[hanssolo]

Originally Posted by tghe-retford

Problem is, any revamp or improvement in any way to FM sends a message that DAB is not fit for purpose (it isn't fit for purpose, but that's another thread). The radio industry will not accept that, even if it helps the commercial sector.

But there was re engineering of FM in the eighties where previously FM was set up for reception rooftop horizontal aerials, vertical polarisation and higher power was brought in for indoor and car reception.
It could be using synchronising technology the national FM networks could fit into less than 2Mhz slots, but means there will be reception compromises in places.
As Powerplay says 2 extra national FM networks could have been in the 104-108 area, but the RA/Ofcom decided against this.

DAB was designed as an FM replacement system and now power levels have been increased and new software encoders are in use do meet the requirement and "fit for purpose", at least in London, some parts of UK need to have improvements in coverage.
Also muxes were originally having a maximum of 8 stations, but we now have about 24 national stations on DAB which would not have fitted on the FM band!

The problem for groups like GMG is the value of the FM licences (in the 90's worth over the top hoping perhaps foreign investors would come in) is rapidly falling due to the recession and digital radio use growing about 15% each year.

[PWSJohn]

Is this going to happen?

If so, what will happen to Jo Lloyd, Glen Hunt, David Heane and Sam Lloyd, who are my favourite presenters on Real?

[Bingethink]

Originally Posted by PWSJohn

Is this going to happen?

If so, what will happen to Jo Lloyd, Glen Hunt, David Heane and Sam Lloyd, who are my favourite presenters on Real?

Nobody knows yet.

[James Martin 2]

That depends entirely on who takes over. If it's Global, I'd say its curtains for most, if not all of the network presenters. However, some may find their way to Leicester Square - Parky and Ashley mind find that there's some equity in them.

Continuing the wild speculation, a Global acquisition as previously stated, would allow Heart to go on D1 on the slot of Smooth 70s. In turn, the former Real Radio licenses in England along with the two original Hearts would be able to go national. However, what I think will happen in reality is we'll see Jamie & Harriet rolled out on those stations, with regional drive shows - similar to what's happened in Cornwall.

[simon243]

The business pages in the Sunday papers might be worth a read this weekend.

Probably won't be headline news but there might be some juicy speculation buried away somewhere.

[DJDave]

Originally Posted by PWSJohn

Is this going to happen?

If so, what will happen to Jo Lloyd, Glen Hunt, David Heane and Sam Lloyd, who are my favourite presenters on Real?

If it becomes heart we could be lucky and they might keep 2 for breakfast and 1 for drive, or they could just use the heart north west and wales crew they have now.

[radiodad]

Originally Posted by James Martin 2

However, what I think will happen in reality is we'll see Jamie & Harriet rolled out on those stations, with regional drive shows - similar to what's happened in Cornwall.

You see i don't think it will be Jamie and Harriet that will be rolled out because of the risk of loosing the london audience by not speaking about London as much. I personally can see it being Ed James and Rachel from Heart WM thats rolled out to the new Real stations if the deal goes through.

[solij09]

Is there any talent at GMG that Global would want to retain for any of their networks?

[michael1152]

I wonder if they have Heart in the northeast they will keep Gary and Lisa at Breakfast, as I think they are really popular as having just won a sony for their stations breakfast show at Real

[uksoundz]

as did dixie and gayle in Yorkshire the year previous, if my memory serves me right. some good talent at these stations, shame if they all went

[bluesdiamond]

Originally Posted by solij09

Is there any talent at GMG that Global would want to retain for any of their networks?

I think as Smooth is more popular than Gold, they will keep the liek sof Simon Bates, Mark Goodier, Andy Peebles, Lynn Parsons (I know some who now listen to Smooth for her show as they liked her on Radio 2), Dave Jenson. Bot sure how many others would be kept, think room will be made for some of the Gold presenters.

[Gavin_D]

Originally Posted by michael1152

I wonder if they have Heart in the northeast they will keep Gary and Lisa at Breakfast, as I think they are really popular as having just won a sony for their stations breakfast show at Real

If the deal does go through then they could keep Garry and Lisa for the breakfast show but the thing is would they want to keep lots of regional offices open or just use the main one in London?

[simon243]

Originally Posted by bluesdiamond

I think as Smooth is more popular than Gold, they will keep the liek sof Simon Bates, Mark Goodier, Andy Peebles, Lynn Parsons (I know some who now listen to Smooth for her show as they liked her on Radio 2), Dave Jenson. Bot sure how many others would be kept, think room will be made for some of the Gold presenters.

Simon Bates is no fan of Global from what I gather so I'd be surprised if he sticks around long.

Andy Peebles, Carlos and most of the night & weekend presenters would have to move to London as Global base all their national brands there and don't generally allow presenters to do network shows elsewhere. So they'll probably be out as Global already have Gold presenters based in London.

