Is Cheese Back in Fashion?

Is the current Magic 105.4 ad for their Mystery Voices any better than the current Capital ad?

It actually reminds me a bit of those old cheesy 1980's Birthday Bonanza ads from Capital!

Capital FM's "Jingle Bell Ball"

Christmas time is busy enough for most radio stations without the added excitement of putting together a big, multi-act concert for listeners. But this week, that’s exactly what Capital FM in London did, as they staged the ‘Jingle Bell Ball’.

The line-up was pretty good with the likes of Rihanna, Pussycat Dolls, Sugababes, Anastasia, James Blunt, James Morrison... the list goes on. And the venue... well, you can’t really get a better venue in London than The O2.

But what do big shows like this do for a radio station? Are they worth the effort? Are they worth the cost? And what’s the strategy behind them?

Many of you will remember (or have heard of) the legendary “Party in the Park” that Capital staged every summer for many years in London’s Hyde Park. A day-long event, right in the centre of London’s biggest outdoor space with multiple artists, all performing a few songs each in front of around 100,000 people. The point of it was 2 fold; first - to act as a massive marketing event for the radio station... and second, to drive audience and TSL via on air ticket giveaways.

Party in the Park as an event came to a end in the early 2000’s, as the UK was swamped with both one-day and weekend festivals. The typical commercial radio listener was being tempted by more and more live music events and perhaps the cosy and safe environment of a once unique type of multi-artist event started to look a little pedestrian, particularly as the music cycle started to swing away from ‘mainstream hits’. The “2000’s” was when normal people started going to Glastonbury... not just crusty environmentalists drinking cider from a bucket whilst keeping hold of a dog on a string.

However, with a flash and a bang (and a few whooshes), it seems we’ve returned to the good ole days, with the Jingle Bell Ball repeating the classic formula. Will it work the second time round? We shall see. But a few things we do know.

Go Large
Capital devoted a massive amount of airtime in promoting the event. During the last few weeks to the run-up, every top of hour, every piece of production and pretty much every time you turned on, you heard about it. Even the most casual P2 listener will have picked up on the fact something exciting was going on!

Line-up is Everything
Deals were done, arms were twisted, favours were called in and every record label was cajoled to provide their best act for the show because, line-up is everything. If you don’t get the line-up right and it looks and sounds a bit ‘half-baked’, then the event will never catch the imagination of the public. I think Capital did a great job on the line-up. A good mix of genres and styles... both US and UK (and let’s not forget Danish!!) and enough ‘big names’ to warrant the level of hype.

The On Air Experience
Ensuring the listener at home is not forgotten in all the excitement is pretty important. Yes, it’s a live stage show, but you can create great radio shows out of these things if you try. The build up show with Greg Burns and Margherita Taylor was just brilliant, and extremely well produced. As a listener, I felt right at the centre of the action. Actually the build up show was a lot better than the show that followed. I expected the ‘whole thing’ to be live on air, with DJ’s breaking away from the main stage at suitable moments or at turn-around times for guest interviews, but instead we got the edited highlights and ‘recorded earlier’ moments. It wasn’t bad... it’s just that when I tuned in at 7pm, I wanted to hear the big stage opening, instead of 3 in a row of London’s Most Wanted songs! But all in all, the on air experience of the event was a good one.

Spin Off Content
This is where the Capital team really delivered something special on this occasion. Take a look at the website and all the different bit of ‘spin off’ content there is for you to view and listen to. Video is as important as audio and although it isn’t cheap to hire the production facilities, it’s worthwhile when you look at some of the quality output. From photos galleries, to listener pictures; podcasts to merchandise for sale; blogs to forums... the line extension from the initial product (a stage show) is tremendous and a good demonstration of what you can do when you plan to extend your primary proposition and maximise the potential of the event.

So... was it all worth it? Well, there’s no doubt that Capital put on a great show and should be congratulated for that. It has attempted to signal a new found confidence in the once mighty station and certainly shows that Global Radio are prepared to invest heavily in the Capital brand to get it back on track. How long that investment can continue in the current trading climate is another question. And how deep are the investors pockets?

Meanwhile, don’t be surprised if we see a return to some of the other things that made Capital famous in the 80’s and 90’s. We’ve already got the US voiceover back. So the ‘Birthday Game’ anyone? Or what about a big multi-artist event in the middle of summer... in a park... a kind of party in a park if you like... Now there’s an idea.

Only 'Special' People Need Apply...

"It takes a special kind of person to consistently rise early and give the public the level of entertainment they expect each morning. Denise requested the opportunity to break her contract immediately and we obliged."

I quote from GCap’s statement on the departure of Capital Breakfast co-host Denise Van Outen.

So… no love lost there then? I thought the implication that Denise hasn’t got what it takes to get up in the morning and therefore isn’t very “special” was a little harsh, but hey… she started it by asking to leave!

But what next for once impregnable Breakfast Show for Capital Radio, London?

In my view, the show sounded much better with a strong female co-host. Johnny was less dominant and ‘the girls’ had someone to take their side / reflect their views. Lisa Snowdon who’s morphed from being “guest co host” to just featuring as “Capital Breakfast with Johnny Vaughan and Lisa Snowdon” started off a little static, but has warmed up as she’s got more ‘flying time’ under her belt.

Will she be the obvious choice as replacement? Will they get another co-host at all? And how will the audience react to another change to the station? Trying not to fiddle with your morning show too much is one of the cardinal rules, so I anticipate a little bit of churn as a result of her departure and the arrival of someone new. And accepting the job of co-host to Johnny is a little bit of a poison chalice really. Becky Jago… Zoe Hanson… and now Denise Van Outen have all ‘left the building’. Maybe they should go for Neil Fox next??

We shall see in due course what the Plan B was, however it had been rumoured for some time that keeping Denise at Capital was going to be tricky come the end of her contract. Looks like we didn’t have top wait that long!

