Global buys GMG Radio. Top 10 Do's and Don'ts

So as Global prepare to sink their teeth into GMG as part of their... well 'global' domination strategy, here are a few thoughts about some of the “Do’s and Don’ts” if you currently work for GMG Radio. In fact, fuck it... it’s a Top 10 List!

Some of them are fairly sensible pieces of advice. Others perhaps less so...

DO

10. Do accept that change happens and nothing stays the same forever

9. Do spend some time thinking about how things may realistically pan out for you personally

8. Do have a Plan B. Start to map out other options just in case and always ‘protect for the downside’

7. Do encourage your managers to share as much information as they can with you about what’s going on

6. Do PR yourself internally a bit and ensure others know how essential you are to the company, whatever your role

5. Do some networking. Get back in touch with a few mates in the industry

4. Do continue to focus on your current role. Keeping busy somehow helps make change feel less dramatic

3. Do tidy up your desk. If your workstation looks like a shithole, you’ll be the first to get fired. Guaranteed

2. Do “backup” all the stuff you may find useful in future, just in case you’re forced to make a non-planned, sharp exit

1. Do delete all dodgy porn sites from your browsing history. Especially the Tulisa video

DON’T

10. Don’t speculate wildly about the future plans. It gets you nowhere

9. Don’t lose sleep. You need to be on the top of your game for the next few months, and just it’s not worth it

8. Don’t think the company performing the takeover are “the enemy”. It’s not very productive

7. Don’t slag your new owners off loudly in the office. Keep any personal thoughts you have, to air at home

6. Don’t be too sentimental about the past. Look forward

5. Don’t try and ‘brown-nose’ prospective new managers. No-one likes a ‘kiss-ass’

4. Don’t practise saying the new station name whilst driving in your car. There’ll be plenty of time for that

3. Don’t have an Ashley Tabor poster as a dartboard in the newsroom. There’ll be plenty of time for that

2. Don’t hide a rotting fish behind a radiator on your last day, if you’re ‘let go’. You’re not in a 1978 ITV sitcom

1. Don’t cry like Foxy did when he left Capital. It sounds ‘well crap’ when you listen back years later

Remember – in life, you can’t change the cards you are dealt... only how you play the hand.

Good luck.

Capital UK

So as the ‘Army of Networking’ marches inexorably on, and a whole raft of stations become Capital FM, what are we to make of this latest move by Global? Is it another dark day for local radio or is it a brave move designed purely to simplify an offering to advertisers and maximise audience?

The answer is of course both.

We wave goodbye to the Galaxy brand, which has served audiences across the country well, and when it launched, provided listeners with a real alternative to their heritage ILR station. The local and regional stations Galaxy stations delivered some great shows and you felt instantly in touch with the areas they broadcast too anytime you tuned in. Over time and with increased networking, this sense of identity was diluted somewhat, but you can’t help feeling that a perfectly good brand has been ‘put to sleep before its time’.

And of course, the station that was the very essence of what is was to be Welsh... Red Dragon FM, is another brand casualty. It was and has always has been a station that’s proud of its nation, and used its ‘Welshness’ as a strong identifying factor. How will it fare by having some of its programming piped in from ‘over the bridge’?

There are of course many other cases to cite; Trent FM – another strong heritage brand going, and let’s spare a thought for the ‘Scottish station’... I hardly know what to call it now, after it has gone through more rebrands in a decade than most stations have in a lifetime!

So, laying the sentiment aside for a moment, is this a smart move? Well there’s no doubt that creating a strong single CHR brand makes it far easier to sell, and far easier to manage. Advertisers and agencies will instantly ‘get’ a pseudo-national Capital FM. And that’s the main reason behind this when all is said and done. They want to make more money, which is a perfectly noble ambition in business. It’s just that we get more attached to radio brands than we do to say, toilet roll or cleaning products... so there’s more of an outcry when it comes to rebranding to maximise profit in radio.

Of course the other argument used is about bringing a better product to listeners, and the theory behind that is perfectly sound... however as good as they are, bringing Roberto and 'The Bassman' on to replace you local offering during the day isn’t exactly going to have people skipping work just so they can stay home and listen all day.

The line touted to the media yesterday evening was very much along the lines of “this will be a station to rival Radio 1”. And sure enough the papers have bought that PR line, and reprinted old photos of Kenny Everett and Chris Tarrant to illustrate the ‘power of Capital’. Well yes – except that was the Capital of old, and the only real national star that Capital has now is Johnny Vaughan. So as it stands at the moment, Capital isn’t exactly a real rival to Radio 1 in terms of content. It’s just a very different offering indeed targetting a similar demo. (In the same way as Heart is touted as an alternative to Radio 2 - “Chalk and Cheese” anyone?)

