52-467: Talksport (styled as talkSPORT ), owned by News Broadcasting , is a sports radio station in the United Kingdom and Republic of Ireland. The station was originally launched as Talk Radio UK in 1995. Talksport's content includes live coverage of sporting events, interviews with the leading names in sport and entertainment, phone-ins and discussion. Talksport, alongside sister station Talksport 2,
104-493: A Sound Digital's successful bid for second national commercial DAB multiplex. The launch date coincided with the opening day of the 2016 Cheltenham Festival . Former Talksport chief executive Kelvin MacKenzie had proposed a rival sports station as part of Listen2Digital's opposing bid for the second national commercial DAB multiplex. Talksport 2 is a 24-hour sports station which focuses on a broad range of live sporting action from
156-457: A Sunday morning phone-in show on Virgin, also hosting the weekday afternoon show. Later that year he moved to the drivetime slot, until leaving Virgin once again, in May 2001. He also provided holiday cover for Chris Evans . In late 2001, Abbot joined Real Radio (Wales) to host its late-night phone-in show for a week as holiday cover for regular presenter Adrian Allen. October 2001 saw the beginning of
208-678: A break from radio for over two years. On 3 September 2005 Abbot was heard on London's 102.2 Smooth FM , presenting the Saturday morning show. He stood in for various presenters, including on 'Weekend Breakfast', and covered shows on digital station Planet Rock . This became a regular gig from 17 December 2005 onwards, airing on Saturdays and Sundays from 2–6 pm. In 2006, he had brief stint standing in on Caroline Feraday 's weekend show (10 pm – 1 am, Friday, Saturday and Sunday nights) on LBC 97.3 , from 10 to 19 February. However, he lost his voice during his second show, cutting
260-436: A five-day stint at Manchester's Key 103 , during which he presented the 10 pm – 2 am programme. In January 2002, he moved to Real Radio (Scotland) where he again presented the late night phone-in. Later in 2002, his show was networked across all three Real Radio stations (Scotland, Wales & Yorkshire ). He presented his last Real Radio show on 19 December 2002, subsequently deciding to take
312-516: A new podcast entitled The Nick Abbot Habit with a second series started in September 2018. On 5 July 2019, Abbot announced on his show that he and his friend/former co-host Carol McGiffin were set to reunite for a new podcast series called "What's Your Problem With Nick and Carol?" The podcast was released on iTunes , the Global player app, and podcast providers on 20 January 2020. Abbot has written
364-504: A number of presenters and commentators, including Alan Brazil , Mark Nicholas , Chris Cowdrey , Geoffrey Boycott , Mike Parry , Peter Shilton , Brian Moore , Brough Scott , Tom Watt , Gary Newbon , Ian Darke , Tony Banks , and Alvin Martin . Sound Digital's successful bid for second national commercial DAB multiplex in 2016 also saw the return of Talkradio , as well as Virgin Radio and
416-470: A re-organisation of the group was proposed, with the existing UTV plc, holding the ITV franchise only, becoming a wholly owned subsidiary of new holding company, UTV Media plc , and the remaining businesses transferred to the new holding company. The change was approved at an extraordinary general meeting on 19 September and came into effect on 15 October 2007, with shareholders receiving a 1:1 exchange of stock from
468-489: A summary of the week's news to take place at the start of the show over his opening jingle, "Boogie Woogie" by Liberace (replacing the theme tune he had previously used: "The Beautiful People" by Marilyn Manson ). During the show, he played various sound clips including quotes from films such as The Terminator , and clips from his former co-presenter Carol McGiffin . In late 2007, he took over LBC 's weekday evening show from 7 pm to 10 pm, while continuing with
520-458: Is also streamed online; however, due to rights restrictions on live coverage, some live sport commentaries are not available online. Since August 2011, several shows on Talksport have been available on Sirius XM satellite radio in the US and Canada. During the 2006 FIFA World Cup , Talksport was available on Digital Radio DAB in some German cities. The new station launched on 15 March 2016 as part of
572-822: Is an official broadcaster for several sporting contests, including the Premier League and English Football League . In the UK, Talksport is one of the Independent National Radio licensees, holding the INR3 licence for a speech-based service. It is available on its primary frequency in London, 1089 kHz, as well as 1053 kHz, 1071 kHz, and 1107 kHz, DAB , Sky , Virgin Media , Freeview , on mobile, and online. Talksport has been available on Freesat since April 2016. Outside