It’s worth noting that Denise’s agents refute the allegation also included in the GCap statement that the early starts were impacting on Denise’s health, and are apparently seeking legal advice! Just wanted to make that clear!!! Denise is fit and well everyone. Although ITV1's “Who Dares Sings” is enough to put anyone in a coma…

'Networking' - A Trump Card?

As soon as UK media regulator Ofcom announced in February that it was relaxing the rules on the amount of local programming it required stations to broadcast, it was only a matter of time until the bigger radio groups took advantage of this. ‘Global Radio’ were the first out of the traps with the move to network all output across Heart, aside from breakfast, mid-morning and Drivetime. ‘Galaxy’ have kept local Breakfast and Drivetime shows, but networked everything else.

Next was GCap (soon to be Global, so they’re pre-empting the inevitable really) who announced a new 3 hour daytime show across the One Network, details of which are still a little sketchy to be honest! And recently the three Xfm stations in London, Manchester and central Scotland announced they’re going to network another three hours of programming on weekdays, taking the local output from 10 hours to 7 hours. Lots of smaller UK radio groups are also taking advantage of the rule change and going a step further to relocate stations in central ‘broadcasting hubs’, with the obvious economies of scale that this brings.

So far Bauer have resisted the temptation to go for any daytime networking, with their ‘In Demand’ evening show being the only real networked programme. So what’s the deal? Is this good for listeners… good for the radio station… good for advertisers? Who benefits?

Yesterday, at the Radio 3.0 Conference in London, outgoing GCap Chairman Richard Eyre had some thoughtful insights about networking.

"Piping in a mega-DJ from London would mean sacrificing the key element of local radio: localness. The economics of radio in 2008 will mean that companies will not be able to resist. But it's still handing over one of our best assets to reduce costs. The economics say delocalise. But the relationship says keep it local."

With comments like that, it seems a shame that he’s the outgoing chairman really. I can’t help thinking that despite the best efforts of some radio executives to convince me otherwise, it’s all about saving money in the short-term during an economic downturn, and not thinking about the long-term effect of stripping localness from radio. I’m sure Global Radio have in their top drawer a plan to turn lots of their newly acquired GCap stations into the ‘Heart’ brand. How long before we hear a station’s positioning change to … “Fox FM – The Heart of Oxfordshire”. And we all know what comes next.

It’s quite easy to be snobby about the quality of some stations when you have a portfolio that includes well resourced brands like Heart and Capital on your books. And yes, the quality of the smaller stations could be improved in many places. But is the answer just to network this ‘mega-DJ’ from outside the area. Surely investing in training and development of new talent and programming skills on a local level is a more important long term objective? Go to places like Liverpool, Manchester, and Leeds and imagine a world where Radio City, Key 103 and Radio Aire were pseudo-national stations with perhaps a local breakfast show as the only indicator of their true parentage. Sure you can use smoke and mirrors all you like to give the impression the output is ‘local’… but for me, you can’t beat the real thing. It doesn’t matter how good your smoke screen is, because local radio is best when it’s local… and not pretending to be local.

The next 12 months will see the inevitable ‘character-stripping’ out of many truly local stations, with some of their output replaced with no doubt well-produced, slick, but rather soulless programming. The radio landscape will be painted magnolia… designed to cause least offence, but not engender a reaction of any kind. Is this the type of local radio listeners want?

One of the great clichés about succeeding at programming a local / regional station is “Play the local card”. It seems that the deck is about to be rigged.

"If Winning isn't Everything, Why do they Keep Score?" - Sony Awards 2008

The starter was a nice warm vegetarian tart of some description… the main course was lamb… (I think) … and frankly the desert could have been anything, as by that stage a good quantity of the ‘table wine’ had been consumed!

I’m of course referring to the obligatory meal that accompanies UK radio’s annual back-slapping fiesta, otherwise known as the Sony Radio Academy Awards, or Sonys… or as most of the newspapers like to call them, the ‘Radio Oscars’! (It helps people understand it’s an awards ceremony I believe!)

The BBC traditionally does very well in these awards for 2 reasons. First, they make really good programmes and second, they don’t have much competition in areas such as drama and features and their news output is plentiful to say the least. This year didn’t disappoint for them, with the Beeb picking up around twice as many Gold Awards than the commercial sector.

A glut of famous names picked up some top awards, Jonathan Ross (who’d obviously been tipped off because he doesn’t turn up if he doesn’t win!) for Music Radio Personality, Russell Brand (who’s show I’m now warming to) for Entertainment Award… and Chris Moyles for Breakfast Show. His speech was a little like his show… very funny in parts, but there was no-one there to say ‘enough… move on!’ Even host Paul Gambaccini was unnaturally lenient in allowing the ceremony to drag on endlessly as Chris introduced his team one by one. Mind you, as he said himself, he’s unlikely to be there again, so he’ll make the most of it. The presentation of the award by his Mum and Dad was either really quite a sweet moment that brought a tear to the eye, or a hideously naff stunt designed to create a very crass ‘This Is Your Life’ moment onstage. You can watch it again and make your own mind up!

Commercial Radio did well in categories more suited to it’s natural home, like The Competition Award, Promo Award and Community Award which was picked up by Capital’s rather wonderful ‘Lights Out London’ initiative. Two awards that are normally very dominated by the BBC are Music Broadcaster of the Year and Specialist Music Award… but it was nice to see that the former went to Andi Durrant of the Galaxy Network, and the later to Krystle, a DJ I had the natural foresight and wisdom (!!!) to put on the air several year ago when I was PD at Forth. Being mentioned in her acceptance speech was really lovely and I have no doubt she’ll move on to bigger and better things in the years ahead. Well done Krystle. And beating Zane Lowe is no mean feat either!!

