Although GMG has only one shareholder the Scott trust, but agree it sees the radio operation as an investment as a steady income to provide the Guardian's journalist independance rather than a service to listeners! As long as Smooth and Real make a profit they are safe, if not they will be sold!
http://www.gmgplc.co.uk/gmg/our-investments/

No sure what you mean about
but the newspaper has reached the stage where they are going down the road of the Huffington Post using non paid for content.

In newspapers the model is called a freesheet and content and adverts reflect that term.

It's hard to determine whether the Kid Jensen Drivetime show is partly voice tracked or done via ISDN or Live in the studio. Sometimes the last part of the link finishes the letters of the words are cut.

The USP of the Guardian unlike other papers is it does not have a "baron" or shareholders who will dictate policy to the editor and journalists who are free to report on issues others will not maybe cover.
It does have a plan to move from print to online apps, but seems to be wanting readers to take up £10 a month subscriptions,
http://www.guardian.co.uk/mobile/apps
which will be boosted by ads and income/profit from GMG investments such as radio, magazines, shopping and dating sites.
The Independant is also going for £10 a month online app subscriptions which is less than the Times £16 a month.

So far the Telegraph, Guardian and Independant has not cut back free online access like News International's Times has, but may soon to encourage app subscriptions.
The risk is current print readers may give up buying the printed version and go elsewhere (like AOL's free Huffington Post) rather than take up online subcriptions!

The Scott trust/GMG may have paid over the top for the London and Manchester FM frequencies to start Smooth, (sadly Jazz does not make good profits) but still seems to see Smooth as good long term investment!
http://www.gmgplc.co.uk/press-releas...ts-for-201011/

Now the changes are over Smooth's operating profit for 2012 should be higher, if not, doubt if they will recover the £44m plus the cost of the ex Saga stations (£70m?) if Smooth was sold.

Their technical side doesn't seem to get any better. Levels are all over the place, and this mornings 9am News (in the East Midlands on DAB) consisted of exactly 2 minutes of silence.

Split Links? If you press Next in RCS during a split depending how it is set up it will not just start the next item it will cut the playing split.

I know people are entitled to holidays, but since David moved to Drivetime has taken a lot of time off bringing in Pat to cover. According to the website he's not back next week either.

Smooth, Real & Real XS don't use RCS anymore

The move to Myriad doesn't seem to have been entirely smooth!

I'm glad Pat Sharp is on the smooth drive home. It would be great if Pat had a weekday slot and not just weekend breakfast. I'm going off the kid now. Carlos is better on the smooth drive home I think.

I cant believe that Smooth have moved Carlos to the 1 -4 slot, I know that I have heard him called " Cheesy " on many occassions by said radio professionals, however, he always sounds entertaining, and like he is enjoying himself,on the radio. In fact yesterday he made me lol, with his throw away lines about kippers.

In complete contrast , if I had of known that " The Kid " was off this week, I wouldn't have tuned elsewhere towards 4PM, due to the fact that IMO, he should come with a health warning, "dont drive whilst listening to, he may send you to sleep at the wheel!".......... He just sounds so bored, cliched and going through the motions, as if to just take the money!:sleep:

Might be good for Carlos, having a new baby can be disruptive and means a change of lifestyle. Also on his blog
http://www.smoothradio.co.uk/shows-p...m-carlos/8bdec

Fortunately he does not go into detail, but glad for him Martha is now one, and hope things get better for him and his wife.

I think irrespective of the host that 4 hour slot is wrong. I'm all for 4 hour programming and Carlos just seemed to be having more fun.
i think the time schedule needs a serious revamp

I think we should stick to the thread?

there seems to be 2 smooth threads at the moment

I have just been listening to the Double top 20 with Kid Jensen.

He has been playing songs from 1972 and 1984

During the 1984 Chart run down he played a Song from the Flying Pickets

He should have played "When your Young and In Love" - instead he played " Only You " their only No 1

Big mistake !!!

I enjoy this plus Simon Bates Breakfast show (Our Tune and The Golden Hour)

Tony Played songs from 84 on Pick Of The Pops at the weekend. Are smooth trying to copy?

Just a quick heads up to all Soul Music fans, Richard Searling will be back on Smooth Radio for the next two saturdays 6pm-8pm with two very special motown shows!! Should be a good listen,!!

Sincerely hope he's going to Salford Quays to record them - absolutely love Richard, but the pre-rec'd couple of links he does on Ralph Tee's show on Jazz FM each Sunday night sound like they've been recorded in his bathroom.

Bates in the Falklands - Simon Bates will broadcast his breakfast show live from the falklands this coming week. The trip highlights the run-up to the 30th anniversary of the Islands’ liberation.

I will enjoy listening to Simon all next week hes broadcasted from Australia and Afganistan. The man is a legend.

Listening to Smooth this morning with Dave Lincoln seems the contacts into the show come from Ormiskirk, Birmingham, Nottingham and around the North West and nothing I heard in the time scale I was listening from the South. . I know Dave is from the North, but does make me wonder if they are connecting with the people of the South?

Smooth's Rajar in London over the last few years would show that it's never really reached out for listeners where they have a choice of other stations which play similar music.

However, they never got it right in the capital when they did provide 24/7 local shows from London.

It was a quite remarkable listen this morning. It wasn't really a survey, and the average listener wouldn't give a toss. It does show up with a naked ear if there are people listening for those reasons.

This suggests more people listen on FM/Regional DAB and fewer on national DAB? Surely if national DAB was a success they ought to be getting contact with people outside of the FM regions?