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#1732875902177624-670: The Aviva Premiership , Super League , ATP World Tour Masters 1000 , French Open , ICC World Twenty20 , NatWest t20 Blast , Royal London One-Day Cup , Indian Premier League , WGC Match Play , La Liga , MotoGP , ICC Champions Trophy , Premier League, English Football League, Champions League and Europa League. It has broadcast specialist programming dedicated to the Football League, La Liga , European football, horse racing rugby league, rugby union, boxing, cricket, tennis, NBA , US sport, and golf. From January 2019, Talksport 2
676-603: The Champions League for the 1998–99 season. On 12 November 1998, TalkCo Holdings – whose chairman and chief executive was Kelvin MacKenzie , former editor of The Sun – purchased Talk Radio. This led to a mass clearout of presenters including Nick Abbot , Anna Raeburn , Tommy Boyd and Peter Deeley , with MacKenzie placing an emphasis on a sports-oriented programming schedule, including The Sportszone with Alan Parry , Gary Newbon , Tony Lockwood, Tom Watt , and former Century Radio sports editor Dave Roberts presenting
728-530: The Planet Rock weekend show (the latter ending in September 2008). Abbot now presents a show on LBC from 10 p.m. to 1 a.m. on Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays. Featuring commentary and discussion on current affairs and other subjects, the Friday and Saturday night shows have a strong emphasis on humour. His links and commentaries are punctuated by short dialogue clips drawn from film soundtracks and politicians. Calls to
780-738: The Broadcasting Complaints Commission and the Radio Authority . He also called phone-in shows on other radio stations, speaking to the phone operators, commenting on the usually elderly callers while listening to the programmes as he was on hold. Usually, he failed to make it on air, but occasionally he did, including a memorable call to the Scottie McClue show. In June 1994 he was moved to the weekday 7 – 10 pm show where he had to tone down his act, mainly taking music requests. In January 1995, he moved back to
832-571: The FA Cup, League Cup and provides commentaries for Amazon Music's Bundesliga coverage. News Broadcasting News UK Broadcasting Limited , trading as News Broadcasting (formerly Wireless Group Limited and UTV Media plc ), is a radio and digital broadcasting network with headquarters in Belfast , Northern Ireland. It currently operates five stations in Ireland and 18 in the United Kingdom. The company
884-537: The Friday and Saturday shows are often not on serious topics and callers are given free rein. The Sunday night show has a more formal style (featuring serious topics) and does not feature sound clips or humorous material. Abbot also usually presents a week of A to Z themed shows on LBC during the Christmas period, covers for other LBC presenters on an occasional basis and writes a blog for the LBC website. In March 2017 he launched
936-552: The Geezer, Wild Al Kelly and Nick Miller. After quitting the Breakfast Show on BBC Radio 1 FM in April 1995, Steve Wright joined the station, presenting Steve Wright's Talk Show - a live Saturday morning programme. He was joined on the air by his former posse member and comedy writer Richard Easter, as well as female sidekick Georgey Spanswick. The show was guest-focused and popular at
988-512: The Republic and the rest of the UK. The service was sold to Rainbow Communications and Vodafone Ireland in 2014. The company also set up an online car dealership UTV Drive, created in partnership with Abbey Insurance, which was sold in 2014. Further expansion took place with the move into radio, starting in Cork with 96FM and C103 in 2001. Further acquisitions were undertaken over the next decade, with
1040-430: The UK and Ireland , Talksport broadcasts live commentary of every Premier League match around the world in multiple languages including English, Spanish and Mandarin. On 25 June 2016, Rupert Murdoch 's News Corp announced that it was acquiring the parent Wireless Group company for $ 296 million. As of October 2024, the network broadcasts to a weekly audience of 3.5 million listeners, according to RAJAR . The station
1092-541: The UK and around the world and includes rugby, cricket, tennis, golf, football and horse racing, plus US sport. On its first day, Talksport 2 broadcast commentary of India v New Zealand in the ICC World Twenty20 , Atlético Madrid v PSV Eindhoven in the Champions League and Indian Wells Masters tennis. On 9 June 2020 talkSPORT 2 switched from DAB Mono to DAB+ Stereo to make Room for Times Radio. In its first two years on air, Talksport 2 acquired broadcast rights to
