[London Lite]

Global has never been the same since Richard Park retired.    I doubt this strategy would have even taken place if he was still in charge.

You make that sound like a bad thing. I think it's good that they're reinvesting in local content.

Richard Park made Global into the tight ship it became with targeted brands utlilising the former local radio transmitters and the removal of local programming was part of that. Back in the late 80s and 90s, he transformed Capital FM into a ratings mountain where nobody could touch them with a tightly targeted mix of CHR music and personality presenters.

The company was about tightly targeted radio stations that served specific target audiences while complying with Ofcom regulations on local and then regional programming. The only reason they're doing this is because the two stations in the central belt have for a long time lost share to Bauer who have Scottish focused network shows on their Hits Network stations which still have heritage as a hook to reel in listeners.

However you then have big talent such as Amanda Holden on Heart and Roman Kemp on Capital who will no longer be heard in Scotland on the local transmitters in central Scotland where listeners can only hear then on DAB via Digital One, online or digital tv platforms which degrades what has been Global's strategy to provide the same service locally on FM/DAB whether you live in Cornwall, Swansea or Edinburgh.

There is one exception where Capital have a Welsh speaking service in Anglesey and Gwynedd where Welsh is highly spoken, so they don't take any network programming except for a Sunday chart show in English. The playlist is a hybrid mix of Top 40 English hits and anything Welsh as long as it's in the mother tongue.