The "Radio in Britain" thread

[KJ]

http://media.guardian.co.uk/broadcast/story/0,7493,765806,00.html

Tarrant is going, Capital admits

John Cassy
Tuesday July 30, 2002


Chris Tarrant

Capital Radio has admitted publicly for the first time that it is talking to top DJ Chris Tarrant about new projects.

The move could allow Tarrant to quit his breakfast show after 15 years.

In an internal memo to staff, Andria Vidler, the managing director of the Capital FM network, conceded the radio group was discussing other projects with the veteran DJ.

Tarrant's desire to quit his £1m-a-year job in November has been an open secret in the radio industry.

However, Capital has never admitted it publicly, partly because of the damaging effect Tarrant's departure will have on its audience figures.

"Chris is contracted until the end of 2003 and we are currently discussing a number of programme options with him," said Ms Vidler.

"These discussions have not yet been concluded and no final decision has been reached.

"Chris is just about to go on two weeks' holiday. Foxy [Capital DJ Neil Fox] is stepping in and we'll let you know when we have any further news."

The Who Wants To Be A Millionaire? presenter fronts the most profitable show on Capital.

Analysts believe Tarrant is contracted to the breakfast show until December. After that he is contracted to work a certain number of hours over the next year but is not tied directly to the breakfast show.

"We believe the loss of Tarrant could affect Capital's revenues by 3%, however, the impact on profits would be higher," said Polly Elvin, an analyst at UBS Warburg.

Ant and Dec have been tipped as possible replacements on the breakfast show.

KJ

[KJ]

Pasted from MG






Owen Gibson
Tuesday September 3, 2002



Chris Tarrant has given his strongest indication yet that he plans to quit his popular Capital Radio breakfast show towards the end of this year.

Speculation that the veteran presenter could leave as early as November appeared to be confirmed in an interview published today.

"My life is at a crossroads," he said in the Daily Express. "I am just thinking that I need to get off the treadmill and think. I need some time away to think, really think about what I want to do. I can't do that while I'm working."

Although contracted to Capital until 2003, Tarrant is only obliged to continue presenting the breakfast show until the end of the year. He has been in negotiations with Andria Vidler, the managing director of the Capital FM network, since July about the programmes he will present next year.

While his departure has been an open secret for months both Tarrant and his bosses have remained cagey about it, aware of the damage that the news could do to Capital's share price and advertising revenues.

Tarrant's breakfast show, which he has presented for 15 years, consistently tops the ratings in London with a reach of around 1.7 million adults and a market share of more than double its nearest rivals, Heart and Kiss, according to Rajar figures.

The show accounts for as much as 15% of Capital's total operating profit, say analysts.

Among those in the running to replace Tarrant are fellow Capital DJ Neil Fox, who was a judge on ITV's Pop Idol, and Davina McCall, who stood in recently while Tarrant was on holiday.

Tarrant said he plans to spend more time with his family and will limit his appearances as the presenter of Who Wants to be a Millionaire to one hour-long episode a week rather than doing week-long runs of the show.

"We do not want to carry on being over exposed, "he said. "It's a fantastic show but has gone past the 'I've got to get home to see Millionaire' because viewers knew if they missed it, like buses, there would be another one along the next night."

[KJ]

And more again .........

"Capital at crossroads

Neil Hume
Wednesday September 4, 2002
The Guardian

Capital Radio, down 55p to 475p, came under severe pressure yesterday after UBS Warburg downgraded the radio sector and star DJ Chris Tarrant appeared to confirm he was quitting the breakfast show.

UBS shaved its year to September advertising growth forecasts from 5% to 3.5%, significantly below the Advertising Association's 7% forecast.


Merrill Lynch estimates that Tarrant's show could account for as much as 15% of the Capital group's operating profit. The DJ's long-term number one position in the London morning show ratings enables Capital to charge advertisers around 50% more than when he is not on air.

[Radio Presenter]

And now Chris Tarrants radio hero is about to step down from another Capital station.........

>Voice of Brum to quit Sep 5 2002

By Graham Young, Evening Mail

Les Ross is to quit BRMB after a recordbreaking 26 consecutive years as a breakfast DJ in Birmingham.

The triple Sony Award-winning pint-sized disc jockey, given the MBE for services to radio five years ago, will present his last show on September 30.

Today, he said: "Some colleagues think I have been crazy for getting up at 4am for all these years and, yes, I must have been mad.

"After all that time on breakfast radio I was beginning to feel like an institution and I didn't want to end up in one.

