Exactly although that worked with Smooth Radio.

At least Chelsea Norris will be treated better at the BBC

Smooth Radio were forced into it because of the sale of several Smooth FM stations to Communicorp (the CMA Phase 2 ruling in 2014). If Global had been allowed to keep all the Smooth FM stations they wouldn't have removed it from D1.

Not so sure. Global seem to see value in local peak time and local DAB.

Could Bauer not do a Global and remove Kiss off Digital One and replace it with Kiss Extra which could have the Breakfast Show from Kiss and non stop music through the day, simulcasting Kiss from 19.00 until 10.00 the next morning.

Then rebranding the Bauer City 1 network as Kiss with local Breakfast and Drive shows.

They could rebrand the Bauer City 2 Network as Magic. This would be a simulcast of Magic London AM. If this happens Magic could stay on Digital One as the Bauer City 2 stations have no local requirements with there being on AM. In England there is no issue as programmes originate from England. In Scotland there would be a requirement for 4 hours of programmes Mon - Fri of programmes originating from Scotland. To get round this the Mellow Magic evening show could be presented nationally from Scotland with Arlene Stuart. Arlene already presents on the Digital Station Mellow Magic.

Now the headache would be the FM stations would be Radio City 2 in Liverpool and Westsound in Dumfries and Galloway require 7 hours of local programming weekdays which must include Breakfast and 4 hours of local programming on both Saturday and Sunday. These two stations could stay as they are but join Wave on the South Coast during network hours to instead of the Greatest Hits Network. Radio City 2 could be rebranded City Radio.

That could be an option because that worked with Smooth Radio.

Ah right i see.

Why would they change the City 2 stations to Magic?, after all if that happened it would be a uturn as Metro 2 Radio where I am was already Magic before rebranding to first Metro Radio 2 then now being called Metro 2 Radio.

To change it back to Magic would be as good as saying that the network is not performing the way it was so we are now going backwards.

Making the City 1 stations Kiss would alienate a huge swoop of potential listeners. These are heritage stations with an audience which has grown up with them over time. Kiss generally also targets the younger part of the audience which a) listens to radio less and b) doesn't spend as much cash. It's fine in London where Bauer already has a presence, but to take out a Clyde and replace it with something more exclusive would be commercial suicide.

I get the logic that Magic should replace City 2, but that would involve taking a potentially more lucrative prospect and hiding it away on MW/DAB. Magic on FM, if executed correctly like the London service, could actually do some real damage across the country. It is distinctive enough from Heart and could attract a decent MOR audience, and actually cause some trouble for Smooth in areas where it broadcasts.

Now the problem comes with the fact that somehow the 2 service would have to be refocused a little, as Magic would be stealing its clothes a little, and that it's also a one-size-fits-all solution which will cause some bumps in the road in some areas (Clyde's George Bowie would not be at home playing mellow favourites). But in the absence of a clear identity for at least the English Bauer stations, and without wanting to alienate the older section of the audience or come up with something new and untested, there are worse options.

I would prefer the Bauer stations to work out their distinct niche in each of their local areas, something you can safely say of the stations in Scotland, but it's a lot trickier to come up with a lot of solutions rather than one full-swoop fix.

Was trawling through the schedule on the radio city website for Saturday, I can't see that "so called" opt out this Saturday night?

Some of these stations where there is just one station in the area are neither The Greatest Hits nor Your Music Your Life, so as mentioned would be better getting networked shows between 7pm and 6am that better reflects the output on the local stations from 6am to 7pm instead of suddenly changing to a totally different sound of Your Music Your Life or The Greatest Hits from 7pm when it's lights out at the local station.

Radio Borders 2 (if they ever do get a DAB multiplex) on DAB would allow Radio Borders 1 to go fully Your Music Your Life output 24/7 to match the strapline 6am to 7pm.

thats the problem with one offs

Ah right, i thought so, yes it is a one off, but I think it starts at Midnight.

Totally

Much as I'd like to see a local Kiss station, to eliminate stations such as Clyde or Forth would be madness

It is when no one cares about website updates and social media presence etc. Further examples of dire Bauer management failures.

It would in fact be similar to when Clyde veered off towards new music after the launch of Beat 106, allowing Real Radio a gap to come in and steal tons of their listeners. The breakthrough that Heart Scotland needs.

