07-02-2024, 04:03 PM
Politically questionable but given recent RAJAR figures perhaps necessary and trickier for increasingly competitive commercial stations to argue against. Suspect the timing is not a coincidence and radio chiefs were probably happy ratings were down across the board ahead of this announcement.
The Radio 1 channels are just a natural development of what is on Sounds really. Radio 2 addresses the complaints about the station over the last couple of years, though shouldn't underestimate the need for familar and Live voices. The Radio 3 extension serves a purpose too. Makes sense as well to permit some of their sports podcasts to air in the downtime on 5 Live Sports Extra too.
TBH these are more likely to steal listeners from their parent channels rather than commercial rivals.
The Radio 1 channels are just a natural development of what is on Sounds really. Radio 2 addresses the complaints about the station over the last couple of years, though shouldn't underestimate the need for familar and Live voices. The Radio 3 extension serves a purpose too. Makes sense as well to permit some of their sports podcasts to air in the downtime on 5 Live Sports Extra too.
TBH these are more likely to steal listeners from their parent channels rather than commercial rivals.