"There have been some fantastic memories and I have loved every minute of it. . . well almost.

"I am now looking forward to having some late mornings and some long train journeys."

Les first sprang to attention in 1965 when he won an Evening Mail DJ competition, beating among others Hampton-in-Arden's Peter Dee (now Radio 2's Johnnie Walker) who finished third.

After becoming a personality on the local music circuit he later joined the fledgling BBC Birmingham in 1970.

Four years later he joined Radio Tees in the north east where fans organised petitions and protest marches when he soon announced he was returning home to join BRMB in the spring of 1976.

Les has since become the greatest stalwart in British commercial radio, with many contemporaries considering him to be the DJ's DJ. BRMB now plan to contact the Guinness Book of Records to secure his place in history, while Les looks forward to developing his passion for trains.

Meanwhile colleagues and celebrities paid tribute to Les.

Chris Tarrant, a Capital Radio colleague following the London station's takeover of BRMB nine years ago, said:

"When I took over breakfasts at Capital I was more like Les than anybody else.

"He is far more talented than Chris Evans.

"He is naturally incredibly funny and the definitive voice of Birmingham.

"Jasper Carrott and I both remember him from our Tiswas days when he was just amazing.

"Even today, he's still very inventive and a great survivor and it's a great shame that he never did work in London."

The capital did come calling in the mid-70s, but instead of buying into pure talent, the then Radio 1 controller Johnny Beerling eventually fought shy of hiring someone with a Brummie accent.

BRMB Programme Controller Adam Bridge said: "Les Ross has been the voice of breakfast radio in Birmingham and BRMB for 26 years which is an outstanding achievement."

Worcester-born Elliott Webb, who made his name as the presenter of the infamous Two Strangers and a Wedding competition and currently follows Les at 9am, will take over the key breakfast slot which currently has nearly 400,000 listeners per week.<

[Billy Dane]

from media guardian (http://media.guardian.co.uk/broadcast/story/0,7493,793112,00.html)


Julia Day
Monday September 16, 2002


Chris Tarrant

Capital Radio star DJ Chris Tarrant has given his strongest indication yet that he is to leave the company altogether, rather than just quitting as the voice of its breakfast show after 15 years.

He is determined to cut his links with the station for a chance to enjoy life with his sons before they grow up.

http://image.guardian.co.uk/sys-images/Media/Pix/pictures/2001/10/24/tarrant.jpg

His decision will cast doubt upon his negotiations with Capital over presenting new programmes after his £1m a year breakfast show contract ends in November.

Tarrant said he needed to take stock of his life - he hasn't spent Christmas Day with his family since 1988 and hasn't had Easter off since 1984 - and admitted Capital bosses fear its share price will collapse and are desperate to hang on to him.

"There are 12th hour attempts by Capital to negotiate some sort of completely revised contract and I'm groaning: 'I've made up my mind now'," he said.

Capital's share price today dropped slightly - down 10p to 465p.

"But the whole radio thing is very difficult to stop. Radio is a drug. I badly, badly want to stop and I will stop, but there is a big thrill," Tarrant said in a newspaper interview over the weekend.

"It's not that I have got new projects that I want to do instead, it's that I don't want to do anything."

He said listeners were "bombarding" him with letters asking him not to quit but he wanted to quit while he was ahead.

"I don't want to get to the stage where people are saying: 'get that bloody old fool off the morning show'. He's 71 years old, the silly old git. I love him, but I don't want to be Jimmy Young."

At 55, Tarrant is becoming more aware of his own mortality - four of his friends have died in the last two years.

"Last year a friend died of cancer; that's about the fourth in two years. Another had a heart attack and you think 'what's the point of working like an idiot?'"

"You think what is the point? There's cancer everywhere around us and heart attacks... It's a lottery and that's frightening... I've realised that I must find more time in my life for me and the people that I love and it isn't about getting up 5am in the morning, working until whatever time and getting up again," he said.

And Tarrant expresses an interest in travelling to foreign climes such as India and China "which you can't explore in a snatched week off".

"I don't know what I'm going to do, but I just need to take a break and stop for a while. I just need some time to myself to get away from it all," he said.

But a spokeswoman for Capital said the Daily Mirror interview was conducted "several weeks ago" and insisted that negotiations with Tarrant continue.

"He has a contract to the end of the year for the breakfast show and for a year after that at Capital," she said.

It was in July that Capital Radio admitted publicly for the first time it was talking to Tarrant about new projects.

