BBC 6 Music and XFM added to NTL Digital

There's good news for the capital's rock starved masses with NTL Dublin adding BBC 6 Music and XFM to the radio stations that are available as part of its €11.50 a month Go Digital package.

Listeners still mourning the (hopefully temporary) loss of Phantom FM will be heartened to hear that this week's 6 Music A-List comprises Frank Black & The Catholics, Black Rebel Motorycle Club, The Coral, The Dandy Warhols, Grandaddy, Hot Hot Heat, Jane's Addiction, Kings Of Leon, McKay, Radiohead, The Raveonettes, The Roots feat. Musiq, Super Furry Animals, Supergrass and UNKLE.

It's the same story at London's XFM where the likes of Thom, Courtney and Gruff also rule the roost.

Although still early days for them here, the station's online, cable and DAB digital radio services have seen XFM become a force throughout the UK.

"Our latest figures show that we have 440,000 people in London tuned to our main 104.9 service, and 170,000 outside who are mainly listening online and through cable operators," reveals XFM Managing Director Graham Bryce. "It's a significant proportion which will increase as DAB receivers become more widespread. XFM was originally a local service but we're now on an inexorable path to becoming a national player."

What about international?

"We're already planning a tour for next year which will take in all the major where we can be heard, and I'd expect that to include Dublin," Bryce continues. "In the meantime, Irish bands who want to send us records and get involved with our XFM Unsigned competition are very welcome to do so by writing to us at 30 Leicester Square, London WC2H 7LA or logging on to www.xfm.co.uk."

It may be of some concern to 2FM and Today FM that BBC Radio One's recent hemorrhaging of listeners has been jointly attributed to the launch of Smash Hits Radio, a digital-only service that has 800,000 listeners, and London's Kiss FM who reckon that 40% of their 2.6 million audience are tuning in via-cable and the 'net.

"Give DAB 10 years to take off properly in Ireland and 2FM, as it is now, won't exist," maintains a record company source. "We're seeing the end of broadcasting and a move towards narrowcasting which can only benefit listeners who currently can't find what they want on the radio."

If you want visuals to go with the music, NTL Dublin have also added four music video channels to its digital package – the indie-minded MTV 2, the even more indie-minded The Amp, the urban Flaunt and Scuzz which specialises in punk and metal.