Greatest Hits Radio to go on Aire

Bauer has announced plans to replace Radio Aire with Greatest Hits Radio as part of the brand’s national roll-out in seven weeks time.

It first broadcast to Leeds on 94.6 FM and 828 AM (362m) on 1st September 1981 before moving to 96.3 in 1986, and will rebrand on its 39th birthday.

Transdiffusion · Radio Aire launch 1 September 1981

The station split its FM and medium-wave frequencies in 1990 to create Radio Aire FM (later Aire FM) and Magic 828.

Five years later, both stations were acquired by EMAP and Aire joined the Big City Network (later Bauer City 1 and The Hits Radio Network).

Since 2017, daytime programming has been networked from Hits Radio (formerly Key 103) in Manchester (including drivetime as of last autumn) with weekday breakfast being the only local show.

Come September, the station will broadcast the network breakfast show from Liverpool but retain a regional weekday drivetime programme, the presenter of which is yet to be announced.

It also means 96.3 FM, 828 AM (assuming it doesn’t close beforehand) and 106.8 FM in Wakefield (currently Ridings FM) will all share the same programming.

There’s a slight overlap with both 1278 AM for Bradford and 1530 AM for Huddersfield (currently Pulse 2) - but, again, it probably won’t be long before these MW transmitters are switched off.

I would’ve suggested the smaller Wakefield license becomes Hits Radio - but the transition to GHR is already underway, making that unthinkable. It’s better to have more coverage than less after all - and local content/ads can be split.

It comes just after the station hit a record low in RAJAR (Q1 2020) having lost half its audience in six years, down from a weekly reach of 114,000 to just 57,000. Share has fallen by 55% since 2014.

It’s clearly the right time for a change - CHR isn’t working (even with heritage local branding), so it performs a US-style format flip from playing The Biggest Hits, The Biggest Throwbacks to The Greatest Hits of the 70s, 80s and 90s.

Looking at Bauer’s local/regional strategy overall, prioritising the older brand and appealing to an underserved demographic, who are generally loyal consumers of traditional radio services, in a younger-dominant marketplace makes sense.

While Hits Radio has some strong personalities across the network, particularly at breakfast, could these heritage FM stations be set for an older future?

What’s happening to my local radio station?

There came a time when it was necessary for the good old-fashioned British High Street to look beyond the butcher, the baker and the candlestick maker - and what’s happening in commercial radio, to some extent, mirrors the trajectory of other consumer-focused industries.

As retail chains offering lower prices began to grow and people became enticed by the slick styling of larger organisations, it became harder for independent outlets to compete - just as both broadcast radio (via DAB/online) and new digital media are offering more choice nationally than ever before, putting pressure on local stations.

In recent years, certainly in the last few months due to COVID, online shopping has been on the rise. High Street chains are feeling the impact and consequently cut costs by closing stores and making employees redundant - in the same way content delivery in commercial radio is moving further away from the listener’s location to ensure it survives in a digital world.

Of course, many people still value local and want to support the local economy - but there are now more ways to reach potential customers than just the traditional shop.

Petersfield Community Radio has been producing a daily podcast throughout lockdown delivering important information together with the voices and stories of our community to keep residents in-touch with local life.

It’s been hugely popular - and no antenna required, which wouldn’t have been possible 30 years ago.

It proves that locally-focused audio content is still highly valued by many - and a transmitter is no longer necessary to deliver it. It’s far more cost-effective without.

Hyperlocal is the best way to proceed. I say this not only due to success in Petersfield (or Shaftesbury), but because the strongest and best-performing local radio stations in all sectors cover small patches. The content is more likely to be relevant to me and less likely to be available elsewhere.

That’s not to say a linear community station on FM/DAB/online can’t be successful. If you’re providing a relevant service and don’t exist purely as an anorak trainset and/or to recreate a bygone era of radio. A service with what I like to call the three C’s:

• Consistency: you cannot appeal to "everyone" - know your target listener, understand their lifestyle and ensure your music policy, speech content and overall offering is tailored to their needs at all times.

• Community: embrace your point of difference with interesting, engaging content relevant to a hyperlocal audience - and involve them.

• Companionship: friendly voices (presenters and/or guests) who know the patch and can make someone smile and laugh or stop and think.

