You know they have AM stations called TFM2 and Rock FM 2, right? Silly names don't seem to get in the way.

Don't forget Metro 2 Radio!

Problem with that is that Free Radio add together Rajar figures for Free Radio FM with Free Radio 80s to make Free Radio appear to have more listeners. Without a sister station, the Free brand would lose well over 100,000 listeners. By adding the figures together, they are able to market Free as the biggest station in the West Midlands with over 800,000 listeners.

Great to hear Justin Wilkes from Kiss covering for Kam Kelly on Gem Weekend Anthems over the last two nights. He kept on saying Gem 106 though. They don't normally say 106 on air anymore, just Gem.

I think it is the first time that a Kiss presenter has covered on Gem.

Agreed, great to hear him on there and great for Gem to get a presenter from Kiss to do cover.

I love the Weekend Anthems show with Kam Kelly, I think despite it being pre-recorded, he does a fantastic job and plays some excellent music, better than the networked Floorfillers for me, perfect for Friday and Saturday nights.

Really hope this survives the Bauer changes!

If Wave 105 can survive, GEM 106 will and it will be thanks to David Lloyd, if the stations stays network FREE.

Seems David has left Gem after being with the station when it started as Century 106
http://www.davidlloydradio.com/about

Sadly ad agencies and advertisers are important for profits, so looks like either Free 80s or Free 2?
Can see the expensive AM transmitters closing soon and car DAB adaptors and sets being promoted to keep current car listeners.

Sure. But Free Radio 2, or even worse Free 2, sounds particularly silly IMHO.

Regarding about Scott leaving radio aire the presenters don,t last 5 mins.

He left in May when Orion was sold to Bauer.

He wasn't quite there from the start, he was MD from 1998 to 2000 when it was Century 106 and owned by Border TV. He left when they sold their radio stations to Capital in 2000.

He returned when Orion bought what was by then Heart 106 in 2009.

Or....no changes at Bauer when there should be. Advert running on Key2 today ''hurry,offer ends December 9TH. What the hell to these 'content directors'' actually do?

6am-10am free radio breakfast
10am-2pm free radio daytime
2pm-3pm as bcn1 (darren procter)
3pm-7pm drivetime
7pm-10pm daril morris

Justin is a real pro and sounds at home on both CHR and Hot AC. He's previously covered shows for Magic and sounded really good on there as well.

Scott's actually been at Aire for almost 3 years now, which these days is quite a long time in radio, especially at a station like Aire.

If an opportunity back in Teeside came along for him then it's no real surprise to see him go, though he will be missed.

The thing with Gem is that it's one of those rare stations that has super-passed Orion's expectations when it comes to its own figures. Bauer would be scared to mess about with this license and the branding itself GEM (if it had a different meaning to it rather that Great East Midlands.. ) might work on a national scale in the future, if they ever choose to go down that path?

That said, they've changed the music quite a bit since they took over. It's now a more contemporary listen, in line with BC1. I'm surprised they did this, given how successful rajar has been till now. The next few surveys will be interesting to see.

Have the Rajars been that good for GEM? From
http://radiotoday.co.uk/rajar/
Reach in 2011. When GEM started was 470k, hovered about this figure and is now 479k.
Market share was 8.2% and 3642 hours and also hovered about these figures.
GEM has been a good consistant performer, but has not seen big rises.

Rajar figures for Heart East Midlands being digital only with London breakfast in 2011 was 30k rising to 102k in 2012, then figures became part of Heart nationwide, so we cant say how many listeners it now has in the East Midlands but did not affect GEM.

I would expect most of the GEM rajar figures are from the weekday breakfast and drive shows and the next step is cost savings with networking off peak shows?

That is certainly not without precident.

Heart was originally so called because it was based in the Heart of England (Birmingham ) and of course Capital has expanded well beyond London.

If Capital can work in the East Midlands why not GEM in London?

A version of gem would have been on the second national multiplex had the Orion-backed bid won.

I would bet over 90% of GEM listeners don't know what it stands for. They may not even realise it's an abbreviation.

The original GEM AM was a long time ago now....

Sam and Amy are probably GEMs best presenters and had a good national show covering on R2,
Bauer do not have a City 1 type station in London to fill a gap between Magic and Kiss.
If Bauer do not give them new opportunities they may be looking at other stations?.

Ah right I see.

Good god, off with is head I say.

When Gem (106) first launched it was all about the Great East Midlands, even the jingles sang it.

Now, although it's still East Midlands focused, in the daytime at least, they don't use the saying much.

I personally wouldn't like to see networking, I don't think Gem would fit with BC1

It went very contemporary when Bauer first took control, but they seem to have backed off a bit and there's now 80s and 90s back in.