Which brings us on to Johnny / breakfast. You get the sense that if the rules allowed it now, all local programming would be put to the knife, and Johnny and Lisa would be rolled out across the country. Surely it’s only a matter of time before the requirement for any local programming is quietly put to one side, and the true reason for all of this can be final made clear; Johnny Vaughan on Capital Breakfast and Jamie Theakston on Heart Breakfast... nationwide.

And once we have that, the plan will be complete... and then we can truly mark the demise of much of UK local radio as we used to know it. (There are of course notable exceptions and they continue to perform well... Key 103, Radio City, Wave 105 etc...)

Is it a ‘sad’ thing to see these latest stations disappear? Yes.

Is it a sensible move in a changing media environment? Yes.

So there we have it. The harsh reality of the ‘business’ of media ruling over sentimentality of it all.

A lesson for us all.

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.

"Now it's not time to catch up with the news in your area..."

I’ve just been to my local farm shop in the beautiful Berkshire autumn sunshine, right on the edge of Windsor where I live, to pick up a few vegetables for the weekend / logs for the fire etc. Most of their produce is grown and farmed locally. It’s a business on the rise as the trend for finding alternatives to supermarkets continues, and the zeitgeist continually moves towards a greater interest in the providence of food. There’s a genuine belief that local is good. Going to the shop strengthens a feeling of identity and community. In a world that’s collapsing around our eyes and ears, there’s something reassuringly nice about ‘local’.

I say this because, as you may have heard this week, Global Radio in the UK is axing its daytime local news bulletins across most of its stations. Local news will now only feature at breakfast and Drivetime and there’ll be a 1 minute long national bulletin from London throughout the day. Local it seems is not good in the world of Global Radio.

I suppose this is the final, inevitable nail in the coffin for truly “local radio” across the daytime for all of these stations. It’s also a fantastic opportunity for rival stations broadcasting to the same area, that do have locally produced news, to bang the drum about their product being made locally, featuring local stories that are actually relevant to the area. Feel free to get in touch if you’d like me to write you a series of promos!

I still can’t help feeling that Global Radio is missing a trick by ditching all their daytime local content. Stuff happens in the day too. It’s not just at breakfast and drive! But more importantly, it just reinforces the message that across the day there’s no local content at all… apart from the adverts. Radio listeners in a capital city like Cardiff deserve better than a 60 second bulletin with just some national headlines that frankly, you can from any number of sources these days. Might as well not bother… Or maybe that’s the next step?

Jonathan Richards, Global’s Head of News, was quoted on RadioToday.co.uk as saying…

"No local story will be missed. In the event of a major local story all stations have the autonomy to break away from the network, and should there be a local disaster such as a flood or major crash, additional journalists will be drafted to the scene. This is about raising standards of news for commercial radio."

I love statements like that that go unchallenged! Saying that “no local story will be missed” seems to be pushing it quite a bit! Getting all those good local stories into Breakfast and Drive might be a bit of a squeeze I think. And how removing local daytime bulletins equals a “raising of standards of news for commercial radio” is incomprehensible? He seems to be implying that the standard of the local news bulletins on many of these stations was poor… so the answer was to just take them off completely! Who knows?! Don’t get me wrong… bad local news bulletins are cringe-worthy. But well-trained, passionate, local radio journalists with an interest in reporting the goings-on in an area, produce some fantastic local news. Just listen to the multi award-winning Radio City News for proof of that. (And imagine Radio City broadcasting news bulletins across the day that didn’t once reference the ongoing trial for the murder of schoolboy Rhys Jones)

One thing I do know is that we now have lots of local stations trying to sound like national ones, which kind of defeats the object of local radio really. How long will it be before Drivetime is culled from Ofcom’s local requirement, and the last remaining hurdle before for Global can run a quasi-national network, will be Breakfast?

And all this, at a time when The BBC Trust is considering the findings of a public value consultation over proposals to create video based local news websites in 60 regions across the country. Let’s hope this isn’t the start of commercial radio just handing over the ‘local’ card to the BBC as well.

McRadio

Rebranding and re-launching radio stations seems to be all the rage at the moment.

I spend a good deal of time working in Denmark with the fine people at Radio 100FM. The rival national commercial station that was formerly known as TV2 Radio (originally named after the parent company, TV2!) has been recently bought by SBS, and just re-launched as ‘Nova FM’. Not sure in a fast moving digital world I would have stuck the letters ‘FM’ in the title of the station, but there you go.