In my view, legal/compliance training should be compulsory for anyone broadcasting on an Ofcom-licensed station (and a priority for online-only organisations). In Petersfield, all volunteers are required to partake in an annual session led by radio consultant and media law expert Paul Chantler.

Your station doesn’t have to be live. It doesn’t even need premises (as COVID-19 has shown). Ensuring the output is interesting and/or entertaining is the single most important thing.

You can create an enjoyable experience for the listener while saving a fortune in running costs. As James Cridland says, real and relevant is far more important than live and local.

I’m a firm believer that interactive live broadcasting, where the fact it’s happening right now makes the programme what it is, is unique and irreplaceable - a phone-in, quiz, special event etc or a social media live stream won’t be going out of fashion anytime soon, but, at times, liveness doesn’t actually add anything.

Another point - should you pursue the traditional ad-funded model? It’s not easy to make a success of. Could you partner with local organisations to maximise resources? If you can prove you’re serving a genuine need, why not apply for grants and/or crowdfund?

Podcasts and other digital media are new competition for commercial radio, making it increasingly more challenging for a standalone local station to be economically viable.

What’s more, we’ve never had so many national DAB/online choices and consumer habits are generally more varied and less loyal to a single outlet than ever before.

Not to mention that COVID-19 has caused additional problems for advertising revenue across the board with smaller stations/groups being hit hardest - hence Bauer’s plan to integrate their recent purchases into networks being put into practice pretty sharpish.

Consolidation with today’s tech means each licence can retain local content, such as news (compulsory with predominantly networked programming), travel and what’s on info, while ensuring the station is sustainable and able to thrive longer term in an increasingly competitive marketplace.

Hopefully Bauer’s strong commitment to local news will mean journalists are retained in each TSA to provide the highest quality, most efficient hyperlocal coverage - and, again, station premises aren’t required to allow for this.

I think Greatest Hits Radio has real potential against the younger brands available elsewhere on the dial, given that traditional local radio typically attracts predominantly middle-aged/older adults.

That said, it’s always incredibly sad to see some top people leave the industry not by their own choice and every job represents a livelihood.

The good news is talent can use radio as a platform to build a following before going on to achieve bigger and better things with that established audience (e.g. podcasting/digital live streaming).

People always say they love the local radio station but will also claim to support the independent coffee shop in town before delightedly venturing out to Starbucks for a Frappuccino.

In the future, who’s to say local radio won’t see increased demand from consumers - like the local butcher and baker? (Maybe not the candlestick maker...)

End of an era for satellite networking

Probably the last ever network show distribution via satellite for UK commercial radio yesterday, as the Wireless Local stations take Greatest Hits Radio programming outside breakfast from today.

It’s the end of an era having been used since the launch of SMS (Satellite Media Services) in 1989, replacing landlines. The channel carried 3 audio feeds for many years:

• one with both IRN 1 (left) and IRN 2 (right)

• two separate stereo channels used by various networks over the years including TLRC, GMG and, most recently, Wireless Group as well as for syndicated shows such as The Pepsi Chart, Smash Hits, The A List, the one-off UK Radio Aid and the overnight sustaining service The Superstation

Today, IRN 1 and IRN 2 are operated by Sky News with the one remaining stereo channel now no longer required as the Big Top 40 is Global-only and Wireless Local is integrated into Greatest Hits Radio. Both groups use IP.

In the weird and wonderful world of DAB, D1, SDL and BBC NDRA are all fed to TX sites by Arqiva using two satellites.

Don't pre-judge

I’m always puzzled by comments about national radio brands from angry folk who’ve clearly never even heard the station in question. It’s like suggesting a football match is obviously going to be "terrible" or "dull" simply because the ball wasn’t made 10 minutes down the road.

Understandably, some will be genuinely upset (and job losses are grim) but things move on.

A small minority of people - who dismiss a station and conclude that it can’t be any good (without having heard it) because it’s not coming from their town and have no understanding of business/fail to recognise the challenges facing the industry - bashing a keyboard or clicking a petition won’t achieve anything. It’s happened and it’ll keep happening.

Whether or not something is a good listen isn’t determined by where the presenter is sat. Relevant content doesn’t have to be local - often, it isn’t.

