I’m just listening to the first few minutes of Radio Republic, the new venture by former 96.2FM The Revolution radio DJs.

Local station 103.6FM Tameside have given two of Radio Republic’s most established names, Phil Beckett and Martin Coogan, a prime slot (11pm-1am, Monday-Thurday) and so far they’ve responded with great tracks by Stereolab and Midlake.

But Radio Republic’s Myspace says that they still intend to create their own Manchester radio station, meaning that this is just a temporary move. For now, open this .m3u file in your media player to stream 103.6FM Tameside.

It’s normally subjects such as congestion charges that get Mancunians’ temperatures rising. But a recent development in Manchester radioland has proven to be just as controversial. Here’s what Karolyn Judge wrote in Metro a couple of weeks back:

For the past two years, Oldham-based radio station, 96.2 The Revolution, has had an alternative music policy. Listeners could expect music from bands such as Fleet Foxes and Herman Dune, shows dedicated to genres including Northern Soul, rock and old-school house, and locally based presenters such as The Smiths’ ex-drummer Mike Joyce.

In the past week, however, Wham!, Justin Timberlake and Elton John have popped up on the playlist. The change may be due to a decline in listening figures and rumours are circulating that the station has new part owners. And we’re not the only one’s wondering what’s going on. A spokesperson from The Revolution admitted to Metro: ‘We don’t know what’s happening.’ This doesn’t bode well, does it?

Turns out that local TV and radio presenter Steve Penk bought the Rev out and has subsequently completely reprogrammed its schedule – including a weekday breakfast show hosted by him (so expect plenty more where this came from), and a Sunday show featuring, er, Pat Sharp.

The music policy has changed completely too, from interesting, radio-friendly indie (the kind of stuff many hoped XFM Manchester would bring) to pointless drivel. Penk, whose name is dropped practically between every track, cites listening figures plummeting from 80,000 to 17,000 as the reason for the change – but thousands of listeners now feel alienated.

To bring the story fully up to date, How-Do.co.uk reports that several of the Rev’s former presenters – including familiar names from the local music scene such as Mike Joyce, Mani and Martin Coogan – have formed a breakaway group, codenamed Radio Republic. They’re currently looking for investors to help get their phoenix out of the flames.

UPDATE: As pointed out in a comment, Radio Republic now has its own website, http://www.revradio.co.uk, with a test broadcast. It’s hosted by Manchester Radio Online.

Despite Manchester International Festival ‘not really [being] interested in emulating Edinburgh’, local businesses seem to hope that it will bring the same financial bonanza that Edinburgh sees each year.

That, I guess, is why the North West Business Leadership Team – aka North West’s leading businesses – have awarded it the Lever Prize and a cash award:

The judges were impressed by the breadth and scope of the Festival, with a programme created by leading artists from across the spectrum of popular culture, innovation and the arts. They were also attracted by the Festival’s unique approach in delivering a programme of newly-commissioned work, which reflects the NWBLT’s commitment to innovation and world-class research and development.

It seems slightly strange to me, however, that the award is going to a large, well-funded but unproven arts organisation that has so far only hosted a couple of events.

Couldn’t the prize money (£10,000) be better used by a small, struggling organisation in the region? All FM perhaps?

All FM is by far my favourite community radio station in Manchester. It’s also a station that’s been in financial trouble of late, and I’ve heard that the Levenshulme-based operation has been perilously close to closure.

But things are looking better now: the Department for Culture, Media and Sport has just awarded it £10,372 in grant aid to fund a participation manager, and a further £8,205 for a technician. I hear these two positions would have been in particular danger otherwise.

Also, a further £2,000 is apparently on its way from Barclays Bank, to fund the production of a Polish community programme. And there’s word too that more funding may be heading All FM’s way… but nothing is signed and sealed as yet.

For anyone who has yet to discover All FM, I’d recommend Mog’s Standing in the Shadows of Lev (Saturdays, 9am-11am) and The Every Other Monday Show (every other Monday, 9pm-11pm). The station broadcasts online or on 96.9FM in South Manchester.

All FM are also seeking volunteers if anyone’s interested. Call Danielle on 0161 248 6888 or email danielle@allfm.org.

It passed non-radio people by, but last week Guardian Media Group (GMG) won the FM licence for Manchester. Here’s what GMG Radio chief executive John Myers had to say:

We’re getting ready to rock in the North West! The station won’t be launching ’til 2008 as we have got to wait for a bulk order of Harley Davidsons for staff!

No, seriously, that’s what a big media bigwig said. I can’t quite believe it myself. GMG owns the Manchester Evening News, Channel M and Century FM, you’ll recall.

The new station – Rock Talk – will broadcast classic, heavy, soft and popular rock on 106.1FM. No more than 10% of output will be current. The station is aiming particularly at over-35s.

Here’s a bit about the ‘talk’ side:

Speech will not fall below 60% during weekday peak time and 55% during weekend peak time and will cater for the tastes and interests of listeners in the Manchester area. Content will include relevant local travel, weather, sports news, what’s on, charitable and community information

Rocktalk.com is already owned by US station K-Rock, and rocktalk.co.uk belongs to UKClimbing.com. I notice rocktalkmanchester.com, .co.uk etc haven’t been registered yet, leaving them wide open to possible ownership disputes a few months from now.

What do you think then? Will Rock Talk be a good addition to the airwaves, or an even more MOR XFM Manchester? You can read details of the other 10 licence applications at UKOnAir.