At every stage in the last few years of commercial radio consolodation the same few folk have moaned about the loss of local radio. Fair comment, but the listeners seem to like what has been changing and not only commercial radio but radio in general has experienced an increase in listening.
I don't wish to disagree with your entire post, but you are wrong here.
Total commercial radio listening has fallen in the last 10 years:
487,863,000 hours in Sep 2000
458,133,000 hours in Sep 2010
Although there has been a degree of swing, the trend is a marked decline.
I wouldn't say that listeners absolutely 'like' or 'prefer' what they're getting from commercial radio now. They certainly don't like it enough to listen for as long as they did ten years ago. However, they do like it enough to keep coming back - even if it is in shorter bursts.
I don't wish to disagree with your entire post, but you are wrong here.
Total commercial radio listening has fallen in the last 10 years:
487,863,000 hours in Sep 2000
458,133,000 hours in Sep 2010
Although there has been a degree of swing, the trend is a marked decline.
I wouldn't say that listeners absolutely 'like' or 'prefer' what they're getting from commercial radio now. They certainly don't like it enough to listen for as long as they did ten years ago. However, they do like it enough to keep coming back - even if it is in shorter bursts.
Interesting. However, given everything that's happened in the industry over the past 10 years - the consolidation and removal of localness - I don't think a 6% fall is that big a deal. If it had halved or even dropped by 20%, then yes you'd have a point. But I don't think the commercial radio industry will be too concerned by 6%. In fact it may be somewhat relieved it's not bigger.
Interesting. However, given everything that's happened in the industry over the past 10 years - the consolidation and removal of localness - I don't think a 6% fall is that big a deal. If it had halved or even dropped by 20%, then yes you'd have a point. But I don't think the commercial radio industry will be too concerned by 6%. In fact it may be somewhat relieved it's not bigger.
In fairness, I was correcting an oft repeated misconception that commercial radio listening is 'up'. In fact, it is clearly 'down', as you rightly point out, 'a bit'.
In Derby it was GWR that brought a true local service to the city. Radio Trent could only be bothered to do a service from Nottingham. They seemed to spend more time and effort on Gem AM then they did on Trent in Derby.
I'm sure dpb will correct me but when Trent started in Derby in 1987 there was daytime programming 6am - 6pm specific for the Derby area - it was Andy Marriott on Breakfast Danny Cox late mornings and Andy Miller in the afternoon. Weekends was less. This may have reduced when Trent FM started in 88 but I don't remember...!
But certainly much better than zero commercial radio just for Derbyshire which is what we have now!!
Can someone confirm if the launch is at 6am or 10am?
Special programme with the local breakfast show hosts starts at 10am, so I'm guessing they will do a big "Capital is here" type thing sometime during that show.
Special programme with the local breakfast show hosts starts at 10am, so I'm guessing they will do a big "Capital is here" type thing sometime during that show.
I'm sure dpb will correct me but when Trent started in Derby in 1987 there was daytime programming 6am - 6pm specific for the Derby area - it was Andy Marriott on Breakfast Danny Cox late mornings and Andy Miller in the afternoon. Weekends was less. This may have reduced when Trent FM started in 88 but I don't remember...!
But certainly much better than zero commercial radio just for Derbyshire which is what we have now!!
To my memory that is right (not too sure if the 1pm Music Jam was shared though), 3 hours at the weekend. It was the same when it became Trent FM although went down a couple of years later to 7 hours and up slightly to 3 and a half hours at the weekend..
Some (if not all, depending on who you talk to) of the local Derby programming in the first year came from Nottingham.
The most local programming for Derby was in the first 18 months of RAM FM - 20 hours a day apart from on Sunday when it was 14 and later 17 hours. Quite ironic GWR were behind that given their status as the local antichrist in some quarters!
RAM FM have been promoting derbyscapitaliscoming.co.uk - presumably it's too much of a mouthful to do the same for Nottingham and Leicester?
nottinghamscapitaliscoming.com and leicesterscapitaliscoming.com are registered and linking to the "Trent FM" and "Leicester Sound" websites. Don't know if they've been used on-air though.
Can someone confirm if the launch is at 6am or 10am?
Like I said - 10am.
It was rather overlooked that Monday January 3rd would be a Bank Holiday. Hence - no 6am launch when everybody's still snoozing on their extra day off. There's all sorts being made of the "specialness" of the 10am launch show, but it's a fudge because the network starts on a Bank Holiday.
It was rather overlooked that Monday January 3rd would be a Bank Holiday. Hence - no 6am launch when everybody's still snoozing on their extra day off. There's all sorts being made of the "specialness" of the 10am launch show, but it's a fudge because the network starts on a Bank Holiday.
