The Radio Thread

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  • A decision has finally been made on what Bauer will do with its recent acquisitions. Most of the acquisitions, as expected, will join the Greatest Hits Radio network. The legacy tier 1 & 2 ILRs acquired from the Wireless Group will see their FM services joining the Hits Radio network (Pulse 1 (Bradford), Signal 1 (Stoke on Trent) and The Wave 96.4 (Swansea) - which will keep their existing names as other legacy radio stations in the Hits Radio network have done. The ex Wireless Group legacy AM/medium wave stations will be merged into the Greatest Hits Radio network. Fire Radio in Bournemouth will also join the Hits Radio network and keep its existing name.

    Again, as expected, Nation will enter into a brand licensing agreement with Bauer. These being the radio stations formerly owned by the groups acquired by Bauer (those purchased by Nation as their service areas overlapped existing Bauer station coverage areas). So mirroring the brand licensing agreements between Global and Communicorp. Nation-owned The Breeze 107 (South Coast), will be renamed Hits Radio, with Nation-owned KCFM (Hull) and SAM FM (South Coast) becoming GHR. As the stations under the brand licensing arrangements are not owned by Bauer, they will be required to provide the minimum hours of local broadcasting required by Ofcom. Currently this means either a locally produced breakfast or drivetime show on weekdays only.

    Lincs FM in Lincoln, Pirate FM in Cornwall and Sam FM in Bristol will continue without a rebrand and without joining a network for the moment. This is consistent with the approach in the East Midlands, where GEM 106 has some autonomy although, technically, is included in the Hits Radio network. These are areas (other than Bristol) which don't have legacy AM & FM services to join both of the existing GHR and HR networks. Perhaps Bauer will introduce a third network with a service catering for a wider range of music from both the HR (more recent hits) and GHR (older/classic hits) networks, appealing to a less targeted audience. Quite surprising that the same, middle of the road, approach hasn't been adopted for the UKRD acquisitions in North Yorkshire although these are a fairly good fit for GHR. That said, Lincs FM would also be a good fit for GHR.

    This opens the way for Bauer's regional Kiss stations covering East Anglia and the Severn Estuary to perhaps rebrand and join the HR network. Kiss is already available as a national station on DAB, so currently there is some duplication. Newer acquisitions in these regions having joined the GHR network.

    Many of the stations joining the GHR network in the North will allow Bauer to close the medium wave transmitters in these areas. MW transmitters are expensive to run and listening on those frequencies is at an all time low. Peak FM joining GHR is a surprise, it might have been better for it to have merged with Hallam FM in the HR network. However, Dearne, Rother and Trax joining the GHR network will leave Sheffield uncovered in the new GHR FM coverage in South Yorkshire. Not a major problem, Sheffield could keep the medium wave transmitter. Perhaps the plan is to use overspill from Rotherham, Barnsley, Doncaster & Bassetlaw and Chesterfield to cover as much of the Sheffield area as possible. That could also explain the UKRD services in North Yorks joining the GHR network. Ridings FM would only add GHR to the Wakefield area of West Yorkshire but, perhaps, with overspill from Wakefield, Harrogate and York, much of Leeds would also be covered.

    Bauer owned Wave 105 on the South Coast doesn't fit easily into the network structure, with overlapping SAM and Breeze already added to the GHR & HR networks through brand licensing.

    Clearly, the mergers and networking will result in a lot of regular and freelance staff losing their jobs. An unfortunate sign of the times.

    More about the regional structure of the new networks and how existing and newly acquired stations will fit into the new structure will be considered in later posts.

    https://www.bauermedia.co.uk/newsroom/press…l-radio-network

  • Like in the tv world, there are now far fewer companies doing radio, which will ultimately mean less choice in the end.

    I reckon going by all that info, local radio is something only the BBC will do in the end. And I don't care what Ofcom say about minimum amounts of local programming, we had all that with ITV pre the Broadcasting Act of 1990 and look where we are now.

    I can understand about getting rid of non FM stations, but ultimately this is all about merging local stations into generic national stations.

