[Radio_man]

Probably most of them.

And how many of those radio brands could've boasted of having quasi-national coverage across large parts of Britain before they were retired?
Throughout the 2000s, Galaxy had been heard on FM licenses in South Wales & the Westcountry, Birmingham, Manchester, Yorkshire, the north east of England, the south coast of England and the central belt of Scotland. Plus it had DAB coverage in many other areas and national coverage on Sky. 

And it was all swept away purely because Galaxy didn't have an FM London license.

[Jon]

I get your point but I don’t think there’s any suggestion the move to the Capital brand hasn’t been successful for Global on the whole though apart from perhaps maybe in Scotland but I think that’s more to do with the English voices than the brand name.

I guess if they were going to bring back the brand in a more meaningful way, which seems unlikely, anyone who’d be in its target audience now most likely wouldn’t remember it. So if they were going to capitalise (excuse the pun) on the brands history it would be playing old stuff. It’s the sort of thing you could imagine them sticking on a DAB slot as a filler before they launch an unrelated new service.

[Adsales]

And how many of those radio brands could've boasted of having quasi-national coverage across large parts of Britain before they were retired?
Throughout the 2000s, Galaxy had been heard on FM licenses in South Wales & the Westcountry, Birmingham, Manchester, Yorkshire, the north east of England, the south coast of England and the central belt of Scotland. Plus it had DAB coverage in many other areas and national coverage on Sky. 

And it was all swept away purely because Galaxy didn't have an FM London license.

That's not quite what happened.

A year after the success of the national rollout of Heart, Global execs decided to do the same with the Hit Music network. There was a lengthy discussion about the name, whether it should be Galaxy, Capital or something completely new. There was also extensive market research and the Capital name came out top in that and there were also a lot of there reasons.

The simple truth is that today your average listener (and that's all that matters) does not remember Galaxy, Leicester Sound, RAM or any of the other legacy stations with sorrow and nostalgia for the "good old times", if they're remembered at all. 12 years after the re-brand to Capital the amount of listeners inside the age group that matters, who has any idea about the legacy stations is small and becoming smaller by the day.

[Radio_man]

That's not quite what happened.

A year after the success of the national rollout of Heart, Global execs decided to do the same with the Hit Music network. There was a lengthy discussion about the name, whether it should be Galaxy, Capital or something completely new. There was also extensive market research and the Capital name came out top in that and there were also a lot of there reasons.

The simple truth is that today your average listener (and that's all that matters) does not remember Galaxy, Leicester Sound, RAM or any of the other legacy stations with sorrow and nostalgia for the "good old times", if they're remembered at all. 12 years after the re-brand to Capital the amount of listeners inside the age group that matters, who has any idea about the legacy stations is small and becoming smaller by the day.

Obviously if the Galaxy brand was ever revived, it would target an older audience who were listening to Galaxy during it's prime in the 2000s, who are now in their 30s & 40s. It could launch as a rival to Kisstory, but as has been noted, launching Galaxy as a standalone brand wouldn't fit in with Global's strategy of their radio business revolving around their already established core brands. 
But a proper digital rival to Kisstory is about the only station that Global does not have. I wouldn't count Heart Dance as a rival to Kisstory, and Capital Dance focusses almost exclusively on newer dance music with just the odd 'throwback'.

[Spencer]

Obviously if the Galaxy brand was ever revived, it would target an older audience who were listening to Galaxy during it's prime in the 2000s, who are now in their 30s & 40s. It could launch as a rival to Kisstory, but as has been noted, launching Galaxy as a standalone brand wouldn't fit in with Global's strategy of their radio business revolving around their already established core brands. 
But a proper digital rival to Kisstory is about the only station that Global does not have. I wouldn't count Heart Dance as a rival to Kisstory, and Capital Dance focusses almost exclusively on newer dance music with just the odd 'throwback'.

Is Capital Xtra Reloaded not their equivalent to Kisstory?

[gav]

Whenever I see the logo for this thread appear on the homepage, for a second I always think it's about when someone major has died and radio stations change their logos to black and white. Global's branding is always in blue, so I'm not sure why black was chosen.