The list of guest presenters was varied as ever ranging from Joan Collins to Christopher Biggins… Boris Johnson to Tony Benn… and a genuinely moving appearance on stage by Edwin Collins, who’s still recovering from a cerebral haemorrhage he suffered several years ago. It kinda put the whole thing into perspective for me.

Needless to say, the merriment continued after the ceremony. Why the resident DJ feels that by playing the cheesiest 70’s disco records the dance floor will fill up is still beyond me, however he persisted with ‘Heaven Must Be Missing An Angel’ and ‘Young Hearts Run Free’ until some poor 'Tape Op' wearing a rather ill-fitting dinner jacket was dragged onto the floor by a tanked up Sales Exec to begin what, at best, could be described as “shit dancing”!

And as the strains of ‘Rock the Boat’ wafted through the barmy May night, and the queue of cabs lined up hoping for an expenses funded fare to Reading, we left it for another year, safe in the knowledge that we’ll all be back again in 12 months time.

Ghandi once said that there are two kinds of people… those who work and those who take the credit. He suggested being in the first group, as there was less competition there. On the evidence of Monday night, there are plenty of people who work, and work very hard… and it was nice to see them actually get the credit for a change.

RAJAR Qtr 1 2008 - "Story of The Blues"

Every set of listening figures tells a story beyond that of the immediate numbers, and the latest set of figures in the UK issued by RAJAR last week are no exception.

Actually, it’s a story with several tales to tell.

First, the main theme. The BBC is starting to pull seriously ahead of commercial radio, with almost 57% of listening verses Commercial radio’s 41%. Depending on which side of the fence you sit on, you can either see this as just rewards for investment in content and talent… or a blatant abuse of a privileged position designed to drive any commercial rivals into the ground… and stand on them hard! The BBC is long used to allegations of this sort, and to be fair, has to walk a delicate line of being successful… but not too successful, because “that’s just not fair”!

Perhaps it’s also tied into that peculiar British disease. We like success, but then when we see something becoming too successful, we cry foul, and denounce it as terribly unjust and really not very… well… ‘British’. Odd. To give a parallel example in the world of retail, I need only mention the word ‘Tesco’! ‘Nuff Said!

With Radio 1 back above 11 Million listeners and Radio 2 at 13.6 Million, there is no doubt that the BBC has made further inroads into the beleaguered commercial sector.

Virgin Radio’s resident number cruncher (and generally all round good-egg) Adam Bowie has written a very thoughtful piece on his personal blog about this topic and illustrated the theme with a rather good graph, which I've "borrowed". (I'll give it back whenever you want Adam!)

I think I need say no more on this topic, as the lines speak for themselves!

Another theme in this great RAJAR story is the tale of woe that continues for GCap. Capital has now slipped to 4th place in terms of reach with Kiss 100 now cume-ing an audience of 1.583 Million a week compared to Capital’s 1.563 Million.

Despite Kiss being a strong listen, I expect this to reverse itself over the remainder of the year as the ‘Denise’ effect kicks in. Word on the street is that the internal research is very strong for her and it’s only a matter of time before this translates to RAJAR. The fact of the matter is she’s a far bigger star than Johnny now. But how long can Capital hold on to her for? Hmmmm…

Elsewhere in GCap, Xfm’s worst nightmare has come true. Its market share is under 1% (at 0.9%) and its audience dropped a whopping 26% to just 379,000! (That “let’s get rid of all the DJ’s across the day” was a cracking idea wasn’t it!!) Is it time for that brand to be “humanely euthanized”? The boys at Global Radio certainly have a full ‘in-tray’ when they take over from the GCap!

And finally to a more subtle, yet highly significant tale: The number of people listening to some sort of digital radio continues to grow. Almost a third of the population (31.4%) listens to digital radio at least once a week, with DAB being the dominant technology. Sure… most of this is to analogue stations on digital, but it was great to see Planet Rock cume well the half million mark! Even The Jazz signed off with over 400,000 listeners. A bit too hasty to switch that one off? Over 27% of the UK’s population has a DAB radio, so it seems although the commercial sector is in turbulent times over the economics of DAB, the public still quite like it.

So, what’s the morale of our story? Simple really - invest in content! Easier when you have guaranteed funding I accept, but nonetheless, it seems to be a bit of a no-brainer really. And what is commercial radio’s answer to the current situation? Networking. Hmmmm – is this really investing in content? More on that to follow I think…

"And the nominations please"...

The announcements last week of who’d won Sony Radio Academy Award nominations was another good indicator of who the stars of commercial radio are, and how dominant the BBC are in certain areas.

With beer in hand, I dutifully stood at the back of the room and listened intently as Chris Evans & co read out the list of names of those going forward to win a gong. With over 30 categories, it took quite some time, and the announcements were met with either large cheers (usually from the boys and girls at Kiss 100 – they turn up to anything in the West End of London where there’s a free drink, you know!)… stunned silence… or a stifled laugh into the hand.

Some of the nominations that caught my eye…

It was nice to see 3 commercial radio Breakfast shows feature in the 5 nominations for The Breakfast Show Award (Capital, Trent and Clyde) who will battle against Radio 1 and 5 Live. I’d be delighted if Johnny picked up the award for Capital. He’s taken so much flack over the years and consistently delivers a very strong product.

The Entertainment Award sees Russell Brand up for a gong (which would be well deserved, as the show is so unique and entertaining)… but the category includes the rather brilliant Mike Toolan from Key 103, who again delivers consistently funny radio.

Jonathan Ross gets nominated for Music Radio Personality of the Year along with Zane Lowe, Jamie Theakston, Geoff Lloyd and Adam from Rock FM. Again… nice to see commercial radio delivering some great nominations up against the BBC, showing that in the area of mainstream entertainment, UK commercial radio can hold its own.

