Another word on ILR

My thoughts on today's consolidation announcement from Bauer.

Understandably, those who share a love of these heritage brands are mourning their loss. I grew up with Eagle locally and I’ve been lucky enough to know lovely folks at Spire and Spirit amongst other successful local stations that will always hold a special place in my heart.

While posters on radio forums are far from being representative of most listeners (and I’d question how many of them actually listened regularly) obviously there will be genuine sadness among loyal listeners as their favourite presenters leave - every time it happens, an outpouring in texts and on social media. Of course, this is not unique to radio.

Think of Woolworths, Blockbuster and, at a local level, that bakery on the corner or the library.

How DARE they close the library? It’s a disgrace!

Everybody wants to save it regardless of whether or not they used it.

When commercial radio launched in the 70s, heavily regulated with very few stations (generally one in each area), it faced little to no competition from other media.

When celebrating local success, we lose sight of this fact. If you lived on Mars and there was only one chippie, where would you go for your fish and chips?

Interestingly, with most ILR (the overwhelming majority in a few months) part of big groups, the overall reach of these licences has hardly changed since Global and Bauer first rebranded and/or increased networking.

It’s amazing that, in this rapidly advancing world, our great medium is still consumed by some 89% of the population.

Listeners enjoy more choice than ever before thanks to DAB/DAB+ - and commercial radio has never had more listeners than it does today - but this has increased the pressure already on smaller stations from rival media.

Without powerhouses to take on the BBC and new competitors, commercial radio’s future would look pretty bleak - and with the only INR on FM being a classical music station, consolidation was the only option. Global has set the bar high and now Bauer wants a slice of the pie.

Both groups retain quality, balanced multi-platform local journalism which is vital to our democracy and in the fight against fake news. Some believe it’s about doing the bare minimum - if that were the case, they wouldn’t bother with digital content. It’s also good for reach and adds credibility.

While research suggests news is still of strong interest, above all, listeners want to be entertained. Radio as a platform is not the go-to for essential information like it once was.

Ask anyone in the street what they want from a LOCAL radio station and they’ll say “local news, traffic (etc)” - things it is renowned for providing - but if you ask what they want from a radio station generally they’ll say entertaining/interesting output.

Greatest Hits Radio has a strong lineup and fills what was before a surprising gap in the market.

How should community radio respond to Bauer’s decision today?

My thoughts on today's consolidation announcement from Bauer.

Localness & USP

For starters, don't arrogantly assume you’ll attract an audience by default simply because of where your studios are located.

Listeners don’t care about this - they want an engaging station with character that is interesting, makes them smile or think and extends the hand of friendship.

Targeted national brands are successful because they achieve these aims - and community radio also has to, as well as embrace its USP at every opportunity with relevant content that could only have been produced where its audience lives.

Targeting

Have a music policy and target audience - you cannot serve everyone or “the whole family” in 2020. Calvin Harris will not appeal to fans of The Everly Brothers and vice versa.

Define your audience, understand their lives and identify their needs. Specialist shows are appointment listening for niche audiences but you should never lose focus on whoever the product caters for.

Be consistent in standard programming - light and shade with a mix of different genres and energy levels is refreshing, but someone tuning in should know what kind of sound or mood to expect.

When a station sells itself on variety, it's not about quantity, it's about not sounding predictable. A listener doesn't care how many tunes you have in rotation - they just want to hear music they love, often including pleasant, familiar surprises ("spice" tracks).

For operators who might be looking at Greatest Hits Radio and thinking they need to go for an entirely different demographic: you should be aware of the risk - younger listeners are well served and harder to attract, particularly for local radio.

Don’t stop playing the songs your core audience loves just because a new competitor will also be playing them. Lots of stations overlap to an extent because it’s music that’s popular.

Of course, a key point of difference could be your inclusion of suitable new tunes/hits from the last couple of decades as not everyone wants pure nostalgia.

Fundamentally, it's not the songs you don't play that hurt you.

Marketing & Distribution

Don't expect listeners to find you - you need to find them. Get your station onto as many aggregators as possible (e.g. TuneIn or, if Ofcom-licenced, Radioplayer).

Build a social media presence and share your best content (e.g. audiograms are effective visualisation to engage followers or potential followers).

Be visible locally (e.g. attend events or buy/seek permission to display banner ads).

Regulation

While not all broadcasters are serious contenders for revenue, for reasons outlined above, those that are deserve a level playing field and I believe restricting any income above £15k, demanding it is balanced with other sources, is no longer justified where a small commercial station is no longer threatened.

Aaron makes an interesting suggestion:

I think there's an argument to be made for BBC to contribute financially from licence fee to community radio and in return the community radio enhances the connection with communities and provides a proving/learning ground for the personnel of tomorrow.

Given BBC Local Radio covers its own defined regions - most of which, even if producing engaging output, are too large to be considered local in the literal sense of the word - it would make sense for the licence fee payer to subsidise quality hyperlocal public service content and ensure community projects that benefit are providing it supported by professional training.

Bauer's plans for their new acquisitions

Just over a month after the CMA lifted the hold separate for Lincs FM Group, Celador, UKRD and Wireless assets acquired by Bauer Media last year, the company have today announced the integration of these stations into the Hits Radio Brand Network with 48 licences becoming Greatest Hits Radio, 4 taking the Hits Radio format and 3 retaining their local identities.

GHR will be rolled out to all the ex-UKRD and ex-Lincs FM Group licences except their flagships, Pirate FM and Lincs FM respectively, which will remain standalone local stations.

