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(03-04-2023, 02:10 PM)CATV Wrote: I am surprized by the lack of buzz. Popmaster trended but not much else. The twitter account only gained couple of hundred of people. It's like the only people who are bothered are the die hard fans and Bauer. Time will tell of course.
I think part of the problem is that GHR is on multiple FM frequencies up and down the country and on the various regional / local DAB multiplexes. If they (Bauer) really wanted a "big bang" they should have slotted it on either Digital One or Sound Digital to act as a true 'National' station but they didn't. Until they reassess the frequencies they have and consolidate to only a few of them then any form of advertising will be for naught.
Plus, the thing most people outside of forums like this and - dare I say it - Digital Spy's Radio & Podcasts board don't realise is that GHR isn't a 'true national' radio station like they have been advertising it as. It is made up of tons of jigsaw pieces on FM. So any advertising impact is instantly negated.
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(03-04-2023, 02:26 PM)AaronLancs Wrote: (03-04-2023, 02:10 PM)CATV Wrote: I am surprized by the lack of buzz. Popmaster trended but not much else. The twitter account only gained couple of hundred of people. It's like the only people who are bothered are the die hard fans and Bauer. Time will tell of course.
I think part of the problem is that GHR is on multiple FM frequencies up and down the country and on the various regional / local DAB multiplexes. If they (Bauer) really wanted a "big bang" they should have slotted it on either Digital One or Sound Digital to act as a true 'National' station but they didn't. Until they reassess the frequencies they have and consolidate to only a few of them then any form of advertising will be for naught.
Plus, the thing most people outside of forums like this and - dare I say it - Digital Spy's Radio & Podcasts board don't realise is that GHR isn't a 'true national' radio station like they have been advertising it as. It is made up of tons of jigsaw pieces on FM. So any advertising impact is instantly negated.
Does the average listener know or care that it's not a "true" national station?
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I wouldn’t have thought so, to anyone listening on DAB the frequency is just ‘Greatest Hits Radio’, if you’re listening on FM you’ll just tune into your local FM frequency and presumably if you’re in the car then that’ll auto switch if you’re moving between GHR areas.
It’s also available in many of the major cities on a single FM frequency including big regional licences in the capital and the West Midlands.
(This post was last modified: 03-04-2023, 02:53 PM by
Jon.)
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(03-04-2023, 02:38 PM)bilky asko Wrote: Does the average listener know or care that it's not a "true" national station?
They don't, unless they want to listen while moving around.
Where I live you can just about get it on FM from a nearby regional station and in three big towns nearby they've taken over their small local FM stations.
Problem is they don't quite overlap and they haven't activated the AF function In RDS so driving around listening to requires manually retuning. We have 3 presets for GHR.
Very different to Radio 2 which you just tune to and listen, no faffing about or gaps in reception
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(03-04-2023, 11:59 AM)TheGregmeister Wrote: www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk
Of course there are the regular promos for the ad-break free "Greatest Hits Radio Premium", so I do wonder what they put in place of the ads breaks on GHR Premium.
(I'm certainly not planning to submit my bank card details to find out!)
Meanwhile, a new segment called "Golden Years" (complete with the Bowie song o9f the same name) which I would assume is in place of the "Tracks of My Years" segment.
Extra songs...
I do wonder if ad breaks are much of a deal to the 'average man', considering people watch TV with them in most evenings... If you don't go premium - if you like Ken, you'll either put up with the ads or not listen?
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Back when I used to listen to Absolute Radio on their app, they'd usually say something along the lines of "here's a bonus song for listening on the app". Not quite sure why anyone would pay so much to get rid of ads on a radio station, given the current climate. But as for those who are dead set against them, I'd be surprised if people prefer to have no Ken rather than Ken with ads.
For what it's worth, I took the liberty of playing the show back this afternoon on the GHR app, and I'm pleased to hear that it felt very much like his Radio 2 show, just with a smattering of GHR references. I was a little worried he was going to be talking about big money competitions at every junction and hardly letting any of his personality come through, but thankfully, that doesn't seem to be the case.
I can't really complain about the new Popmaster jingles. I always felt the last one was needlessly dramatic for a quiz where you won a radio. This one sounds a little more light hearted and fun.
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To be fair - I don't subscribe to it myself, but Premium offers a couple of other features besides just removing ads. It also allows a limited number of track skips per hour, and unlocks five additional spin-off stations. I gather Premium also provides a higher-quality 320k AAC stream, but at the cost that it forces you onto the national UK feed. Regional GHR feeds are still limited to either 48k AAC or 112k MP3.
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What were the Popmaster prizes?
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If I've understood it correctly, it's a smart speaker for the winning player, along with either a year's subscription to Greatest Hits Radio Premium if they successfully complete Three In Ten, or a Popmaster board game as a consolation prize if they don't. The runner-up gets a T-shirt.
(This post was last modified: 03-04-2023, 07:44 PM by
DavidWhitfield.)
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(03-04-2023, 06:27 PM)IanJRedman Wrote: To be fair - I don't subscribe to it myself, but Premium offers a couple of other features besides just removing ads. It also allows a limited number of track skips per hour, and unlocks five additional spin-off stations. I gather Premium also provides a higher-quality 320k AAC stream, but at the cost that it forces you onto the national UK feed. Regional GHR feeds are still limited to either 48k AAC or 112k MP3.
Is Premium just for one brand or does getting GHR Premium also give you the extra features for Absolute etc too?