I see that there has been another announcement that Bauer has bought UKRD to add to the Lincs FM group, Celador Radio and Wireless Group local stations.
Consolidation continues in the commercial radio world.
I don't think it leaves any other sizable groups to be bought in the UK now, it's all either Global or Bauer.
There's also Nation Broadcasting, which although still relatively small, it has acquired several radio stations recently, including some which Bauer had to sell following the acquisition of Celador.
Nope. Nation, Quidem and KMFM but otherwise that's it.
The CMA are looking into the acquisitions, but apart from Yorkshire I can't see too many major issues.
Surely there’s a reducing in competition. Hallam FM covers the whole of South Yorkshire and they have acquired lincs FM radio stations which cover Barnsley, Doncaster & Rotherham so in these areas there’s potentially a reduction in local broadcasting especially if they do start consolidating or using national networks for majority of the programming with breakfast and drive time being local only.
I see that there has been another announcement that Bauer has bought UKRD to add to the Lincs FM group, Celador Radio and Wireless Group local stations.
Consolidation continues in the commercial radio world.
I don't think it leaves any other sizable groups to be bought in the UK now, it's all either Global or Bauer.
There's also Nation Broadcasting, which although still relatively small, it has acquired several radio stations recently, including some which Bauer had to sell following the acquisition of Celador.
There are quite a few in the industry assuming that Nation will have a similar relationship to Bauer that Communicorp has to Global, so Nation’s stations could carry Bauer brands and networked programming, allowing Bauer to extend its networks into areas where competition rules would otherwise not allow them.
JM
JamesM0984
It really is quite a portfolio now and they're going to have to get the house in order now to compete effectively given their recent shopping spree.
Here's what I'd do - reorganize the locals into 4 brands:
Gem - main Hot AC Network... rolled out onto FM locals where there's not a "City 1" station already, as well as Wave 105, 105.2 West Mids and 105.8 London. Yes, it means blowing up Absolute but Gem will need an FM presence in London. I'd prefer Heat but it's too confusing when it comes to RAJAR diaries.
Kiss - main CHR Network... rolled out onto the "City 1" stations in the North and Midlands.
Magic - main Soft AC Network... used for AM locals and second FM licenses in rural markets (e.g. Compass FM, Signal 2). Would also be used on Pirate FM's frequencies in Cornwall as I feel it would be a more successful brand than Gem there and provide an alternative to Heart.
Greatest Hits - AM where all three brands are on FM (e.g. West Midlands) with local DAB fill in elsewhere. Possibly acquire a London AM to give this an analogue presence in the capital.
Absolute, Scala, Jazz FM - national DAB.
(Close Planet Rock and Absolute spinoffs. Maybe reinvest those savings into a talk station to go up against R4/5L/LBC.)
Et voila, a lean mean portfolio with 7 great brands.
:-(
A former member
Close Absolute spin off? are you mad? Absolute 80s has some of the highest numbers. Its bad enough you ripping out the old names,. Heck people on here would dearly love to get the old ITV names back even if the same crap programme were still going out.
JM
JamesM0984
To be honest, I'd save Abs80s and Kisstory. But you have to be careful about cannibalising your own audiences.
But on the names you've just summed it up - "people on here." You and i are not normal in that regard. Global have proved over the past decade that whilst you get a little short term flack on social media, it eventually goes away and people accept the new brands. Yes, I know Heart Scotland is down from amazing Real Radio numbers but it's also far more profitable today.
Closing Planet Rock is also madness. This is a station that was nearly closed by GCap Media and was saved by millionnaire Malcolm Bluemel who kept the station running (and lost a lot of money!) until he sold it to Bauer.
Close Absolute spin off? are you mad? Absolute 80s has some of the highest numbers. Its bad enough you ripping out the old names,. Heck people on here would dearly love to get the old ITV names back even if the same crap programme were still going out.
To be fair it's not James who's going to ripping out the old names, he's just saying how he would execute it.
Last edited by Jon on 6 March 2019 12:02am
JM
JamesM0984
If you keep Planet Rock I feel Abs Classic Rock should go; again, an example of two stations cannibalising each other's listeners.
If you keep Planet Rock I feel Abs Classic Rock should go; again, an example of two stations cannibalising each other's listeners.
The two rock stations complement each other, ACR plays the popular radio friendly classics, while Planet Rock is more specialist. In any case, Absolute's spin-off stations boost the overall share of the brand.
The difference with them is that they didn't compete with each other in an area, except for the timeshare in London.
Radio is different, there are several stations in any one area. In the big cities there could be now 2 Bauer and 2 Global stations competing and previous acquisitions have led to stations being sold to maintain some plurality. Giving one company a near monopoly on terrestrial radio is unlikely to happen.
With those two merged there isn't a Channel 4/5. Sky equivalent in radio. The only rivals will be the few non global/Bauer DAB stations and those owned by Wireless. That's not enough to provide competition especially on a local level
Last edited by Inspector Sands on 6 March 2019 6:19am - 6 times in total