[dvboy]

Could there be a third new station in the pipeline?

I’m guessing they must have bought the space previously occupied by the three Jack stations on SDL, so assuming the new stations are using a similar bitrate, there’s probably space for another.

Another Radio X spin-off would make sense if they want to position it as more of a rival to the extensive Absolute brand. The launch of Radio X Classic Rock does feel rather like they’re parking their tanks on Absolute’s lawn.

The three spaces are taken,

Capital Xtra Reloaded
Capital Chill
Radio X Classic Rock

Correct
Capital Xtra Reloaded was removed from D1 in May 2022 and added to SDL in October
The space on D1 was used to launch Heart 00s.

[Spencer]

Could there be a third new station in the pipeline?

I’m guessing they must have bought the space previously occupied by the three Jack stations on SDL, so assuming the new stations are using a similar bitrate, there’s probably space for another.

Another Radio X spin-off would make sense if they want to position it as more of a rival to the extensive Absolute brand. The launch of Radio X Classic Rock does feel rather like they’re parking their tanks on Absolute’s lawn.

The three spaces are taken,

Capital Xtra Reloaded
Capital Chill
Radio X Classic Rock

Ah, of course! Totally forgot about Capital Xtra Reloaded’s move.

[London Lite]

The frustrating thing about these spin-offs is how off-target they are to the main brands.

Smooth has Smooth Country and Smooth Chill which aren't exactly core to the brand, Absolute has Absolute Radio Country and now this Radio X Classic Rock station that plays mainstream rock but the core brand is indie/alternative rock.

I know why they do it to boost the Rajar of the overall brands for advertisers, but doesn't make it an easier sell to listeners who may associate the brand with something completely different.

[Spencer]

The frustrating thing about these spin-offs is how off-target they are to the main brands.

Smooth has Smooth Country and Smooth Chill which aren't exactly core to the brand, Absolute has Absolute Radio Country and now this Radio X Classic Rock station that plays mainstream rock but the core brand is indie/alternative rock.

I know why they do it to boost the Rajar of the overall brands for advertisers, but doesn't make it an easier sell to listeners who may associate the brand with something completely different.

Absolute Radio Country does stick out like a sore thumb amongst the other Absolute stations. It would have probably sat better as Magic Country.

But it did feel at the time that rebranding Country Hits Radio under the Absolute Brand was something of a consolation prize for reallocating Absolute’s London FM frequency to GHR.

[JasonB]

I'm guessing these new stations will follow a playlist of the same ten songs played each hour with a 'no repeat guarantee'?

[Jon]

The frustrating thing about these spin-offs is how off-target they are to the main brands.

Smooth has Smooth Country and Smooth Chill which aren't exactly core to the brand, Absolute has Absolute Radio Country and now this Radio X Classic Rock station that plays mainstream rock but the core brand is indie/alternative rock.

I know why they do it to boost the Rajar of the overall brands for advertisers, but doesn't make it an easier sell to listeners who may associate the brand with something completely different.

Well they are going to have be a little bit off brand otherwise there would be little point in doing them.

[London Lite]

The frustrating thing about these spin-offs is how off-target they are to the main brands.

Smooth has Smooth Country and Smooth Chill which aren't exactly core to the brand, Absolute has Absolute Radio Country and now this Radio X Classic Rock station that plays mainstream rock but the core brand is indie/alternative rock.

I know why they do it to boost the Rajar of the overall brands for advertisers, but doesn't make it an easier sell to listeners who may associate the brand with something completely different.

Well they are going to have be a little bit off brand otherwise there would be little point in doing them.

Country music and commercial rock music is a tad more off brand than you're suggesting.

[Jon]

The frustrating thing about these spin-offs is how off-target they are to the main brands.

If they were targeting exactly the same audience as the main brands they’d be no point in offering them. I haven’t listened to any of the stations but I can see the cross over with most of them. Classic Rock obviously works better for Radio X than any of the other brands (apart from maybe Gold, but that’s a brand they’re not really invested in) it is guitar based music after all.

Country might seem an odd thing to go with Smooth, but it’s not really. Because you’d get some crossover with those who like the music Smooth play anyway more so than the crossover with Capital or Heart I’d have thought. And if you’re just a massive country music fan it’s not like you have to be a fan of Smooth in the first instance. 

The Chill out stations I would imagine are connected to the brands based on the age range the music is connected to. Some Capital listeners will want music to chill out to sometime and so will some Smooth listeners. But probably not the same music as each other. 

I just think launching these under new brands would mean they would get a bit more lost and that’s before we get into making the brands a better proposition for advertisers.

I’d be interested to know under what branding you’d launch these formats?

[London Lite]

The frustrating thing about these spin-offs is how off-target they are to the main brands.

If they were targeting exactly the same audience as the main brands they’d be no point in offering them. I haven’t listened to any of the stations but I can see the cross over with most of them. Classic Rock obviously works better for Radio X than any of the other brands (apart from maybe Gold, but that’s a brand they’re not really invested in) it is guitar based music after all.

Country might seem an odd thing to go with Smooth, but it’s not really. Because you’d get some crossover with those who like the music Smooth play anyway more so than the crossover with Capital or Heart I’d have thought. And if you’re just a massive country music fan it’s not like you have to be a fan of Smooth in the first instance. 

The Chill out stations I would imagine are connected to the brands based on the age range the music is connected to. Some Capital listeners will want music to chill out to sometime and so will some Smooth listeners. But probably not the same music as each other. 

I just think launching these under new brands would mean they would get a bit more lost and that’s before we get into making the brands a better proposition for advertisers.

I’d be interested to know under what branding you’d launch these formats?

I get your point as I said in a previous post that they raise the share of the overall brand which helps Global sell the brands to advertisers.

However Radio X is an alternative brand, if you're going to provide a spin-off brand, then at least make it coherent with the main brand with sub-genre playlists for that station. Alternative classics for example or a station based on the new music strand Xposure. I doubt if Xfm was still with their original ownership that they'd be considering a spin-off station that playlists Marillion, Bryan Adams and Genesis.

Radio X Classic Rock isn't a bad station in regards to programming and presentation, but I still feel it jars branding wise.

Bar Absolute Country, Absolute's branding of spin-off stations complements their AOR main station brand.

Global have been left shoehorning formats onto existing brands because they've been late to the party with Bauer providing niche digital formats for years now either by setting them up themselves or acquiring existing stations such as Planet Rock and Jazz FM and have market led in the DAB exclusive sector with them.

I'd debate that Smooth Chill is on-target for the station's older audience considering the type of music playlisted.

[VMPhil]

I'd agree it was unnecessary for Chill to be subsumed into the Smooth brand. Chill has a younger/more contemporary playlist than the main Smooth.

But Radio X Classic Rock is clearly Global just copying the same thing that Absolute (another indie/alternative station) did with Absolute Classic Rock. It's pretty shameless really.