Earlier this summer, in an internal memo to staff, Andria Vidler, the managing director of the Capital FM network, conceded that Tarrant was quitting the breakfast show for the first time. But she said the radio group was discussing other projects with the veteran DJ.

While his departure has been an open secret for months, Tarrant and his bosses have remained cagey about the subject, aware of the damage the news could do to Capital's share price and advertising revenues.

Tarrant's breakfast show consistently tops the ratings in London with a reach of around 1.7 million adults and a market share of more than double its nearest rivals, Heart and Kiss, according to Rajar figures.

The show accounts for as much as 15% of Capital's total operating profit, according to analysts.

[KJ]

"Capital eyes Fox and Feraday for breakfast

John Cassy
Thursday September 19, 2002



Capital Radio is understood to have held talks with its drivetime DJ Neil Fox and Radio 5's Caroline Feraday about taking over from Chris Tarrant as the co-hosts of the London breakfast show.

Fox, who has filled in for Tarrant when he has been on holiday, and Feraday, who is a co-presenter on Matthew Bannister's Radio 5 show, are considered by Capital bosses to be the dream ticket to take over the station's most important show.

Feraday, 24, is understood to have visited Capital's Leicester Square headquarters in the past week to discuss returning to the station where she launched her radio career as the "flying eye" traffic reporter.

Although contracted to Radio 5, it is thought she would find the allure of presenting the biggest breakfast show in commercial radio difficult to resist.

Capital's chiefs have also been impressed by her work as GMTV's television correspondent.

"Caroline is contracted to Radio 5 and is very happy there," said Nigel Forsyth of MPC, Feraday's agent.

"She has been to the Capital building recently because she has a lot of friends there. But it would be absolutely wrong to say she has done a deal with them."

Although Fox is likely to be the lead presenter, executives would like a younger woman to play a key role in its battle to hang on to younger listeners.

Feraday gets on well with Fox and is seen as a bubbly and vivacious character who would prove popular with early morning listeners.

Analysts say Tarrant's show accounts for as much as 15% of Capital's profits and finding the right replacement for him is crucial to the group's short-term financial future.

The group is scheduled to release a trading statement next Thursday.

After 14 years of 4am starts, Tarrant is ready to quit the show to spend more time with his family and go on fishing trips.

He is contracted to present the breakfast show until the end of the year and contracted to the Capital Radio Group until 2003.

In an interview at the weekend, Tarrant gave his strongest hint yet that he was going to quit the station altogether.

"There are 12th hour attempts by Capital to negotiate some sort of completely revised contract and I'm groaning: 'I've made up my mind now'," he said.

Tarrant said he had seen four friends die in the past four years and realised he wanted to spend more time with his family. He has not had Christmas Day off since 1988 and has spent every Easter since 1984 at work.

Negotiations are continuing over his future role at Capital.

A weekend show syndicated across the Capital group of radio stations is thought to be the most likely compromise.

Although the breakfast show is likely to lose listeners immediately after Tarrant's departure, analysts claim new presenters could be bring long-term benefits to Capital because the DJ's audience has been getting smaller, older and less attractive to advertisers"

[KJ]

Listen and earn

Big radio stations are preparing to merge to win more listeners - and more advertising. As the first deal is completed John Cassy reports on a likely buying frenzy

Monday September 30, 2002
The Guardian

It was billed as an attempt to revive the cabbies' favourite LBC and return it to the glory days of the 1980s when the radio station was the voice of London. Yet the significance of last week's £23m takeover of London News Radio by the Chrysalis Group could actually be far greater.

The deal is the first in the long-expected reshuffling of the ownership of small radio stations ahead of government legislation permitting big commercial radio holding companies to merge for the first time.

At the heart of last week's complex series of swaps was Classic FM's owner GWR. By buying out the other investors in LNR - news groups ITN, Reuters and the Daily Mail & General Trust - and then immediately selling the group on to Chrysalis, GWR significantly upped its firepower to clinch more deals in the future.

Simultaneously it transferred ownership of its Vibe dance network into a new joint venture with Scottish Radio Holdings. The link-up is being seen by some analysts as the first steps to broader co-operation or possibly even an eventual merger. In the coming months many similar deals are likely as companies tidy up their portfolios of stations to ensure they have broad coverage across the country and focus on particular audience categories or broadcasting genres.