Don’t get me wrong, it’s great to see their passion and local radio still means a lot to people, but there’ll be many others who are satisfied with the new product (music, features, personalities) and stick with it or even start listening - not to mention that each licence will retain local news/travel bulletins and they’ll still be expected to react on-air to a major event in a timely manner.

Bauer has a strong commitment to local news so hopefully hyperlocal journalists will be kept so they can keep across each area efficiently.

Greatest Hits Radio is more likely to appeal to a typical listener of these local stations than a CHR brand. I think it'll be popular - with the exception of Smooth, it's largely young(er) brands on FM nationally.

Loving the tunes Bauer

Views on networking aside, I’m seeing a largely positive reaction to the Greatest Hits Radio playlist on UKRD stations - who’d have thought older listeners to local radio would rather hear Diana Ross or Stealers Wheel than Jax Jones or Nathan Dawe?!

Of course, the idea this audience doesn’t like anything older than 1999 is complete baloney, but for these stations there has been a noticeable shift away from those core eras towards playing more recent songs overall, which I think was a mistake, as some classics were moved to the decade spin-off stations.

You should never hear two unfamiliar currents back-to-back on an AC format - better to have the clock positions more varied so you keep coming back to those core songs that listeners love and expect, peppered with surprises.

The music has changed but on Mix, Spirit etc it’s like the same songs on a loop - GHR, however good or bad, do play a decent amount of variety but that will change shortly when the stations are more integrated to GHR.

I must admit, I haven’t really listened to any station in transition to Greatest Hits Radio but I know the next phase (imaging and features) is starting soon. Tight rotation of the most popular songs is standard ahead of a rebrand to give listeners the best possible flavour of what’s to come.

No censorship - unless we want to censor it

Johnny Depp’s libel case against The Sun and its executive editor, Dan Wootton, has commenced at the High Court today.

Wootton began his talkRADIO show this afternoon by declaring it a "no censorship" zone. Now, no-one is expecting him or anyone else to comment on a live court case, but surely the station is running this story in its news bulletins (as the BBC, Global and others have done)? Of course not! I call that "censorship".

In 2015, Global advised its stations not to report on the HSBC scandal - in which the bank’s Swiss arm helped wealthy customers conceal millions of dollars in assets and dodge taxes - for "editorial reasons".

A name is what you make of it

All credit to Global for its continued success, having built up Capital as a powerhouse national CHR brand.

I didn't understand why this particular name was rolled out across the country in the first place. Galaxy was growing and other heritage stations were rebranded without hesitation. Capital didn’t mean anything outside London.

Fast-forward nine years and the word is now synonymous with youth, trends and hit music - proving the point that a name is what you make of it and the strength of a brand is down to how you pitch it.

We are the capital of hit music, that's how we view the brand.

BBC Local cuts: here we go again

The BBC is to cut 139 jobs in Local Radio as it keeps the standardised schedule format introduced in March and creates a new network late show.

Gutted for the many trusted voices and their teams. I just hope the many loyal older listeners about to lose their favourite presenter(s) will continue to feel welcome and heard by the new network shows.

Local radio is expensive but could be more cost-effective with fewer managers and smaller, equally committed, teams.

I wholeheartedly support BBC LR but it mustn’t lose focus on the core 50+ demographic and certainly mustn't think it can serve everyone with some hybrid music & content policy. Even further decline would result in calls to axe which I wouldn’t want to see.

While quality local news and information is a hugely valued aspect, in order to thrive, it ultimately needs to be a true friend of those who value it most.

In February 2020, when Storm Dennis hit, not only did Radio York and Radio Leeds share the latest fact-checked information such as travel news and official advice from the authorities, they put an arm around listeners with reassuring words.

See also this moving letter from an elderly listener sent to Radio Solent after he passed away to say how much his favourite station meant to him, this heart-breaking account from Radio Cornwall and the Make a Difference campaign, including offering free DAB radio sets to vulnerable people over 70.

There’s also never been a better time for more collaboration with community radio, especially where the BBC station covers a large region and is unable to do hyperlocal in the same way. After all, vital public service output is precisely the purpose your licence fee serves.

Community Media Association members have been given free access to BBC content this year. Equally, when quality audio is produced by a community project (including those with no FM/DAB broadcast), the BBC can broadcast it. I believe partnering with local organisations generally is key to CR success.