Since Midnight, the RAJAR figures for the thirdf quarter of 2012 have been made public, and it has to be said, at first impressions, the figures don't look good for the health of radio. None of the sectors saw any gain in hours on the last quarter, and local commercial radio has continued a steady downward trend that has been ongoing, since 1999. In terms of reach, BBC radio saw a very minor gain, whilst commercial radio saw a very minor loss.
Both BBC Radio 1 and BBC Radio 2 saw drops in reach terms on the quarter, whilst Radio 3 and Radio 4 both saw reach gains. Radio 3's is it's traditional summer bump from the Proms, which always brings listeners to the station who may not normally listen at other times.
Interestingly, both 5 Live and 5 Live Sports Extra saw no Olympic bounce at all. In fact, both saw slight declines.
Of the BBC's DAB stations, only Asian Network was below 1 million. Both Radio 4 Extra and Radio 6 Music saw gains, whilst World Service held steady and 1Xtra saw a small decline.
On the national commercial radio side, Talksport saw it's reach climb above 3 million, Classic FM saw a slight decline, whilst Absolute Radio saw a major decline overall, down over 200,000 listeners on reach to just above 1.5 million listeners. However, Absolute 80's the group flagship digital station, saw an increase, as did Absolute 90s.
Global Radio can't be too happy with their brands overall. Only Xfm saw gains in both reach and hours, LBC saw a gain in reach, but as with a lot of stations that see gains in reach, LBC saw a drop in both hours and share. All the other brands, Heart, Gold, Capital, Choice, Real and Smooth, all of them saw drops in both reach and hours overall. Within those general figures there are some incredible strange variations, some of which this time are more unusual than normal.
Looking deeper, into the individual stations, there are some interesting stories, but the one that stands out, and for very much the wrong reason, is Gold Devon. If you were to look at the year to year figures, you'd ask what the issue was. In the past year has gained 3,000 listeners, 30,000 hours and 0.2% share. Unfortunately those figures do not reveal the whole story about Gold Devon. In early 2012, the Exeter and Torbay local DAB multiplex arrived in North Devon, which increased the availability of Gold Devon into an area where it had never been available on AM before. Between Q3 2011 and Q1 2012, Gold Devon's reach almost doubled from 28,000 to 52,000. Their hours more than doubled from 271k to 605K, and their share more than doubled from 1.1% to 2.6%. Things were looking quite good for Gold Devon at this point.
However, that changed in April with the arrival on DAB of North Devon based community radio station, The Voice. The Voice had long lobbied to be allowed to broadcast to North Devon after the almagamation of Lantern FM, into what eventually became Heart Devon. They had been broadcasting a 28 day FM RSL and during that RSL, they agreed a deal with NOW Digital, to broadcast on DAB as well full time on the multiplex that had not long arrived in North Devon. They launched on DAB in April, broadcasting not just to North Devon, but also to Exeter and Torbay. The net result: Gold Devon got hammered. They lost about 40% of their reach, dropping from 52,000 to 31,000. Their hours have dropped by a little more than half, down from 605k to 301k, and their share halved from 2.6% to 1.3%
In the past year, Gold Devon has been on a huge rollercoaster, and we still don't yet know where this rollercoaster will end. There is still a possibility that Gold Devon could drop even more listeners. At one time, Gold Plymouth had just 7,000 listeners, and the Plymouth area is the only area in Devon now where Gold broadcasts on both AM and DAB. The fact that Gold's local advertising has to be sold together with Heart in Devon, rather than separately, suggests that Gold Devon may not be profitable on its own, even with the fact that there is no local programming, and limited local content, sometimes as little as a 20 second weather forecast per hour.
Every station's figures fluctuate to some degree, but Gold Devon's figures are amongst some of the wildest swings I've ever witnessed.
In Devon and Cornwall, few stations are performing well. BBC Radio Cornwall is down 7,000 reach on the quarter, but is up 2,000 reach on the year. Over the year, Radio Cornwall has gained 42,000 hours, but the share has dropped 0.4%, mainly because the TSA figure is 4,000 more now than it was in Q3 2011. On the quarter, Radio Cornwall has gained 84,000 hours and 0.3% share, mainly due to the fact people are listening longer. 12.4 hours per week this quarter, compared with 11.3 last quarter.
BBC Radio Devon's reach was stable at 203,000, still down 56,000 listeners on the year, but the station saw a massive drop in listener hours. 9.5 hours per week this quarter compared with 11.4 hours last quarter and 10.7 hours a year ago. As a result of this, the total hours figure dropped below 2 million for the first time in a long time, if ever. I cannot recall nor can I find currently evidence that it has ever been that low. The share of listening dropped below 10% for the first time in a long time, if ever, in fact it dropped below 9%. Something has clearly gone awry at Radio Devon, and frankly without some in-depth investigation, I'm not sure what the answer is. It maybe that the cancellation of the separate Plymouth breakfast show has significantly hurt the station.
