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Capital FM Network (Part 2)


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Old 17-03-2011, 02:43
Richard O'Hagan
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I'd have guessed Friday night's audience would consist of commuters heading back to the regions for the weekend (ever seen the motorways on a Friday night?).

Commuters are notorious channel surfers - they've nothing better to do than hit the zap button.

They can't dance 'n drive, so aren't going to sit through your average dance remix ruined by 7mins of tedious drums.
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Old 17-03-2011, 04:16
wckartist
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i cant believe the negativity on here regarding dance shows and decent remixes

so if friday and saturday evenings are not right for these shows, then YOU tell me when is??

if its done right, a weekend dance show will work well, ie, decent presenter, quality output and interaction from artists / producers / well known club jocks.

one well known commercial station has FOUR consecutive shows on a saturday.............it works well!
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Old 17-03-2011, 05:30
Richard O'Hagan
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I'm not against dance music at all, quite the opposite. But like most, I'm just not fond of long-winded remixes and specialist stuff.

There are tens of thoasands of internet stations already playing dance genres, no point competing with them at the expense of the regular audience.

ALL specialist shows are a turn-off for radio

When particular songs are popular with the mainstream they'll get played anyway (you'd hope).

Ghettos simply aren't good for business.
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Old 17-03-2011, 09:17
Bingethink
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I have always thought it odd that stations put out dance music shows at times when the people who most liked dance music would presumably be out dancing to dance music in nightclubs.
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Old 17-03-2011, 11:46
Steve Buck
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so if friday and saturday evenings are not right for these shows, then YOU tell me when is??
"Never" would be the answer. Leave it to Radio 1. They've been doing it brilliantly for over 20 years. Offer something different for a mainstream audience.

Moreover, as has been pointed out in other threads, dance music isn't even particularly popular at the moment. Sure, genre boundaries have become blurred and its influence can be felt strongly in today's R'n'B and pop, but there's very little real dance music charting or testing well. So why on earth would you dedicate as much as 16 hours of output to it?
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Old 17-03-2011, 12:19
trevgo
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Sure, genre boundaries have become blurred and its influence can be felt strongly in today's R'n'B and pop, but there's very little real dance music charting or testing well. So why on earth would you dedicate as much as 16 hours of output to it?
Because it provides diversity and people might hear it and like it (and I'm absolutely NOT a dance fan). Of course dance music is not charting, as like every other genre other than syrupy urban pop, it doesn't get heard.

News? Leave it to the BBC. Dance Music? Leave it to the BBC. Guitar music? Leave it to be BBC. Electronica? Leave it to the BBC,

All commercial radio is interested in is being a glorified MP3 player for continuous trashy pseudo US style urban pap, and endless old records. What a pathetic rump it has been reduced to.
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Old 17-03-2011, 12:56
darkknight77
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I think dance/specialist shows sounded right on Galaxy, especially as Galaxy was serving that audience, it was a "dance and rnb" station until Global bought it.

Especially when the "Galaxy Weekend" in-brand came from the late 90s, that was the era of the Superclubs/Human Traffic etc., Galaxy was mainly a northern brand, manchester/yorkshire had huge club scenes and everyone was at Gatecrasher, Hacienda etc every weekend, ibiza was big news - clubland/mix cds were all over the charts, it was the golden era of commercial dance in the UK. I remember hearing Galaxy "in the mix" with Boy George at midday on Saturday lunch time and then right through til 6am next morning, it was House/trance mixed all weekend.

Sadly those days are over now, the superclubs are now closing/closed and just do events, Galaxy is gone, and Capital is a top 40 station.

