It is known across Liverpool as the Radio City tower but that moniker may not be around much longer as the structure hosts its final live broadcast on Christmas Eve.
Microphone cables are being bundled up and heaving contacts books packed into boxes, leaving empty what is arguably the most famous building of the city’s skyline – St Johns Beacon, to use its proper name.
Built in 1969, originally as a luxury revolving restaurant that was one visited by Queen Elizabeth II, the tower was listed Grade II in 2020, with Historic England describing it as “embodying the technological bravura and spirit of the space age”.
All these local radio stations being rebranded as “Hits Radio” is quite sad. Instead of every area having their own unique station identity, we’ve now got these very generic, bland stations. I think many are controlled from the same place and broadcast the same music at the same time but then have DJs for each local station.
It’s kind of like a local, well loved brand that’s been around for decades gets bought by some nation wide company and turns it to shit.
They’re mostly very, very, very automated.
Any human that can possibly be replace with a server, or multiple humans replaced with one central one, they’ve done it.
It’s a tricky industry I think.
We’re seeing about a 4% year on year decline in FM listeners if I remember correctly. Advertisers like metrics that radio can’t deliver. Spotify and YouTube are the main winners.
I still run a volunteer run community station and we’re able to break even, but with power bills over $1,000 a month plus insurances and other fees, it’s not so easy. We’re still having fun though :)
It’s really, really hard to get a licence to broadcast in the uk, so there’s really very few radio stations that reflect modern music tastes outside of large city centres
I still listen to radio, however its almost all online radio.
Modern Pop, 2000’s Pop, 90’s Pop, 80’s Pop, just really don’t interest me or anyone else in my family, however its the vast majority of the radio.
Soma FM for me.
I listen to Radio Fip from France, that’s pretty fantastic
Other than the liver building, radio city tower has to be the most iconic part of the Liverpool skyline.
It was definitely the first thing I noticed when I arrived by train for the first time years ago
I wonder what will move in next, I’m glad to see it’s listed
Maybe nothing. It was dormant for years. When they wired it up they ruined its ability to ever rotate ever again. St John’s Precinct had gone to shit and they have no money, so unless they can funnel their ridiculous cash cow of a car park into fixing it up and putting a restaurant back in there, I can’t see anything happening in it.
There was a rumour about it being turned into a Weatherspoon’s. I hope not.
I did the gallery tour last time I was there. That was nice. Maybe the owner can continue to operate tours, it could remain quite lucrative in the tourism season. Liverpool has no shortage of visitors. Just keep maintaining the lifts and it will take care of itself.