The same goes for all Bauer-owned ex-Breeze/SAM licences apart from SAM Bristol (due to it only being re-awarded by Ofcom 18 months ago) and all ex-Wireless apart from Signal, Pulse and The Wave which are joining the heritage “Big City” stations in the Hits Radio Network.

In addition, as expected, the three instantly acquired by Nation Broadcasting, The Breeze South, SAM FM South and KCFM (due to overlaps with Wave 105 and Viking FM respectively), will enter brand licencing agreements - as Communicorp UK/Quidem have with Global.

SAM and KCFM will join the GHR network and The Breeze will become the first Hits Radio-branded local station outside Manchester.

Bauer will also sell national and regional advertising for all stations formally represented by First Radio Sales, of which it acquired the remaining 50% from Wireless at the beginning of this month having already purchased half as part of the UKRD deal.

Of course, we’ve been here many times before (one of which being just one year ago) and, again, my immediate thoughts are with the many great people part of teams that’ve made strong, proud and successful local radio for many years. What will this mean for them and their families?

This round of consolidation couldn’t come at a bleaker time for us all, both socially and economically. But while it’s a dark patch for all of us affected by COVID-19 and those about to lose a job they love, there’ll be light at the end of the tunnel - even if we can’t see it just yet.

What hasn’t helped is a year of uncertainty caused by the Competition and Markets Authority merger inquiry. First, they said Bauer couldn’t own two Wolverhampton licences and dominate the town’s local radio ad market - then, just a couple of months later, said the overlap was significantly less than it'd considered to be the case initially. What was the CMA looking at before then?

Even so, the refusal to acknowledge digital media as competition shows a distinct lack of understanding of the very market it claims to be protecting. Our great medium is no longer battling itself alone.

Similarly, when Bauer offered to provide national sales representation as First Radio Sales, honouring the terms of deals in-place with clients, it was rejected. Last month, the CMA lifted the "Hold Separate" on the condition that - yes, you guessed it - Bauer will represent all FRS members for the next 10 years on their current terms.

The company has since acquired the remaining 50% from Wireless, now owning it outright. What a waste of time.

I commend FRS - the industry has benefitted hugely from them, and will continue to thrive thanks to the scale of Bauer and Global (both of which have a history of representing stations other than their own).

Turning to strategy, GHR seems a smart move for traditional FM audiences - spectrum is largely occupied by younger music brands (with the exception of mood-driven Classic FM and Smooth) and with these heritage local stations typically attracting older listeners.

I’ll be interested to see how Hits Radio fares outside of Manchester - that’s going to need aggressive marketing, replacing Soft AC with a feeble market share of 1.8%. Good luck, Nation.

Global had clear ambition right from the offset but Bauer always seemed more cautious and keen to retain its stations’ sense of belonging to each metropolitan market while still creating a simple network to sell agencies.

They cite research suggesting a 50/50 split among listeners who want national big-name entertainment and those who particularly value the local aspect. The rollout of Hits Radio felt like a serious possibility pre-pandemic - but, with revenues falling, now is not the time for profitable businesses to take risks.

As for these newly-acquired smaller licences, in addition to the recurring arguments about the pressures of increased digital competition, local ad spend has tanked in the last couple of months and sales teams are furloughed. Sadly, consolidation is in their best interests - now more than ever.

City Talk to speak its last words

Bauer has announced Radio City Talk will close in the coming weeks as it is no longer viable. RadioToday has the story.

Speech is expensive, let alone live programming and the added niche of localness. I’m surprised it lasted this long - having adopted a Soft AC-Talk and later Rock-Talk format, it was essentially BBC Local Radio but with a niche music policy plus ad breaks.

I do salute its achievements, particularly the Hillsborough coverage (including *that* Paul Nuttall interview in which he was challenged over a false claim on his website).

It also marks the end of an era for the legendary Pete Price whose phone-in has aired in Liverpool for almost 40 years, once five nightly but for the last three years weekly on a Sunday.

His show has been broadcast on each of the St John’s Beacon-based stations - 96.7FM, 105.9FM and 1548AM - at various points in its history. It became a Liverpool institution - central to life in the city.

Why don’t they just put it back on Radio City (96.7)?

For the same reason Alan Robson’s Night Owls ended on its sister stations, Metro Radio and TFM, last year. These heritage regional phone-ins are not on-brand for the younger-focused, music-intensive Hits Radio Network.

There's a petition to bring back Alan Robson's Night Owls

I totally understand the strategic decision made last year to axe Alan Robson’s Night Owls on Metro Radio (and TFM) as commercial radio intensifies its battle for audiences and revenues with slick and targeted national brands.

However, at a time when we’re seeking familiarity and many are turning to their favourite presenters for company, it is a shame Alan can’t be by the side of his incredibly loyal listeners having done so for 36 years.

I think there's a case to bring back Night Owls on FM, which is more accessible than DAB and AM. It needs more than just one programme a week. Even if the show isn't "on brand" for the Hits Radio Network.

That would be nice but I can’t see it happening. Sunday-Thursday on Greatest Hits Radio North East would work; possibly Sun FM and/or community stations in the region supported by the Audio Content Fund?

Sunderland's Sun FM? No idea what GHR ratings have been like since Metro dropped the show. The petition won't make any difference.

Now County Durham’s Sun FM too! I don’t have the breakdowns but overall GHR‘s up 25% QoQ, down 55% YoY and Metro‘s remained fairly static QoQ, gone up 2% YoY - not fully representative of course and I’d be very surprised if both haven’t seen a change at night.