I can’t see any rebranding under the Sky name due to NewsCorp not owning BSkyB outright in this country. I could see some Sun branding maybe – talkSPORT -> Sun TalkSport and if they kept it talkRADIO -> Sun Talk Radio with more newstalk introduced there
I can't see an issue with introducing Sky branding. Sky News Radio (a collaboration between Sky and Global) was all set to launch 7 or 8 years ago until Global pulled out.
However the wording of the NewsCorp statement suggests to me the radio assets aren't the big prize here. It's the global audio rights to the Premier League they're really interested in and which they can make serious money from exploiting.
As lovely as they are, I suspect Rupert Murdoch didn't say "ooh look, I can own Swansea Sound and Blackpool's Radio Wave. Deal!"
I can't see an issue with introducing Sky branding. Sky News Radio (a collaboration between Sky and Global) was all set to launch 7 or 8 years ago until Global pulled out.
The original deal though was between Chrysalis and Sky and Global pulled out after they took over LBC.
All I'll say is it's probably wise that TWG offloaded their Liverpool operation (Juice) before this deal with the Sun's owner went through...
As to what Murdoch will do with the assets: the 'talk...' stations including TS2 are likely safe; it may or may not be goodbye to Virgin depending on (a) what the contract with Branson says and (b) how cost-effective it is given it shares resources with the other national stations; as to the locals, I've said before that the Northwest stations could if needed form a Media Sound-style mini-network (possibly with Dee/Silk and/or Revolution) if News don't hang onto them (the FM slots could be valuable given TS2/TR/Virgin are currently digital-only), whilst, following their acquisition of Orion, it's possible that Bauer are sizing up Signal (but probably not Pulse given its proximity to Aire...)
We may in the Stoke area get some dab stations now , ie Heart and Capital , Wonder what they will do with signal 1 and 2 Heart. Or a big city station .
As a big talkSPORT and talkSPORT 2 listener, I'm really excited at the news that NewsCorp have purchased TWG and I will look on with interest as their plans for the stations they have just acquired begin to unfold.
A buyout by Sky (or rather their major shareholders) for talkSPORT has long been discussed down the years, with there being eager speculation as to what they would do to change and improve the station if they got their hands on it. Yet I for one didn't see this move coming at this time, so quickly on the heels of the TV side of the former UTV Radio operation being sold off and so soon after the renewal of talkSPORT's national Premier League radio rights, which has to be the main commercial selling point of that station, undoubtedly the crown jewel in TWG's portfolio.
However, here are a couple of things I don't see happening. Primarily, I don't see a name change of the talk-branded stations (it may be a different story for Virgin Radio and some of their local stations). I think talkSPORT is a strong brand that has made a name for itself over the past 16 years, and although other NewsCorp brands like Sky, The Times and The Sun have massive name recognition, I don't see a compelling reason to alter the name of a station(s) that has build up an identity and has steadily built up a substantial audience over the years. Likewise, talkRADIO is a historic brand a devoted section of the DAB listenership have fond memories of. So I don't think a name change is a major priority or would, in itself, bring a massive new audience to any of the talk stations.
The other thing I don't see is NewsCorp heavily investing in sports rights to the point of engaging in bidding wars with the BBC. Instead I see them maintaining the sort of approach UTV Radio had, by steadily building on existing rights, looking to pick up non-exclusive rights to events they do not have to outbid the BBC for and so can acquire relatively cheaply. Indeed I do not see an extension upon their current Premier League national radio contracts as being a huge bonus for the station. For much of this decade, they have had exclusive rights to live commentary games in standalone timeslots on both Saturdays and Sundays and I do not believe extra games on top of those will attract a substantial number of new listeners or advertisers to the station that wouldn't already have come to them through their existing portfolio. Indeed, for the past six years Sky has been the main sponsor of talkSPORT's Premier League commentaries, while SkyBet is the main advertiser and betting partner on talkSPORT 2, so the new owners should already have an insight into the commercial value of the various sporting rights they have inherited.
I'd like to see talkSPORT provide more commentaries on European club football games (British clubs' home ties in UEFA competitions as well as their away ones), do more of their commentaries from continental Europe on-site and pick up attainable commentary rights to events they've covered live in the past like The Open Golf Championship and next year's British & Irish Lions tour to New Zealand (two events that are exclusively live on British TV on Sky Sports). But generally I think they have a pretty strong live sports rights portfolio as it is, and don't see them aiming to win any exclusive rights from the BBC. In any case, they have full or partial access to just about every major football competition involving English teams, and the only area here where they could look to win exclusive rights they don't currently have is the Premier League and that is now tied down until 2019/20.