Mark Goodier would probably be too expensive for them when they've got much cheaper people like David Andrews or Tony Dibbin who can bang out the hits in daytime.

Lynn Parsons would probably be out as they wouldn't tolerate having a Radio 2 presenter on one of their networks.

David Jensen's probably the only one in with a chance of staying depending on how he gets on with Richard Park.

If Smooth DID become Gold it would be interesting to see whether Global invest any more in it - ie put some names on at peak times. At the moment it's run on a shoestring, pretty much a Friday afternoon job for the Heart programming team.

[Peter the Great]

Originally Posted by James Martin 2

Goodness, where do I start?

Best post I've read on here in years.

Not so much Peter The Great, as Peter The Dinosaur. We've all got our Achilles heel - Jack FM is mine as everyone knows and I get a lot of abuse for that - but you can't cite "reduction in choice" because stations designed for areas other than yours are putting out the same programmes as the one designed for yours. It would be like me saying Quidem were reducing choice when they took over my hometown station from Lincs a couple of months back because the output would be identical to what I could already pick up from Coventry and Tamworth; those two stations weren't designed for where I live.

Commercial radio had a good few years between 1993 and 1997/98. The boom started pretty much as a direct result of Radio 1 repositioning under Matthew Bannister, but ended largely as a result of Radio 2 repositioning under Jim Moir. Had Radio 1 and Radio 2 made changes at the same time commercial radio's fortunes would have been very different in the 90s.

Also, people like to forget this is when GWR moved in and sat up and took notice of what listeners actually wanted and dragged tired old "Smashie & Nicey ILR" into the next century.

And before anyone asks, it's been confirmed on here only a few weeks ago that I was GWR's "Do Not Hire" list. So no, I didn't work for them. Nor do I work for Global - and given my strong views on Capital FM specifically, I think Mr Tabor will make sure I never do.

Or more like James martin the moron? Yes I can say Global are taking away choice when they definitely are. Some stations even had overlapping TSA's and now these areas will have 2 Heart stations instead of 2 separate stations. As for the Smashie & Nicey nonsense you are coming out with!I am not asking for the return of the IBA I am asking for there to be real choice on FM which most other main Countries manage to do.

[Peter the Great]

Originally Posted by Station ID

The simple answer is that it'll make more money. End of. Listeners get a quality radio station and Global make more money.

So taking choice away from people is OK because it will make more for Global and that's all that matters. Also many would argue that Heart is far from being a quality station.

[bluesdiamond]

Originally Posted by simon243

Simon Bates is no fan of Global from what I gather so I'd be surprised if he sticks around long.

Andy Peebles, Carlos and most of the night & weekend presenters would have to move to London as Global base all their national brands there and don't generally allow presenters to do network shows elsewhere. So they'll probably be out as Global already have Gold presenters based in London.

Mark Goodier would probably be too expensive for them when they've got much cheaper people like David Andrews or Tony Dibbin who can bang out the hits in daytime.

Lynn Parsons would probably be out as they wouldn't tolerate having a Radio 2 presenter on one of their networks.

David Jensen's probably the only one in with a chance of staying depending on how he gets on with Richard Park.

If Smooth DID become Gold it would be interesting to see whether Global invest any more in it - ie put some names on at peak times. At the moment it's run on a shoestring, pretty much a Friday afternoon job for the Heart programming team.

Being the issue of the name. Smooth 3m+ listeners, Gold under 1.5 million, about 1.9 million more people listen to Smooth. Gold has longer listening hours, Smooth a better share.

[bluesdiamond]

If merger goes ahead the brands that will go IMO from th lobal portfolio
Real /Real XS
Gold
XFM

[wavy-davy]

Originally Posted by bluesdiamond

Being the issue of the name. Smooth 3m+ listeners, Gold under 1.5 million, about 1.9 million more people listen to Smooth. Gold has longer listening hours, Smooth a better share.

Smooth is on FM though. Gold is AM/DAB only.

Put Gold on 102.2/100.4/97.5/106.6 etc and I think it would clean up.

[James Martin 2]

Originally Posted by Peter the Great

Or more like James martin the moron? Yes I can say Global are taking away choice when they definitely are. Some stations even had overlapping TSA's and now these areas will have 2 Heart stations instead of 2 separate stations. As for the Smashie & Nicey nonsense you are coming out with!I am not asking for the return of the IBA I am asking for there to be real choice on FM which most other main Countries manage to do.

I live on the border of Leicestershire and Warwickshire, so we get East Midlands and West Midlands stations in equal strength, a Godsend when Heart came off 106. Taking in Leicestershire only though to make it fair, I still get:

BBC Radio 1 (CHR)
BBC Radio 2 (AC)
BBC Radio 3 (Classical)
BBC Radio 4 (News, Talk & Entertainment)
BBC Radio Leicester (BBC Local)
Classic FM from Global (Classical)
Oak FM from Quidem (Hot AC)
Gem 106 from Orion (Hot AC)
Capital FM from Global (CHR)
Smooth Radio from GMG Media (Lite AC)

So that's the BBC, Quidem, Orion, Global and GMG Media all providing me with a service.

