Need For Efficiency Fuels Squeeze On Local Radio: Fire The DJs

Michael Hedges March 1, 2019 Follow on Twitter

The media sphere undergoes constant change, much of it appreciated. Listeners, viewers and readers like novelty, something new. The conundrum - Catch-22, if you will - is a distinct resistance to change. People know what they like and like what they know, a famous radio authority once said. That reality does not easily fit the business plan.

The largest UK commercial radio broadcaster Global Radio revealed plans this past week to restructure operations at its locally produced radio stations. This will allow Global Radio to offer “true national competition” to public broadcaster BBC Radio 1 and 2, said a company statement. About 40 radio stations will shed, at least partially, local DJs and show-hosts. Employment for roughly 100 will be a risk. There will be “refreshed structures” for news, ad sales and engineering teams. At least there was no mention of maximizing shareholder value.

The Heart, Capital and Smooth radio broads will offer, through this year, singular national morning (breakfast) shows, eliminating locally produced versions. Additionally, and to maintain compliance with recently liberalized rules, off-prime live programs will appear through the daytime schedules of the newly consolidated regional stations. The company maintains its “commitment to local news, travel (traffic reports) and its national news operation,” said Global Radio founder/executive president Ashley Tabor to staff earlier this week, quoted by Press Gazette (February 27).

A rule change from regulator OFCOM last October allows commercial radio broadcasters to cut local originated programming from seven hours per day to three. Local radio stations are no longer required to self-produce morning shows. And the geography considered “local” has been broadened. Effectively this means stations are only required to broadcast one local news story, using the expanded geographical definition, per news bulletin.

The argument for increasing competition to BBC Radio, though popular in certain circles, is specious. UK commercial radio does not compete with the BBC for advertising. There they compete with other local radio stations. Whether or not the two radio realms compete for listeners is subject to some debate. Commercial and public radio listeners tend to be mutually exclusive. This is currently being tested in the UK as The Wireless Group, subsidiary of News UK, recruited a well-known BBC Radio 2 show host for its all-digital commercial TalkRadio channel.

Several local UK newspapers took notice that favorite DJs would soon fade away. “The latest move smacks of that well-worn phrase ‘streamlining’ and costs being cut,” wrote Worthing Herald (February 28). “Aside from a number of people losing their jobs, who are the real losers here? The listeners.” Noted was the closing of the Portslade (town) Heart radio facility, among the ten local facilities folded into other regional centers.

The advertising people have all but given up on local media, with the possible exception of outdoor. Local newspapers are becoming a memory and local radio is not far from the dustbin. “Local” means, of course, local content. Media buyers do, indeed, love hyper-local ad targeting, best exemplified by Facebook. The most recent available ad spending data - Q3 2018 - from the Advertising Associations/WARC show year on year growth for radio (5%), outdoor (7.3%), online (12.3% and mobile (23.6%). All other media were flat or underwater.

Global Radio owns legacy national radio brand Classic FM, talk channel LBC and music channels Capital, Smooth, Heart and Radio X plus several digital-only brand extensions. The Global Radio Holding company recently acquired two outdoor advertising companies. Aggregated national audience share for the Global Radio brands for the most recent (Q4 2018) RAJAR listening estimates was 23.2%. Total radio reach in the UK has dropped in each of the last three quarterly RAJAR surveys.

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