    BTW, I never thanked jj on a good original thread. Thanks JJ.:thumbup:

  • Ofcom aren't overly concerned about the minimum quota for local broadcasting. It can't be reduced any further without a change in the law and parliament has been somewhat tied up with Brexit and Covid-19, so that hasn't happened yet. It will. Pretty much everyone in the industry knows that commercial "local" radio is dead. Bauer needs some good brand names to build their future, HR hasn't really taken off and the Magic AM brands performed better than GHR, although networking London's Magic FM wasn't popular and lost a lot of listeners. There isn't much brand loyalty for the current network names. The latest set of mergers will reduce choice in so far as it will mean that adjacent areas will simply be duplicating local content rather than providing something slightly different. Or maybe the ultra local FM services (SALLIES) which will shortly be carrying the radio services already available on AM. Ultra local is a misconception as most of these stations merged and co-located long ago. Ridings FM moved in with Dearne FM in Barnsley, Trax FM in Bassetlaw moved in with its sister station in Doncaster. Ultimately, Dearne FM and Rother FM also moved into the Doncaster site. Soon, the content will all be from GHR in Manchester. I doubt that many people will miss these stations, Lincs FM Group stations sounded very dated and the voice tracked presentation, with the same presenter covering all stations, wasn't very appealing.

    Oddly, as these media giants close down local services, they do tend to open further national stations on DAB, covering different genres of music. So perhaps more choice in a way, just not more local choice.

    Many of the smaller stations being swallowed up by the "big two" covered areas that were too small to be carried over the geographically larger DAB networks. Many of these were earmarked for the new small scale DAB multiplexes. Following the acquisitions and mergers, the larger merged stations more closely match the DAB coverage areas and can now afford carriage. Or, where they are replacing an AM service, the service will already be present on DAB. Raising the question, how much demand will there be for SS-DAB without these stations?

    There are still gaps in networks such as GHR, perhaps Bauer will now seek to extend GHR further into Greater Manchester and try to buy out Revolution FM (Oldham) and Imagine Radio (Stockport), maybe extending into Cheshire by acquiring Dee 106.3 (Chester) and Silk FM (Macclesfield). Perhaps Mansfield FM would be an appealing target to consolidate coverage in the East Midlands. There is a slight problem in that Global has already acquired some of the smaller stations that would fill in the gaps, so neither of the media giants is likely to get full coverage.

    Some stations will be safe, such as Nation's Sun FM in Sunderland, which recently extended coverage into Durham and Darlington with the acquisition of Durham FM & Alpha FM. Even with the extended coverage, the area overlaps Bauer's Metro Radio & TFM, Global's Capital & Heart and Communicorp's brand licensed Smooth. So probably not very attractive to any of these. But who knows? Maybe another brand licence for GHR as medium wave services are closed in the North East - that really would give patchy coverage.

  • Bauer has already started to stamp its image on recent acquisitions with the former Wireless Group stations Signal 1, Pulse 1 and The Wave (Swansea) adapting playlists, jingles etc to fit into the Hits Radio format, "The Biggest Hits, The Biggest Throwbacks". Already taking some evening and weekend content from the network. Some of the former Wireless Group stations (Peak FM, The Wave (Blackpool), Tower FM, Wire FM, Wish FM & Signal 105) are also taking some evening and weekend content from the GHR network. With all stations joining the GHR network due to make the full changeover by September.

    The Pulse 2 website is indicating that changes there are due from Monday. Radio Today is reporting that former Wireless Group stations, Pulse 2 & Peak FM (in the Yorkshire, Lincolnshire + N Midlands region), The Wave (Blackpool), Tower FM, Wire FM & Wish FM (in the North West) and Signal 2 & Signal 105 (in the West Midlands) will start taking programmes from the GHR network from Monday 13th but will retain local breakfast shows for the moment.

    Similarly, Radio Today is reporting that ex Celador Group stations, Dream 100, Radio Norfolk, North Norfolk Radio, The Beach & Town 102 (DAB) (all in the East region) together with The Breeze stations (in the South and South West regions) will also start taking programmes from the GHR network on the same date.

    The presenter of the GHR network breakfast show will present the drivetime show on these stations until September. Presumably, at that point, the regional breakfast show presenters will switch into the drivetime slot as breakfast becomes networked.

    According to the Radio Today news report, Signal 1 and Pulse 1 will take more shows from the Hits Radio network from the following Monday (July 20th) other than local weekday breakfast shows. Indicating that these stations will be fully integrated into the Hits Radio network from that date. Swansea's The Wave will also take programmes from the network from July 20th but will keep the local mid morning and drivetime programmes in addition to the breakfast show.