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#17328759021771144-469: The UK, Talksport is the only UK radio station broadcasting sporting discussions and commentaries 24 hours a day, having dropped 39 hours of weekly non-sports content on 2 April 2012. According to the RAJAR audience figures as of December 2022, Talksport's audience is around 2.9m listeners per week. Talksport 2 has an audience of around 344,000 listeners per week. In a number of areas, particularly in areas where
1196-400: The company for all-cash worth between $ 220–296 million. The sale was completed on 26 September 2016. In May 2019, it was reported that Wireless Radio (ROI) Ltd last year recorded pre-tax losses of €2.23m and this followed pre-tax losses of €4.33m for the preceding 18 months. The company splits its operations into three divisions, Radio GB, Wireless Ireland and Digital. Formed from
1248-428: The company launched UTV Ireland , carrying many of ITV's programming including Coronation Street and Emmerdale , which had been previously broadcast in Ireland by TV3 . The station produces some home-grown programming, including the twice-nightly national news programme Ireland Live . On 27 March 2015, it was confirmed that Sound Digital , which was 30% owned by the company, had been successful in its bid for
1300-419: The creation of Talksport 2. On 25 June 2016, Rupert Murdoch 's News Corp announced that it was acquiring the parent Wireless Group company for $ 296 million. Since June 2020 it has also produced sports bulletins for Times Radio . In 2022 a televised version of TalkRadio launched on TV . Talksport and Talksport 2 hold exclusive and non-exclusive rights to various sports in the UK. Broadcast from London to
1352-513: The fifth largest radio company in the UK. On 8 February 2019, it was announced that the local stations would be sold to Bauer Radio . The company published a free, London-based men's magazine called Sport until 2017. Wireless Group also owns the digital agency Zesty and the internet hosting provider Tibus. Nick Abbot Nick Abbot (born 22 August 1960) is an English radio presenter and currently presents The Late Show on Friday, Saturday and Sunday on LBC . Abbot
1404-450: The figure in the previous year. In 2006, total sales were £113.6m of which the radio division accounted for 54%, television 37% and 9% from new media. 48% of operating profits were earned in the radio side of the business, with 47% derived from television and 5% from new media. Following shareholder approval, Ulster Television plc changed its name to UTV plc in June 2006. Then, on 16 August 2007,
1456-425: The inspiration for his "Triple M" show from Nick Abbot in addition to Boyd's "Human Zoo" show. In October 1988, Abbot launched the new BBC radio station for London, BBC GLR (Greater London Radio). He presented the breakfast show for a year, but his contract was not renewed. He then returned to VMR, where he stayed until 1993. Abbot was part of the original line-up on Virgin Radio in April 1993. There he presented
1508-599: The largest investment being the purchase of The Wireless Group in 2005 for £97m, boosting its radio portfolio with additional local stations, digital radio multiplexes and national station Talksport . In 2005, the group also launched its first station, U105 , which broadcasts to the Belfast area, and purchased Juice FM in Liverpool . With the expansion, turnover increased, with 2005 being up 46% on 2004, pre-tax profits rising by 12%, and employment up by 500 people to more than double
1560-442: The merged company. On 20 September 2006, the plans were abandoned after SMG rejected the offer as unacceptable. However, on 10 January 2007, the two companies announced that they had agreed a merger, with SMG shareholders to receive 46% of the merged company and UTV 54%. After the details were expected to be finalised before the end of January, the deal was put on hold and then called off by SMG on 28 February 2007. In January 2015,
1612-530: The multiplex. On 19 October 2015, it was announced that ITV plc would acquire UTV's ITV franchise and UTV Ireland for £100 million, subject to regulatory approval. UTV retained its radio operations, but was required to rename itself after including the UTV brand in the sale. The sale to ITV plc was completed on 29 February 2016, when the company also rebranded as Wireless Group plc . On 30 June 2016 Rupert Murdoch 's News Corp announced an agreement to purchase