The Irony Award goes to Planet Rock who got 3 nominations, despite the “Fru Master Plan” calling for it to be shut. Shows that sometimes in radio, decisions aren’t based on any artistic or creative merit… it’s just about the money. Shame really. Still, I have a hunch it will survive! (“Fish on Friday” is probably the best name for a show I’ve heard in a long time!)

A couple more ‘tips of the hat’ go to the following: The guys at Jack FM in Oxford got a nod for their imaging. I hope they pick up the award for having the balls to do something different. In a sea of similarity, Jack FM is bobbing about being very unique. And that’s got to be worth something.

Finally in the Specialist Music Programme Award, a full sweep of BBC nominations was only stopped by “Friday Night Floorfillers with Krystle” from 97.3 Forth One in Edinburgh. Being the Programme Director that thought she’d make a rather good presenter one day and gave her first show on Forth One a few years back now, it’s nice to see that she’s recognised alongside heavyweights such as Zane Lowe on Radio 1. Well done Krystle!

So, the countdown is on. The dinner jacket is being dry cleaned, the pre-show drinks party is being arranged and the ‘Nurofen Plus’ is being ordered in bulk. If you’re nominated for a Sony Award this year… good luck. Winning is a great feeling. Losing is pretty crap… but alcohol does help. And if you’re going to the Grosvenor House Hotel on May 12th… mine’s a large Scotch and coke!

The Big DAB Gamble!

This morning’s announcement by Fru Hazlitt, (CEO of GCap Media) that “DAB is not viable”, is quite a momentous moment. Far be it from me to dramatise further an already dramatic announcement, but this is huge.

You’ve probably read all the facts elsewhere, but to put this all in context, here are some of the headlines from GCap’s statement this morning:

- Closure of national DAB stations Planet Rock and The Jazz
- Sell all the Xfm stations outside London or hand the licences back
- Sell off stake in Digital One Multiplex
- Abandon Capital’s ‘2 ads in a row’ policy
- Call for the switch off of AM

This ‘defence plan’ as it has been called, is really a last throw of the dice for GCap (even if it’s Fru’s first throw at this particular table). Global are hovering ‘vulture-like’ and we’ll see what the next few weeks bring. But back to the DAB issue. The UK’s largest commercial player has come out and basically said, “We think DAB is rubbish and we’re bailing out while we can”. Is this right, or are they just responding to a difficult economic climate, cutting costs, and dealing with a legacy of investment and belief in DAB which bordered on religious fervour, from Ralph et al.

This kind of puts commercial radio in an awkward spot as they’re now very divided with Bauer seemingly doing well with The Hits, Smash Hits, Heat Radio, and Q Radio and ready to launch ‘Closer’ as a radio brand. (No coincidence the timing of the press release to herald the announcement of Ric Blaxill joining Bauer’s national digital brands! He actually joined a while ago but this bit of pro-DAB PR says to the world… “We’re still investing in DAB and doing fine thank you very much”!!) And Channel 4 constantly have to put out statements saying how committed they are to the 2nd national multiplex.

So let’s try and make sense of this all. I believe Fru’s thinking was that the best way for GCap to survive as a company was to do something dramatic. The City loves bold initiatives. You take a gamble and hope that the city / investors back you. The ‘red or black’ scenario is a common one and GCap has gone for a defensive option of cutting where it can save most… DAB. The net spend in 2007/07 was £8 Million. This, combined with the other measures announced will hopefully placate the city and investors enough to not be tempted by an improved offer from Global in the next few weeks. I thought the comment from Charles Allen on the Times Online was a good one: “You can’t shrink your way to growth”. We shall see.

The sad thing about all this is that all the papers tomorrow will write “DAB in Crisis / The End of Digital Radio / Digital Killed The Radio Star” etc. There’s no doubt that the economics of it are challenging, particularly at the moment, however there is still a belief from many within commercial radio (not to mention the BBC!) who fervently believe in it. So GCap backing out of DAB should be seen more in the context of a company trying to survive this year “It’s about the here and now” – (Fru Hazlitt), rather than sounding the death knell for a technology that is already in around a quarter of homes in the UK.

Let’s spare a thought for the people at GCap. It can’t be a great place to be today. Planet Rock and The Jazz are both really good radio stations staffed by people who want to make great radio day in day out. And the Xfm sell off will no doubt affect a large swathe of employees. Plus, I wouldn’t place much money on the newly re-launched ‘Gold’ surviving. It’s on AM and DAB… both platforms are on today’s blacklist. They’ll be a lot of good people going home tonight with rather glum faces.

Two final thoughts on what probably should have been about 5 postings! (Sorry!!)

Capital is ditching its ‘only 2 ads in a row’ policy. Last year that policy cost the company almost £6 Million. About bloody time!! It was never the ‘silver bullet’ it was trumpeted to be at the time and was a great demonstration on how to loose £6 Million a year with no tangible benefit.

And ‘Jerry’s Final Thought’ today… What a damning indictment of the post merger GCap / ‘Bernard’ era today’s announcement is. Talk about a public slap in the face. Actually - it’s more like a public flogging! (Except the perpetrators are exiting stage left with rather large cheques in their back pockets and no whip marks visible!)

This will go down as one of commercial radio’s biggest U-turns ever… and the history of this company is almost comedic if the real twists and turns were laid out for all to see. Let’s pause… take breathe… and wait for the next roll of the dice as we remember the words of American playwright Wilson Mizner…

"Gambling… The sure way of getting nothing from something!"

"What's the Story, Morning Glory?" / "Spinning Around" - RAJAR Qtr 4, 2007

So what did the RAJAR fairies deliver for Qtr 4 2007 then? What was the big talking point this quarter? And how was it spun?

Well, it’s difficult to get away from the continued dominance of BBC Radio against commercial radio (perceived and real!). Chris Moyles record 7.31 Million listeners is an excellent result… no doubt about it, and he’s within shouting distance of Terry Wogan on Radio 2 with just 420,000 listeners in it. If, as I predict he will, overtake Wogan, then we can expect the Radio 1 PR machine to go into overdrive!!

