Strikes me that the main purpose of this is clarifying what Magic's about (ie it's the London one, not "the other one") and clearing the way for it to be rolled out nationally without confusing non-London listeners or pissing off local advertisers.
I also assume that renaming the local stations after their FM sisters is a fairly clear marker that they're not imminently going to "do a Heart" and merge the FMs under a single brand. Despite them not having done so yet and saying they had no plans, it always struck me as a possibility.
While it's easy to say AM in Liverpool will be Radio City 2, Key 103 2 or Rock FM 2 don't have the same ring about them, or even make sense. Could we be in for a return to some real heritage names with Piccadilly and Red Rose Radio?
Interesting move. So each station such will have the main FM service, an 'older' service on AM, and a new DAB service aimed at younger listeners.
For example:
Radio City - 96.7FM
Radio City 2 - 1548AM
Radio City 3 - DAB (rebrand of The Hits, with local IDs in each area?)
CityTalk continues as normal?
'Key 103 3' maybe isn't the best name!
EDIT: Matt Degan's blog confirms 'City 3' will be a rebrand of The Hits, with split IDs in each area. It will stay as 'The Hits' in London and on Freeview radio.
Strikes me that the main purpose of this is clarifying what Magic's about (ie it's the London one, not "the other one") and clearing the way for it to be rolled out nationally without confusing non-London listeners or pissing off local advertisers.
Magic will launch as a national service on DAB Digital Radio in January 2015. It is already loved by 1.9m Londoners, and for the first time it will reach new audiences with its unique “good-mood” music proposition.
Will this be the old Smooth slot, or Absolute 90's?
Magic will be after some of the older Heart audience? Slight overlap with
Place 2” (eg Radio City 2 on AM) which will expand the appeal to an older, focused 45-64 year old audience
Interesting move. So each station such will have the main FM service, an 'older' service on AM, and a new DAB service aimed at younger listeners.
For example:
Radio City - 96.7FM
Radio City 2 - 1548AM
Radio City 3 - DAB (rebrand of The Hits, with local IDs in each area?)
CityTalk continues as normal?
'Key 103 3' maybe isn't the best name!.
Neither would Rock FM 2 on 999AM....
Let's race it though Red Rose ain't coming back and Rock 2 or Rock 3 are daft names which don't really reflect what's on offer, but Rock FM is a well known local brand which has been in existence longer that Red Rose was (7 years until the split, and a further ~ 7 as Red Rose Rock FM - and 97.4 Rock FM for nearly 20 years now)
Rock FM is a well known local brand which has been in existence longer that Red Rose was (7 years until the split, and a further ~ 7 as Red Rose Rock FM - and 97.4 Rock FM for nearly 20 years now)
Face it ... Rock FM was a stupid name in the first place considering it is a CHR station, but they're stuck with it now.
Smooth is Global's and they already have permission for a more Classic Hits station. Will inevitably be Abs Radio 90s - unfortunately
Confirmed in Matt's blog
Absolute 90s will provide the capacity to make this happen, though will still remain on in London and some other areas.
The stations that get a ‘2’ are: Clyde 2, Key 2, Metro Radio 2, Hallam 2, Radio City 2, Forth 2, Rock 2, Viking 2, TFM 2, Tay 2, Northsound 2, Radio Aire 2, MFR 2 and Westsound 2. The ‘3’s go to all of those stations except Northsound and Westsound.
Updated: The Hits, it seems, will cease in those areas to become the 3 service. It’ll carry on, as is, on DAB in London and Freeview as The Hits – clever network splits ahoy!
I wonder what will happen to the veteran jocks like Tony Blackburn and Mike Read? Will they get the chop because I can't imagine them being moved over and sitting well under the current London format. That would be nice however.
Another thought, could we see more daytime networking across Bauer stations in Scotland and Northern England on both AM & FM?
Seeing as the Scottish AM stations are 100% networked now they can''t do any more. I see it as a missed opportunity to rebrand these stations. The local AM heritage name is dead and a rebrand might help the plummeting RAJAR.