“Virgin Radio soon to be known as Absolute Radio” has set a date when it will fully become Absolute Radio… September 29th for all you date junkies.

And, as widely predicted, Global Radio in the UK recently announced that around 30 of their newly acquired stations will be re-branded as Heart, and have lots of networked programming. This will, it is claimed, provide a much clearer brand for potential advertisers to buy into. It probably will.

So, it will be interesting to see how heritage names such as Fox, Invicta, GWR, 2-Ten FM and Chiltern handle the transformation process on air. Having “a conversation” with your listeners is the very modern and transparent way that Absolute Radio has done it. Asked by listeners why they had to change the name, they answer…

“The old one wasn't ours, it was lent to us. That means we could not do all the other things we wanted to do, in spinning off the radio station into other areas which we feel you wanted. Our new name, which we own, means we are freer to do what we want, and it also says that we're re-inventing ourselves.”

Fair enough. I buy all that, particularly the last bit… (plus the fact that it would have cost an arm and a leg to continue ‘renting’ the name from Branson, but I genuinely don’t think that was the main reason they ditched it.)

So, how will Global approach the similar dilemma of ‘name change’, particularly when many of the stations are familiar local brands and have been on the air since the early 80’s. Of course, nothing has the divine right stay the same forever, but how do you convince local listeners that it’s in their interests that you need to deliver a consistent brand to national advertisers, therefore you must remove most of the local programming apart from Breakfast and Drivetime, and rename their familiar local brand, with a quasi-national brand named after a vital organ.

There is of course the argument that much of commercial radio in the UK needs reinvention, and this is one of the only realistic ways to do it. Centralised control with some local management, product consistency and a uniform approach to marketing and promotions; A kind of ‘McRadio’ if you like. Hmmm…

Will listeners like this homogenised approach to local radio? Is there an unavoidable inevitability about it? And will the DJ’s have to wear brown uniforms and get stars on their badges for doing good local links? We shall see… but the most fascinating part of this is still to play out. How will the changes be communicated on-air. Or maybe they haven’t thought that far ahead yet?! Any ideas welcome!!

Secret Scam

“Gross failure of senior management”… “Serious, repeated and deliberate breaches”… “Fundementally misleading and inaccurate”. These are not words you would wish to have used to describe your company, or the way it behaved regarding an Ofcom investigation.

The phrase ‘damning indictment’ hardly does justice to UK regulator Ofcom’s adjudication that’s just been released regarding the (almost defunct) radio group GCap Media, and its breaches of the Broadcasting Code in respect of their networked ‘Secret Sound’ competition.

I’ve read a few adjudications in my time (and been part of a few too!), but having just finished all 29 glorious pages of this particular one, I don’t even know where to start!! You can read it for yourself here… but be warned, this is like ‘hardcore regulator porn’. It’s dirty stuff and you may need a stiff drink and a lie down after reading it.

I’ll try not to recount the sordid tale in all its details, as I would need…well… 29 pages… but in essence GCap ran a Secret Sound competition across its One Network for 4 weeks. The problem was that the practise of deliberately putting callers to air with wrong answers to prolong the competition was agreed by a “Director” responsible for networked output. Basically listeners were paying on a premium line to enter a competition that they couldn’t win, and people within GCap knew this was going on. Oh dear…. Oh dear!

Some brave individual grassed GCap up and Ofcom launched an investigation. So did GCap. Only, apparently GCap's investigation wasn’t really very good and “… not thorough or extensive” with “… no formal or written report produced”. In fact, Ofcom thought that GCap didn’t take the matter seriously enough.

When they did finally issue a statement (4 months later!) on their corporate website, GCap said something like ‘Terribly sorry listeners... Didn’t mean any harm... No hard feelings?’ Actually what they really said was, that this was an “an isolated incident” and a “system error”, when actually they knew it was a little bit more than that. This part has really annoyed Ofcom .They said today in their ruling...

“For GCap to describe this deliberate and repeated unfair conduct as “an isolated incident” and a “system error” was fundamentally misleading and inaccurate and represented, in Ofcom’s view, an inept attempt at “news management” on GCap’s part. The fact that GCap’s Board had authorised the wording of this statement, and its publication on GCap’s corporate website, was a matter of serious concern to the Committee.”

Spin gone wrong! Very badly wrong.

There’s quite a comedic moment in this story which refers to the fact that listeners could get a refund if they wanted to... but as GCap only publicised this on their corporate website, and not on station websites... or on air, out of the 297,215 entries they received, they refunded... wait for it... a single listener the grand total of £2!

