Capital FM Network (Part 2)

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This has probably been bought up but how the hell are they getting away with the appalling news bulletins?

On East Midlands it literally went along the lines of:

"At three O' clock, the trial of a mother charged with the murder of her kids in Buxton continues... and Justin Bieber has exclusively told Capital FM he is worried his balls may never drop. Capital FM news, I'm Anna Tyler."

OK, the Justin Beiber bit was a piss take but basically it's one story from somewhere in the combined Leicester/Nottingham/Derby region with just copy, no audio, and then a showbiz non-story (the 2pm ran with Tinie Tempah losing his iPhone at the O2 on Tuesday night.)

Is this really "enhanced local news?" I really think they're heading into Yellow Card territory here. Even a CHR should be running a 2-minute bulletin with some audio included.
    Admin Notice: This thread is a continuation of: http://www.digitalspy.co.uk/forums/showthread.php?t=1400468
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    • James Martin 2James Martin 2 Posts: 4,388
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      Looks like I broke DigitalSpy.
    • Mapperley RidgeMapperley Ridge Posts: 9,922
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      This has probably been bought up but how the hell are they getting away with the appalling news bulletins?

      On East Midlands it literally went along the lines of:

      "At three O' clock, the trial of a mother charged with the murder of her kids in Buxton continues... and Justin Bieber has exclusively told Capital FM he is worried his balls may never drop. Capital FM news, I'm Anna Tyler."

      OK, the Justin Beiber bit was a piss take but basically it's one story from somewhere in the combined Leicester/Nottingham/Derby region with just copy, no audio, and then a showbiz non-story (the 2pm ran with Tinie Tempah losing his iPhone at the O2 on Tuesday night.)

      Is this really "enhanced local news?" I really think they're heading into Yellow Card territory here. Even a CHR should be running a 2-minute bulletin with some audio included.


      Yes James - I couldn't agree more with you. A tokenistic local story followed some showbiz nonsense is not - in my view - enhanced local news.
    • [Deleted User][Deleted User] Posts: 1,156
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      Absolutely agree James. Capital Birmingham do exactly the same thing and it's ruddy annoying. I want to know more than one "local" story and what Capital this, Capital that have done/doing/talked to.

      I'm not looking for rolling news, but I do want to know what's happened in the world or my area other than half a dozen lines.
    • James Martin 2James Martin 2 Posts: 4,388
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      It bothers me as Hinckey, where I live, used to get quite a few mentions on Leicester Sound if something kicked off here - indeed not long after I got home from Spain, they beat Oak FM (their indirect AC competitor in half of the TSA) to a big story on a major nightclub brawl in the town, which left at least one reveller in hospital for several days.

      That just won't happen now, sadly. We might be a one-horse town but things still happen here.

      The token effort means they have to go local over national... so national stories - many of which at the moment are having a big effect on young people - are just getting totally overlooked.
    • michael1152michael1152 Posts: 1,966
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      I have not listened to Capital North-East local shows yet - but surely with Steve and karen they do proper news? And with 4-7pm? or is it 30 seconds blink and you've missed it stuff?
    • James Martin 2James Martin 2 Posts: 4,388
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      Not sure, but it reeks of "we're only doing it so we don't have to put crap afternoon jocks on between 1 and 4." Ashley's opinion on the jocks BTW, not mine.
    • 4-4-24-4-2 Posts: 5,413
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      It bothers me as Hinckey, where I live, used to get quite a few mentions on Leicester Sound if something kicked off here - indeed not long after I got home from Spain, they beat Oak FM (their indirect AC competitor in half of the TSA) to a big story on a major nightclub brawl in the town, which left at least one reveller in hospital for several days.

      That just won't happen now, sadly. We might be a one-horse town but things still happen here.


      The token effort means they have to go local over national... so national stories - many of which at the moment are having a big effect on young people - are just getting totally overlooked.

      It does? Could've fooled me. Very little of interest has ever happened in Hinckley. Very little of interest will ever happen in Hinckley.
    • James Martin 2James Martin 2 Posts: 4,388
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      4-4-2 wrote: »
      It does? Could've fooled me. Very little of interest has ever happened in Hinckley. Very little of interest will ever happen in Hinckley.

      Very occasionally. As a town though it's on its arse, and has been the last 5 years or so.
    • Marcus BradshawMarcus Bradshaw Posts: 4,153
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      Very occasionally. As a town though it's on its arse, and has been the last 5 years or so.

      Only 5?
    • James Martin 2James Martin 2 Posts: 4,388
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      Only 5?

      Put it this way, what we had five years ago was, by comparison, vastly superior.

      The town has now only one nightclub, which doesn't even open on a Friday night. I'm 26 and went into it last Thursday. I felt like a dirty old man - had I pulled any of the girls in there, I'd be in jail now.
    • [Deleted User][Deleted User] Posts: 665
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      Capital is only interested in the music!!!!
    • Marcus BradshawMarcus Bradshaw Posts: 4,153
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      Put it this way, what we had five years ago was, by comparison, vastly superior.

      The town has now only one nightclub, which doesn't even open on a Friday night. I'm 26 and went into it last Thursday. I felt like a dirty old man - had I pulled any of the girls in there, I'd be in jail now.

      You could have claimed it was research into Capital FM's target audience (ahem) for this thread.

      Just out of interest, were the club playing any of the stuff Capital are polluting our airwaves with?

      *shoehorns thread back on topic*
    • Mapperley RidgeMapperley Ridge Posts: 9,922
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      Lee277 wrote: »
      Capital is only interested in the music!!!!