Whatever the problems are at BBC Radio Devon, Heart Devon has definitely benefited from them. Although down in the reach by 19,000 on last year, the station is up 17,000 on the previous quarter. Share is up by 1.2% on the previous quarter as well, and total hours was also up by 241,000, though that's still down 96,000 hours on last year. Sister station Heart Cornwall is also performing well, well above my own expectations. 69,000 listeners is up 1,000 on the quarter, down 1,000 on the year, so definitely holding steady there. However, Heart Cornwall is outperforming its predecessor, Atlantic FM in terms of holding on to listeners. Average Hours per week in up to 7.4 hours, a new high for the licence, beating Atlantic FM's previous best of 7.1 hours per week in Q1 2011. Both Heart Devon and Heart Cornwall are outperforming the network as a whole on Average Hours per week, with Heart Devon's 8.1 and Heart Cornwall's 7.4 beating the network's 7,2. However, all these figures are still on the low side of what I consider to be the mark to aim for, which is 10 hours a week and higher. However, none of these figures are remotely anywhere near the worst. Absolute 70's scores 3.1 hours per week, then The Hits scores 3.0 hours per week. Pulse 2 scores a paltry 2.8 hours per week, but that is beaten by Q, the worst performer of them all at just 2.7 hours per week. In terms of keeping them listening, Heart do okay.
The other story that I've been following with interest is Celador Radio, and more particularly, their soft AC brand, The Breeze. Figures for The Breeze have never been great, and even though the Hampshire version has increased their reach by 7,000 to 42,000; the South West version has slipped from 29,000 to 26,000. Even the recently rebranded Midwest Radio, which is now The Breeze, but still reports under the Midwest Radio name, has slipped from 37,000 to 35,000 listeners. Given the fact that The Breeze has been removed from the Bristol and Hampshire local multiplexes, the viability of the brand as a whole, as an FM only brand, is seriously called into question. Given that two other FM only stations in Devon have either lost listeners in the past quarter or not gained any listeners, the idea that any station only needs to be on FM these days, is starting to smell like a busted myth. Radio Exe did not gain any listeners in the last quarter, holding at just 25,000 reach. However, it did keep listeners for a bit longer, so hours and share were up. Palm FM on the other hand lost 3,000 listeners in the last quarter, and both hours and share were maginally lower. Back with Celador, until recently, Jack FM was the better performer. However, in the last quarter,, Jack Bristol saw a sharp decline in reach, from 116,000 to 92,000. However, hours and share both saw an increase on the previous quarter, but are still way down on last year. Jack Oxfordshire is seeing declines in reach, hours and share on the previous quarter. However, Jack South Coast is performing better on reach, hours and share.
Another story worth mentioning is Free Radio 80s, which replaced Gold in the West Midlands. In the Birmingham area, Free Radio 80's is outperforming what Gold used to achieve. 93,000 compared to 71,000. Even around the Coverntry area, performance is the same at 21,000. So right now, I'd call Free Radio 80s a success story so far.
So overall, what do the figures tell us? Well, non-music radio held itself together, better than music radio in the last quarter, and digital radio only stations seemed to perform better than FM only stations. Brand radio seemed to do poorly, but other stations also suffered. The Olympics were great for TV audiences, but those increased TV audiences meant radio lost out. Local commercial radio continued to trend downward, with little or no sign that stations are actively trying to reverse the trend. Radio needs to do something pretty drastic if they are going to attract the attention of younger listeners these days, and just being aural wallpaper, is not going to cut it any longer.
Showing posts with label Gold. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Gold. Show all posts
Thursday, 25 October 2012
Monday, 25 June 2012
Global to buy GMG Radio: Competition issues.
So, it's being reported today that Global Radio is to buy GMG Radio for £50million. It's being reported that UTV Media, Absolute Radio and Bauer Radio are expected to lodge complaints to the Competition Commission.
It's strange to watch this happen, knowing that this has happened already in two broadcasting related industries, and in both of them, they are significantly weaker now, than they were before the whole merging process began. Instead of becoming more than the sum of the parts, in both cases, the industries have become singiificantly less than the sum of the parts that made it, and it's already been happening in radio and it seems to be getting worse.
When radio stations first started being sold in the UK, back in the early 1990s, the usual valuation for a station was around £10million each. Accounting for inflation, which doubles every 15 years roughly, that would make each station today worth somewhere between £20-25million. Except, that Global has just bought 10 stations for £50million. That's £5 million per radio station. Accounting for inflation, that valuation of radio station back in the early 1990s would be somewhere near £2million. In other words, the value of an individual radio station has fallen 80% in the last 20 or so years.
That's some pretty massive depreciation. It's a damning indictment of an industry that seems to be doing what both Virgin Media in cable and ITV in terrestrial broadcasting. Merging themselves, not into oblivion, but into irrelevance. And as this trend continues, listeners will slowly continue to desert those stations that are part of this massive conglomerate, and seek other alternatives, from overseas if necessary.