Face it ... Rock FM was a stupid name in the first place considering it is a CHR station, but they're stuck with it now.
When it launched it was 97.4 Red Rose Rock FM with the strap line of "More Rock Less Talk", alas tastes have changed somewhat since the arse end of the 80s!
Still better than the likes of 210FM or ElevenSeventy which were both on FM in the early 00s...
There ought to be very little networking if they're playing the local card. With Magic networking made sense because of the brand.
Yes of course. But knowing the way things seem be with commercial radio it would be surprising if they go from being networked to being almost completely local on Medium Wave.
There ought to be very little networking if they're playing the local card. With Magic networking made sense because of the brand.
I can't see a return to non-networking. As far as listeners are concerned tge stations are local with a regional breakfast show, separate imaging and adverts.
COTTONHEAT
Posts: 12,103
Comments
http://www.bauermedia.co.uk/press/news/article/bauer-media-unveils-focused-commercial-radio-offering
http://www.mattdeegan.com/2014/09/26/bauers-network/
Strikes me that the main purpose of this is clarifying what Magic's about (ie it's the London one, not "the other one") and clearing the way for it to be rolled out nationally without confusing non-London listeners or pissing off local advertisers.
I also assume that renaming the local stations after their FM sisters is a fairly clear marker that they're not imminently going to "do a Heart" and merge the FMs under a single brand. Despite them not having done so yet and saying they had no plans, it always struck me as a possibility.
For example:
Radio City - 96.7FM
Radio City 2 - 1548AM
Radio City 3 - DAB (rebrand of The Hits, with local IDs in each area?)
CityTalk continues as normal?
'Key 103 3' maybe isn't the best name!
EDIT: Matt Degan's blog confirms 'City 3' will be a rebrand of The Hits, with split IDs in each area. It will stay as 'The Hits' in London and on Freeview radio.
the DAB service is aimed at more of the 25-44 age group, is that not aiming for the Absolute 80/90's market?
Another thought, could we see more daytime networking across Bauer stations in Scotland and Northern England on both AM & FM?
The Bauer press release says the '3' DAB station will target the 15-25 market with current hits.
http://www.bauermedia.co.uk/press/news/article/bauer-media-unveils-focused-commercial-radio-offering
My mistake, I'm sure I read those ages on the Matt Deegan link but on looking again I either read it wrong or it has been changed!
Magic will be after some of the older Heart audience? Slight overlap with
Let's race it though Red Rose ain't coming back and Rock 2 or Rock 3 are daft names which don't really reflect what's on offer, but Rock FM is a well known local brand which has been in existence longer that Red Rose was (7 years until the split, and a further ~ 7 as Red Rose Rock FM - and 97.4 Rock FM for nearly 20 years now)
Smooth is Global's and they already have permission for a more Classic Hits station. Will inevitably be Abs Radio 90s - unfortunately
The one that'll be confusing is TFM2. Hmm...
Face it ... Rock FM was a stupid name in the first place considering it is a CHR station, but they're stuck with it now.
I wonder what will happen to the veteran jocks like Tony Blackburn and Mike Read? Will they get the chop because I can't imagine them being moved over and sitting well under the current London format. That would be nice however.
Seeing as the Scottish AM stations are 100% networked now they can''t do any more. I see it as a missed opportunity to rebrand these stations. The local AM heritage name is dead and a rebrand might help the plummeting RAJAR.
Gutted that Absolute 90's will be leaving D1 too.
When it launched it was 97.4 Red Rose Rock FM with the strap line of "More Rock Less Talk", alas tastes have changed somewhat since the arse end of the 80s!
Still better than the likes of 210FM or ElevenSeventy which were both on FM in the early 00s...
There ought to be very little networking if they're playing the local card. With Magic networking made sense because of the brand.
Yes of course. But knowing the way things seem be with commercial radio it would be surprising if they go from being networked to being almost completely local on Medium Wave.
Replace FM with One?
As in Hallam FM into Hallam One?
Just like Clyde 1.
I can't see a return to non-networking. As far as listeners are concerned tge stations are local with a regional breakfast show, separate imaging and adverts.
They could call it T2.