Odd local radio acquisition strategy
Discussion
Our local stations, Eagle and The Breeze have been acquired and are slowly being changed to completely new national stations by the 'Greatest Hits' company (or its parent). What I don't get is that the local aspect is being removed, the music is only 70s-90s, the DJs are going...so what's left? The frequency. And with DAB being more common, what is that worth long term?
I come from an M&A background but really don't see why they bought these and other stations. The USP of these stations was the local aspects/DJs/News/Adverts/Etc. With that gone....
I come from an M&A background but really don't see why they bought these and other stations. The USP of these stations was the local aspects/DJs/News/Adverts/Etc. With that gone....
Same been happening for donkies,
My old local radio station, 210FM, which had local news, local studio and local mattress companies (Reading bedding), the Berkshire Fiesta centre etc all advertising on them was overtaken by Heart approx 15 years ago, and now its the same UK wide so i dont bother anymore as cant stand Heart
My old local radio station, 210FM, which had local news, local studio and local mattress companies (Reading bedding), the Berkshire Fiesta centre etc all advertising on them was overtaken by Heart approx 15 years ago, and now its the same UK wide so i dont bother anymore as cant stand Heart
Happened to a quite popular York station in May
https://www.yorkmix.com/shock-as-minster-fm-to-clo...
https://www.yorkmix.com/shock-as-minster-fm-to-clo...
JPJPJP said:
Happened to a quite popular York station in May
https://www.yorkmix.com/shock-as-minster-fm-to-clo...
And here in Harrogate to what was Stray FM. I predict quite a drop in listenership as the new station has a lot less local content which is the only reason I listened.https://www.yorkmix.com/shock-as-minster-fm-to-clo...
And in South Devon too. Very sad, it was nice having a local radio station.
I worked in York for a year in 1996 when I was a placement student at Nestlé on Haxby Road and listened to Minster FM and enjoyed it very much. It's responsible for one of my favourite ever radio moments when they had organised a custard pie fight and cut to the reporter who was covering it. As he was talking there was suddenly a lot of spluttering and he came back onto the radio and said 'Sorry, I was just t
tted in the face with a pie'. Hilarious, especially listening to the breakfast DJ trying to cover it up and not laugh himself.
I worked in York for a year in 1996 when I was a placement student at Nestlé on Haxby Road and listened to Minster FM and enjoyed it very much. It's responsible for one of my favourite ever radio moments when they had organised a custard pie fight and cut to the reporter who was covering it. As he was talking there was suddenly a lot of spluttering and he came back onto the radio and said 'Sorry, I was just t
tted in the face with a pie'. Hilarious, especially listening to the breakfast DJ trying to cover it up and not laugh himself.I guess it will be injecting some local news to make it "feel" similar whilst everything else is run from a single studio - so notionally same coverage for advertisers and lower costs of a centralised group of DJ's. I'm not sure how that pans out in the long term as a business model.
What it doesn't account for is the local personalities they've dropped, who I presume are much of the draw of listening to them in the first place.
What it doesn't account for is the local personalities they've dropped, who I presume are much of the draw of listening to them in the first place.
krisdelta said:
What it doesn't account for is the local personalities they've dropped, who I presume are much of the draw of listening to them in the first place.
Yep, our local one had the same breakfast DJ since it began and he was their 'star'. A few weeks into the takeover and he'd gone. Frimley111R said:
krisdelta said:
What it doesn't account for is the local personalities they've dropped, who I presume are much of the draw of listening to them in the first place.
Yep, our local one had the same breakfast DJ since it began and he was their 'star'. A few weeks into the takeover and he'd gone. Same in the lake district/cumbria - we had ‘the bay’ and ‘lakeland radio’, each with their own style, following and local celebs.
We advertised for years on lakeland and it was great for us.
A few years back they were purchased and turned into heart and smooth. We now listen to radio 2 or depressingly radio 1 if the boys are in charge
We advertised for years on lakeland and it was great for us.
A few years back they were purchased and turned into heart and smooth. We now listen to radio 2 or depressingly radio 1 if the boys are in charge
Frimley111R said:
Our local stations, Eagle and The Breeze have been acquired and are slowly being changed to completely new national stations by the 'Greatest Hits' company (or its parent). What I don't get is that the local aspect is being removed, the music is only 70s-90s, the DJs are going...so what's left? The frequency. And with DAB being more common, what is that worth long term?