And there is a bigger issue than merely the massive depreciation in the value of the radio industry over the last 20 years. This is the biggest radio company in the UK, buying the third biggest, when it is already way more than double the size and reach of the second biggest. And all this does is make Global bigger and make radio a less attractive industry for people and other business to come into. Radio was a better industry and a stronger industry, when there were more players in constant competition.
What's often refered to as consolidation is in fact nothing more than seeking to eliminate competition. And Charles Allen, who was the man responsible for the assimiliation of many of the ITV regional companies into Granada, and the eventual merger with Carlton to form ITV plc in 2004, knows all about that. And with GMG willing to sell, Global basically, being the biggest, could offer the most money, and yet, they still undervalued the group by at least half, according to GMG's own valuation in it's last annual report.
Global want to basically consolidate all of commercial radio under one company, much like Charles Allen tried to do at ITV, and almost succeeded. This deal is not designed to increase competition or preserve it, it is designed to reduce it. For that very reason alone, the Competition Commission should refuse this deal.
It's strange to watch this happen, knowing that this has happened already in two broadcasting related industries, and in both of them, they are significantly weaker now, than they were before the whole merging process began. Instead of becoming more than the sum of the parts, in both cases, the industries have become singiificantly less than the sum of the parts that made it, and it's already been happening in radio and it seems to be getting worse.
When radio stations first started being sold in the UK, back in the early 1990s, the usual valuation for a station was around £10million each. Accounting for inflation, which doubles every 15 years roughly, that would make each station today worth somewhere between £20-25million. Except, that Global has just bought 10 stations for £50million. That's £5 million per radio station. Accounting for inflation, that valuation of radio station back in the early 1990s would be somewhere near £2million. In other words, the value of an individual radio station has fallen 80% in the last 20 or so years.
That's some pretty massive depreciation. It's a damning indictment of an industry that seems to be doing what both Virgin Media in cable and ITV in terrestrial broadcasting. Merging themselves, not into oblivion, but into irrelevance. And as this trend continues, listeners will slowly continue to desert those stations that are part of this massive conglomerate, and seek other alternatives, from overseas if necessary.
And there is a bigger issue than merely the massive depreciation in the value of the radio industry over the last 20 years. This is the biggest radio company in the UK, buying the third biggest, when it is already way more than double the size and reach of the second biggest. And all this does is make Global bigger and make radio a less attractive industry for people and other business to come into. Radio was a better industry and a stronger industry, when there were more players in constant competition.
What's often refered to as consolidation is in fact nothing more than seeking to eliminate competition. And Charles Allen, who was the man responsible for the assimiliation of many of the ITV regional companies into Granada, and the eventual merger with Carlton to form ITV plc in 2004, knows all about that. And with GMG willing to sell, Global basically, being the biggest, could offer the most money, and yet, they still undervalued the group by at least half, according to GMG's own valuation in it's last annual report.
Global want to basically consolidate all of commercial radio under one company, much like Charles Allen tried to do at ITV, and almost succeeded. This deal is not designed to increase competition or preserve it, it is designed to reduce it. For that very reason alone, the Competition Commission should refuse this deal.
Sunday, 9 March 2008
Dead And Buried?
I am nothing if not a realist. In the many years that I have been following the media, I've seen the them do a lot of silly things. But the way industry insiders such as Ralph Bernard have recently talked down DAB (Digital Audio Broadcasting) digital radio is almost nothing short of deliberate sabotage. Thankfully few others have gotten in on the act, though DAB does have its problems. But then, so does GCap, the company Ralph Bernard worked for. So maybe, it was telling that Mr Bernard did everything he could to hide GCap's problems behind the façade of a DAB crisis. After all, almost all of GCap's radio stations broadcast simultaneously on analogue AM or FM and on DAB Digital Radio.
But now, a group of analysts have bought into this façade and are trying to suggest that there is a real crisis in DAB, a crisis that - by the way - doesn't actually exist except in the minds of bean counters who are looking for profit all the time. The name of this group of analysts: Enders Analysis. Now, this analytical organisation has tried to claim that in fact DAB is about to become the next Betamax!
First of all, the analogy is way off the mark. DAB is not in competition with FM, or AM, or even DRM (Digital Radio Mondiale) which is fairly new on the scene. If that were the case, then LW would probably have been closed off years ago. Secondly, to look at how long it takes for something to bed in to the public consciousness, you only need to look at VHF/FM. The band was opened up in the 1950s, but it didn't become popular to listen on FM until the 1980s. Even when Radio 1 had to hand over 1053 and 1089 AM to commercial radio in the 1990s, there were still plenty of people to convert over to listening to Radio 1 on FM.
The report's writer then goes onto suggest that DAB's financial health is looking grim by saying:..
"With three of the largest radio groups having reduced their commitment to the DAB platform in recent months, their stations having been replaced by a mix of ethnic, religious and non-commercial broadcasters, the future health of the DAB platform must be under question."
