AM/FM #4 — October 1992

News from the UK Radio Industry. Edited by Stephen Hebditch.

BBC Radio Sackings

The BBC is to sack 1,250 staff over the next 18 months. The job losses will all be in the BBC's support services. The Corporation will be introducing a new system next April called Producer Choice. This will allow programme makers to buy in resources from outside the BBC if this will be more cost-effective. The Director General says the job losses are needed if the internal support services are to be able to compete with those outside.

As part of the changes, 17 radio studios will be closed — 8 of them at Broadcasting House — and 20 outside broadcast vehicles for radio will be withdrawn. Tony Lennon, President of the broadcasting union BECTU says he is shocked at the scale of the sackings. The cuts will mean the BBC will have only a quarter of the staff it had in 1986.

Radio Luxembourg To Close Down

Radio Luxembourg's English Service is to close down at the end of the year. According to John Catlett, General Manager of the English service, keeping the station going is no longer economic. Instead, owners CLT will be concentrating on Irish station Atlantic 252 in which they have an 80 percent stake. Luxembourg closed its AM service earlier in the year, but has continued to be broadcast on satellite. However, like most of the other commercial satellite radio stations, it has been unable to attract sufficient advertisers and sponsors for the service. The very last programme will go out on December 31st, just a few weeks after its 59th birthday. Atlantic 252, which currently broadcasts on Long Wave to most of the British Isles, may replace Luxembourg on satellite.

AIRC Calls For Closure Of Radio One and Two

The Association of Independent Radio Contractors, which represents the majority of Independent Radio stations, has called for the closure of BBC Radio One and Two. They say the BBC should not be allowed to operate services which are adequately provided by the Independent sector. They also suggest that public funds should be used to help support Independent Radio programming where it is providing a public service and could not otherwise be sustained.

Third Independent National Radio Licence Delayed

The Radio Authority have delayed the advertising of the third Independent National Radio station. The station will now launch in Spring 1995 at the earliest. The Authority had planned such a move for some time, due to the current recession. However, they reconsidered when the BBC announced plans for its new 24 hour-a-day news channel to be launched by the end of next year. INR 3 will operate on the current AM frequencies used by BBC Radio One.

Red Dwarf Star Takes Over As Kiss FM Breakfast Show Host

Craig Charles, who plays Lister in the BBC TV show Red Dwarf, has taken over as presenter of the breakfast show at London dance music station Kiss FM. Former presenters Graham Gold and Mark Webster will remain with the station. The change came as the first work on the new joint BBC and Independent Radio audience research began, hotting up the competition in London.

Other alterations to Kiss's daytime schedule include the long-awaited dropping of Trevor Nelson from the afternoons and a permanent slot for Caesar the Boogieman on the early morning show. There have also been a number of swap-arounds to the 34 deejays hosting evening and weekend programmes.

New Local Licences

Q96 FM took to the air in Paisley, Scotland on September 1st. The station broadcasts hits from the sixties, seventies and eighties aimed at a 21 to 45 year old audience. Programming through the night was to have been provided by Radio Luxembourg, other arrangements are now being made with that station's closure.

The Radio Authority has awarded the ILR licence for Harlow in Essex to the sole applicant, Harlow Radio.

The Radio Authority has declined to award a licence for Glenrothes and Kircaldy in Scotland. They say none of the three applicants met the requirements of the Broadcasting Act to maintain their service at the required standard for the duration of the 8 year licence.

A defeated licence applicant for Carlisle in Scotland wants the winners referred to the Monopolies and Mergers Commission. The winner, Carlisle Radio, comprised two Scottish ILR stations, the local ITV station and the local newspaper.

Three groups have applied for the North Wales coast ILR licence, which will serve 130,000 people. These include Marcher Sound (the nearby Independent station), Coastline FM and United Christian Broadcasters.

Five groups have applied for the ILR licence for Dorchester and Weymouth in Dorset.

The Radio Authority have announced that they plan to issue new licences for Manchester, Birmingham and Wolverhampton over the next 12 months. This is in addition to two new Londonwide licences on offer next year.

Eagle Radio, backed by Scandanavian satellite channel TV3 and UK Radio Developments, plan to bid for one of the London licences. They want to start a country music station.

Restricted Service Stations

XFM were on the air on 101.5 FM to North London for four weeks from September 14th with their indie music format. The station hopes to convince the Radio Authority to award it one of the forthcoming Londonwide licences.

Students at Edinburgh University ran a two week restricted service station at the start of the new term. Fresh Air broadcast on 100.4 FM and aimed at new students in the city.

People

Terry Wogan is to return to his old job hosting the breakfast show on Radio Two. He will replace Brian Hayes, who will host a weekly programme on topical issues.

Danny Baker has left Radio Five's Six-O-Six show. The football fanzine will in future be hosted by former footballer Duncan McKenzie.

Frank Bough is likely to replace Michael Parkinson in presenting the morning show on London talk station LBC. Parkinson quit the UKP 110,000 job after pay talks broke down.

Neil Kinnock is to take over as presenter of the Jimmy Young show on Radio Two for a week from November 2nd.

Metro Radio DJ Mark Forrest has completed his 13,000 kilometre bike ride across Europe to raise 35,000 pounds for radio therapy equipment at Newcastle General Hospital.

As part of their support of the Polo Mint Comedy Awards, Kiss FM featured a number of cabaret stars on their breakfast show in September. Amongst those included were Lily Savage, Steve Frost, Frank Skinner, David Baddiel and Bruce Morton.

Financial News

Crown Communications, owners of LBC, are to sell their loss-making French radio network RFM. Crown invested over UKP 16 million in the station, which has been responsible for almost half the company's losses.

Transworld Communications, owners of Independent Radio stations including Manchester's Piccadilly Radio, made a pre-tax profit for their last financial year of UKP 395,000. This compared with a loss of over a million pounds for the previous year.

Bits

Ecologists have condemned Birmingham City Council for allowing Radio One to hold a party in its Sutton Park. They say the one hundred thousand people attracted to the celebrations of Radio One's 25th birthday caused damage to the plants in the park, and scared off animals. Council staff say any damage will be regenerated in months.

Jazz FM are to launch a new UKP 250,000 advertising campaign in the New Year to try and attract listeners to the soft rock / light jazz station.

The BBC World Service is to be relayed on the Corporation's seven local radio stations in the Midlands. It can already be heard overnight on London's GLR and Radio Scotland.

BBC Radio Bedfordshire has expanded its editorial coverage to include more about neighbouring Hertfordshire and Buckinghamshire. Five new journalists have been recruited to work for the station, working from new studio facilities in Milton Keynes and Aylesbury. The changes come in advance of new ILR stations in High Wycombe, Aylesbury and St Albans.

Britain's first Christian radio station will take to the air on October 19th, later than planned following technical problems. United Christian Broadcasters can be heard on the Astra satellite.