U2 Sheffield gig will play live on Bauer Radio's 20-station Big City network, plus three national digital stations
John Plunkett
Guardian.co.uk, Monday 10 August 2009 13.52 BS
The Bauer Radio network has secured the live broadcast rights to U2's latest tour, planning to air the band's Sheffield concert across its 20-station Big City network and three of its national digital stations.
The Big City network – which is based in the north of England, Scotland and northern Ireland and includes Key 103 in Manchester and Newcastle's Metro Radio – will devote more than five hours of airtime to the band, including two hours of live coverage from the Don Valley Stadium in Sheffield on 20 August. The U2 coverage will also air on Bauer's digital stations The Hits, Q and Kerrang! and online.
The Big City network programme director, Steve King, said the concert would be the "biggest commercial radio event of 2009".
"U2 are very appropriate for the Big City network - they are straight down the middle of our audience, particularly the more recent material from their last album and the one before that," he said. "There aren't many artists you can do this with – U2, Take That, possibly Robbie Williams."
The Big City network previously broadcast a Williams concert live from Vienna.
Longer pieces between songs would be taken out, King said, because they were not so relevant to a radio audience.
The live concert programme, which will begin at 7pm, will be preceded by a pre-recorded interview with the band by a DJ from Bauer's Clyde One, Billy Sloan.
Bauer has also set up a dedicated website for fans listening online, iloveU2ontheradio.com.
Check out all the videos from the tour via http://www.youtube.com/u2tourfans or follow via twitter.com/u2tourfans