I really think this guy needs to wake up and actually do a little research. There are other issues at work here than just DAB. First, Yes,GCrap GCap is closing stations, not because DAB is a failure, but because of their own lack of confidence in both finances and in broadcasting itself. Remember they tried to sell off 9 stations as a bundle, that they felt were "non-core stations". They failed, miserably. GCap's Gold Network is in danger of collapsing. The whole network of 40 stations gets less than 1.5 million listeners, with some stations doing incredibly pathetic numbers. Gold's Plymouth station gets a mere 7,000 listeners. It's because the product being offered, whether by DAB, FM, AM or online, is one that people think is not up to scratch. It doesn't mean the platform will fail.
Virgin Radio may have closed one digital only station and put the brakes on launching another, but that again has little to do with DAB. SMG, who own STV and Grampian as well as Virgin Radio, are trying to sell Virgin Radio, but again, there are few interested parties. It's an attempt to make the Virgin Radio company more attractive to possible investors. It's got nothing to do with any possible failure of the DAB platform.
People were saying similar things about Digital Terrestrial Television when On/ITV Digital collapsed in 2002. I remember it well, I was reporting on it at Transdiffusion. Now, with Freeview as the base of the platform, the platform is thriving. Commercial Radio went into the platform without looking at how long it takes to establish one. They were looking for a quick 5-year or so turnaround to profits, rather than the 15-20 years it takes to properly establish a new radio platform.
DTT went from being a commercial platform to being a public service platform and has thrived. DAB needs to go down the same route and it won't as long as GCap are in charge of national and local multiplexes. GCap's Digital One and Now Digital are the DAB equivalent of ITV Digital. The daft thing is, this moronic writer of this report, whose name is Grant Goddard, also referenced the ITV Digital debacle!
"Ofcom faces a public outcry if the DAB platform were to fail, with owners of the 6.45 million DAB receivers sold to date demanding a refund of their purchases (remember ITV Digital?)."
Yes, I do. As I mentioned earlier, I reported on it, first hand, you can find the articles over in Bitstream on EMC, along with those of some of my colleagues who also reported on it at the time. And in all honesty, I do not see how over 6 million people would demand refunds for something that they HAVEN'T subscribed to, but just bought a piece of equipment for. Believe it or not, there are still ITV Digital digiboxes out there working, albeit not brilliantly, but they are working, just. But the most moronic statement of them all has to be the one that follows:
"Channel 4 is faced with the task of imminently launching a brand new DAB multiplex in the middle of a snowstorm around the future of the whole platform,"
A 'snowstorm' that has been created predominantly by two people. GCap's Ralph Bernard and Enders Analysis's Grant Goddard. Channel 4 got a taste of running a digital radio station in the recently demised Oneword, and it obviously didn't put them off because they chose to bid for a new national multiplex. And they won. 4 Digital group's stations represent the freshest ideas for DAB ever. All Digital One seems to have done is trotted out the same old tired sound, time and time again, and Joe Public is bored with it. With the growth in online listening, listeners can tune in to stations the world over, and find the cream of the crop.
Sadly for commercial radio, the UK's best stations are run by the BBC. British commercial radio barely flickers across the online 'dials' at all. But stations in the US, Canada, Australia, and Europe are all providing a far superior product to almost anything we have here in the UK. The reason is simple. Whilst our commercial radio stations have cut back content to the bare bones of music, commercials and news, other stations across the world have upped their content levels and because of this, are able to take advantage of the Podcast medium, which out of necessity, has to be speech based.
DAB as a platform is not at fault. It's the stations themselves that have shot themselves in the proverbial foot. Yes, we've lost a number of radio stations on DAB, but they've closed because their business plans were not realistic, in much the same way that a multitude of stations have closed on digital television, not because of the platform, but because their business plans were not realistic, not designed for the new digital broadcast environment that exists these days. And because they aren't making money as quickly as they want to, they want to abandon a broadcast platform. And you, Grant Goddard of Enders Analysis, are actively encouraging them with this piece of anti-DAB propaganda!
The report reads like the kind of hit job that I would expect from Fox News covering a Democrat, rather than an analysis of DAB. It has so many inaccuracies, that I have detailed and more, and come to so many erroneous conclusions, that I have to consign this report to the only file where it seems to fit in. The waste paper bin!
But now, a group of analysts have bought into this façade and are trying to suggest that there is a real crisis in DAB, a crisis that - by the way - doesn't actually exist except in the minds of bean counters who are looking for profit all the time. The name of this group of analysts: Enders Analysis. Now, this analytical organisation has tried to claim that in fact DAB is about to become the next Betamax!
First of all, the analogy is way off the mark. DAB is not in competition with FM, or AM, or even DRM (Digital Radio Mondiale) which is fairly new on the scene. If that were the case, then LW would probably have been closed off years ago. Secondly, to look at how long it takes for something to bed in to the public consciousness, you only need to look at VHF/FM. The band was opened up in the 1950s, but it didn't become popular to listen on FM until the 1980s. Even when Radio 1 had to hand over 1053 and 1089 AM to commercial radio in the 1990s, there were still plenty of people to convert over to listening to Radio 1 on FM.
The report's writer then goes onto suggest that DAB's financial health is looking grim by saying:..