A poker game between the major owners is about to develop, according to SRH boss Richard Findlay. "It's going to be fun to play. We all know each other very well in this industry and want to strengthen what we've got." Once the small-level swaps have finished, groups will place bigger bets by taking pops at each other, analysts at Investec Securities predict.

In business terms radio is an under-developed medium. Television and newspapers have traditionally dominated advertising spend in the UK but radio, thanks to an intense profile-raising effort by the radio advertising bureau, saw expenditure by advertisers increase by 165% in 2001.

Industry executives believe that by teaming up to form bigger groups offering a wider range of music mixes to audiences across greater swathes of the country radio can become even more attractive to national advertisers. And once that happens, cross- media groups or foreign buyers such as Viacom, Clear Channel and Disney may move in on domestic radio groups as they seek to increase their international options.

"Radio is now far better positioned in the minds of media buyers and planners," says Chrysalis chief executive Richard Huntingford. "The number of radio stations in the UK has expanded hugely over the past six years. In London there is now a station for pretty much every taste, which is great news for advertisers seeking to target particular audiences.

"The production values of radio are also much cheaper than television. You can have an ad on air 24 hours after calling a radio station but in television it could be weeks before you've booked your exotic location in the Maldives and found the cameraman and assembled expensive actors to take on the shoot."

Huntingford characterises the takeover of LNR as a chance to create another radio station attractive to advertisers looking for Londoners. He and radio division head Phil Riley have already found success in the city with Heart, a music station created to sit between Capital's pop offering and Magic's easy listening. "It fills the gap for advertisers looking for people in the 25-44 age group," Huntingford says.

He believes that by flipping LBC from an AM frequency to FM and investing in shows with more of a lifestyle feel the talk station can lift its listeners from 740,000 towards the 2.4m that tuned in each day in 1986. "We're very confident we can double the size of the station in three years," he says.

An increase in listeners should also boost advertising revenues significantly. LNR currently charges around £500 per 1,000 listeners whereas Capital is thought to charge four times as much.

By working hard to turn the business around and maximising growth at his other stations such as Galaxy and Heart, Huntingford reckons Chrysalis will be well positioned when the big deals start. "We want to be able to dictate the deals that go on, not be dictated to," he says.

But just who will buy who remains unclear. Emap and Chrysalis have been tipped to tie the knot, as have GWR and Capital - which is also seen as a suitor for Emap. Alternatively, cross-media deals could take place. DMGT already has a 29% stake in GWR and is expected by many to mount a full bid when regulations allow. Granada has a big stake in Scottish Media Group - the biggest shareholder in SRH - and is also said to be eyeing Capital. News International has a stake in Kelvin MacKenzie's Wireless Group, owner of TalkSport.

Who will emerge victorious from the takeover game is unclear but one thing is for sure: the first bets have been placed.

Who's who in radio

Capital Radio

19 stations including Capital FM in London, BRMB in west midlands, Century stations in north England and Capital Gold AM services. Also runs national digital station Life and local digital stations in London, Birmingham and Manchester

Chrysalis

Two Heart stations in London and Midlands and four Galaxy stations; just acquired London News Radio

Classic Gold Digital

Subsidiary of UCB Media. 18 stations, largely Classic Gold-branded

Daily Mail and General Trust

Vibe FM in eastern England and interests in GWR and two local stations

Emap

18 stations including Kiss and Magic networks

Guardian Media Group

Three Real Radio and two Jazz FM stations; partner in MXR digital consortium; interests via Radio Investments Ltd (RIL) in 22 local stations

GWR Group

National station Classic FM, plus digital national stations Planet Rock and Core and 32 local analogue stations. Majority shareholder in Digital One, the national digital multiplex, and owns 16 digital licences

SMG Group

National pop station Virgin 1215 and Virgin FM station in London

Scottish Radio Holdings

15 stations in Scotland, plus two in both England and Northern Ireland. Holds six DAB digital licences

Wireless Group

National station TalkSport, 14 local stations and interests in two digital multiplexes

[KJ]

He's changed his mind!




"Chris Tarrant has gob-smacked the radio industry, including his closet pals and colleagues, by deciding to stay on as Capital's breakfast show presenter. Apparently he reversed his decision to leave after hearing that Heart 106.2FM's Jono Coleman was waiting eagerly in the wings to take over as London's favourite morning host. And what is Coleman up to this afternoon in the wake of Tarrant's u-turn? He's recording a talking heads piece for a TV show about Tarrant's life. Could be interesting."

