UK Commercial radio navel-gazing itself into oblivion

DMC

How are the Brits making a hames of their commercial sector? I know the BBC are wiping the floor with them, but if you look at here, local radio is king.

Is it too much consolidation and reliance on the same tired formulaic way, or is it just whining for not being inventive enough?

UK commercial radio 'dying out'

http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2009/mar/19/uk-commercial-radio
Chris Tryhorn
guardian.co.uk, Thursday 19 March 2009 15.49 GMT

Commercial radio could die out within 15 to 20 years as advertising revenues dwindle, the MediaGuardian Changing Media Summit heard today.

Claire Enders, the founder of Enders Analysis, made the prediction, pointing to the large number of radio stations in the UK that are currently unprofitable.

She said revenues from classified, online and search advertising all outstripped those from radio, and that advertising agencies were tuning out of the medium.

"There is a next generation of people in agencies who are not that keen on radio," she said.

"There has been a dramatic change in the position of radio in the last 10 years, dramatic even though consumption has not been affected as much as newspaper consumption."

She said that outside the BBC, radio would not be commercially viable and was therefore likely to end up solely in the form of "hobbyist" models such as podcasts.

Matt Wells, the Guardian's head of audio, agreed that the commercial radio sector appeared to be in terminal decline.

"We are witnessing the slow death of commercial radio in this country due to a number of factors, [including] the complete failure to grasp the digital nettle," he said.

"The proposition for consumers of digital TV is completely transformative compared to analogue TV. The same cannot be said of digital radio.

"And now the worst advertising recession we have ever seen means that commercial radio is on its last legs.

"If people running commercial radio do not recognise that, we are in worse trouble than I thought."

He added that local radio was "finished".

But Clive Dickens, the chief operating officer of Absolute Radio – formerly Virgin – said commercial radio would remain viable, although he conceded there would be casualties.

"There are a significant number of radio stations in our business that are not profitable and are not going to make it through the next two years," Dickens said.

"The investment in the relationship you have with the audience will define whether you stay in business.

"It's not about the sector or structure of business, it's about the audience's relationship with those brands and that content."

Radio companies needed to diversify their revenue model away from a reliance on spot advertising, he said.

The early development of digital radio by the commercial sector – now dominated by privately owned groups such as Global, Bauer and Absolute, whose parent company is the Times of India Media group – had failed to deliver what customers wanted, he added.

"As an operator who has been in the sector with this brand for five months, [I would say] a whole range of failed models – plc models – have failed to grasp what consumers wanted: extended choice not upgraded sets," he said.

"Greater choice in the first seven years [of digital radio] came from the BBC. As someone operating for five months, I say watch this space."

mike65

Never listened to it so can't pass comment, is it the same mix of local news/opinion death notices and MOR?

netron

i live in the uk and i can confirm that it is nothing but unadulterated rubbish with idiotic presenters.

Today FM is like BBC Radio 4 by comparision.


thats why i bought a wireless internet radio - nothing but irish stations for me.

DMC

mike65 wrote: »

is it the same mix of local news/opinion death notices and MOR?

No, think of it as Dublin's 98 x 1000 minus the need for local news.

Its the one saving grace of Irish local radio, that there is the 20% news/talk quota. It gives regional identity and discusses local issues. Might not be completely to all tastes, but at least there is a semblance of its place.

Instead the Brits have "Radio Downtown ****ing Burbank"

DMC

Mike, a challenge for ye and your Logik wifi radio...

Here are the top 5 stations in London..

Magic 105.4
Heart 106.2
Capital 95.8
Kiss 100
LBC 97.3

Aside from the last station, LBC, which is news/talk... see if you can find any discernable difference in style, presentation and output of the top 3.

thebigcheese22

I used to listen to TalkSport in the past, it had great presenters like Charlie Wolff, James Whale, Mike Dikkin etc - now most of them are gone/fired/dead!
It's only saving grace nowadays is George Galloway and hes not everyone's taste.

deadhead13

TalkSport is now the closest thing to tabloid radio you can get. It is dire.

netron

DMC wrote: »

No, think of it as Dublin's 98 x 1000 minus the need for local news.

Its the one saving grace of Irish local radio, that there is the 20% news/talk quota. It gives regional identity and discusses local issues. Might not be completely to all tastes, but at least there is a semblance of its place.

Instead the Brits have "Radio Downtown ****ing Burbank"

isnt there also a requirement for irish stations to broadcast a certain percentage of Irish music? that also makes irish stations stand out. stops them turning into Radio Downtown ****ing Burbank clones.

thebigcheese22

deadhead13 wrote: »

TalkSport is now the closest thing to tabloid radio you can get. It is dire.

+ 1

DMC

netron wrote: »

isnt there also a requirement for irish stations to broadcast a certain percentage of Irish music? that also makes irish stations stand out. stops them turning into Radio Downtown ****ing Burbank clones.

There sure is, but over the last 15 years much of that quota has been filled by Boyzone/Westlife. Aslan has always been a popular favourite of the Dublin stations.

mike65

When in doubt play Aslan!

I'll check those stations above, but they are for all of London so I frankly would'nt expect much "local" content - thats for community stations in a capital of 7 million.