NME's digital radio station will go head to head with Xfm in London and Manchester when it broadcasts on FM later this year.
DX Media-owned NME Radio, which launched in June, will air on FM in London from October 6 to November 2, and in Manchester from November 10 to December 7.
The two temporary broadcast licences will pitch the digital station against rival indie music station Xfm, owned by Global Radio.
Sammy Jacob, the DX Media managing director, knows plenty about Xfm - he launched the original London station in 1997.
Xfm grew to a four-strong stable around the country, but the south Wales station was sold off earlier this year and the Scottish station is being rebranded as part of Global's Galaxy dance network.
NME Radio is available via digital TV and the internet. It is in negotiations to secure a berth on digital audio broadcasting (DAB) radio next year.
It will not get a permanent FM berth, however. The temporary licences - broadcasting on 87.7 FM - are to publicise the digital service and bring it to a wider audience.
Its first official listening figures will be published in the next Rajar results, for the third quarter of 2008, on October 16.
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