To echo what wns_195 has said, I hope NewsCorp maintains the sports coverage on TWG's local stations. UTV Radio were very good custodians of some strong local football and rugby commentaries and magazine programmes over the past number of years, with them being the only major commercial radio group that seem to have persevered with local sport in a substantial way this decade. It would be a real shame if this was to change.
The company said that its return to radio would create significant cross-media opportunities, with readers of the Sun in particular.
“This acquisition will allow us to increase engagement for both businesses through the cross promotion of our brands and the use of our respective talent,” said Rebekah Brooks, chief executive of News UK.
The deal effectively put the remainder of the company, which owns a portfolio of local radio stations in Great Britain and Ireland as well digital stations including Virgin Radio, up for sale.
I think the Guardian's got it spot on. All NewsCorp really want is the Premier League rights - both in the UK and, even more importantly, overseas. That's where the money is. talkSPORT is a useful conduit for those rights. talkRADIO may or may not have a future but not in its current guise. The rest, I'm afraid, are irrelevant. I can't see any reason why NewsCorp would have the slightest interest in owning a disparate group of, frankly, 'B' and 'C' list ILRs, none of which cover the UK's biggest centres of population.
Sun Talk was closed back in 2010 but might work this time?
It might be Lachlan Murdoch might be interested in the local stations and the Virgin franchise as he runs ex Daily Mail's Nova and Smooth in Australia?
Sun Talk was closed back in 2010 but might work this time?
It might be Lachlan Murdoch might be interested in the local stations and the Virgin franchise as he runs ex Daily Mail's Nova and Smooth in Australia?
Funny when thing, I was at work. It was Z Sunday, Talksport 2. La,Liga. Think they had a Masters Tennis, (Miami), IPL Cricket.
I commented it was like Sky Sports on the Radio.
Not quite sure what the Guardian's claim that this effectively puts all the other stations up for sale is based on (other than TalkSport clearly being the thing they're most interested in).
As I mentioned before, the regulations on takeovers are strict, and my understanding is that News Corp is legally obliged to explicitly state any such intention - as it could be a factor in whether shareholders decide to accept the offer. For example, if I was a major TWG shareholder and had invested in them because I liked their approach to local radio, I'd be reluctant to sell to anyone who had other plans.
Of course, the period during which you're expected to live up to your initial promises is usually a year, so that's not to say it couldn't happen in the slightly longer term.
My bet is that they will franchise them to comicorp who will turn them into Capital or heart, or maybe Bauer could dip there hand into them or maybe even nation boradcasting.
1. When has Murdoch ever listened to the regulators?
He's too powerful he just pays the fine which is peanuts to NewsCorp and does what he likes so I expect it to be the same with Ofcom
2. Are you saying there are NO locally produced bulletins on any of their stations?
Sky News has the contract for IRN to provide their ouput
There is no local news bulletins after a certain times, and certainly none overnights on local commercial stations apart from on election/referendum nights.
Even in Scotland there is no overnight Scottish News service nowadays on Scottish commercial stations, so take the Sky News bulletins during those times.
The news probably hit the talkRADIO studio just after 1 o'clock as Jon Holmes asked Cornelius if he had just seen the email, and a few minutes later Jon said there was news that they couldn't talk about.
Comments
I can't see an issue with introducing Sky branding. Sky News Radio (a collaboration between Sky and Global) was all set to launch 7 or 8 years ago until Global pulled out.
However the wording of the NewsCorp statement suggests to me the radio assets aren't the big prize here. It's the global audio rights to the Premier League they're really interested in and which they can make serious money from exploiting.
As lovely as they are, I suspect Rupert Murdoch didn't say "ooh look, I can own Swansea Sound and Blackpool's Radio Wave. Deal!"
The original deal though was between Chrysalis and Sky and Global pulled out after they took over LBC.
News Corp have bought the Wireless Group.
News Corp are significant shareholders in Sky plc. Sky have NOT bought The Wireless Group.
Make of it what you will, but the above should be made clear.
As to what Murdoch will do with the assets: the 'talk...' stations including TS2 are likely safe; it may or may not be goodbye to Virgin depending on (a) what the contract with Branson says and (b) how cost-effective it is given it shares resources with the other national stations; as to the locals, I've said before that the Northwest stations could if needed form a Media Sound-style mini-network (possibly with Dee/Silk and/or Revolution) if News don't hang onto them (the FM slots could be valuable given TS2/TR/Virgin are currently digital-only), whilst, following their acquisition of Orion, it's possible that Bauer are sizing up Signal (but probably not Pulse given its proximity to Aire...)