I come from an M&A background but really don't see why they bought these and other stations. The USP of these stations was the local aspects/DJs/News/Adverts/Etc. With that gone....
Much as you might think that's true, it's not generally the case. The USP for music-lead local radio stations is the music policy not the local news or adverts. Networked radio can still broadcast adverts for local business as they can operate split frequencies. Ironic that you mention The Eagle as back in the late 90s/early 2000s, 96.4 was merged in to Radio Mercury by Allied Radio, with 96.4FM being the west region and 102.7FM being the east region, with different adverts played out on both at the same time as well as different programmes up until 6pm. Peter Gordon was a news and sport presenter on Radio Mercury (FM) and County Sound (AM) at the time. I come from an M&A background but really don't see why they bought these and other stations. The USP of these stations was the local aspects/DJs/News/Adverts/Etc. With that gone....
Presenters come and go and whilst people (listeners) have favourites and don't like change, the hoo-har and angry letters to the local paper soon die down and people adopt the new format. Meanwhile the radio group can maximize commercial revenues by offering advertisers an audience reach that wasn't previously possible whilst reducing costs of having to operate lots of different studios. Contrary to the thread title, it's not actually odd at all but good business.
It's cheaper to do this, buy up the local frequency bands, pump out the same crap up and down the country, but give you a quick 30 second traffic and channel update which even comes from some office in Birmingham.
I wouldn't mind, but christ on an electric bike without batteries, Greatest sts radio is horrible. Same old cheesy crap every day. I love "Grease", I think it's a cracking song, but not twice a day every day!
I wouldn't mind, but christ on an electric bike without batteries, Greatest s
ts radio is horrible. Same old cheesy crap every day. I love "Grease", I think it's a cracking song, but not twice a day every day!I'm in the same area as you Frimley, and have regularly listened to 96.4 on and off since it launched, out of what was the old County Sound radio.
PG had some kind of a stake in it, although I'm not sure to what degree, so must have been involved with the sale and takeover. All I know is he's got up every morning for 25 years to deliver the PG Breakfast show. That takes some doing.
I have advertised with them in the past, and received this email last night...
PG had some kind of a stake in it, although I'm not sure to what degree, so must have been involved with the sale and takeover. All I know is he's got up every morning for 25 years to deliver the PG Breakfast show. That takes some doing.
I have advertised with them in the past, and received this email last night...
Eagle Email said:
I hope you are well and have been keeping safe during the challenges this year has thrown at us. As we near 6 months since lockdown we can see that a lot has changed in the landscape of Surrey and Hampshire, for both our professional and personal lives. And we are no different to your business in how we have adapted our processes and offerings to fit the new world. During this period we have also been acquired by a new parent company - Bauer Media and I wanted to take this opportunity to bring you up to speed on what that all means…
As you may have already heard on the airwaves, Eagle Radio will soon change its name to Greatest Hits Radio. Greatest Hits Radio, which will officially launch in Guildford on 1st September, offers listeners the biggest songs of the 70s, 80s and 90s, celebrating music from iconic artists like Blondie, Queen, George Michael, Madonna, Fleetwood Mac, David Bowie, Elton John and Whitney Houston. The presenter line-up will include legendary broadcasters Mark Goodier, Paul Gambaccini, Simon Mayo, Janice Long, Alex Lester and Pat Sharp as well as much-loved Greatest Hits Radio Network presenters Simon 'Rossie' Ross, and Andy Crane. We want to emphasise that your local station is not closing. As Greatest Hits Radio, we will deliver an optimum mix of local content that you know and love and that our listeners highly value, alongside brilliant and engaging content from nationally known presenters.
By joining the Hits Radio Network we will deliver significant extra scale, while enabling you to remain firmly engaged with the local community. You will still have the opportunity to advertise locally to the Surrey and Hampshire area, and beyond should that suit your business. Plus with the benefits of access to a fantastic portfolio of media brands such as Kiss, Magic, Absolute and more to reach even more of your customers in new ways. We’re really excited about the opportunities we’ll be able to discuss with you to offer even greater scope to deliver results with your advertising. We have two initiatives ‘Getting YOU Back to Work’ and ‘Spirit of Local’ for our local community which we’ll talk to you about in the coming weeks when the team phase back from furlough.