Key 103 is at pride Manchester today and have updated the logo on their website to reflect this.

http://www.key103.co.uk/djs/schedule/

I think to re brand all of the Bauer City 1 stations to KISS would be a monumental mistake. In Liverpool, Radio City is a iconic brand with massive heritage and is arguably a big part of the cities identity itself. Although Capital in some areas (especially drive-time) may be considered a better product than what Juice FM could offer in certain places, there was resistance to a popular locally associated station being re-branded to essentially a network from London most of the day. Whilst I'm aware, Radio City is already heavily networked, it's brand still carries that heritage and it's feel kind of lives on through some of that local output and I'm sure that's the case with other stations.

The option has got to be to try and reform what they already have in my view,

The bigger obstacle personally I think they need to overcome is their music policy as I honestly don't know what they're trying to reflect. I'm someone who age wise probably sits more in the Capital or City 3 target audience and do/have enjoyed in the parts of their output, I know what I'm getting when I tune in. I would say Radio City 2 has achieved this too, when I feel in the mood for something a bit different and perhaps older, this caters perfectly for that and people I imagine who are that age, as does Smooth FM for its audience. The problem for the City 1 is that it's music policy isn't in anyway consistent, one moment you've got Justin Bieber or whoever is fresh at the minute and the next you have a supposed Top 10 at 10 anthem which isn't always that much of good listen. I'm well aware (from switching over to Rock FM from time to time) that they play the same music at pretty much the same time and the slot were they're only ever really near finding something good is the Drive show with Scott Hughes/Ditchy.

Going forward I feel they need to redefine that music policy, offer a nice contrast between Capital and say a station such as Heart/Smooth/City 2 stations which isn't just the up to date chart music all day but at the same time doesn't always feel dated and irrelevant. The previous UTV stations seem to have found this balance nicely and I notice the likes of Tower FM have enjoyed an increase in ratings recently. Top 10 at 10 once a day is more than enough, I don't need it forced on me throughout drive.

I also agree with previous posters who have suggested that some more localisation would be good to help stations regain some more of its identity and reach out to areas perhaps where it's lost again. The new evening show with Daryl Morris I actually think is excellent and a good example of networking, much better than any of the incarnations in demand. Where I think they could inject more local output is in the late show slot, as Key have recently done with Adam Catterall. It would also be more desirable to have slightly more local output at weekends. This would enable each station to have a show which would suit their local audience. On Monday's-Thursday's/Sunday's each station could have a daily late show with the option for special shows on Friday's/Saturday's nights such as output not dissimilar to that Radio City used to offer or FreeJack's club classics on Rock FM. In any instance, the Tony Shepherd Show is not the best and I actually think he'd be more suited to a City 2 slot/Heart.

The next step after that for me would be where there is networking to try and make it less bland and a bit more engaging. I would say Bauer have what I'd call a pool A of presenters who would be suitable for networking and can make it work. Dave Kelly, Scott Hughes, Debbie Mac, Adam Catterall, Ditchy and Daryl Morris are the ones I'd put in this group. I think I'm right in saying only the first and last named currently have networked slots somewhere on the schedule. Instead we have the joy of the likes of 'Mike + Kelly'. Going forward I would use the likes of those mentioned where possible on a weekend slot and try and make the output a bit more listenable and less bland/generic.

Then for stations that are particularly suffering like Key and Aire, intervention does clearly need to be made in trying to reinvigorate the perception of the stations to those they are clearly losing. In addition, to implementing the above with other stations, I would suggest doing what Rock FM has just done with Ditchy and hirng presenters who are both a) capable of delivering a distinctive and engaging daytime output and b) are popular/known to the local target audience and could change ratings around. With the case of Key, I would certainly get Wes Butters on Breakfast and make a big thing of promoting it. I notice Tim Cocker does 4 days a week at Virgin too so if he would be willing/could contractually be allowed to do a weekend show for them, then that would also be a step in the right direction. In the case of Aire they need to find something that works fast.

I don't know what City 2 sounds like elsewhere with being fortunate to have local output, but I very much like what they have at the minute in Radio City 2 and hope it remains how it is.

I love the idea of Weekend Anthems in the afternoon (currently 12-2pm on Saturday) I do think that whatever's going to happen with Free, the whole City portfolio will be completely redone. Agreed with the reintroduction of some local shows, but allow the presenters / local station to create their own playlist again. Forth One managed to build a playlist based on what people in Edinburgh / Lothians. Wanted to hear. It added the extra spice in local programming.

I wonder how much the heritage stations suffer from the fact that chart music isn't at the centre of public consciousness any more.

