Tag Archives: Signal1

Stoke City Players To Switch On Christmas Lights

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By Mike Rawlins

Stoke City first team & management team will be guests of honour at the switch on of the Christmas lights in Hanley this year.

Tony Pulis said “It’s a great honour for the football club to be invited to turn on the Christmas lights. To see so many people turn out will be magnificent and shows what a fantastic city Stoke-on-Trent is. It’s the type of event that brings together all types of people and communities, and the football club is proud to be a part of something so special. “We see people cheering us on every week in the Premier League, but this is something different, something that puts us right at the heart of so many people’s lives at a special time of the year, and I can’t wait to be a part of it.”

The team will be joined in Fountain Square by Potters fan Nick Hancock, who will compare the evening to ensure everything goes smoothly. Nick said: “I love Christmas time and I love Stoke-on-Trent, so I am genuinely looking forward to this event, it will be great fun!”

A whole day’s entertainment is planned from 10am, with Stoke City’s double decker bus decking out the street with a mini football pitch, Table Tennis, Competitions and giveaways, along with mascots Pottermus and Pottermiss, and a chance to meet former heroes, first team and academy players during the day

At 3:30pm, the Pre-Count Down Stage Show starts in Fountain Square. Hosted by BBC Radio Stoke’s Tim Wedgwood, highlights include the Stoke-on-Trent Male Voice Choir and the City Music & Performing Arts Service.

Then, at 5:00pm, The Black Watch Marching band will lead the Christmas Lights Parade through the city centre, starting at the Victoria Hall. The band will take in Marsh Street, Piccadilly, Stafford Street and Lamb Street before sweeping down into Fountain Square. They will be leading mascots from Stoke City, Port Vale, Kier Stoke and Signal 1, dance groups and school pupils to fountain square, with Santa Claus bringing up the rear on his sleigh.

Taking part in the parade will be 60 children from the city’s lantern project, who will be designing a variety of large Christmas lanterns over the previous day that they will be carrying through the city centre on the night.

Then, the countdown show begins at 5:30pm, with special guests taking part in the event before the official switch on by the players at around 6:45pm.

The Lord Mayor, Councillor Jean Bowers, will also be part of the lights’ switch on. She said: “There is plenty for everyone to enjoy at this year’s event. The Stoke City players bring a touch of Premier League class to the event and I’m sure it will be a huge success.”

Signal Radio Job Cuts!

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By Pits n Pots Reporter

We are getting reports that Signal Radio are looking to axe 2 of their 3 news staff based in Stoke-on-Trent.

UTV Radio who own the 26 year old Stoke-on-Trent radio station are planning on moving their afternoon news production to a ‘News Hub’  in Wigan, where it will be shared with 5 other stations owned by the group, The Wolf in Wolverhampton, Juice FM in Liverpool, Tower in Bolton, Wire in Warrington, and Wish in Wigan.

Michelle Stanistreet, NUJ Deputy General Secretary, said: “News hubbing is a trendy word for cutting and running from the communities that radio stations claim to serve. Having news for six stations run by overworked journalists in Wigan is a recipe for disaster for listeners and workers.”

In a letter the Signal journalists’ have written to Staffordshire & Cheshire MPs asking them to lobby the company they said:

“We need help.
Local news output at Signal Radio is under attack.  Our parent company UTV is proposing Signal’s news out-put comes from a news hub in Wigan during the afternoon. The plan would mean Signal’s newsroom being reduced from an already paltry three journalists to just one.  That one person would read breakfast news bulletins. Bulletins in the afternoon would be pre-recorded and not live. They’d come from a hub in Wigan, 49 miles away from Stoke on Trent. The hub, staffed by six people, would provide bulletins for six stations. Staffing levels at that hub would mean three journalists on afternoon shifts doing bulletins for all six stations.”
The letter went on:

“We believe this plan will be the death of journalism in the UTV Group and more importantly, from our point of view, at Signal.  Signal Radio is a heritage station. It’s been on air for 26 years and used to pride itself on being LOCAL.
“The UTV Group, in a disastrous plan to re-position the station, decided two years ago that it would no longer be local, it would be relevant. This plan didn’t work and listening figures have plummeted by a million hours over the last year.  Now UTV wants to further compound that mistake by wrecking Signal’s local news out put.”
“The company’s latest plan would mean no one in the patch during the afternoon to react to stories. It would mean out of date bulletins being produced by people with little or no knowledge of the area. In short, Signal news, as people have known it over the last 26 years, would cease to exist.  We, along with eight other journalists affected by the hubbing plan in the Group, have already rejected this proposal and come up with counter proposals to save money. Despite on-going consultation on this matter, UTV is pushing ahead with a parallel programme of informing journalists in the Group that they are at risk of redundancy.”
“The National Union of Journalists’ chapel at Signal has voted unanimously for a ballot on possible industrial action.  This is the last thing we want to do. We would rather be serving our listeners as we have for years. Instead, we’re being forced into a corner. We hope you’ll recognise the importance local news plays in any given area and how important it is that Signal maintains a proper local presence. We hope you can support us in our fight to save the newsroom at Signal so we can maintain a strong local backbone for this station.”

The action in Stoke is part of a union-wide campaign against media cutbacks.