      No, really?

      Whilst I fully accept that Capital is a music station - and most of its demographic probably don't put local news very high up the list of priorities - the station is require by its licence to provide hourly local/regional news through the day. And "enhanced local news" provision, as OFCOM puts it.

      And whilst we can all have a laugh about the relative merits of Hinckley, this is an important point. Based on the output I've heard since January 4th, there are noticeably fewer local stories being broadcast on the East Midlands regional service through the day.

      Of course, previously there was Trent/Ram/Leicester - but I think it's a bit more subtle than that. The service that Capital are running at the moment doesn't equate to "enhanced" news at all. It's getting away with as little as possible.

      As I've said before, even Newsbeat can manage around 90 seconds per hour, so why not Capital?
    • PizzatheactionPizzatheaction Posts: 20,157
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      I tend only to hear the 2pm news bulletin, but it appears to have had its running time cut in the last couple of weeks.
    • krob2krob2 Posts: 1,199
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      Major Royal visit to Derbyshire tomorrow - will it get a mention on Capital?

      If its producing as little local news in return for the extra networking it needs to get a warning. Sure Galaxy was a dance network but Trent,RAM etc were supposed to be full service local stations appealing to people up to 45 (if you read the format)
    • James Martin 2James Martin 2 Posts: 4,388
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      To answer the nightclub question, walking into Elements in Hinckley (might as well name it as it's the ONLY nightclub in Hinckley) generally involves a lot of mainstream R&B played through a PA system with too much treble on it. ;)

      So basically, yes - exactly the same music as Capital on a PA system which sounds like Capital's Omnia 6 units.

      Hinckley might be an on-arse, dead-end one-very-old-horse backwater on the edge of the TSA, but the East Midlands, as a whole, isn't. I accept there's two other commercial stations in the East Midlands, plus Oak FM in the South-West of the TSA. But I honestly wonder why they've even bothered employing a journo at Nottingham at all if this is the extent of the local news coverage? They could compile and read all the bulletins out of Leicester Square for the little effort they put in.

      I should point out that Anna Tyler herself is a very good journalist, and it wasn't my intention to suggest she was an incompetent journo - I know she is, infact, a very good journalist. I appreciate, therefore, she's following the orders of El Presidente in his glass office in Leicester Square and doing the best with what she's been given. The point was the policy of Global in having almost pointless, and blatantly token, local news bulletins.
    • catherine91catherine91 Posts: 2,636
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      Seeing Part 2 appear reminded me that I'd never commented on Capital in the original thread.

      I listen to a little bit of Capital most days while flicking through DAB stations. I would probably enjoy the station more if today's 'hit music' wasn't so crap. The local news being discussed isn't relevant to my area as I'm in Norwich. The situation seems similar to Heart, though - 1 or 2 local mentions followed by showbiz!
    • Richard O'HaganRichard O'Hagan Posts: 291
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      If given a choice between a purely national bulletin and a regional one comprising local stories from other towns in my cluster, I'd rather just have a proper national one.

      I do want local news, and I do want national news - but I couldn't give a stuff about the town 30 miles away which I never go to and have no connection with.
    • Richard O'HaganRichard O'Hagan Posts: 291
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      So how long should a bulletin be?

      I'd say 90 secs minimum, but ideally 3 mins most of the day, with audio, and 5 mins at breakfast/drive. An even balance of local and national, not the exact same script/audio each time.

      Is there any current scientific research on what listeners want? Music is tested heavily, what about news (and newsreaders)?

      Personally, I want zero celeb gossip in the news itself - the DJ is better qualified to do that elsewhere in the show.

      The showbiz/clown stories mess with newsreader's journalistic cred and wind-up listeners who'd been hanging on for real news.
    • Mapperley RidgeMapperley Ridge Posts: 9,922
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      So how long should a bulletin be?

      I'd say 90 secs minimum, but ideally 3 mins most of the day, with audio, and 5 mins at breakfast/drive. An even balance of local and national, not the exact same script/audio each time.

      I don't think it needs to be as much as 5 minutes on breakfast and drive. These days, most BBC Local stations do 5 mins. 3 would be fine I think. But with good writing you can get a lot of meaningful news in 90 seconds.
    • MickeyBricksMickeyBricks Posts: 1,677
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      But with good writing you can get a lot of meaningful news in 90 seconds.

      Takes us back to what we were saying yesterday about Power FM in 93. They had 90" reports during the day and then switched to 60" jock live reads overnight, although the latter were just the old rip n reads in the main.
    • MickeyBricksMickeyBricks Posts: 1,677
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      Ghetto Superstar..??? WTF... Tinpot FM or what!
    • WBOYWBOY Posts: 319
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      Ghetto Superstar..??? WTF... Tinpot FM or what!
      Not really!
    • James Martin 2James Martin 2 Posts: 4,388
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      Ghetto Superstar..??? WTF... Tinpot FM or what!

      I just heard this... first good song they've played in months! :D

      Maybe they're finally listening!
    • MickeyBricksMickeyBricks Posts: 1,677
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      WBOY wrote: »
      Not really!

      Jarred the whole sound of the station with that track.

      I can't believe they've bottled simple knocking out high rotation hits within 6 weeks. Typical Capital, they don't know who or what they are or who or what their audience what. Been the same for years. How many identities and formats since 2005 have they had??

      Trouble is, I doubt any of the UK's respected programmers would want to work for Tabor, so this inconsistency looks set to continue.
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