For now I am holding the fort and will be your point of contact for all enquiries. Our aim is to make this a smooth transition which should not have any impact on your experience or promotion for your business. Any previously booked campaigns will remain in place on the new platforms, however should you wish to discuss anything please do not hesitate to give me a call.
On behalf of Eagle Radio I wanted to thank you for your support across the past 25 years, and we look forward to speaking with you soon to discuss how we can continue working together and delivering you even greater reach and impact across our expanded network in the future.
I can only imagine to the consumer that means relatively high paid presenters, operating out of a central studio, with very little local content. For the advertiser, it'll mean bigger reach, higher cost. As you may have already heard on the airwaves, Eagle Radio will soon change its name to Greatest Hits Radio. Greatest Hits Radio, which will officially launch in Guildford on 1st September, offers listeners the biggest songs of the 70s, 80s and 90s, celebrating music from iconic artists like Blondie, Queen, George Michael, Madonna, Fleetwood Mac, David Bowie, Elton John and Whitney Houston. The presenter line-up will include legendary broadcasters Mark Goodier, Paul Gambaccini, Simon Mayo, Janice Long, Alex Lester and Pat Sharp as well as much-loved Greatest Hits Radio Network presenters Simon 'Rossie' Ross, and Andy Crane. We want to emphasise that your local station is not closing. As Greatest Hits Radio, we will deliver an optimum mix of local content that you know and love and that our listeners highly value, alongside brilliant and engaging content from nationally known presenters.
By joining the Hits Radio Network we will deliver significant extra scale, while enabling you to remain firmly engaged with the local community. You will still have the opportunity to advertise locally to the Surrey and Hampshire area, and beyond should that suit your business. Plus with the benefits of access to a fantastic portfolio of media brands such as Kiss, Magic, Absolute and more to reach even more of your customers in new ways. We’re really excited about the opportunities we’ll be able to discuss with you to offer even greater scope to deliver results with your advertising. We have two initiatives ‘Getting YOU Back to Work’ and ‘Spirit of Local’ for our local community which we’ll talk to you about in the coming weeks when the team phase back from furlough.
For now I am holding the fort and will be your point of contact for all enquiries. Our aim is to make this a smooth transition which should not have any impact on your experience or promotion for your business. Any previously booked campaigns will remain in place on the new platforms, however should you wish to discuss anything please do not hesitate to give me a call.
On behalf of Eagle Radio I wanted to thank you for your support across the past 25 years, and we look forward to speaking with you soon to discuss how we can continue working together and delivering you even greater reach and impact across our expanded network in the future.
Frimley111R said:
I come from an M&A background but really don't see why they bought these and other stations. The USP of these stations was the local aspects/DJs/News/Adverts/Etc. With that gone....
As 48k says, it makes financial sense. And in many cases, is the only way many local stations are likely to survive and its possible to populate content with local stuff.Having a physical central location is no longer needed in radio. I have a bit of a connection to Radio Caroline. The Ross Revenge is still moored in the Blackwater Estuary and some shows do get broadcast from there but most come from presenter's home studios dotted around the UK and the world.
The economics of local radio don't really stack up any more. But with many stations putting out 80% of the same stuff, it makes sense to centralise this 80%.
Dr Interceptor said:
I can only imagine to the consumer that means relatively high paid presenters, operating out of a central studio,
These days you don't even have to have presenters visiting a central studio. Lots of people in the business have a home studio which can be little more than a microphone and a laptop in the spare room. You can record a weeks worth of links (the talky bits between the songs) in an afternoon. The playout system (the software at the radio station that sends the audio to the transmitters) sequences the songs, commercials, jingles and links. sgtBerbatov said:
give you a quick 30 second traffic and channel update which even comes from some office in Birmingham.
'Twas ever thus. Very few commercial or BBC local radio stations ever did their own travel news it was outsourced to companies like MetroNetworks based on the 29th floor of the CentrePoint tower in London. Bulletins were fed in to radio stations over ISDN lines.Dogwatch said:
Down here on the South Coast Spirit fm, based in Chichester I think, is going to be a Greatest Hits station from next month.
I don't mind, but late 20th century music can't be to everyone's taste.
If you're suggesting that the music policy will be radically different when the station becomes GHR - it won't. Under the terms of the licence change agreed with Ofcom the character of the station is not changing, what's changing (reducing) is the number of hours of locally produced programming.I don't mind, but late 20th century music can't be to everyone's taste.
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