Ofcom’s tongue lashing didn’t stop there. They go on to say that they...

“... considered it wholly inadequate that GCap had demonstrated an unwillingness to disclose for several months the specific details and seniority of those responsible for the unfair conduct. This was the first case of its kind in which the behaviour of the licensee (or as in this case, the parent company acting on behalf of the licensees) had effectively hindered Ofcom’s investigation.”

Sweet Jesus!! Could this get any worse? Well yes actually. As a direct result of this hindrance, the fine was going be higher. Ouch. How high in total? Well how about £1.1 Million! There goes the Christmas Party... for the next 20 years!

The list of bad practice goes on and on... from allowing junior members of staff to run a huge network competition with no apparent managerial supervision, to no accurate record of entries, to lack of proper training, to the GCap board signing off on a statement that was ‘economical with the actuality’!

All of this resulted in a... “...significant breakdown of the fundamental relationship of trust between 30 local station and their audiences” which according to GCap is its “most valuable asset”. Funny way of showing it I guess!

So, as GCap is in its final throws as a company, with this rather ignominious end to its life, what can we learn?

Simple. Don’t con your listeners. In any way. It will come home to roost.

Meanwhile, new owners Global are having to get out their cheque book. And just in case there was any delay, on the front page of the ruling Ofcom have made it clear that cheques are “payable to HM Paymaster General”.

How very helpful.

'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.

"Going... going... gone"; Global buys GCap

Congratulations to Global Radio. The ongoing speculation and deadline extensions led to the least anticipated announcement this evening that GCap Media is to be purchased by Global Radio for £375 Million. Not a bad price all things considered!

Now the questions will begin…

• What does this mean for DAB in the UK?


• Will Global reverse the decision to close stations like The Jazz and Planet Rock?


• What about the sale of the Xfm’s outside London?


• Will the new enlarged Global have to sell some stations to keep the regulators less worried about lack of competition in some markets?


• How will Heart and Capital approach targeting the London market so they don’t cannibalise each other too much and maximise share?


• Will all the stations be housed in one big super sized broadcast centre in Leicester Square… which isn’t really brimming with room as it is!


• What implications will this have on staff and how many potential job losses will there be? (We can expect a radical restructure… in order to realise all those much talked about synergies!)


• And the most important question of all… How will Fru Hazlitt be spending her reported £1 Million settlement for her several months work.

You’ve got to hand it to her. “Here’s my vision” she says. “Er…. No thanks” say the board. “That’ll be £1 Million quid then please” says Fru! Nice work if you can get it!!

No doubt there will be many column inches devoted to this during the next few weeks and months. As the stories come and go, I’ll try and pick out some of the more interesting programming implications of this commercial radio mega-deal and what the shape of things to come may look like.

Whilst Charles Allen may have a halo around him tonight and be heralded as the ‘saviour of UK commercial radio’ by putting its biggest group into private hands, let’s not forget this is the man who took ITV to one of it’s 'all time low' periods in terms of ratings, revenue and creativity. So, whilst Global is tonight living up to it’s bullish name… let’s see what things look like in 3, 6 and 12 months time.

But good luck Charles! We’re counting on you!

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!"

Global Dominance?

Richard Parks' appointment as Executive Director of the new Global Radio consortium is an interesting development for a number of reasons.

From a programming perspective, How will Magic 105.4 fare without him? How much of it's success was derived from the magic-dust that he sprinkled on the output... and how much was derived from the focused, dedicated and hard working team at Mappin House. (Let's remember that Graham Dene is moving over to Smooth Radio shortly too, so it may be hard for them to keep the momentum up losing a couple of key staff... despite being Number 1 in London!!).

Parky going over to the company that owns Heart, one of Magic's main competitors, will no doubt benefit Heart a great deal, with all the knowledge that Richard will bring with him!

As Global Radio sets out its stall, the reports of a deal to be done with Richard Branson to buy Virgin Radio back are also circulating.

Suddenly Global Radio has a potential group made up of the Heart, Galaxy and LBC branded stations, plus Virgin Radio too! And it's obviously very serious about it's ambition when it recruits someone whom many people see as the "Uber-Daddy" of Commercial Radio for a place on its board.

(By the way... Will the new Exective Director of Global Radio discuss the potential aquisition of Virgin Radio with the Virgin Radio Chief Executive? "Hello son.... Hello Dad!".)

The commercial radio consolidation game is still in full swing, and I predict there's a lot more to come too!