It was interesting to see how commercial radio was fighting back against the might of the BBC in terms of PR. (As we know, sometimes the figures are irrelevant, merely what do stations want readers to believe!) In particular, the point that Johnny Vaughan on Capital and Jamie & Harriet on Heart both beat Moyles in London.

I won’t bore you with the figures (this time around!) but even when you fiddle around with the different times the shows are on, there is certainly a preference for commercial services at breakfast verses Radio 1.

Mark Browning, PD of Heart 106.2 was quoted on Media Guardian saying:

"The London market tells us that if commercial radio was freed up from the regulatory burden it is constrained by so it could share best practice across the UK then the real winner would be the listener. Where listeners have a strong commercial radio proposition, and a strong BBC, as they do in London they are choosing commercial radio. We need Ofcom to let us give listeners more choice and better commercial radio."

This is not an accidental ‘off the cuff’ remark by the very eloquent Mr. Browning! It seems that at any opportunity commercial radio is going to lobby Ofcom for a more liberal approach to what it can and can’t do, with the endgame surely being a networked ‘Jamie and Harriet’ and ‘Johnny and Denise’. The theory being that only networked big name talent will be able to compete with Radio 1 in local markets. It’s an interesting thought and one I will expand upon in a future posting.

Meanwhile, there were the usual ups and downs for most stations / groups and naturally they tried to make the best of what they had in their press releases. There’s an interesting article in today’s Guardian where journalist Paul Smith discusses the tactics used by stations to put a positive shine on their figures. I’m surprised that he feels so surprised himself! (I suspect he's not that suprised actually!). Of course stations try to make things sound good!! Far be it from me to suggest that journalists (even in The Guardian) sometimes try to make a story sound more sensational than it actually is!! It’s a good piece nonetheless, and shows that PR is still such an important weapon in the battle for listeners and the figures will keep spinning!

Star Signing

Hardly a week goes past at the moment without something exciting happening at London's Capital 95.8... and this week is no exception.

"Come on down... Denise Van Outen", new co-host with Johnny Vaughan. Either a shrewd move to re-create some of the on air chemistry that existed on Channel 4's "The Big Breakfast"... or a signing that will only have an impact on the budget and not the audience?

Cast your mind back to 1997. The Spice Girls were in the charts and on tour (1st time around), Bill Clinton was President of the USA, Tony Blair had just been elected as Prime Minister, and we all thought that Hanson were the next big thing in music. Mmm Bop indeed!

Well that was the time that Johnny and Denise were on The Big Breakfast together. Seems like a while ago now! Many people just won't have seen the show with them on it, and if you were 25 in 1997, you'll be around 35 now... and possibly more into the dulcet tones of Jamie and Harriet on Heart or even Foxy on Magic. (Wogan only really kicks in when you're over 40!)

Having said that, Denise is having a bit of revival at present. She performed well as a judge on the BBC TV's 'Any Dream Will Do' show, and she's a down to earth, homegrown, cheeky Essex girl made good. If anyone can be 'the strong female' up against Johnny, it was either going to be Liza Tarbuck or Denise Van Outen.

What this signing shows is that 'star power' is alive and well. Radio stations are still prepared to get out their cheque book and hand over the cash in exchange for the media equity a star can bring to the show. (My guess is that Denise would be on a 2 year deal starting at at least £750,000 for year 1)

When looking for a new breakfast show, stations often ask should they go for an established star or develop their own? Well, if you can afford it, and the right star is available that matches your brand perfectly... go for it. Stars bring a lot of heritage (good and bad), instant familiarity and certainly drive listener trial.

Capital may just have played a trump card in the London Breakfast Show war. And for those of who can't wait for for the magic...

Capital - No longer Mullered!

The news of the departure of Programme Director of Capital 95.8 - Scott Muller – wasn’t exactly unexpected when it reached me today. Not because I had any inside information. Far from it. But the significant changes made by new MD Paul Jackson less then a fortnight ago only signalled one thing. The clock was ticking on Mr Muller’s reign. It was a pretty safe bet!

Having once sat in the (now seemingly vacant) hot seat of Capital PD, and been ushered to exit stage left slightly prematurely (in my opinion!), I’m sure Scott feels that his tenure was also cut slightly short. We’ll never get the opportunity to find out if his particular vision to move Capital to a more CHR sound aiming at 15-30 year old Londoners, will have won the day.

It seems a genuine shame that the person who was described in the GCap 2006 Annual Report (and named, several times no less!) as “… a world class programmer with the specific skills and experience to help us take the station to the next level” is no longer deemed appropriate to continue in that role.

What does today’s announcement tell us? That he didn’t succeed? That he’d reached the next level – job done? Not really. I think Scott did a pretty good job with the sound of Capital. As a 15-30 year old station, it’s quite well placed. Whether the strategy was right in the first place, and whether the “2 ads in a row” policy can be called a success is another question for other to judge! But the station still isn't back at number 1.

What this whole affair should really remind us of, is the fickle nature of the radio business generally and the pressure to succeed at the top. The “saviour” of a station one moment, can be the person moved on to do “special projects” the next. A reflection of their limited ability and poor recruitment? Or an indication that whoever "holds the wheel" at any given moment can change direction (and first officer!) to suit their own agenda? Take your pick!

With the wonderful Annie O' Neill appointed as Programme Manager, the hugely talented Sheena Mason continuing as Head of Music, and MD Paul Jackson having his hands firmly on the levers of programming, perhaps this combination will provide Capital with some much needed stability. Let’s hope the revolving door has now come to a halt.

Wham Bam...

The wind of change has once again swept through the 3rd Floor of Leicester Square, where Capital 95.8, has had another re-shuffle.