Is Capital Xtra Reloaded not their equivalent to Kisstory?

The playlist does appear to be similar, and the tagline is "Non-Stop Old Skool".
I think it suffers on the branding front though, with a clunky name that sounds like a brand extension of a brand extension.
Is there a lot of crossover between Kisstory/Reloaded listeners and Capital Xtra? I know for example that Kisstory (or a Galaxy revival) certainly appeals to me, but Capital Xtra doesn't at all, so it's offputting.

[Radio_man]

Is Capital Xtra Reloaded not their equivalent to Kisstory?

Capital Xtra Reloaded focussed on 'old skool' hip hop, RnB and Urban music and not dance music. Kisstory includes dance as well as urban music, with specialist dance and urban shows at weekends.
So Kisstory and Capital Xtra Reloaded are not really comparable.

[what]

Also Kisstory has DJs all day. Global seem to have just given up on Xtra Reloaded having DJs since Sacha Brooks left.

[Adsales]

Also Kisstory has DJs all day. Global seem to have just given up on Xtra Reloaded having DJs since Sacha Brooks left.

The simple truth is that there has been no impact on figures since Sacha left. They're stable and they've saved a salary. Ashley Tabor, like him or not, is a great businessman. While his initial capital to buy GCap came from his dad, he has built a media empire in less than 15 years and against the odds if you look at what is happening to radio globally. 

Every single additional stream, even if just a plain jukebox, solidifies listener loyalty to Global Player and if it's cheap to run and brings in some additional advertising revenue then it fits the business model.

I think most people here can remember the predictions of the ever-nostalgic crowd (some are of course here and still haven't changed their opinion, which is entirely fine) that getting rid of legacy brands will be the end of radio and people will switch off. The same happened again when breakfast on Capital and Heart was nationalised.

I have fond memories of local/regional radio but I'm under no illusion that radio as it was does not work today and unless you build ties to listeners and future listeners by giving them the same or as close as the same choice as Spotify, Apple etc. offer, then you won't have a viable business in the not too distant future.

---

Obviously if the Galaxy brand was ever revived, it would target an older audience who were listening to Galaxy during it's prime in the 2000s, who are now in their 30s & 40s. It could launch as a rival to Kisstory, but as has been noted, launching Galaxy as a standalone brand wouldn't fit in with Global's strategy of their radio business revolving around their already established core brands. 
But a proper digital rival to Kisstory is about the only station that Global does not have. I wouldn't count Heart Dance as a rival to Kisstory, and Capital Dance focusses almost exclusively on newer dance music with just the odd 'throwback'.

Agreed but we are past the times where we look at individual stations. Global as a whole has a higher reach in all relevant age groups than Bauer or anyone else. Even if you take individual "station brands", Global comes out top.

Adding a Galaxy stream creates barely any cost and if it takes a 20-30k listeners away from Bauer and increases attractiveness for advertisers to book on Global Player then it's done its job.

[Kim Wexler’s Ponytail]

The simple truth is that there has been no impact on figures since Sacha left. They're stable and they've saved a salary. Ashley Tabor, like him or not, is a great businessman. While his initial capital to buy GCap came from his dad, he has built a media empire in less than 15 years and against the odds if you look at what is happening to radio globally. 

Every single additional stream, even if just a plain jukebox, solidifies listener loyalty to Global Player and if it's cheap to run and brings in some additional advertising revenue then it fits the business model.
I think most people here can remember the predictions of the ever-nostalgic crowd (some are of course here and still haven't changed their opinion, which is entirely fine) that getting rid of legacy brands will be the end of radio and people will switch off. The same happened again when breakfast on Capital and Heart was nationalised.
I have fond memories of local/regional radio but I'm under no illusion that radio as it was does not work today and unless you build ties to listeners and future listeners by giving them the same or as close as the same choice as Spotify, Apple etc. offer, then you won't have a viable business in the not too distant future.

---

What a great indictment of society. "Its good but not in a businesses sense so it's got to go. This new model is shitter but better for capitalism".