If you think about it, back in the day when Bryan Adams got to number one for 16 weeks or Oasis v Blur was a thing, it actually made the news bulletins and was the talk of offices up and down the country. Fast forward to today, and Drake made it to 15 weeks at number one recently and most people didn't have a clue.

This is down to a whole host of factors - more choice of leisure activities, different ways of compiling the chart, different news agendas, the nation's favourite being Radio 2 rather than Radio 1 - but, whichever way, most of the public won't have a clue what's number one now.

If you're Capital, that's not so much of an issue - your audience is clearly into modern pop and is keeping up. If you're a CHR station aiming at 25-45 year-olds with a moderate interest in pop music, that's a big problem. Because when you introduce new music, they won't have a clue what it is. And if it's not traditional pop - a bit melodic - then you're really going to struggle to keep the audience.

All the other stations are very clearly targeted, so this doesn't impact as much. Capital for those interested in new music, Heart for those still young who want safe, Magic for those who want things yet safer, Smooth for those who want oldies and melodic. Where do the heritage stations fit in all this, in an era where if you play one wrong song or talk for a little too long that there's so much choice the listener can switch away, and never come back?

In theory the USP is local, and there's a good prospect that in areas with distinct regional identities the heritage station will pull through on that basis - see the Scottish Bauer stations, for example. But if Bauer tried to fix this patch by patch the results would inevitably be like juggling plates.

An element of that, and a defined music mix, strike me as the only answers - but how do you define what Bauer should be playing?

It's where the nuclear option of just rebranding the whole damn lot Magic and all-out attacking Global with a hugely successful brand which is proven in London must feel hugely tempting at times.

Just giving each presenter control of when exactly they play the songs on their playlist in their own studios rather than from a remote server in a studio in Clydebank controlling when exactly each song is played i.e. at the exact same time all the time right across the 7 or 8 station would mean presenters are not too pressed to try to say everything what they want to say in too short a space of time between each song.

I also think it would be daft to rebrand as local Kiss stations as that would make the area feel even more disconnected from the stations, names like Aire, Key and Radio City have tradition and would lose local feel if rebranded like that.

For me, the only network show at the minute that I really listen to on a regular basis is Floorfillers Chilled with So Wright which I think is a really excellent show, credit to them for this.

I think the Mike and Kelly show on a Saturday morning is terrible, absolutely nothing on Boogie and Dingo. Floorfillers with Dave Kelly on a Saturday doesn't match up to OSA or even Saturday Night Experience, Darryl Morris is a minor improvement on Michael Blades, but still worse than Inemand with Stu Tolan. And I think the "Saturday Anthems" show is in the wrong place at 12-2, it should be 4-6 or something before the Floorfillers and Chilled shows.

Key 103 Breakfast needs sorting, but I can see that just being Brooke Vincent permanently with Mike, and there seems to be no action with Radio Aire Breakfast.

The weekday late show with Tony Shepherd isn't great, and as one of the posts above says he's much more suited to City 2, I'd like to see him swap with DP and get him back on Key 103 daytime. Adam Catterall's talk show is a really engaging listen so a good opt out by Key. Also being live from Manchester Pride shows attempts to connect with the audience again.

Debbie Mac back on the network would be great and the absence of OSA is extremely notable, but it was her decision to step down from that show so I can't see her going back, plus she's just moved to Key 103 10-2.

But yes certainly presenters like Ditchy and Adam Catterall need more airtime on the network, with the exception of Floorfillers Chilled I still feel the network is weak, still a lot of work to be done.

I agree with the poster above I heard some of the new evening show online and I agree. Darrel sounds a drip. Even the Australian guy that was on demand before was better imo

Oh dear. City can't even manage an outside broadcast anymore. Now either it was made up or just a complete **** up.

Bank Holiday schedule changes in England

City 1

6am Fiona Sadler
10am Cfm - Chris Felton
Hallam fm - not sure
Key 103 - Carl Spencer 10 - 3
Metro - Glen Roughead
Radio aire - not sure
Radio city - Scott Hughes
Rock fm - Ditchy
Tfm - Glen Roughead
Viking fm - Steve white
2pm Simon Morykin
3pm key 103 - Nicksy
6pm Darryl Morris

city 2

6am Sean Goldsmith
10am Mark Matthews
2pm Paul Hayes ( claire Simmo Radio city 2)
6pm Steve Jordan

Few changes next weekend as well in Scotland

Boogie is off so Greigsy will be on 9-12 with Callum Gallagher covering Weekend Anthems.

Also Cat Harvey is off so it is Ewen and Amy McDonald next Sunday 9 - 12.