Bam Bam, who only joined about 9 months ago, is no more. His show has been given to Lucio, who comes off Drive to make way for Greg Burns, who was joining to do mid mornings, but now that's gone to Margherita Taylor. Following things so far?

New MD Paul Jackson has wasted no time asserting his authority and stamping his mark on the output. Quite what this does for the authority of the current PD Scott Muller is another question, as it's all his changes that now seem to be being unravelled.

There's no doubt that Bam Bam is a talent broadcaster. Was Capital the right move for him? We'll never really know... but there now exists an opportunity for him to reinvent himself completely. My feeling is that he should do adult based speech radio on something like LBC or Talk Sport. That's where his talent lies and hopefully someone will see that.

And as for the changes at Capital. Greg Burns will be great on Drive. For me Lucio never really cut it on that show and maybe evenings is a better home for him. Margherita is a quality broadcaster, and I'm pleased for her that she's back 'front and centre' of the lineup.

One thing is for certain. Listeners don't really like change that often, and a number of significant changes to the music, production and line-up will leave the listeners wondering what it's all about. Imagine your favourite restaurant kept changing the menu, the decor, the layout. Eventually you'd find a new place to dine. We're all creatures of habit. We like consistency. Let's hope that the 'wind of change' has now died down at Capital. At least for a while!

RAJAR Qtr 3 2007

Now that the dust has settled on another set of listening figures in the UK, and the metaphorical handbags are returned to the closets, who were the winners and losers and what have we learnt this time around.

Well, the big bun fight was (as predicted) over the Breakfast Show figures in London. Who really is number one?

Capital are bullishly claiming that Johnny Vaughan is clearly number one, as his show has more listeners during the entire duration of the show. This is true... and from 6:30am till 10am there are 1.024 Million listeners.

"Stop cracking it up right there..." cries a rather bemused Dr Fox, Foxy, Neil Fox.... you know the guy. Magic's argument is that their show runs from 5:30am till 9am, and while both shows are on at the same time, 6am - 9am... Magic beats Capital. For the record, the figures are...

Magic - 885,000
Capital - 880,000
Heart - 810,000

So, who's right. Well, I feel that common sense should take over at this stage. You have to measure like for like, between 6 and 9am. Otherwise, Capital or any other station indeed, could run their breakfast show from 5am till 10:30am, and bingo... the reach of the show has increased again!

Frankly, it's all a bit of a storm in a tea cup, as the lead is so minimal versus the accuracy of the ratings data, that it could be reversed with the stroke of a pen next time round.

However, Magic are proud to claim number one commercial reach position and number one breakfast show, whilst Capital are keen to gain the PR advantage that having the number 1 morning show brings you, especially when your share figure has come off the pace of the top two.

It just shows you how fierce this battle is, and I have no doubt that the handbags will make another appearance in 3 months time!

And now... news in brief!

Well done to Choice FM who now have 611,000 listeners a week. They're really delivering a focused urban product which knows it's target audience so well.

Nice try to Xfm whose 'no DJ's in the day' thing (Called Xu... or something suitably cool) has contributed to a slump from 2% to 1.2% share. Oops! Never did like the idea!!

Moyles and Wogan are down a bit... but I don't see either of them being unduly worried!

The Hits continues to be a great success story for EMAP with 1.49Million listeners. It shows you what having a focused product on the right platforms can do! Well done guys!

With digital listening accounting for 15% of listening time in the UK, the future is firmly in the digital arena... a point I'll expand on during my session at this years NAB in Barcelona next week.

Jack Off!

A nice bit of guerrilla marketing by, the soon to be launched, Jack FM Oxford, as they gatecrashed Fox FM's 18th Birthday Party handing out their own birthday card to party goers.

This type of activity is perfect for the cheeky and irreverent style that I'm sure Jack FM will bring to Oxford.

There's probably a whole book to write on great competitive things that rival stations have done to each other. A nice one that sticks in my mind is when Bam Bam, who was working at Kiss 100 at the time, bought a classic fire engine, complete with turntable ladder... just so he could drive it to Leicester Square... extend the ladder... and put a Kiss Sticker on the 3rd floor window where the Capital studio was. Cheeky, funny, perfect for that show and that station at the time.

He now broadcasts inside that very studio that he 'stickered' all those years ago. Funny how things work out!

Anyway - We should all look forward to seeing some nice marketing ideas coming out of Jack FM once it has launched. The countdown is on to Thursday 18th October at 1:06pm. Well they are on 106FM... so what did you expect!

The Heroes of RAJAR - Qtr 2 2007

As the dust settles on another batch of RAJAR press releases and UK radio stations draw up the list of people to promote... or fire, it's time to pick out the villains and heroes... and no, not the flying senator, or indestructible cheerleader types.

There were a few main stories that are worthy of mention.

Kiss overtake Capital
Congratulations to the guys at Kiss, who have finally caught up with Capital. We've certainly discussed the possibility of them catching Capital before on this blog, and now it's happened. With Kiss at a 4.5% reach and Capital dropping to 4.1% and the reach neck and neck at 1.51 Million, there were probably two very different meetings taking place at the respective stations on RAJAR evening last week.

Kiss's offering continues to sound fresh and connected to young London and the new morning show with Rickie and Melvin is starting to take root. For me, Capital's issue is not with the execution of the format. They've gone young and the product sounds fine. No, it's the strategy that I find difficult to understand. Capital seem to have left Heart and Magic to slug it out at the top, while settling for trying to pick up Radio 1, Kiss and Xfm listeners along the way. The move is bold... but I can't help thinking it won't get you to Number 1 in London again. The team in Leicester Square have a real battle on and I hope Steve Orchard's words of August 2006 where he the "believed the station had hit rock bottom", don't get rolled out too much over the next few weeks. The city certainly gave GCap a good kicking, with quotes like "GCap has marketed Capital in this quarter, so there can be no excuses for these results!" Ouch!