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1664-421: The old to new company. The company, established on 1 June 2007 as Beechgrove Trading Limited , changed its name to UTV Media Limited on 13 August 2007, and to UTV Media plc on 21 August 2007. In August and September 2006, the company made two merger proposals to STV Group plc , operator of the northern and central Scottish ITV franchises as STV . The latter proposal would have given SMG shareholders 52% of
1716-494: The original Wireless Group purchase, the division has its origins from Talk Radio, the owner of the station of the same name, later renamed Talksport in 2000. A consortium including MVI , News International , Radio Investments and LMC Radio , headed by chief executive Kelvin MacKenzie , under the name TalkCo, purchased the group in 1998 for £15.5m. The company expanded when it purchased The Radio Partnership in 1999, gaining control of its nine local commercial stations and becoming
1768-480: The programming lineup was drastically altered, beginning with The Sports Breakfast show; this was followed by a mid-morning motoring show called The Car Guys , with further sports programming in the afternoon and evening. Almost all the station's talk show presenters were axed at the time, including The Big Boys Breakfast with David Banks and Nick Ferrari , with only James Whale, Ian Collins and Mike Dickin surviving. To complement its new format, Talksport purchased
1820-506: The rights to broadcast Football League matches for the 1997–98 season. In addition, the station broadcast its first FIFA World Cup from France in 1998, bringing in the Sky Sports commentary team of Alan Parry and Andy Gray to commentate on the major matches. Dave Roberts covered additional games in France. Talk Radio also acquired up the rights to broadcast Manchester United 's matches in
1872-619: The rights to broadcast Manchester United , Arsenal and Newcastle United matches in the UEFA Champions League , the FA Cup , England football internationals , UEFA Cup , England 's winter cricket tours to South Africa , Zimbabwe , Pakistan , and India , British & Irish Lions tours to South Africa and New Zealand, and rights to the Super League , Rugby League World Cup , and world title boxing Fights. The new line-up involved
1924-472: The second national digital radio multiplex in the UK, which would be launched in 2016. As part of the bid, the company would expand its Talksport station with new sister stations Talksport 2 and Talkradio , as well as running a relaunched Virgin Radio UK . The multiplex was launched on 29 February 2016, with the new stations launching over the following month less talkBUSINESS, which was replaced by Share Radio on
1976-443: The show short and being replaced by a recording of his friend and former Virgin and Talk colleague/sparring partner Wendy Lloyd . He was also unable to present the following evening's show, but returned on 17 February for the final three shows of this stint. He subsequently took over a regular slot on LBC on Saturday nights from 10 pm to 1 am. Abbot's show had a distinctive style among LBC presenters. It became normal for
2028-412: The signal from the main 1089 and 1053 kHz transmitters overlap with each other, Talksport operates a number of filler transmitters on different frequencies: The 1089 and 1053 kHz frequencies were previously used by BBC Radio 1 between November 1978 and June 1994. It is also transmitted across the UK digitally via DAB digital radio , Freeview , Sky , Virgin Media and Freesat . Talksport
2080-513: The time, but short-lived, as it moved to BBC Radio 2 in March 1996 and re-launched as Steve Wright's Saturday Show . A year later Talk Radio launched a new breakfast show presented by Paul Ross and Carol McGiffin . Former BBC Radio 1 DJ Simon Bates also joined the station, along with James Whale , Ian Collins , and Mike Dickin . Talk Radio made its first foray into the world of sports radio rights bidding by purchasing from BBC Radio 5 Live
2132-463: The weekday evening show on Talk Radio UK from 7 pm to 9 pm. Thursday 12 November 1998 was known as Black Thursday . Talk Radio UK had been taken over by new management, headed by former The Sun editor Kelvin MacKenzie , and many presenters and staff were fired; Abbot was one of the many casualties, and he was sacked on the same day as the station's afternoon presenter Tommy Boyd . He continued with his weekday show on Virgin Radio, which
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2184-454: The weekday late night phone-in show Sunday–Thursday from 10 pm to 2 am. The programme was a mixture of music and phone-in. Not afraid to speak his mind, he often voiced his opinions about other stations and presenters, and it was this that eventually led him into trouble. Following a negative newspaper review by writer Robin Katz, Abbot's outbursts on-air eventually led to a censure from