TalkRadio has few listeners so it oculd be replaced with Sky News Radio and be more news-focused.
The Virgin brand may not be as highly regarded by News Corporation. A service called Sky Radio could be used to promote Sky's entertainment channels.
I hope this is positive for the sport content on local stations.
A buyout by Sky (or rather their major shareholders) for talkSPORT has long been discussed down the years, with there being eager speculation as to what they would do to change and improve the station if they got their hands on it. Yet I for one didn't see this move coming at this time, so quickly on the heels of the TV side of the former UTV Radio operation being sold off and so soon after the renewal of talkSPORT's national Premier League radio rights, which has to be the main commercial selling point of that station, undoubtedly the crown jewel in TWG's portfolio.
However, here are a couple of things I don't see happening. Primarily, I don't see a name change of the talk-branded stations (it may be a different story for Virgin Radio and some of their local stations). I think talkSPORT is a strong brand that has made a name for itself over the past 16 years, and although other NewsCorp brands like Sky, The Times and The Sun have massive name recognition, I don't see a compelling reason to alter the name of a station(s) that has build up an identity and has steadily built up a substantial audience over the years. Likewise, talkRADIO is a historic brand a devoted section of the DAB listenership have fond memories of. So I don't think a name change is a major priority or would, in itself, bring a massive new audience to any of the talk stations.
The other thing I don't see is NewsCorp heavily investing in sports rights to the point of engaging in bidding wars with the BBC. Instead I see them maintaining the sort of approach UTV Radio had, by steadily building on existing rights, looking to pick up non-exclusive rights to events they do not have to outbid the BBC for and so can acquire relatively cheaply. Indeed I do not see an extension upon their current Premier League national radio contracts as being a huge bonus for the station. For much of this decade, they have had exclusive rights to live commentary games in standalone timeslots on both Saturdays and Sundays and I do not believe extra games on top of those will attract a substantial number of new listeners or advertisers to the station that wouldn't already have come to them through their existing portfolio. Indeed, for the past six years Sky has been the main sponsor of talkSPORT's Premier League commentaries, while SkyBet is the main advertiser and betting partner on talkSPORT 2, so the new owners should already have an insight into the commercial value of the various sporting rights they have inherited.
I'd like to see talkSPORT provide more commentaries on European club football games (British clubs' home ties in UEFA competitions as well as their away ones), do more of their commentaries from continental Europe on-site and pick up attainable commentary rights to events they've covered live in the past like The Open Golf Championship and next year's British & Irish Lions tour to New Zealand (two events that are exclusively live on British TV on Sky Sports). But generally I think they have a pretty strong live sports rights portfolio as it is, and don't see them aiming to win any exclusive rights from the BBC. In any case, they have full or partial access to just about every major football competition involving English teams, and the only area here where they could look to win exclusive rights they don't currently have is the Premier League and that is now tied down until 2019/20.
To echo what wns_195 has said, I hope NewsCorp maintains the sports coverage on TWG's local stations. UTV Radio were very good custodians of some strong local football and rugby commentaries and magazine programmes over the past number of years, with them being the only major commercial radio group that seem to have persevered with local sport in a substantial way this decade. It would be a real shame if this was to change.
Expect significant crossover between Sun columnists and presenters.
Some quotes from The Guardian:
Sky News has the contract for IRN to provide their ouput
It might be Lachlan Murdoch might be interested in the local stations and the Virgin franchise as he runs ex Daily Mail's Nova and Smooth in Australia?
bring back John Gaunt
why is that ?
I commented it was like Sky Sports on the Radio.
As I mentioned before, the regulations on takeovers are strict, and my understanding is that News Corp is legally obliged to explicitly state any such intention - as it could be a factor in whether shareholders decide to accept the offer. For example, if I was a major TWG shareholder and had invested in them because I liked their approach to local radio, I'd be reluctant to sell to anyone who had other plans.
Of course, the period during which you're expected to live up to your initial promises is usually a year, so that's not to say it couldn't happen in the slightly longer term.
He's too powerful he just pays the fine which is peanuts to NewsCorp and does what he likes so I expect it to be the same with Ofcom
2. Are you saying there are NO locally produced bulletins on any of their stations?
There is no local news bulletins after a certain times, and certainly none overnights on local commercial stations apart from on election/referendum nights.
Even in Scotland there is no overnight Scottish News service nowadays on Scottish commercial stations, so take the Sky News bulletins during those times.
They are very worried by the takeover.
He wouldnt. He's far too stubborn and he is still in the process of revolutionising broadcast radio with his little project.
Who also axed most of the original Talk Radio UK's staff