[Bill Clinton]

Originally Posted by SmartProgrammer

Atlantic have been running the "All 80's...All Night" log since March 23rd.

But it wasn't just the same music log, it was Heart, complete with idents and adverts.

[-ajm-]

Originally Posted by Bill Clinton

But it wasn't just the same music log, it was Heart, complete with idents and adverts.

Devon adverts?

[Musicmasterprox]

Originally Posted by neilus

They must be doing some sort of test transmissions for Heart FM at the moment, I had music clashing with the news from Sky, and just before the news there was a 1KHz tone in the background! All other times there's tone that sounds every now and again in the background.

That'll be the test tone from the Sky News center.. Followed by the "this is sky news" intro.. *Radio nerd*

[Bill Clinton]

Originally Posted by -ajm-

Devon adverts?

They sounded national as if it were the London version, that's probably what the Devon ads are mostly anyway, there's only the odd few local commercials left too, so who knows!

[do about]

Originally Posted by Rodney

Among our many competitions, you could be in the running for exclusive concert tickets and maybe even an intimate meet-and-greet session with a top music star.

Which will be Take That or Michael Buble again no doubt.....

[kev]

Originally Posted by neilus

They must be doing some sort of test transmissions for Heart FM at the moment, I had music clashing with the news from Sky, and just before the news there was a 1KHz tone in the background! All other times there's tone that sounds every now and again in the background.

GWR / GCAP / Global still haven't fixed that? Trent FM, Heart 106, and Xfm all suffer/suffered from this every now and again.

[plymouthbloke1974]

Notice this morning they're not mentioning the station name, just "The Heart of Cornwall"....

[-ajm-]

http://www.atlantic.fm/ all gone, except copyright notice in footer.

[Miles Platting]

Have there been noticeable signs of Pirate upping their 'localness'?

[RadioKnower]

GMedia can officially put Heart on their list of clinics now.

[simon243]

Originally Posted by Miles Platting

Have there been noticeable signs of Pirate upping their 'localness'?

I hope Pirate have got something up their sleeve because mentioning a few car boot sales and shouting about how they're the only commercial station based in Cornwall just ain't gonna cut it when the Heart marketing bandwagon rolls into town.

And to anyone who says Cornwall won't accept a station mostly networked from London - stop kidding yourself. People said the same about Devon, Dorset and Norfolk and they've been proved very wrong.

There's no love lost between Global and UKRD. Global have got the cash, the brand and the sheer arrogance to think they can blow Pirate out of the water. UKRD have the heritage and the local card - but will it be enough?

Cornwall's in for an interesting ride ...

[Mapperley Ridge]

I'd say the first thing they should do is ensure their news sounds better than Heart. Same goes for travel, weather, plenty of place name mentions etc. I know what you're saying Simon but I think the Cornish audience IS more deiscerning than that in Devon or Dorset - hence Pirate's continuing success ratings wise compared to Atlantic's 16% (which in an urban market would be considered healthy).

[wckartist]

Originally Posted by simon243

I hope Pirate have got something up their sleeve because mentioning a few car boot sales and shouting about how they're the only commercial station based in Cornwall just ain't gonna cut it when the Heart marketing bandwagon rolls into town.

And to anyone who says Cornwall won't accept a station mostly networked from London - stop kidding yourself. People said the same about Devon, Dorset and Norfolk and they've been proved very wrong.

There's no love lost between Global and UKRD. Global have got the cash, the brand and the sheer arrogance to think they can blow Pirate out of the water. UKRD have the heritage and the local card - but will it be enough?

Cornwall's in for an interesting ride ...

You REALLY are geographically naive, and ignorant of local culture, aren't you??


A bit like your mate who referred to the Radio Scilly afternoon show as "drive".......dear oh dear...

[simon243]

Originally Posted by wckartist

You REALLY are geographically naive, and ignorant of local culture, aren't you??

No, I'm well aware that the Cornish have a certain pride and independence from the rest of the UK thank you.

So do the Scots - and the London-centric Capital's doing better than Galaxy, Xfm and Beat 106 ever did.

The only naive people are those who think Pirate have nothing to worry about just because they're local. Make no mistake, Global are throwing everything they've got at the Atlantic relaunch and know that while Cornwall is unique in some ways, listeners there like Take That and the chance to win £60k as much as everyone else.

[plymouthbloke1974]

Check the RAJAR in a years time - Pirate FM will have incrementally increased listener share. I guarantee it.

It's so depressing to hear an ILR in it's death throes - I've stopped listening.

[RadioKnower]

Originally Posted by plymouthbloke1974

Check the RAJAR in a years time - Pirate FM will have incrementally increased listener share. I guarantee it.

Back that up, give some reasons why? Rather than just making meaningless predictions we'll forget about in 12 months time.

