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.

Spotify takes aim at radio - again

Following the publication of Spotify's Q1 2020 financial results, CEO Daniel Ek and CFO Paul Vogel took questions from analysts on a conference call.

Ek was clear that its competition is more wide-ranging than just other streaming services:

Both short and long term, we are always thinking about Spotify’s role within the larger ecosystem. While most (external) focus is on competition between streaming services, we continue to be focused on the billions of users who are listening to linear radio.

He repeatedly suggested the big audio trend of the next two decades is a move from linear to on-demand, following on from former CEO Barry McCarthy's line in September 2018:

The 20-year trend here is linear dies, everything on-demand wins.

Of course, this would be the equivalent of Amazon suggesting shops will cease to exist as a result of online orders increasing - an ideal scenario for them.

If the in-store experience disappeared completely, which will obviously never happen, it would be a matter of days before someone somewhere thinks "hey, why don't we open a shop?"

Spotify believe the move from linear to on-demand will be accelerated by the COVID-19 pandemic. I would suggest radio streaming figures and listener interaction across the board tell a different story.

We should not underestimate Spotify which will continue to grow, rapidly, as an audio platform.

While on-demand will continue to reach new heights, and radio brands will need to expand and take advantage of this going forward, it will never destroy the concept of live, interactive and relevant audio or video.

How long before Spotify backtrack on this rhetoric and decide to go for a slice of the pie themselves?

I'd put money on it.

No travel news is good news

There's the point about how "drivetime" doesn't work when no-one's driving. I say it's jargon anyway so good riddance to the term! But maybe we should go a step further?

I was listening to a local commercial radio station the other day and heard two sponsored travel bulletins - at 5:20pm and 5:40pm, as always.

Given that nobody, except key workers, is using the roads at the moment, both benchmarks were just a straightforward "all clear, nothing to mention but get in touch if you spot a problem!"

Doesn't it sound ridiculous saying that every 20 minutes on every weekday?

Why not just mention anything significant ordinarily for the minority who are commuting (while continuing to run sponsor tags if necessary)?

Put the easy revenue or opportunity to crowbar in a few local place names to one side and think about your listeners.

Do they benefit from regular empty updates in these irregular times with very little traffic? Or are they merely meaningless interruptions right now?

Introducing... VolunteerVT

Inevitably, in light of this crisis, gaps are developing in some community radio schedules.

Many volunteer presenters are rightly prioritising their day jobs and/or don’t have the necessary equipment to present their shows from home.

It’s a crucial time for radio to be entertaining and informing but some stations are struggling to recruit people to do it.

Local content is needed and if it’s ready-made it can be produced from anywhere, for anywhere, as networking and newsroom "hubbing" has shown.

I've been working on a new platform which might help... introducing, VolunteerVT!

If you’re a presenter working remotely and willing to volunteer for community radio, sign up free of charge and let stations know you’re available.

Ofcom rejects XS Manchester to Capital XTRA request

Ofcom has rejected Communicorp UK's format change request for XS Manchester in order for them to replace it with Capital XTRA on 106.1 FM.

Under the proposal, the licence's character of service would change from:

A rock and speech service for 35-64 year olds, with a strong commitment to local news, current affairs and interactive debate. Peak time programming will include a substantial amount of relevant speech.

to:

An urban contemporary music service featuring music of an Afro-Caribbean origin.

In a lengthy response, the regulator noted that "although the proposed change would significantly alter the programming output, this was acceptable in policy terms".

However, more than 70 individuals and organisations took part in the consultation with 97% opposed to the proposed changes and Ofcom now considers the impact of the character of the service change to be "greater" than first thought.

Formerly Rock Radio and Real XS, and one of the most niche radio formats still operating commercially in the UK today, XS Manchester has long championed the city's local music scene with substantial local speech requirements.

Positive as its work in the community may be, that distinctiveness has meant it's always been loss-making - a fact that appears to have been overlooked by Ofcom.

Other format change requests over the years which have garnered huge responses, including from campaign groups, were still approved. What is different in this instance?

If anything, lack of viability alone should guarantee the licensee a fresh start.

Communicorp UK told RadioToday it plans to operate XS Manchester as normal, but I don't see how that can happen without significant cuts.