Capital has more in common with Key 103 than Galaxy/Kiss 102, so it wouldn't make sense for them to go specialist dance on weekends these days, they still do Andy Durrant just as a hang-over from the old Kiss 102/Galaxy licence of the 90s because they have to, it sounds very out of place though. And I imagine it'll go as soon as Ofcom let them.
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Old 17-03-2011, 13:20
MickeyBricks
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I have always thought it odd that stations put out dance music shows at times when the people who most liked dance music would presumably be out dancing to dance music in nightclubs.
Bang on. And if they're not, they probably don't want to hear it that badly anyway. Same goes for Club Classics.
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Old 17-03-2011, 14:20
Steve Buck
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I think dance/specialist shows sounded right on Galaxy, especially as Galaxy was serving that audience, it was a "dance and rnb" station until Global bought it.

Especially when the "Galaxy Weekend" in-brand came from the late 90s, that was the era of the Superclubs/Human Traffic etc., Galaxy was mainly a northern brand, manchester/yorkshire had huge club scenes and everyone was at Gatecrasher, Hacienda etc every weekend, ibiza was big news - clubland/mix cds were all over the charts, it was the golden era of commercial dance in the UK. I remember hearing Galaxy "in the mix" with Boy George at midday on Saturday lunch time and then right through til 6am next morning, it was House/trance mixed all weekend.

Sadly those days are over now, the superclubs are now closing/closed and just do events, Galaxy is gone, and Capital is a top 40 station.

Capital has more in common with Key 103 than Galaxy/Kiss 102, so it wouldn't make sense for them to go specialist dance on weekends these days, they still do Andy Durrant just as a hang-over from the old Kiss 102/Galaxy licence of the 90s because they have to, it sounds very out of place though. And I imagine it'll go as soon as Ofcom let them.
Excellent analysis. Plus - and this was the main point of the rebrand to Capital - programming a radio station for the kind of people who go out clubbing all weekend long doesn't make it profitable. The fact that they have the time and money implies they're not home owners and don't have kids, so they don't spend money on anything significant. They don't buy expensive cars or double glazing.

That's why (as someone pointed out in this thread, I think) emap/Bauer have always struggled to make Kiss pay, and Radio 1 justifies its existence by superserving 15-24's.

Because it provides diversity and people might hear it and like it
I would love you to have a go at running this diverse and educational commercial radio station you yearn for, Trev. I'd give it three months before it went bust. For the umpteenth time: it isn't commercial radio's job to provide diversity or educate people. Commercial radio's role is to be populist and make money.
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Old 17-03-2011, 14:22
Bingethink
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Bang on. And if they're not, they probably don't want to hear it that badly anyway. Same goes for Club Classics.
Actually, i think Club Classics makes more sense. That's for people who used to go out clubbing every weekend, but now don't have the money/free-time/youth to do so.
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Old 17-03-2011, 14:32
Steve Buck
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Actually, i think Club Classics makes more sense. That's for people who used to go out clubbing every weekend, but now don't have the money/free-time/youth to do so.
Good point, but if the songs in question evoked strong positive memories and had enough of a "feel-good" factor they'd be testing sufficiently well to be in normal rotation. Often the club classics stations play would never be heard in daytime.
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Old 17-03-2011, 16:23
MickeyBricks
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Actually, i think Club Classics makes more sense. That's for people who used to go out clubbing every weekend, but now don't have the money/free-time/youth to do so.
To be honest if Heart dropped the 'Club Classics' tag, I don't think their average listener would notice too much difference from weekday daytime to weekend evenings in the sound of the station. The core Heart playlist is so heavily reliant on pop disco and wedding party songs that there really isn't any need to have specific strands for the genre.
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Old 21-03-2011, 23:33
tim raffield
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Fantastic - Someone phoned up Dave and wanted a Cher song, Dave wasn't having any of it and put them through to tone.

Surely a genuine listener to Capital would realise that they are not going to play Cher, when the rest of the output consists of back to back modern hits....
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Old 22-03-2011, 01:05
p_c_u_k
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You assume everyone is like us and knows exactly what every single radio station plays. And in areas where Capital has replaced a heritage station, or even in the capital itself where the audience may have grown older with the station, where people are just tuning in by habit, that's a more difficult message to get across.
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Old 22-03-2011, 09:10
os17
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I know one or two on here are insiders on Capital, are there many on six month contracts after the rebrand and if so I'm guessing these will be up in June?
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Old 23-03-2011, 23:46
georgemiller89
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Just got London's breakfast promo on South Coast lol.