Include the West Midlands and Warwickshire stations and I also get:

BBC Coventry & Warwickshire (BBC Local)
Free Radio from Orion (Is this CHR or AC or neither? I'm not sure!)
Kerrang! Radio from Bauer (Rock)
Heart from Global (Hot AC)

And over on AM I've also got:

BBC Asian Network (Asian)
Gold (soon to be Free 80s) from Orion (Oldies)
Absolute Radio from TIML (Rock)
Sabras Radio (Asian)

So no... not much choice.

[hanssolo]

Originally Posted by simon243

Simon Bates is no fan of Global from what I gather so I'd be surprised if he sticks around long.

When Bates left Global
http://www.how-do.co.uk/node/8860

Its director of broadcasting, Richard Park, added:

"We would like to thank Simon for his outstanding contribution over the years and we wish him all the best in the next phase of his career.

Not sure of parky meant this or not?
But if Global take over GMG susspect must of the inital effort will be rebranding and networking Real from London as Heart.

They will probably leave Smooth running as it is, before deciding if to merge it with with Gold or not as a strong competitor to radio 2 and Magic?

[Peter the Great]

Originally Posted by James Martin 2

I live on the border of Leicestershire and Warwickshire, so we get East Midlands and West Midlands stations in equal strength, a Godsend when Heart came off 106. Taking in Leicestershire only though to make it fair, I still get:

BBC Radio 1 (CHR)
BBC Radio 2 (AC)
BBC Radio 3 (Classical)
BBC Radio 4 (News, Talk & Entertainment)
BBC Radio Leicester (BBC Local)
Classic FM from Global (Classical)
Oak FM from Quidem (Hot AC)
Gem 106 from Orion (Hot AC)
Capital FM from Global (CHR)
Smooth Radio from GMG Media (Lite AC)

So that's the BBC, Quidem, Orion, Global and GMG Media all providing me with a service.

Include the West Midlands and Warwickshire stations and I also get:

BBC Coventry & Warwickshire (BBC Local)
Free Radio from Orion (Is this CHR or AC or neither? I'm not sure!)
Kerrang! Radio from Bauer (Rock)
Heart from Global (Hot AC)

And over on AM I've also got:

BBC Asian Network (Asian)
Gold (soon to be Free 80s) from Orion (Oldies)
Absolute Radio from TIML (Rock)
Sabras Radio (Asian)

So no... not much choice.

Well it isn't really is it? Also you are talking about your area. On FM in my area I can receive 5 Heart stations. Now before you go on about TSA's well there are only 2 commercial stations that cover my TSA 1 is Heart and the other is a station with a similar format. Compare that with another main Country and what we get in terms of choice and variety is a joke. Now maybe if Internet radio or some sort of satellite radio was widely available for cars I wouldn't be having this conversation.

[Musicmasterprox]

Don't you guys think that Global has left Gold on the back burner over the last few years? I've listened to Smooth FM a few times and compared to gold, Smooth seems a lot more 'livelier'. The structure of the station would go well with the Global brand/packadge. (That's if they decide to keep Smooth and merge Gold with it) Don't think Gold would do well as a national brand.

[Musicmasterprox]

Originally Posted by seiko456

I wonder what would happen if Scotland gets its independence, Heart might be force to have very limted Networking from over the border.

If that does happen, Global may just do a Clyde 1 and broadcast from their glasgow home, with the exception of The Bigtop40 show (Could spin-off a Scottish version if that may help)

[ledders]

So, if this does happen, where will the average listener go to?

Heart is so unlistenable it's untrue.

[dpb]

Originally Posted by hanssolo

But there was re engineering of FM in the eighties where previously FM was set up for reception rooftop horizontal aerials, vertical polarisation and higher power was brought in for indoor and car reception.
It could be using synchronising technology the national FM networks could fit into less than 2Mhz slots, but means there will be reception compromises in places.
As Powerplay says 2 extra national FM networks could have been in the 104-108 area, but the RA/Ofcom decided against this. <snip>

From what I remember of the RAu consultation document on 105-108 MHz they said if the INR option was chosen that would there would be the one national service and very little else. I can't remember if they said why but they did mention they had already committed to two London wide services in that part of the dial so that might have affected things.

Although there was a different mindset with engineering then. Since then stations can have multiple relays on the same frequency and relays on nearby frequencies. I imagine with careful engineering you could probably have three quasi national services - one alongside Classic FM and two from 105-108. Classic FM would probably be planned different now as well.

The main problem we've had, which I've said before, is that the FM band in this country was allocated in patchwork fashion with no overall plan. It's only in the last 15 years more non-BBC radio has been allowed into BBC sub-bands - if that was allowed earlier things may be different.