DAB local buildout will progress with a few big changes like London III and Sussex, towards summer. But then future will look troubled with DCMS and General election changes.
Digital 2 will be announced by Ofcom in a few months but not get on air until 2016.
Ultra local DAB trials will start with a couple of community stations but nothing will actually happen until 2017.
We'll see a permanant DAB+ station pop up on a MuxCo multiplex.
Kerrang will disappear.
The Absolute brand will see a major shift. The first pawns in that game have already moved.
More AM stations will close.
More online stations will be financially wiped out by royalty collections.
Heart Extra will be a runaway success story.
Steve Wright will lose his daytime slot.
There will be an increase in people moaning about DAB bitrates and suggesting a switch to Internet radio and the debate about IP radio being unusable or too expensive in cars will rumble on.
Steve Wright will come up with a new 'thing' on his show, which will cause people on Internet forums to go utterly and irrationally berserk, as though he'd just walked in to a Mosul mosque with an A2 poster of a Danish cartoon of the prophet Muhammed in one hand, a bacon sandwich in the other and a huge cheeky grin on his face.
Sunrise Radio loose the licence for 972/963 KHz but continue to broadcast on London DAB.
Angel Radio win the Portsmouth licence.
UTV retain the Wolverhampton licence.
Premier Radio find the money for the application and retain the AM licence for Surrey & NE Hampshire.
Michael Ball's Sunday Evening show on R2 takes over the 3am repeat slot on Friday mornings.
UKRD & Adventure Radio fight for Anglian Radio. UKRD wins but almost instantly sells Dream 100 to Adventure who rebrand it as Colchester Radio. In Norfolk the 3 stations are merged into Norfolk's Star Radio.
Watford's Heart flips to become a HBB version of Connect FM (with local breakfast & drive) to complement Connect on DAB.
The BBC switch off permanently a handful of Local Radio AM transmitters plus continue to test potential closures in other areas.
Absolute Radio leaves Medium Wave. LBC takeover the frequencies in a historic deal between the big two.
Gold closes. Smooth Extra launches on 1458 in Manchester and Heart Extra on 945/999 in East Midlands- ensuring the Heart brand as an analogue presence again in Derby & Nottingham. In London 1548 & 1152 are sold to the highest bidders- the process is complicated for at least one frequency by the 'fit & proper' ownership test.
Palm FM rebrands as the Breeze. Radio Exe resists takeover and Celador launches a hostile bid towards end of the year. Radio Plymouth is purchased by UKRD
Magic2 launches playing a mix of soft rock and soul.
Juice FM (Liverpool) reinstates some of the local/specialist shows recently dropped as slipping listening figures lead to a rethink on music policy.
- Heart Extra will be the earlier proposed 70s, 80s and 90s service with half the music being from the 80s.
- I think Gold will close superseded by Smooth Extra and Heart Extra. I think Heart Extra will take over the AM frequencies and DTV spaces – it would allow them to keep the local advertising add-on in Manchester and the East Midlands whereas Smooth Extra couldn’t. London, Nottingham and Derby DAB keeps a stereo simulcast of local variant.
- An extended 6am bulletin at Heart for the ex-Real stations and Cornwall and an extra 30 seconds on daytime bulletins across the network to bump up the speech percentage.
- Heart Breakfast changes in London and at another one of the ex-Real stations
- New Capital Xtra breakfast team includes a “name.”
BAUER
- Absolute rolled out to 105.2 in the West Midlands – specialist hours on licence reduced to 12 hours meaning an increase in specialist hours for Absolute as a station.
- Richard Allinson stays with Magic in some capacity.
- (South) Westsound FM and Westsound AM merge into one service co-located in Ayr. South West Scotland sales staff based out of Carlisle at CFM.
- City 1 network introduces a network 1-4pm show with Debbie Mac.
DAB
- A year of DAB multiplex extensions to fill local gaps.
- Smooth replaces Xfm on Ayr.
- D2 goes to Arqiva, Bauer and UTV consortium. Line-up includes Premier, Team Rock, part-time Talksport spin off and Absolute 90s in DAB, Team Rock spin off, Kerrang!, Absolute 60s, 70s and 00s in DAB+
OTHER
- Sunrise will lose 963/972 licence.
- If Share don't win 963/972 they'll close towards the end of the year.
- I think we'll see some challenges to forthcoming licences up for renewal - I don't think the challenges will win though.
[..]
- D2 goes to Arqiva, Bauer and UTV consortium. Line-up includes Premier, Team Rock, part-time Talksport spin off and Absolute 90s in DAB, Team Rock spin off, Kerrang!, Absolute 60s, 70s and 00s in DAB+
[..]
Interesting, so you expect the first DAB+ stations to be existing stations that are too small to keep on inefficient DAB but too valuable to discard all together?
It's not a bad strategy actually. The stations will take a hit in listener numbers but the brands survive and with practically every new radio supporting DAB+ their listenership can steadily increase again but at the much lower cost base of DAB+.
Comments
Sara Cox to present the breakfast show on Absolute 80's Radio.