How did they get that so wrong? I thought that when the change was announced, given New Year's fell on a Saturday, Monday is always a Bank Holiday to compensate.
Tuesday 4th would have been a better day to start.
Regarding the earlier comments on Gem 106 - I agree. Heart has cleaned up in the East Midlands as it knows who it wants to target and what sort of station it wants to be. That can't be said for it's direct competitors, I'm afraid.
Diluting the music too far will come back to bite them.
Tuesday 4th would have been a better day to start.
In fact In Scotland we get an extra holiday on Tuesday and 'back to work day is Wednesday. up here y which time Capital will be two days old.
Habitual workday listeners will finish up this Friday with Galaxy and return to work with a different named radio station, the launch happening when many people will still be recovering from hangovers.
How did they get that so wrong? I thought that when the change was announced, given New Year's fell on a Saturday, Monday is always a Bank Holiday to compensate.
Tuesday 4th would have been a better day to start.
Regarding the earlier comments on Gem 106 - I agree. Heart has cleaned up in the East Midlands as it knows who it wants to target and what sort of station it wants to be. That can't be said for it's direct competitors, I'm afraid.
Diluting the music too far will come back to bite them.
Heart got blown out of the water by Ram and Trent in their respective areas though, Heart did beat Leicester Sound in theirs though, but looking at the East Midlands as a whole, and treating Ram/Trent/LS as one station, Heart is the loser.
To my memory that is right (not too sure if the 1pm Music Jam was shared though), 3 hours at the weekend. It was the same when it became Trent FM although went down a couple of years later to 7 hours and up slightly to 3 and a half hours at the weekend..
Some (if not all, depending on who you talk to) of the local Derby programming in the first year came from Nottingham.
The most local programming for Derby was in the first 18 months of RAM FM - 20 hours a day apart from on Sunday when it was 14 and later 17 hours. Quite ironic GWR were behind that given their status as the local antichrist in some quarters!
6-9am Andy Marriott
9-10am Music Jam
10am-1pm Andy Miller
1-2pm Music Jam
2.0-5.45pm Danny Cox
All those shows, including Music Jams, seperate for Derby, from studio 2 at Castle Gate in Nottingham.
News bulletins were local for Derby until 9am, and then shared with Nottingham after that.
In later days, it was only local for Derby until 1pm weekdays -although news became localised right across the day.
The local hours were really bumped up for Derby when Trent was bought by GWR
Heart got blown out of the water by Ram and Trent in their respective areas though, Heart did beat Leicester Sound in theirs though, but looking at the East Midlands as a whole, and treating Ram/Trent/LS as one station, Heart is the loser.
Indeed. Trent, Ram, LS, all number one commercial breakfast shows in their patch - and often throughout the day ahead of Heart by some margin. Trent particularly.
GWR also gave Shropshire it's own Beacon, and Bedford it's own Chiltern/B97.
But that's neither here nor there for some people on Digital Spy.
They'll never get over The Better Music Mix.
GWR did not give Shropshire its own Beacon.
Shropshire had its own Beacon from 1989 there were varying amounts of programme sharing with 97.2 but Shropshire always had its own breakfast show until earlier this year when Orion merged 97.2 and 103.1 into a single service.
GWR did not give Shropshire its own Beacon.
Shropshire had its own Beacon from 1989 there were varying amounts of programme sharing with 97.2 but Shropshire always had its own breakfast show until earlier this year when Orion merged 97.2 and 103.1 into a single service.
From 1987 actually, and yes it was nothing to do with GWR at all.
I used to love what GWR used to pass as local news on 103.1.
"Women IN SHROPSHIRE are spending more time on the internet than men according to a new survey"
"People IN SHROPSHIRE may find daylight lasts a little shorter today as the shortest day of the year is upon us"
GWR did not give Shropshire its own Beacon.
Shropshire had its own Beacon from 1989 there were varying amounts of programme sharing with 97.2 but Shropshire always had its own breakfast show until earlier this year when Orion merged 97.2 and 103.1 into a single service.
At the time of GWR relaunching Beacon, Shropshire only had 6 hours of split programming (6-10am & 4-6pm weekdays), GWR increased this to 6am - 7pm (weekdays) and also separate weekend programming too.
GWR made Beacon Shropshire appear to be more of a stand-alone station compared to the previous owners, and at times no local programming was shared with 97.2.
Comments
I don't wish to disagree with your entire post, but you are wrong here.
Total commercial radio listening has fallen in the last 10 years:
487,863,000 hours in Sep 2000
458,133,000 hours in Sep 2010
Although there has been a degree of swing, the trend is a marked decline.