The Jazz... Nice!
Debuting with 334,000 listeners is a pretty nice job! Taking a listen to the station, the formula is the same as has been applied to Classic FM; take a specialist music genre, and make it as accessible to as many people as possible. Classic FM took the fear out of listening to classical music... and The Jazz will do the same for Jazz.

More for Moyles
If I was sitting in GCap Towers... or even EMAP towers for that reason, I'd find the biggest pot of money I could lay my hands on and send it all to Chris Moyles on the condition that he came to a daily show for the network I was running. (Believe me... it's been thought of!) His show goes from strength to strength and is testament to hard work, good production and 'letting the talent get on with it'. With 7.26 Million listeners a week, he can play his "Saviour of Radio 1" jingle as much as he wants now!

The Future is... Digital
More people are listening to radio and more are using digital technologies to do this. 2 Million 15-24's listen on mobile phones and almost 13% of total listening by all adults is now done on either DAB, DTV or the internet. Let's compare this figure in 12 months time to see the continued growth, and then factor in the Channel 4 effect too!

So, as ever... always something interesting to mull over. Now if only we knew someone who could paint the radio future... Hmmm... I wonder...

"Welome to... yesterday's show!"

Johnny Vaughan's Breakfast Show on Capital now runs for 4 hours. Well... sort of...

Today, the main body of the show shifted from 7am to 10am, with the 'ole favourite of running the "highlights" of the previous days show between 6am and 7am.

On the plus side, if you're a fan of Johnny, you'll get an extra hour... well, you'll get some of the best bits you enjoyed the day before repeated.

When I heard about this move, it got me thinking (yes -painful as it was) about what the motivations for this decision were.

It could all be about ratings of course! In theory, one can argue that the cume of the show should now be measured between 6am and 10am... the duration of the entire programme. Adding in an extra hour will increase the total reach. However, we all know that most of the media will dismiss the first hour, coz it's not live, and compare the 7am - 10am hours instead. Having said that, the 9am - 10am hour usually generates far more audience than 6am - 7am, so whichever you cut it... the numbers should improve with this move.

(It feels a little bit like that old trick of reducing your measured survey area a little bit, to give you a better percentage overall!)

Extending the 'Johnny' brand an hour into the daytime so more people get to sample him could be an underlying theme, however I find this unlikely to be the lead factor.

With the rise and rise of time shift listening and non-linear radio, surely it may have made more sense to develop and promote a stronger 'listen again' proposition and get consumers more familiar with this?

The official press release said something like "This change mean that Londoners will be able to enjoy Johnny at whatever time they get up or travel to work" (Not strictly true if you get up at 10am... but we get the point!)

Although there's live news and travel in the first hour, I can't help feel that the audience are being cheated a bit.

In a world class city like London, where lots of people get up at 6am, having a re-run of yesterdays funny bits in peaktime, seems a bit cheap. How can the 'sense of the day' at the start of the day really be conveyed in editorial, when you're running gags from the previous day.

If they decided to run the 'best of' bits between 5am and 6am, I could argue the case that this would be acceptable... but from 6am? Sorry - I think Londoners deserve a fully live morning show from 6am.

The upshot of the move is a nudging effect for one of Capital's strongest benchmarks - Flirty at 9:30. It's been there for quite some time now, and it seems a double negative whammy to have to move this highly popular feature an hour later too.

I look forward to the next RAJAR press conference where there will undoubtedly be a bun fight over the figures!

When Terror Strikes...

Local radio is great in times of disaster. At least that's what I thought.

On Sunday morning I listened to Radio Clyde (Clyde One to be precise) in Glasgow to get an update and local perspective regarding the events at Glasgow Airport. After all, it's (thankfully) not that often that a terrorist decides to drive a bomb through the revolving doors of your local airport.

I was hoping for perhaps bulletins every 15 minutes or so, as the attack was the previous afternoon... but as it was the start of the Glasgow holidays, lots of people would have been trying to fly away, so cue lots of local info.

And what did I get?

"Ross King... Live from Hollywood"

Surely some mistake?

Nope... Ross King was chatting away about nothing in particular from his LA studio and for a large portion of the show I heard, there was nothing relating to the events of the previous day. Had I missed all the action?

The midday news rolled around and at last, some local coverage... but not to the level and standards I would have expected from a station as large as Clyde, and with such a heritage of providing great news. The bulletin I heard could have been broadcast live from the airport, for example; Just something to make me feel that my station was connected to my area and the story that was still unfolding was being covered from every angle.

The purpose here is not to bash Clyde, as I'm hoping they did lots of marvellous bits of radio I didn't hear relating to the terrorist attack. In fact, I'm sure they did. The point is, if something major happens in your broadcast area... GO BIG!

Never underestimate the audience's thirst for knowledge and their desire to turn to their trusted local radio station as a friend in time of crisis. You can really reinforce your stations credentials as THE local station to turn to.

It works for things like extreme weather (The Radio Forth Snowline in Edinburgh was hugely important for many years) and national stories with a local angle... like murders, kidnappings, riots etc. (A happy topic this one isn't it!!)

I was Programme Director at Capital Radio in London on July 7th 2005 and the attempted bombings in London last week brought back the memories of that day. The skill, dedication and commitment of the whole team at Capital meant that Londoners got all the information they needed to know at any point that they tuned in during and long after the attacks of July 7th. News Editor, Matt Schofield was instrumental in driving forward the information agenda for the station, and Capital regained many lost friends as a result of its actions on, and after July 7th.

I'd rather that people didn't try and blow us all up, that the kidnapping of children didn't happen and that floods didn't cause bodies to float down the river... but if these things do happen, I want my local radio station to really over-deliver in every way possible. That's surely the benefit of being local.

And while we're at it... Ross King wasn't very good either!

RAJAR Qtr 1 2007 - The Post Mortem Part 2 - London

The London market is taking on a familiar pattern at the moment with Heart and Magic engaged in a titanic battle for the top commercial station in London.

