New SUNSET Radio to launch on Monday October 12

Station manager Mike Shaft says: “This will be a great day for the people of Manchester who like the type of music we play, and for those who remember the old Sunset Radio back in the day. It’s been a long time coming but Manchester will once again have a BME (Black and Minority Ethnic) music station that we can all be proud of”.

It was back in 1989 that the original Sunset took to the airwaves of Manchester on 102fm to great acclaim. The station was the brainchild of Manchester legend, DJ Mike Shaft, and was the culmination of 10 years of hard work and setbacks.

Mike, and his small team of investors, had to convince the IBA/Radio Authority (now Ofcom) of the need for that type of station and apply for a license.

Sunset Radio launched on to the Manchester airwaves on the 22nd of October 1989.

Mike says: “The launch party at The Haçienda was one of Manchester’s great black music nights and it is still spoken of fondly by people who were there on that night.”

The station disappeared from the Manchester airwaves in 1992 after three years of broadcasting.

Says Mike, “It was very sad to see the way the station came to an end. We had built up a fantastic following in the Manchester area by listening to our audience and by championing local talent. Many many people were left disappointed by the sudden disappearance of the UK’s first ever legal BME music station”.

The 102 frequency has had a number of different incarnations over the years, but none could equal or even come close to the very distinct sound of Sunset.

For 26 years Mike has been ‘Keepin’ the Dream Alive’ hoping to one day bring Sunset Radio back to the airwaves of Manchester; on Monday that dream will become a reality.

Mike continued: “People who listened to and enjoyed Sunset during the early 90s won’t be disappointed by The New SUNSET Radio. We’ve had a fantastic response to our test transmissions and next Monday we will launch with a full 24 hour schedule on DAB. I hope that the people of this great city will fall in love with the new Sunset as they did back in the day.

“So much has changed in the broadcast sector in the intervening two decades. The last Sunset took about 10 years to come into being, this one took less than 4 months! I made contact with Niocast in July and here we are in October, about to launch. The Ofcom licence took less than a week to be issued!

The station launch on Monday will be followed by another sensational launch party. I suspect it’s going to be another night to remember.”