LBC News 1152 to be rebranded LBC Extra in the run-up to the election.
Digital 2 will be announced by Ofcom in a few months but not get on air until 2016.
Ultra local DAB trials will start with a couple of community stations but nothing will actually happen until 2017.
We'll see a permanant DAB+ station pop up on a MuxCo multiplex.
Kerrang will disappear.
The Absolute brand will see a major shift. The first pawns in that game have already moved.
More AM stations will close.
More online stations will be financially wiped out by royalty collections.
Heart Extra will be a runaway success story.
Steve Wright will lose his daytime slot.
There will be an increase in people moaning about DAB bitrates and suggesting a switch to Internet radio and the debate about IP radio being unusable or too expensive in cars will rumble on.
Angel Radio win the Portsmouth licence.
UTV retain the Wolverhampton licence.
Premier Radio find the money for the application and retain the AM licence for Surrey & NE Hampshire.
Michael Ball's Sunday Evening show on R2 takes over the 3am repeat slot on Friday mornings.
UKRD & Adventure Radio fight for Anglian Radio. UKRD wins but almost instantly sells Dream 100 to Adventure who rebrand it as Colchester Radio. In Norfolk the 3 stations are merged into Norfolk's Star Radio.
Watford's Heart flips to become a HBB version of Connect FM (with local breakfast & drive) to complement Connect on DAB.
The BBC switch off permanently a handful of Local Radio AM transmitters plus continue to test potential closures in other areas.
Absolute Radio leaves Medium Wave. LBC takeover the frequencies in a historic deal between the big two.
Gold closes. Smooth Extra launches on 1458 in Manchester and Heart Extra on 945/999 in East Midlands- ensuring the Heart brand as an analogue presence again in Derby & Nottingham. In London 1548 & 1152 are sold to the highest bidders- the process is complicated for at least one frequency by the 'fit & proper' ownership test.
Palm FM rebrands as the Breeze. Radio Exe resists takeover and Celador launches a hostile bid towards end of the year. Radio Plymouth is purchased by UKRD
Magic2 launches playing a mix of soft rock and soul.
Juice FM (Liverpool) reinstates some of the local/specialist shows recently dropped as slipping listening figures lead to a rethink on music policy.
Sara Cox takes over Vanessa Feltz early breakfast Radio 2
You don't honestly think Sara would leave the BBC for anyone let alone Absolute?
Is that a threat or a promise?
- Heart Extra will be the earlier proposed 70s, 80s and 90s service with half the music being from the 80s.
- I think Gold will close superseded by Smooth Extra and Heart Extra. I think Heart Extra will take over the AM frequencies and DTV spaces – it would allow them to keep the local advertising add-on in Manchester and the East Midlands whereas Smooth Extra couldn’t. London, Nottingham and Derby DAB keeps a stereo simulcast of local variant.
- An extended 6am bulletin at Heart for the ex-Real stations and Cornwall and an extra 30 seconds on daytime bulletins across the network to bump up the speech percentage.
- Heart Breakfast changes in London and at another one of the ex-Real stations
- New Capital Xtra breakfast team includes a “name.”
BAUER
- Absolute rolled out to 105.2 in the West Midlands – specialist hours on licence reduced to 12 hours meaning an increase in specialist hours for Absolute as a station.
- Richard Allinson stays with Magic in some capacity.
- (South) Westsound FM and Westsound AM merge into one service co-located in Ayr. South West Scotland sales staff based out of Carlisle at CFM.
- City 1 network introduces a network 1-4pm show with Debbie Mac.
DAB
- A year of DAB multiplex extensions to fill local gaps.
- Smooth replaces Xfm on Ayr.
- D2 goes to Arqiva, Bauer and UTV consortium. Line-up includes Premier, Team Rock, part-time Talksport spin off and Absolute 90s in DAB, Team Rock spin off, Kerrang!, Absolute 60s, 70s and 00s in DAB+
OTHER
- Sunrise will lose 963/972 licence.
- If Share don't win 963/972 they'll close towards the end of the year.
- I think we'll see some challenges to forthcoming licences up for renewal - I don't think the challenges will win though.
More community stations close throughout 2015
Magic Breakfast or Drivetime? Will the BBC keep him and cover for Radio 2, or let him go?
Julia Harley Brewer takes a show at BBC London?
Nick also offered a job at the BBC?
put someone with personalitly on the radio 1 breakfast show
I think a piece of wood would do a better job.
"its planky in the morning on radio 1........"
All Heart stations will be able to share the London playlist, and all Capital stations will be allowed to play rock music.
UKRD will write an article in Radio Today complaining about the changes being allowed.
Nick Ferrari quits to be UKIP campaign manager in an official role following his long unofficial stint
Interesting, so you expect the first DAB+ stations to be existing stations that are too small to keep on inefficient DAB but too valuable to discard all together?
It's not a bad strategy actually. The stations will take a hit in listener numbers but the brands survive and with practically every new radio supporting DAB+ their listenership can steadily increase again but at the much lower cost base of DAB+.
Peter Andre presents a show on commercial radio?