[vcs]

Come on guys...let's face it...tier two stations everywhere have been a failiure. It's very hard a second tier commercial station battling for revenue from the heritage local...not to mention a reduction in advertising costs over the years (internet being the culprit of a lot of this).

Atlantic has never raised great listening figures and has always sounded to me as a weak version of Pirate.

So, Cornwall is left now with a relay of a national strong brand with some local segments thrown in and a 100% locally focused station in Pirate...not to mention BBC R Cornwall.

I'd say Cornwall gets a pretty good deal there...especially as there are areas in the country with nothing but a Heart FM.

[RadioKnower]

Originally Posted by RadioKnower

GMedia can officially put Heart on their list of clinics now.

Looking back that post didn't make sense, what I should have put is clients not clinics.

But I'm sure you all worked that out.

[overline]

Originally Posted by RadioKnower

Looking back that post didn't make sense, what I should have put is clients not clinics.

But I'm sure you all worked that out.

I assumed you meant that GMedia had moved into the private health care sector, opening a new Heart clinic.

[Mapperley Ridge]

Of course Pirate has plenty to think about with the advent of Heart. And I'm sure UKRD are savvy enough to know that you don't simply bombard the airwaves with "localness" trails and liner cards. This tactic simply draws listener attention to the fact that SOMETHING has happened in the market - which might just draw them away.

What Pirate has on its side is consistently good listening figures. Surely that's the bottom line.

In areas where Heart has replaced a heritage brand it's done well. But there are fewer areas where Heart has actually got a heritage brand left to compete with. On that count alone, Pirate should do well in the face of its new competition.

[PhilH]

I remember when Heart started in London in the mid 90s. Capital, at that point undisputed number 1 in the area with their CHR format, suddenly started playing The Eagles a lot. It sounded really odd and audience figures slipped. They did the same sort of thing when Kiss started challenging. I can't help feeling Capital wouldn't've suffered their decade-long decline if they had ignored the competition and just carried on doing what they did best.

How should Pirate FM react - do they make changes in response to Heart (and, if so, what), or just keep doing what they're doing?

I guess what makes this interesting is that, unlike a lot of new station launches, Pirate knows exactly what it's going to be up against.

[Harris Tweed]

Originally Posted by PhilH

How should Pirate FM react - do they make changes in response to Heart, or just keep doing what they're doing?

A bit of both, actually (IMHO).

They need to acknowledge to themselves that there's a new player on their patch which will change the market for music-led radio (both listeners and advertisers). They need to suss out what that change will be and assess whether they're fit to meet it. And then they keep doing what they do best, and stop doing things which might drive listeners elsewhere (even if they were full of win 20 years ago).

I don't know Pirate, Atlantic or the Devon bits of Heart at all well, so I won't be more specific. But I'm still convinced by my oft-repeated mantra that 'good' beats 'local' every time (ie being local is only a selling point if you don't sound cut-price). If Pirate's audience is with them because they do both, they'll win.

(EDIT to add: And yes, Mapperley, I think it's important that Heart are moving in very much in second place. That gives Pirate a massive incumbent's advantage, although it's one that's easily pissed down the drain as Capital and BRMB have previously discovered)

[Kempo]

See that the facebook page is still there, under atlantics name but with heart branding???? and a few negative comments have been posted. Suspect that this forum for opinion of what is happening will shortly disappear.

[dpb]

Originally Posted by Harris Tweed

A bit of both, actually (IMHO).

They need to acknowledge to themselves that there's a new player on their patch which will change the market for music-led radio (both listeners and advertisers). They need to suss out what that change will be and assess whether they're fit to meet it. And then they keep doing what they do best, and stop doing things which might drive listeners elsewhere (even if they were full of win 20 years ago).

I don't know Pirate, Atlantic or the Devon bits of Heart at all well, so I won't be more specific. But I'm still convinced by my oft-repeated mantra that 'good' beats 'local' every time (ie being local is only a selling point if you don't sound cut-price). If Pirate's audience is with them because they do both, they'll win.

(EDIT to add: And yes, Mapperley, I think it's important that Heart are moving in very much in second place. That gives Pirate a massive incumbent's advantage, although it's one that's easily pissed down the drain as Capital and BRMB have previously discovered)

I think this post is spot on. From observing the way 'normal' people consume radio just being local isn't good enough, the service has to be good to start with.

This could be Pirate's to lose if they aren't double checking that they are in touch with their audience.

I think they'll see some losses - how big they are depends on how they react/don't react.

Originally Posted by Kempo

See that the facebook page is still there, under atlantics name but with heart branding???? and a few negative comments have been posted. Suspect that this forum for opinion of what is happening will shortly disappear.

I liked the one from the person who said he had never listened to the station!

[PhilH]

Originally Posted by dpb

I think this post is spot on.

Yes, I agree. Thanks for your thoughts.