[KJ]

Chris Moyles named Britain's most irritating DJ

Chris Moyles has been named the most irritating DJ in Britain.

Voters in a survey by mobile phone service Shazam said he waffles on rather than telling listeners what he is playing.

Joint runners-up in the poll, were his Radio 1 colleague Sara Cox and Radio 2's Terry Wogan.

The survey found the thing which annoyed people most about radio presenters was talking and playing jingles rather then getting on with the tunes. This bug-bear was named by nearly half (46%) of those surveyed.

The next biggest irritant, named by 14%, was the lack of information about the music they had played with listeners enjoying a track but then being unable to find out who it is by.

Stations playing music that listeners do not like was the third most common complaint on 12% in the NOP poll of 1,000 people.

Worst offenders for not naming tunes, according to the survey, were Chris Moyles and Sara Cox (Radio 1), Terry Wogan (Radio 2), Chris Tarrant (Capital FM) and Jonathan Ross (Radio 2).

[Mike]

Just goes to prove I was right all along

[Wheatus]

Yes, Mike.

By the way - Moyles, Wogan, Tarrant and Ross are among the most listened to presenters in the UK.

Thank God you´re not running a radio station!

[KJ]

Matt Wells
Wednesday November 13, 2002
The Guardian

Classic episodes of radio comedies such as The Goons, Hancock's Half Hour, and Round the Horne will feature in the latest - and last - of the BBC's new digital stations.

The corporation announced yesterday that BBC7 will be launched on December 15 with a two-hour simulcast on Radio 4, after an unexpected delay caused by problems securing the rights to some of BBC's recording catalogue.

The digital station - available to those with the new breed of digital radio sets and digital TV consumers - will also feature a daily live children's programme. The rest of the output will be what the BBC calls "archive material", more commonly known as repeats.

Jenny Abramksy, the BBC's director of radio, said the station would help drive new listeners to digital radio. It completes the BBC's portfolio of digital stations launched this year, Five Live Sports Extra, the Asian Network, the black music station 1Xtra, and the pop and rock station 6Music.

BBC7's launch was delayed because it became apparent that the corporation did not own all the necessary rights for its archived material. Often, performers and writers had to be contacted individually to get their agreement. The process almost meant the BBC missing its target of launching all its digital radio stations by the end of the year.

BBC7 will also feature archive drama such as episodes of Doctor Who - part of the 7th Dimension sci fi slot - and plays such as The French Lieutenant's Woman and This Sporting Life. Routines from comics such as Jo Brand and Rory Bremner will be broadcast, as will shows that transferred to TV, such as Goodness Gracious Me, Room 101, and The League of Gentlemen. Panel games Just a Minute and I'm Sorry I Haven't a Clue will get another airing, and there will be daily book readings.

The station will feature a "stripped" schedule, with different genres. Mary Kalemkerian, the editor of BBC7, said the station offered a "treasure trove of treats for people who love good radio".

[Mike]

Am I the only one who thinks that most of the new stations simply duplicate the BBC's existing services
e.g
Radio 1 -1Xtra
Radio 2 -BBC6
Radio 4 -BBC7
Radio 5 -Five live extra

Isint this all a bit of a waste when the BBC could be doing more to cater for groups/tastes inadequetely served by ANY of its existing services

[Original Tyrone Gobshite!]

I thought 1xtra was unecessary as most of it's playlist could be heard at some point of the week on Radio 1. 5 Live extra is designed to allow it to cover something where 5 live is already covering something else. Ideally it would timeshare with BBC7 but the erratic schedule of 5 live extra could cause problems with listeners. 6 music is great on it's own - I suppose a radio 1 1/2! Then there is also the digital national expansion of it's Asian network (which used to be only available on MW in a few areas before)

The BBC seems to cover many areas adequetely, although I'm sure those at Faltie FM would disagree (but what point would there be in that where no one in Northern Ireland speaks Irish as their only language?) Radio 1 though is in a serious revamp and needs to try and pull itself away and recognise that it is the only popular music station that doesn't have to depend on advertising to survive and therefore doesn't have to play teenybopper crap during the day and populating most of it's weekend shows with dance tracks. For a station that is supposed to be a national broadcaster it is far too focused on what people listen to in London/SE England.

[Original Tyrone Gobshite!]

And before someone asks me about why I have BBC R1 down in my list of favourite stations while dissing it, it still has good DJ's with Mark & Lard and Chris Moyles (your own taste depending) but it's music policy needs a serious revamp. I'm listening to 6 music more these days.