2236-524: The weekday late night show (this time from 11 pm to 2 am) where he remained until April that year when he was moved to the drivetime show (4 – 7 pm) until he was axed from the station in September that year. In the summer of 1996, Abbot was heard on Talk Radio UK acting as holiday cover. He was subsequently offered a regular show during the summer of 1997 on Saturday afternoons, alongside Carol McGiffin , later moving to Saturday evenings from 7:30 pm to 10 pm. It
2288-548: The weekend edition of The Sports Breakfast . In late 1999, TalkCo, rebranded as The Wireless Group, announced a relaunch of Talk Radio to become the UK's first national commercial sports radio station called Talksport. The relaunch occurred at midnight on 17 January 2000, and was accompanied by the station moving from Oxford Street to a new studio at Hatfields on the South Bank of the River Thames . Now mainly dedicated to sport,
2340-606: Was a constituent of the FTSE SmallCap Index . The current UTV Limited (originally Ulster Television plc), which began in 1959 as an ITV franchise holder in Northern Ireland, purchased ISP Direct Net Access in March 2000 for £4.4m, rebranding it as UTV Internet and later UTV Connect. The service expanded into telephone market under UTV Talk in August 2004 and also provided broadband and fibre optic packages for Northern Ireland,
2392-745: Was born on 22 August 1960, and was educated at George Heriot's School , a private school for boys in Edinburgh , and at Brunel University in Uxbridge in West London, where he gained a lower-second class degree in psychology. His professional career began as a Virgin Megastore DJ. He had previously presented student radio at Brunel University 's radio station, Radio Brunel . In early 1987, he joined Radio Luxembourg to present an overnight music show. After hearing American talk show presenter Neil Rogers , Abbot
2444-516: Was during this period that Virgin Radio 's new management re-hired Abbot to cover various shows on the station. He took over the evening show for six weeks during the summer of 1997, as well as providing holiday cover. In early 1998, he took over the weekday afternoon show on Virgin Radio from 1 pm to 4 pm, while continuing with his Saturday evening show on Talk Radio . In May 1998 (while still presenting his daily show on Virgin Radio) he took over
2496-480: Was formerly known as UTV Media , owned by UTV Television. Its television broadcasting services were sold to ITV plc in February 2016 and its radio, sales services and websites were spun off into a new company, Wireless, later purchased by News Corp . In June 2016, Rupert Murdoch 's News Corp reached an agreement to buy the company. The sale was completed in September 2016. Prior to the acquisition, Wireless Group
2548-633: Was inspired and the show instead became a phone in . Eventually, a 'straight to air' format was settled upon, where calls would be taken unscreened. This format quickly became a hit with listeners. The absence of a delay system to 'dump' offensive language resulted in callers saying swear words just before they were cut off. It is believed that Abbot was one of the first (if not the first) to take calls straight to air, and later LBC colleague Iain Lee has often confessed that he stole some of his act from Nick (as well as Clive Bull and Tommy Boyd ), perhaps hinting he got
2600-400: Was now extended to six days a week from 1 pm to 4 pm Sundays – Fridays. Between March and September 1999, long-established London station LBC hired Abbot & McGiffin for a Saturday evening phone-in, similar in format to the duo's earlier Talk Radio show. During this time, he continued working for Virgin Radio as a DJ. Throughout the summer of 2000, he presented
2652-419: Was originally and officially launched as Talk Radio UK on 14 February 1995, with the original Talk Radio Breakfast Show . However, the first live broadcast had been Caesar the Geezer 's phone-in which aired the previous night. Other presenters on Talk Radio included Jeremy Beadle , Tommy Boyd , Anna Raeburn , Lorraine Kelly , Gary Newbon , Terry Christian , and Dale Winton . Also in the line-up were Caesar
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#17328759021772704-595: Was re-positioned as a rolling sports news and live sport station. As of September 2023, the station broadcasts to a weekly audience of 376,000 listeners, according to RAJAR . Talksport is the global audio partner of the Premier League, which enables them to broadcast commentary of every Premier League match outside the United Kingdom and Ireland in several languages including English, Spanish and Mandarin. Talksport International also broadcasts selected fixtures in
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