    For now, the ex-UKRD and ex-Lincs FM stations set to join the GHR network in September will keep their existing schedules.

    https://www.pulse2.co.uk/news/things-ar…rent-next-week/

    https://radiotoday.co.uk/2020/07/bauer-…radio-stations/

    Edited 2 times, last by jj20x (July 10, 2020 at 1:39 AM).

  • In areas where Bauer only runs one radio station, rather that the legacy AM / FM dual station regions, it has traditionally operated a modified schedule for these stations, adopting a broader spectrum of genres in the playlist including content from both GHR & Hits Radio playlists. Stations such as Gem in the East Midlands and CFM in Cumbria have therefore retained more local content than the other stations in the group. It was no surprise that Bauer announced that a similar policy was announced for new acquisitions, Lincs FM in Lincolnshire and Pirate FM in Cornwall.

    The move towards networking has fuelled speculation on radio forums that Bauer would, perhaps, form a third network to provide off-peak programming for these networks. However, maybe the latest summary of changes produced by Bauer gives more of a clue to the future of these stand alone stations.

    https://www.bauermedia.co.uk/hitsradiobrandnetwork-stationlist

    Quote

    The following new stations will be introduced:

    GHR – Cornwall, GHR - East Mids, GHR - Lincolnshire.

    The new DAB-only GHR services will remove the need to operate Pirate, Gem & Lincs as standalone services and allow them, over time, to adopt the playlist and be more tightly integrated with the Hits Radio network.

    Similarly, as soon as the North Cumbria DAB multiplex is launched, Bauer will be able to launch a GHR - Cumbria on DAB, allowing CFM to be fully integrated into the Hits Radio network.

    Radio Borders and West Sound Dumfries & Galloway are, technically, in a similar position but currently these locations do not have a DAB multiplex. However, West Sound Dumfries & Galloway has already adopted the Scottish GHR format, with Radio Borders adopting the Scottish version of the Hits Radio format.

    Edited once, last by jj20x (July 9, 2020 at 10:26 PM).

  • I get bored with wall to wall non- stop music channels. If I want to listen to music I prefer to choose my own, rather than listen to other people's choice, by listening to Spotify or Utube........... I do like discussions and now that Talk Radio has moved to DAB2 and Times radio has taken it's place on the DAB waveband, I am enjoying listening to Times Radio.

    The Voice of Reason

  • I get bored with wall to wall non- stop music channels. If I want to listen to music I prefer to choose my own, rather than listen to other people's choice, by listening to Spotify or Utube..........

    Spotify and other streaming services basically took the audience away from radio, which is why legacy stations are now struggling to survive.

    I do like discussions and now that Talk Radio has moved to DAB2 and Times radio has taken it's place on the DAB waveband, I am enjoying listening to Times Radio.

    Interesting that the Wireless Group didn't put the newer Times Radio onto DAB+ given that they promoted it as an upgrade for Talkradio.

    I hope the interviews become a little more challenging, the current approach is a little too friendly. Perhaps the trend for politicians to constantly repeat the mantra rather than actually answer questions makes this the easier approach. Unfortunately, the listeners won't learn very much from this type of interview.

    Edited once, last by jj20x (July 10, 2020 at 2:57 PM).

  • The new DAB ensembles for the Channel Islands, North and West Cumbria & Morecambe and Lancaster have each been given an extra year to launch the new ensembles because of the Covid-19 situation. All licensees hope to launch before the extended deadline.

    It's all change on DAB for the new Bauer acquisitions. Pulse 80s will be removed from Bradford & Huddersfield, Signal 80s will be removed from Stoke-on-Trent and Wave 80s will be removed from Swansea. Surrey will lose Eagle 80s and Encore Radio and Suffolk will lose Suffolk First.

    The ex-Wireless Group ensembles now under Bauer ownership (Bradford & Huddersfield, Stoke-on-Trent and Swansea) will add Absolute Classic Rock, Country Hits, Hits Radio, Magic Chilled & Magic Soul, in line with the mix of channels on the existing Bauer ensembles. Stoke-on-Trent will also add Magic Musicals.

    Most, if not all, of these changes should take place overnight on Sunday and be in place by Monday.