Both have held their 'Number 1 in London' status and lost it. But who has the upper hand? Well, interestingly if you look at an average of the share figures over the last 2 years dating back to Qtr 1 2005, Magic averages at a 5.7%, while Heart averages at a 6.0%. Magic have only achieved anywhere in the 7's once, while Heart have managed it twice in last 2 years and their impressive 7.1% is the largest share figure generated by either of these 2 broadcasting adversaries. 1-0 to Heart on share.

And what about the reach 'glass ceiling'? Well - Magic have achieved a 1.867 Million record in the same period and Heart have been 'oh so close' to the (dare I say "magic") figure of 2 Million, cume-ing a 1.911 Million back in Qtr 3 2005. So based on share and reach, it's Heart 2 - Magic 0.

Magic may have nudged back in the lead with this book, but to continue torturing the football-ing analogy... this match has a long time left to play and any pundit would predict that Heart will be back on top before too long.

Capital got an important PR and morale booster of regaining the 'Number 1 Commercial Breakfast Show'. However, the share figure dipped to a new low of 4.6%... considerably lower than either Heart or Magic have ever been in the last 2 years. The new Capital format feels to me more like Radio 1 than anything else on the dial currently, and taking them on will prove tricky when Radio 1 is so strong in London at the moment, chalking up a 1.65 Million reach and 6.7% share in the London TSA.

Kiss didn't capitalise on the closeness with Capital in reach from the previous quarter and dipped back to 1.35 Million, but they're trending up.

So, what does it all mean? The latest set of figures continue to show that playing in some part of the 'AC' arena is essential if you're to currently have any traction in the London commercial radio market. A rejuvenated 'Smooth' will take some time to get going, and may eat into the 12 or so AC share points up for grabs in the market... which could open up some room for Capital, if the audience feel they have found the right format.

Final honourable mention goes to Kismat Radio, who have a year on year reach increase of 71%! A GCap takeover is only a matter of time!

The Renegade Master

It’s really unfair to listen to a jocks first show on their ‘new’ station and judge it. So that’s exactly what I did on Monday evening!

Having blogged several times on Bam Bam joining Capital Radio (sorry… Capital 95.8), it seemed only fair to complete the circle, and comment on his first outing on air on his new radio home.

He did all you could ask for on a first show, and more! He sounded relaxed, confident (but not to the point of over confidence) and genuinely excited to back on terrestrial radio, as we know it. The production was very strong. There were some nice little ‘bits’, but nothing too tricky for the first night.

He introduced the listeners to his new “team”, one producer and one female presenter… who he’ll use principally to bounce things off.

There were some nice calls from listeners who were delighted he was back on the radio, and having seen at first hand the passion and loyalty this particular presenter evokes in listeners, I’m certain there were many, many more that didn’t reach the radio… and lots of texts / emails besides.

The most striking thing, which I believe is something all great presenters have (and it was a joy to hear on Bam’s first show back) was the sense of honesty about his broadcasting.

There was no smoke and mirrors. There was no hiding. No illusion. He told it as it was. If things were odd, coz he hadn’t done a show for a while… he shared that emotion with the listeners. If they asked where Streetboy was, he told them. “He’s a roofer now!!” And if he felt a bit weird broadcasting on the station he used to knock regularly… he shared that too.

For far too long, there’s been an over reliance on presenters being super-slick and bordering on the insincere. An honest presenter is far more potent, as the audience don’t feel they’re being conned in any way. Someone who tells the truth is just naturally appealing. Listeners can see the strings these days.

There’s a certain childlike innocence about presenters who speak the truth. By that I mean, young kids tell the truth. They say it as they see it. It’s refreshing. Some presenters could learn a lot from that. Without trying to sound like Roy Walker… “Say what you see”! Or for those who prefer a more cultured quotation, George Eliot once summed up the challenges with being honest by saying "Falsehood is easy... truth so difficult." I can't be certain he had radio presenters in mind when he said that though.

Think about all the great presenters you know. And I’m certain the vast majority of them, you trust to tell you the truth.

Verdict? A good debut and I’m confident this is a strong signing for Capital. The future of radio will be decided by presenters who have something to say… other than just the station name twice a link!

Capital Radio-ish

One of the biggest changes a radio station can make is change its name. But when’s a name change actually a name change… and when is it just a bit of tinkering?

Well – Capital Radio have just gone through another one. Just over a year ago, the station re-branded to “Capital Radio” and today they announced that they’re changing again to “Capital 95.8”.

Interesting.

To coincide with the re-brand, there’s also a shiny new logo. And a new TV ad as well! Now, we all know stations that have great logos and sound rubbish… and stations that have rubbish logos that sound brilliant, so I don’t think the change of logo will decide the fate of the station for the next few years. However, those cheeky monkeys at The Guardian had something to say about it!

And I quote:

“Is it just Monkey, or does the logo for Capital Radio's expensive new re-brand look disconcertingly like a length of old rope? Now we hesitate to suggest that's what GCap has paid for - money for old rope - but we should be thankful that the geography of the River Thames isn't more noose shaped. Now that really would have been inappropriate.”

Now now!

The TV ad has some great songs on it and aims to regain some musical credibility for the station. The ad does feel very “sub-30 male focused”, (with music from The Fratelli’s, Paulo Nutini etc… and a pair of bouncing breasts!)… It’s a difficult position to be in in the London market. Time will tell if it’s the right move.

As for the change to “Capital 95.8”, the inclusion of 95.8 seems a little redundant in the digital age, where more and more people are listening online and via DAB. Would just plain ole “Capital” suffice?

I took a listen today. The new production sounded great, and the music was excellent, and firmly focused at 15-30 year olds.

So, let’s see if this latest incarnation of a ‘youthful’ Capital will do the trick… and with the addition of Bam Bam too… but more on that later!