I wouldn't say that listeners absolutely 'like' or 'prefer' what they're getting from commercial radio now. They certainly don't like it enough to listen for as long as they did ten years ago. However, they do like it enough to keep coming back - even if it is in shorter bursts.
Interesting. However, given everything that's happened in the industry over the past 10 years - the consolidation and removal of localness - I don't think a 6% fall is that big a deal. If it had halved or even dropped by 20%, then yes you'd have a point. But I don't think the commercial radio industry will be too concerned by 6%. In fact it may be somewhat relieved it's not bigger.
The first shows are actually one-offs, with the breakfast shows, at 10am on that Bank Holiday Monday.
In fairness, I was correcting an oft repeated misconception that commercial radio listening is 'up'. In fact, it is clearly 'down', as you rightly point out, 'a bit'.
I'm sure dpb will correct me but when Trent started in Derby in 1987 there was daytime programming 6am - 6pm specific for the Derby area - it was Andy Marriott on Breakfast Danny Cox late mornings and Andy Miller in the afternoon. Weekends was less. This may have reduced when Trent FM started in 88 but I don't remember...!
But certainly much better than zero commercial radio just for Derbyshire which is what we have now!!
Ok thanks!
To my memory that is right (not too sure if the 1pm Music Jam was shared though), 3 hours at the weekend. It was the same when it became Trent FM although went down a couple of years later to 7 hours and up slightly to 3 and a half hours at the weekend..
Some (if not all, depending on who you talk to) of the local Derby programming in the first year came from Nottingham.
The most local programming for Derby was in the first 18 months of RAM FM - 20 hours a day apart from on Sunday when it was 14 and later 17 hours. Quite ironic GWR were behind that given their status as the local antichrist in some quarters!
nottinghamscapitaliscoming.com and leicesterscapitaliscoming.com are registered and linking to the "Trent FM" and "Leicester Sound" websites. Don't know if they've been used on-air though.
Like I said - 10am.
It was rather overlooked that Monday January 3rd would be a Bank Holiday. Hence - no 6am launch when everybody's still snoozing on their extra day off. There's all sorts being made of the "specialness" of the 10am launch show, but it's a fudge because the network starts on a Bank Holiday.
Business as usual in London.
Cheers for the info!
Tuesday 4th would have been a better day to start.
Regarding the earlier comments on Gem 106 - I agree. Heart has cleaned up in the East Midlands as it knows who it wants to target and what sort of station it wants to be. That can't be said for it's direct competitors, I'm afraid.
Diluting the music too far will come back to bite them.
No worries mate.
In fact In Scotland we get an extra holiday on Tuesday and 'back to work day is Wednesday. up here y which time Capital will be two days old.
Habitual workday listeners will finish up this Friday with Galaxy and return to work with a different named radio station, the launch happening when many people will still be recovering from hangovers.
Heart got blown out of the water by Ram and Trent in their respective areas though, Heart did beat Leicester Sound in theirs though, but looking at the East Midlands as a whole, and treating Ram/Trent/LS as one station, Heart is the loser.
Love listerning to Glaxay and do want some London station rebranded across the UK.
Was bad engough with heart and nowthis.
For someone who travels up and down i now listern to CD's as the radio is borning.
6-9am Andy Marriott
9-10am Music Jam
10am-1pm Andy Miller
1-2pm Music Jam
2.0-5.45pm Danny Cox
All those shows, including Music Jams, seperate for Derby, from studio 2 at Castle Gate in Nottingham.
News bulletins were local for Derby until 9am, and then shared with Nottingham after that.
In later days, it was only local for Derby until 1pm weekdays -although news became localised right across the day.
The local hours were really bumped up for Derby when Trent was bought by GWR
Indeed. Trent, Ram, LS, all number one commercial breakfast shows in their patch - and often throughout the day ahead of Heart by some margin. Trent particularly.
GWR did not give Shropshire its own Beacon.
Shropshire had its own Beacon from 1989 there were varying amounts of programme sharing with 97.2 but Shropshire always had its own breakfast show until earlier this year when Orion merged 97.2 and 103.1 into a single service.
From 1987 actually, and yes it was nothing to do with GWR at all.
I used to love what GWR used to pass as local news on 103.1.
"Women IN SHROPSHIRE are spending more time on the internet than men according to a new survey"
"People IN SHROPSHIRE may find daylight lasts a little shorter today as the shortest day of the year is upon us"
Pathetic!
At the time of GWR relaunching Beacon, Shropshire only had 6 hours of split programming (6-10am & 4-6pm weekdays), GWR increased this to 6am - 7pm (weekdays) and also separate weekend programming too.
GWR made Beacon Shropshire appear to be more of a stand-alone station compared to the previous owners, and at times no local programming was shared with 97.2.