    Edit: Encore Radio was removed from the Surrey ensemble and Suffolk First was removed from Suffolk as expected. The 80s stations remain for now with the extra Bauer digital stations still to be added to the former Wireless Group ensembles.

    Edited once, last by jj20x (July 13, 2020 at 2:38 PM).

  • Some of the decisions made by Bauer about which networks the acquired stations should join don't make a lot of sense.

    Using brand licensing for the stations now owned by Nation in the Solent area brings 3 Bauer brands to the area. When we looked at the South and South West, the assumption was that the stations acquired by Bauer in the South would be used to extend the coverage of The Wave 105, which is relatively close to the format of the UKRD stations and seemed to be a good match. The decision to license Hits Radio and GHR to the stations acquired by Nation means there will be a significant crossover between these and The Wave. Effectively, the stations will be competing with each other in the same market. The assumption for the South West was that these stations would also follow the format of The Wave 105 or of Pirate FM, but be based centrally at Bristol.

    It seems that Bauer has gone for the one size fits all option and thrown most of the new acquisitions into the GHR network. GHR is understandable for the ex UKRD stations in the North West and for the ex Lincs FM stations in Yorkshire where Bauer don't need extra stations so are mopping up the frequencies to bring GHR to FM. Possibly allowing for the closure of the medium wave transmitters, or reallocating medium wave to one of the digital services, as Bauer did in the West Midlands before handing back the MW licences.

    Bradford, Stoke and Swansea are no brainers, easily dropping into the AM/FM split pattern of most of Bauer's legacy stations.

    The East and North Midlands stations could have been integrated in a much more creative way. Rather than dumping ex UKRD Peak FM and ex Lincs FM Group Rutland Radio as isolated islands into the GHR pool, Rutland and the Matlock frequency of Peak FM could have been merged into Gem, consolidating its rather odd coverage area.

    The Chesterfield transmitter of Peak could have been added to Hallam FM. Similarly, the Worksop transmitter of Trax FM could also have been added to Hallam FM. Matching FM coverage to the DAB service area. Bauer have stated that they intend to organise stations at a multiplex level and this would have made more sense than the current patch work approach.

    The East Anglian stations joining GHR makes sense if the Norfolk regional version of Kiss is transformed into an East Anglian Hits Radio network station. At the moment, it has no local services and is a local repeater of the national station. Similarly, if the Severn Estuary version of Kiss also becomes Hits Radio, then it would make more sense for the South Western acquisitions to join GHR than to be linked with Pirate.

    North Yorkshire is probably the biggest mystery of all. It is a massive gap between the Yorkshire Hits Radio group stations and TFM in the North East. The most logical move would have been to merge Minster, Stray and YCR into a new Hits Radio station for North Yorkshire and the HR format isn't too far away from the UKRD formats, providing blanket coverage of Hits Radio across the entire region. Instead Bauer is merging all 3 into GHR and significantly changing the genre of the station.

    It will be interesting to see how the RAJAR figures move over the next 12 months or so...

  • The Breeze has been added to the Gloucester and Somerset ensembles in accordance with Bauer's commitment to digital future for the acquired stations. Unfortunately, it appears, that this commitment only stretches to 80k mono... These are both Muxco ensembles carrying few services, so capacity doesn't seem to be the limiting factor.

    The additions will be in preparation for the conversion of Bauer's The Breeze to the GHR network.

  • In a surprise move, Bauer has revealed that it is to close Radio Aire in Leeds, replacing it on FM with Greatest Hits Radio and on DAB with Pulse 1. Greatest Hits Radio is already available in Leeds on Medium Wave and DAB, Ridings FM in Wakefield is also converting to Greatest Hits Radio in the greater Leeds area. Radio Aire has been under-performing in the ratings for Leeds for quite some time but if Bauer can't turn around stations under their own control, what hope is there for securing a future for the new acquisitions?

    https://planetradio.co.uk/aire/station/o…est-hits-radio/

    https://www.leeds-live.co.uk/news/leeds-new…tember-18607158

    https://www.leeds-live.co.uk/news/leeds-new…-radio-18608608

    https://radiotoday.co.uk/2020/07/radio-…est-hits-radio/

    Edited 3 times, last by jj20x (July 20, 2020 at 8:21 PM).