I think that's the first time I've heard such an error.
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Old 24-03-2011, 00:03
marflitts
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Repetitive status updates now http://m.facebook.com/home.php?r110d..._ft=1300924378
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Old 24-03-2011, 00:05
djgeeza
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Capital's desperate attempt to appear showbiz central by making out celebs are randomly "dropping in" for things like cabs, and left behind lip gloss is really cringey. Listeners will surely see through this.
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Old 24-03-2011, 09:59
trevgo
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I would love you to have a go at running this diverse and educational commercial radio station you yearn for, Trev. I'd give it three months before it went bust.
Hmmm. How many listeners does R1 have again? And I think R1 could be improved on enormously. You commercial boys have tunnel vision coupled with an almighty blind spot.
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Old 24-03-2011, 11:06
Station ID
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Hmmm. How many listeners does R1 have again?

You commercial boys have tunnel vision coupled with an almighty blind spot.
Hmmmm How much does Radio 1 cost to run again?? Where does it get its money from again??

I think Radio 1 is a great station but to try and do it commercially means that someone has to fund it and then make their money and some extra back. Us commercial bods have not got tunnel vision we just live in the real commercial world. we don't get money given to us and have to spend it otherwise we won't get the same amount next year. We have to make money in order to stay on the air and doing what Radio 1 does would be too expensive. There aren't many markets where Radio 1 is leading the pack anyway.
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Old 24-03-2011, 11:38
trevgo
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Hmmmm How much does Radio 1 cost to run again?? Where does it get its money from again??

I think Radio 1 is a great station but to try and do it commercially means that someone has to fund it and then make their money and some extra back. Us commercial bods have not got tunnel vision we just live in the real commercial world. we don't get money given to us and have to spend it otherwise we won't get the same amount next year. We have to make money in order to stay on the air and doing what Radio 1 does would be too expensive. There aren't many markets where Radio 1 is leading the pack anyway.
OK then...Radio 2. What's the combined share of Radios 1 + 2 in most markets? Both playing a far, far wider range of music than any commercial.

What is it that costs so much at Radio 1, other than presenter salaries? The vast majority is music and waffle.
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Old 24-03-2011, 13:53
Steve Buck
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OK then...Radio 2. What's the combined share of Radios 1 + 2 in most markets? Both playing a far, far wider range of music than any commercial.

What is it that costs so much at Radio 1, other than presenter salaries? The vast majority is music and waffle.
I would imagine at least 3 staff permanently assigned to each daytime show rather than one on commercial radio. Far more layers of management. Healthy expense accounts. Generally way better presenter salaries than in the commercial sector (London and major market breakfast jocks being the exception perhaps).
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Old 24-03-2011, 13:58
trevgo
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I would imagine at least 3 staff permanently assigned to each daytime show rather than one on commercial radio. Far more layers of management. Healthy expense accounts. Generally way better presenter salaries than in the commercial sector (London and major market breakfast jocks being the exception perhaps).
All of which has absolutely no relevance to the music they play.
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Old 24-03-2011, 14:00
mattd
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OK then...Radio 2. What's the combined share of Radios 1 + 2 in most markets? Both playing a far, far wider range of music than any commercial.

What is it that costs so much at Radio 1, other than presenter salaries? The vast majority is music and waffle.
Radio 1 spends £43.1m a year (£33m on content), Radio 2 spends £50.8m (£40m on content).

Capital beats Radio 1 in some of its areas, Radio 1 beats Capital in others - looking at the Capital TSAs - they're quite similar sized radio stations. I'd imagine the Capital network spends less than 10% of what Radio 1 spends on content.
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Old 24-03-2011, 14:04
Steve Buck
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All of which has absolutely no relevance to the music they play.
You asked what the additional costs of running Radio 1 as compared to commercial radio were. I was just answering your question.
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