"With three of the largest radio groups having reduced their commitment to the DAB platform in recent months, their stations having been replaced by a mix of ethnic, religious and non-commercial broadcasters, the future health of the DAB platform must be under question."
I really think this guy needs to wake up and actually do a little research. There are other issues at work here than just DAB. First, Yes,
Virgin Radio may have closed one digital only station and put the brakes on launching another, but that again has little to do with DAB. SMG, who own STV and Grampian as well as Virgin Radio, are trying to sell Virgin Radio, but again, there are few interested parties. It's an attempt to make the Virgin Radio company more attractive to possible investors. It's got nothing to do with any possible failure of the DAB platform.
People were saying similar things about Digital Terrestrial Television when On/ITV Digital collapsed in 2002. I remember it well, I was reporting on it at Transdiffusion. Now, with Freeview as the base of the platform, the platform is thriving. Commercial Radio went into the platform without looking at how long it takes to establish one. They were looking for a quick 5-year or so turnaround to profits, rather than the 15-20 years it takes to properly establish a new radio platform.
DTT went from being a commercial platform to being a public service platform and has thrived. DAB needs to go down the same route and it won't as long as GCap are in charge of national and local multiplexes. GCap's Digital One and Now Digital are the DAB equivalent of ITV Digital. The daft thing is, this moronic writer of this report, whose name is Grant Goddard, also referenced the ITV Digital debacle!
"Ofcom faces a public outcry if the DAB platform were to fail, with owners of the 6.45 million DAB receivers sold to date demanding a refund of their purchases (remember ITV Digital?)."
Yes, I do. As I mentioned earlier, I reported on it, first hand, you can find the articles over in Bitstream on EMC, along with those of some of my colleagues who also reported on it at the time. And in all honesty, I do not see how over 6 million people would demand refunds for something that they HAVEN'T subscribed to, but just bought a piece of equipment for. Believe it or not, there are still ITV Digital digiboxes out there working, albeit not brilliantly, but they are working, just. But the most moronic statement of them all has to be the one that follows:
"Channel 4 is faced with the task of imminently launching a brand new DAB multiplex in the middle of a snowstorm around the future of the whole platform,"
A 'snowstorm' that has been created predominantly by two people. GCap's Ralph Bernard and Enders Analysis's Grant Goddard. Channel 4 got a taste of running a digital radio station in the recently demised Oneword, and it obviously didn't put them off because they chose to bid for a new national multiplex. And they won. 4 Digital group's stations represent the freshest ideas for DAB ever. All Digital One seems to have done is trotted out the same old tired sound, time and time again, and Joe Public is bored with it. With the growth in online listening, listeners can tune in to stations the world over, and find the cream of the crop.
Sadly for commercial radio, the UK's best stations are run by the BBC. British commercial radio barely flickers across the online 'dials' at all. But stations in the US, Canada, Australia, and Europe are all providing a far superior product to almost anything we have here in the UK. The reason is simple. Whilst our commercial radio stations have cut back content to the bare bones of music, commercials and news, other stations across the world have upped their content levels and because of this, are able to take advantage of the Podcast medium, which out of necessity, has to be speech based.
DAB as a platform is not at fault. It's the stations themselves that have shot themselves in the proverbial foot. Yes, we've lost a number of radio stations on DAB, but they've closed because their business plans were not realistic, in much the same way that a multitude of stations have closed on digital television, not because of the platform, but because their business plans were not realistic, not designed for the new digital broadcast environment that exists these days. And because they aren't making money as quickly as they want to, they want to abandon a broadcast platform. And you, Grant Goddard of Enders Analysis, are actively encouraging them with this piece of anti-DAB propaganda!
The report reads like the kind of hit job that I would expect from Fox News covering a Democrat, rather than an analysis of DAB. It has so many inaccuracies, that I have detailed and more, and come to so many erroneous conclusions, that I have to consign this report to the only file where it seems to fit in. The waste paper bin!
Thursday, 13 December 2007
Paris is a golden girl!
The Sun has a couple of pictures of Paris Hilton actually doing some work for a change, albeit posing for an advert for a champagne, but nice to see actually earning a living for once!
The interesting thing about these pictures though is that Paris is posing nude, but covered from head to toe in gold paint, ala Shirley Eaton in the Bond film, Goldfinger.
The interesting thing about these pictures though is that Paris is posing nude, but covered from head to toe in gold paint, ala Shirley Eaton in the Bond film, Goldfinger.
Monday, 26 November 2007
Ralph Bernard and words of wisdom... Not!
This one crossed the wires whilst I was at the RMC newsdesk, and once again, it had me shaking my head in pure disbelief at how out of touch with reality outgoing GCap Chief Executive Ralph Bernard really is.
He gave an interview to Marketing Week, and some of the things he has said in that interview just leave me stunned with disbelief.
He says digital radio is facing a crisis. Wrong! There is no crisis in digital radio. Over 5 million sets have been sold, and almost 20% of the country can be counted as living in DAB households. DRM is now being added to the digital radio portfolio and it won't be long before combined DAB/DRM sets are available.
