14 Jul 10

Commercial Radio Network Changes

MediaCom's view

Following The Digital Economy Act announcement in April, OFCOM have subsequently revised their rules regarding the number of hours of audio output that needs to be produced locally.

Some station groups have used this legislation to alter their programming and structure - and there have been several headlines about what this means for listeners, radio station employees and advertisers alike. In summary, the changes are as follows:

Smooth Radio have planned some bold moves - with plans to keep regional output on FM and regional DAB platforms, but to launch Smooth on national DAB on 4th Oct. This is in addition to their current Sky, Freeview & online platforms.

GMG radio have explained the changes enable them to adopt a new model for commercial radio - offering large regional macros in key conurbations, whilst competing on a truly national platform with the likes of Classic FM and BBC Radio 2. Pooling resources means they can give quality content for listeners and broader scale opportunities for advertisers.

The Heart Network is restructuring itself to be made up of 17 regional broadcast hubs, rather than 33 individual stations.

These changes will see more programming networked across regions and fewer local shows. Very local advertisers will be more limited in terms of targeting but national advertisers will have more chance to buy across the network. Similarly, The Gold Network will also run with network programming as of Monday 28th June, so no local output except News/ Weather updates.

MediaCom's Point of View:
The trade press have highlighted the changes as a cynical cost saving measure, but local radio has long struggled with Ofcom’s mandate on local content output restrictions.

The biggest criticism of local commercial radio is the poor content and talent on board compared to the BBC, and the programming changes may go some way to solve this issue with groups in a better position to invest in more quality programming.

The industry needs to be careful though, one of radio’s strengths is its regionality, and lately we’ve seen some advertisers focus on targeting consumers on a local level. By becoming ‘just another’ national option they could well see themselves met with a luke-warm response from advertisers.

On the flipside, boosting commercial radio brands with quality content and a clear, central proposition could bring additional reasons to invest, and have a hugely positive impact on the future of the medium.