  • Actually, splitting the FM services in West Yorkshire, technically allows Bauer to vaguely claim coverage of "West Yorkshire" for both networks for advertising sales. The reality is that the Leeds area won't have FM coverage of HR and the Western part of West Yorkshire won't have FM coverage of GHR.

    Bauer had already received approval for a change of music policy, which will probably cover the change from HR to GHR. Also, Bauer had asked for approval to co-site Radio Aire with Hallam & Viking (both of which are now located in Sheffield) and to share programmes. Maybe Hits Radio Yorkshire will be with us before too long...

  • Many of the comments on discussion groups and forums have been about the names selected by Bauer for the regional networks and that "Hits" and "Greatest Hits" don't really work as names and don't have the appeal of the more respected brand names used by Global. There has been some speculation the Bauer would do better if they adopted the names of some of the acquired stations such as The Breeze for GHR or Fire for HR. Fire would probably work, it is short and catchy and would show up above Heart in the DAB listings. I'm not too sure about The Breeze, the name may work in areas that aren't currently using the name but, as a brand, "The Breeze" has been damaged by the low budget format of the current stations.

  • Give me some decent rock, and I might actually tune in.

    Radio Ga-Ga rules currently. It needs a huge refresh.

    It depends what you call decent rock. As a music format it isn't one of the most popular and there are genre based stations such as Kerrang, Absolute Classic Rock and many others. On mainstream radio it just causes listeners to tune away.

    If you prefer 50s / 60s rock and roll, it has pretty much hit the buffers. The longevity of music on "popular" radio is around 40 years, which is why the 60s "decade" stations don't get much exposure. As for anyone wanting to listen to 50s and 40s music.. good luck with that...

  • It depends what you call decent rock. As a music format it isn't one of the most popular and there are genre based stations such as Kerrang, Absolute Classic Rock and many others. On mainstream radio it just causes listeners to tune away.

    If you prefer 50s / 60s rock and roll, it has pretty much hit the buffers. The longevity of music on "popular" radio is around 40 years, which is why the 60s "decade" stations don't get much exposure. As for anyone wanting to listen to 50s and 40s music.. good luck with that...

    I'm not into anything pre-sixties! There is plenty of much more recent rock material, but I know this is all just a matter of taste. However, I do find all that uninspiring middle-of-the-road stuff such as they play relentlessly on Heart rather mind-numbing.

  • I'm not into anything pre-sixties! There is plenty of much more recent rock material, but I know this is all just a matter of taste. However, I do find all that uninspiring middle-of-the-road stuff such as they play relentlessly on Heart rather mind-numbing.

    The only radio I ever listen to is first thing and that is local commercial radio - mainly for the traffic/local news/weather. The music is like shop musak, forgettable

    Amazing to think that we lived by the radio when I was little, the household sort of revolved around the programme times. Total silence when the football results were read 5 pm Saturday, Mrs Dales Diary at teatime and the Archers at 7pm. I can't remember what time Biggles was on but that was my time. Then when the King died it was non stop solemn music, I thought it was the end of the world :(

  • I'm not into anything pre-sixties! There is plenty of much more recent rock material, but I know this is all just a matter of taste. However, I do find all that uninspiring middle-of-the-road stuff such as they play relentlessly on Heart rather mind-numbing.

    You won't be in Heart's demographic, they play pop hits from the 90s to date with a female skew. Also having digital spin-offs based around the 70s, 80s and 90s and dance music.

  • It's all change on DAB for the new Bauer acquisitions. Pulse 80s will be removed from Bradford & Huddersfield, Signal 80s will be removed from Stoke-on-Trent and Wave 80s will be removed from Swansea. Surrey will lose Eagle 80s...

    The ex-Wireless Group ensembles now under Bauer ownership (Bradford & Huddersfield, Stoke-on-Trent and Swansea) will add Absolute Classic Rock, Country Hits, Hits Radio, Magic Chilled & Magic Soul, in line with the mix of channels on the existing Bauer ensembles. Stoke-on-Trent will also add Magic Musicals.

    Pulse 1, Signal 1 and Swansea's The Wave have been integrated more tightly into the Hits Radio network from today. The 80s stations mentioned above along with "Total Access" have now been removed from the DAB ensembles mentioned above with the Bauer Group digital stations being added to the ex-Wireless Group ensembles, as detailed above.

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