The Sirius/XM model of satellite radio is coming to Europe, and those broadcasts are digital too. Put simply, digital radio is looking very healthy.
What is truly in crisis right now, is GCap itself. Not all of GCap, though. Classic FM is continuing to be the dominant force in the national commercial radio market, and is the fourth most listened to national radio station, according to the latest RAJARs.
But GCap's local operations are very definitely in crisis. GCaps' One network of FM stations is stagnating at best. They tried to sell off 9 stations, including all their interests west of Bristol. No one bought them, and they took them off the market. All their local FMs sound far too samey. A localised "Morning Crew" at breakfast, a midday host and drivetime show, then networked from 7pm. Most others local stations are also guilty of sounding far too samey as well, but there are some exceptions. GCap stations take this to the extreme, with just about everything sounding almost exactly the same, no matter which GCap station you listen to.
Their AM operations, under the brand of "Gold", are in real crisis. With over 40 stations around the UK, with a TOTAL listenership of under 1.5 million according to the latest RAJARs, Gold is the biggest complete failure in the history of UK broadcasting. The Plymouth operation of Gold is the best example of this. Back in 1999, when it was Plymouth Sound AM, the station had a listenership of 67,000. Not stellar, but fairly stable. The latest RAJARs had Gold Plymouth showing a total listenership to the station of JUST 9,000! A pathetic, paltry 9,000. Around about an 80% DROP! Failing so miserably and completely, that it is no wonder, that Ralph Bernard wants to close analogue radio down, and have only digital radio. But even digital radio isn't realy a saving grace for GCap.
Digital One, GCap's national digital radio operation, is looking dangerously fragile. D1 is supposed to air 10 radio stations. Other than the 3 INRs on analogue, the other stations on there are Core, Life, The Jazz, Oneword and Planet Rock. That means there are 2 gaps that need to be filled when the BT mobile TV service ends. And with the added fact that GCap are removing Core and Life from the platform, that will leave 4 massive holes in the Digital One portfolio.
The second national digital radio multiplex is due on air in 2008, and whilst their progress to launch hasn't been completely smooth sailing, there is every sign that their full portfolio of stations including Sky News Radio will launch on time. This, if it happens as expected, will only serve to further highlight GCap's total and utter incompetence when it comes to radio. NTL and Telewest used to be the laughing stocks on the media industry. Since becoming Virgin Media though, they seem to have gotten their act together. Right now, GCap in the BIGGEST laughing stock in the history of UK broadcasting, since Lord Haw Haw!
Let us hope, somewhat forlornly, that the NEXT GCap Chief Executive, is a LOT more in touch with the reality of GCap radio than Ralph Bernard.
He gave an interview to Marketing Week, and some of the things he has said in that interview just leave me stunned with disbelief.
He says digital radio is facing a crisis. Wrong! There is no crisis in digital radio. Over 5 million sets have been sold, and almost 20% of the country can be counted as living in DAB households. DRM is now being added to the digital radio portfolio and it won't be long before combined DAB/DRM sets are available.
The Sirius/XM model of satellite radio is coming to Europe, and those broadcasts are digital too. Put simply, digital radio is looking very healthy.
What is truly in crisis right now, is GCap itself. Not all of GCap, though. Classic FM is continuing to be the dominant force in the national commercial radio market, and is the fourth most listened to national radio station, according to the latest RAJARs.
But GCap's local operations are very definitely in crisis. GCaps' One network of FM stations is stagnating at best. They tried to sell off 9 stations, including all their interests west of Bristol. No one bought them, and they took them off the market. All their local FMs sound far too samey. A localised "Morning Crew" at breakfast, a midday host and drivetime show, then networked from 7pm. Most others local stations are also guilty of sounding far too samey as well, but there are some exceptions. GCap stations take this to the extreme, with just about everything sounding almost exactly the same, no matter which GCap station you listen to.
Their AM operations, under the brand of "Gold", are in real crisis. With over 40 stations around the UK, with a TOTAL listenership of under 1.5 million according to the latest RAJARs, Gold is the biggest complete failure in the history of UK broadcasting. The Plymouth operation of Gold is the best example of this. Back in 1999, when it was Plymouth Sound AM, the station had a listenership of 67,000. Not stellar, but fairly stable. The latest RAJARs had Gold Plymouth showing a total listenership to the station of JUST 9,000! A pathetic, paltry 9,000. Around about an 80% DROP! Failing so miserably and completely, that it is no wonder, that Ralph Bernard wants to close analogue radio down, and have only digital radio. But even digital radio isn't realy a saving grace for GCap.
Digital One, GCap's national digital radio operation, is looking dangerously fragile. D1 is supposed to air 10 radio stations. Other than the 3 INRs on analogue, the other stations on there are Core, Life, The Jazz, Oneword and Planet Rock. That means there are 2 gaps that need to be filled when the BT mobile TV service ends. And with the added fact that GCap are removing Core and Life from the platform, that will leave 4 massive holes in the Digital One portfolio.
