Trent 945 - Tests and Launch

Some of these Booms are personal to me. This certainly is.

Radio Trent (Nottingham)'s franchise area was extended to Derbyshire, given, in a tough climate, the regulator felt a 'small' area like Derbyshire could not support its own station. So a new 'Trent 945' in Derby was launched on 3rd March 1987 to complement 'Trent 999' in Nottingham. This was also effectively one of the first 'brand extensions'.

I was hosting mornings in Nottingham, but also happened to be soaking up most of the group production work back then; so all the early internally-produced 945 imaging and launch material was mine. In those days, 'imaging' as a department did not exist in commercial radio, although most sensible stations were beginning to think about the 'imaging' issue; rather than just 'trails for programmes'.

I ended up voicing most of the Trent 945 material too, not least as much of it was made at midnight. All production needed a full studio back then; and this was the only time they were free. Remembering too that these were days of two tape recorders and a basic mixer, it doesn't sound too bad. But I have to say I giggled just now at the 'image artists'. Five Star and Aha, for goodness sake.

More personal memories in my book Radio Moments