge, presumably Penk will be slipping in some references to the great automotive deals available at Pennine Honda, which gets bigged up on the Revolution’s homepage.

Interestingly, Penk is facing up to a DJ battle with Partridge, who has also returned to the airwaves to promote rival start-up station Radio Republic in what the Daily Star calls “a string of naff jingles”. Republic is trying to secure funding and an FM licence to reunite former Revolution DJs - one of whom is Steve Coogan’s brother Martin - with their fanbase.

Not that there are too many fans according to Penk, a former Key 103 and Capital Radio DJ, who says the Rev was on the “road to disaster” prior to his intervention.

It’s very well fans of that type of music saying that it’s the only radio station like that in the North West but the reality was that no bugger was listening.

Opponents of Penk point out that the Rajar audience measuring system seriously underplayed the station’s impact because it only counted listeners in Tameside, Oldham and Rochdale and not in other parts of Greater Manchester, Cheshire and West Yorkshire, where it can be picked up.

Radio Republic has a nice new logo and a Facebook group with almost 2,700 members. The proposed playlist - “a mix of 60’s to noughties tunes… everything from Motown to Punk, northern soul to indie, the common denominator being - cool tunes” - makes it sound different enough that it just might work. Given XFM’s limited daytime playlist, the idea of credible, genuine, music-obsessed enthusiasts flaunting their eclectic record collections sounds appealing. So, fingers crossed, eh?

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