The second national digital radio multiplex is due on air in 2008, and whilst their progress to launch hasn't been completely smooth sailing, there is every sign that their full portfolio of stations including Sky News Radio will launch on time. This, if it happens as expected, will only serve to further highlight GCap's total and utter incompetence when it comes to radio. NTL and Telewest used to be the laughing stocks on the media industry. Since becoming Virgin Media though, they seem to have gotten their act together. Right now, GCap in the BIGGEST laughing stock in the history of UK broadcasting, since Lord Haw Haw!
Let us hope, somewhat forlornly, that the NEXT GCap Chief Executive, is a LOT more in touch with the reality of GCap radio than Ralph Bernard.
Thursday, 25 October 2007
Ratings Review: RAJAR Quarter 3 2007
The new set of RAJARs for June to September 2007 are out, and there are many interesting things to report.
First to the BBC Local Radio stations, and their top 10 by reach percentage...
01. BBC Radio Jersey - 45%
02. BBC Radio Cornwall - 36%
03. BBC Radio Guernsey - 35%
04. BBC Radio Cumbria - 33%
05. BBC Radio Stoke - 32%
06. BBC Radio Humberside - 30%
07. BBC Hereford & Worcester - 29%
08. BBC Radio Suffolk - 27%
and then we have a 4-way tie
09=. BBC Radio Derby - 25%
09=. BBC Radio Devon - 25%
09=. BBC Radio Norfolk - 25%
09=. BBC Radio Shropshire - 25%
BBC Radio Cornwall's performance is a real standout in that list, despite having a lot of competition in the area, with Pirate FM, Atlantic FM, and on DAB, Plymouth Sound as well, broadcasting across the county of Cornwall, and despite being 2% down on the last quarter.
Pirate FM have done well this quarter with 31%, up 1% on the last quarter. But the local story in Cornwall is Atlantic FM, who are up 3% on the quarter, despite still being in third place overall.
Nearby Plymouth Sound are down 2% on the quarter to 29% reach. BBC Radio Devon are holding steady at about 25%. Gemini FM are down 1% to 34%, whilst Lantern FM are down 2% at 39% reach.
Orchard FM have managed their own standout performance, gaining an extra 3% to 39% reach. South Hams Radio is down 1% at 14%.
Meanwhile, the newly merged Classic Gold and Capital Gold brand, known only as Gold, is floundering badly. Gold Plymouth is down 1% to 3% in percentage terms, but that represents losing about 25% of their audience, from a reach of 13,000 listeners to a reach of just 9,000. The audience for the 1152 AM frequency has collapsed since the local Plymouth Sound AM was closed and replaced with the semi national Classic Gold Plymouth, as it was. Perhaps OFCOM will do well to remember this when the Plymouth AM licence comes up for renewal. The licence is due to expire at the end of 2015.
However, the Exeter & Torbay version is a bit of a standout gaining 2% to 5%. An extra 7,000 listeners for the AM station which partners Gemini FM.
It's a little trickier to discern the top perfomers in local commercial radio,due to the sheer number of stations but here we go...
01. Radio Borders - 54%
02. Radio Pembrokeshire - 53%
03=. Manx Radio - 52%
03=. Channel 103 FM - 52%
05. Island FM 104.7 - 49%
06. Moray Firth Radio - 47%
07. West Sound - 45%
08. Spire FM - 44%
09. Yorkshire Coast Radio 42%
10. C. F. M. Radio - 41%
Notable there is that the two locals for the Channel Islands, Channel 103 FM and Island FM, both manage to outscore their BBC counterparts, and as well, between BBC Radios Geurnsey and Jersey, Channel 103 and Island FM, they manage to almost completely dominate radio listneing in the Channel Islands. The national stations between them don't get much of a look in.
Also notable there is Manx Radio which is unconnected to the ILR network, and began broadcasting on 29 June 1964, 9 years before ILR began and 3 years before any BBC Local Radio stations. 1964 was the height of the pirate radio revolution in Britain. Radio Caroline had begun broadcasting just 3 months earlier on 28th March and Radio Atlanta had lanuched on 12 May. At the time of Manx Radio's launch, Radio Atlanta was days away from closure and eventual merger with Radio Caroline to become Caroline South.
On the national front, BBC Radio 2 continues to be the most popular national station with just over 13 million listeners. Radio 1 is next with around 10.5 million listeners and third is BBC Radio 4 with just over 9.25 million listeners.
Next comes the most popular national commercial radio station, Classic FM with over 5.8 million listeners. Radio Five Live is just behind them with just under 5.5 million listeners.
Of the pseudo-national commercial networks, the top performers continue to outperform the national stations on AM and Digital, TalkSport and Virgin Radio. Magic is the best performing network with 3.43 million listeners, followed closely by Heart with just under 3.33 million listeners. Kiss is also a top performer with just under 3.1 million listeners, as is Galaxy's network with 2.6 million listeners.
By comparison, Virgin have around 2.47 million listeners and TalkSport, a mere 2.31 million.
Comparing very unfavourably in the network stakes is Gold. I highlighted the Plymouth station as a particular failure of the brand, but as a whole, the network is not much better. The network of stations on AM and DAB gets just under 1.5 million listners, which is down from the around 1.58 million listeners of the combined Capital and Classic Gold networks last quarter. When you think that this includes station in high population areas such as London, Bristol, Birmingham and Manchester, this performance comes across as doubly poor!
First to the BBC Local Radio stations, and their top 10 by reach percentage...
01. BBC Radio Jersey - 45%
02. BBC Radio Cornwall - 36%
03. BBC Radio Guernsey - 35%
04. BBC Radio Cumbria - 33%
05. BBC Radio Stoke - 32%
06. BBC Radio Humberside - 30%
07. BBC Hereford & Worcester - 29%
08. BBC Radio Suffolk - 27%
and then we have a 4-way tie
09=. BBC Radio Derby - 25%
09=. BBC Radio Devon - 25%
09=. BBC Radio Norfolk - 25%
09=. BBC Radio Shropshire - 25%
BBC Radio Cornwall's performance is a real standout in that list, despite having a lot of competition in the area, with Pirate FM, Atlantic FM, and on DAB, Plymouth Sound as well, broadcasting across the county of Cornwall, and despite being 2% down on the last quarter.
Pirate FM have done well this quarter with 31%, up 1% on the last quarter. But the local story in Cornwall is Atlantic FM, who are up 3% on the quarter, despite still being in third place overall.
Nearby Plymouth Sound are down 2% on the quarter to 29% reach. BBC Radio Devon are holding steady at about 25%. Gemini FM are down 1% to 34%, whilst Lantern FM are down 2% at 39% reach.
Orchard FM have managed their own standout performance, gaining an extra 3% to 39% reach. South Hams Radio is down 1% at 14%.
Meanwhile, the newly merged Classic Gold and Capital Gold brand, known only as Gold, is floundering badly. Gold Plymouth is down 1% to 3% in percentage terms, but that represents losing about 25% of their audience, from a reach of 13,000 listeners to a reach of just 9,000. The audience for the 1152 AM frequency has collapsed since the local Plymouth Sound AM was closed and replaced with the semi national Classic Gold Plymouth, as it was. Perhaps OFCOM will do well to remember this when the Plymouth AM licence comes up for renewal. The licence is due to expire at the end of 2015.
However, the Exeter & Torbay version is a bit of a standout gaining 2% to 5%. An extra 7,000 listeners for the AM station which partners Gemini FM.
It's a little trickier to discern the top perfomers in local commercial radio,due to the sheer number of stations but here we go...
01. Radio Borders - 54%
02. Radio Pembrokeshire - 53%
03=. Manx Radio - 52%
03=. Channel 103 FM - 52%
05. Island FM 104.7 - 49%
06. Moray Firth Radio - 47%
07. West Sound - 45%
08. Spire FM - 44%
09. Yorkshire Coast Radio 42%
10. C. F. M. Radio - 41%
Notable there is that the two locals for the Channel Islands, Channel 103 FM and Island FM, both manage to outscore their BBC counterparts, and as well, between BBC Radios Geurnsey and Jersey, Channel 103 and Island FM, they manage to almost completely dominate radio listneing in the Channel Islands. The national stations between them don't get much of a look in.
Also notable there is Manx Radio which is unconnected to the ILR network, and began broadcasting on 29 June 1964, 9 years before ILR began and 3 years before any BBC Local Radio stations. 1964 was the height of the pirate radio revolution in Britain. Radio Caroline had begun broadcasting just 3 months earlier on 28th March and Radio Atlanta had lanuched on 12 May. At the time of Manx Radio's launch, Radio Atlanta was days away from closure and eventual merger with Radio Caroline to become Caroline South.
On the national front, BBC Radio 2 continues to be the most popular national station with just over 13 million listeners. Radio 1 is next with around 10.5 million listeners and third is BBC Radio 4 with just over 9.25 million listeners.
Next comes the most popular national commercial radio station, Classic FM with over 5.8 million listeners. Radio Five Live is just behind them with just under 5.5 million listeners.
Of the pseudo-national commercial networks, the top performers continue to outperform the national stations on AM and Digital, TalkSport and Virgin Radio. Magic is the best performing network with 3.43 million listeners, followed closely by Heart with just under 3.33 million listeners. Kiss is also a top performer with just under 3.1 million listeners, as is Galaxy's network with 2.6 million listeners.
By comparison, Virgin have around 2.47 million listeners and TalkSport, a mere 2.31 million.
Comparing very unfavourably in the network stakes is Gold. I highlighted the Plymouth station as a particular failure of the brand, but as a whole, the network is not much better. The network of stations on AM and DAB gets just under 1.5 million listners, which is down from the around 1.58 million listeners of the combined Capital and Classic Gold networks last quarter. When you think that this includes station in high population areas such as London, Bristol, Birmingham and Manchester, this performance comes across as doubly poor!
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