[lookoutwales]

Sunshine Radio in Ludlow and Hereford (which has its roots in a pirate station), is also likely to fall into Bauer's hands - although it currently does not subscribe to RAJAR, under Muff Murfin's ownership.

www.herefordtimes.com 

Bauer Media Group in talks to take over Sunshine Radio | Hereford Times
BAUER Media Group looking to take over Sunshine Radio.
  Source: www.herefordtimes.com

[Stooky Bill]

Yes I'd forgotten about them, those talks were announced a few months ago and there's been no update yet. Sunshine is a fairly small gap to fill for GHR though and I think would be very much out on its own in terms of coverage areas.

There can't be many other stations they could take over after Jack, Sunshine and KMFM. What's left? The Nation stations are mostly where Bauer are already I think. Same with the bigger locals like Radio Exe and Isle of Wight

---

Interestingly Lincs FM’s figures have hardly changed despite losing their FM frequency to GHR. They’re a half-yearly reporting station, so you’d expect some indication of the impact of going DAB/online only. Perhaps a sign that the importance of having an FM frequency is diminishing.

Although that is probably a result of having a diary system, people fill them in according to what station they think they're listening to. How many people have just left their radio tuned to the Lincs FM frequency and when asked what station they're listening to still say Lincs FM? I bet its a fair amount, old brands take a while to get out if the consciousness

[lookoutwales]

Dee Radio in Chester and Silk in Macclesfield spring to mind (even if it would pose overlap problems)

Surprised neither has been bought out for a song yet - Dee posted its worst figures to date this past quarter.

In both cases, they have two presenters a day doing six-hour shift to make up their 12 hours of local output on weekdays and their local news has long been outsourced to Radio News Hub.

They still go to some effort with sport - their programme controller is also a IRN football reporter - but it feels like they're clutching at straws half the time (Dee's Live and Local music show on a Sunday only ever deals with gigs happening at one Chester venue - a sponsoring wine bar, no less)

[London Lite]

Yes I'd forgotten about them, those talks were announced a few months ago and there's been no update yet. Sunshine is a fairly small gap to fill for GHR though and I think would be very much out on its own in terms of coverage areas.

There can't be many other stations they could take over after Jack, Sunshine and KMFM. What's left? The Nation stations are mostly where Bauer are already I think. Same with the bigger locals like Radio Exe and Isle of Wight

More Radio in Sussex, which on FM has patchy reception largely serving the Sussex coastal towns of Worthing, Eastbourne and Hastings, along with the mid-Sussex towns of Burgess Hill, Haywards Heath and Lewes. However More don't own the small scale commercial licence for Brighton which is owned by Global for Capital.

[DJ Dave]

Dee Radio in Chester and Silk in Macclesfield spring to mind (even if it would pose overlap problems)

Surprised neither has been bought out for a song yet - Dee posted its worst figures to date this past quarter.

In both cases, they have two presenters a day doing six-hour shift to make up their 12 hours of local output on weekdays and their local news has long been outsourced to Radio News Hub.

They still go to some effort with sport - their programme controller is also a IRN football reporter - but it feels like they're clutching at straws half the time (Dee's Live and Local music show on a Sunday only ever deals with gigs happening at one Chester venue - a sponsoring wine bar, no less)

Yes I noticed they had a crazy slot for presenters, I went to College in the early 00s near Chester and they all use to say how good it was back then.

[madmusician]

Yes I'd forgotten about them, those talks were announced a few months ago and there's been no update yet. Sunshine is a fairly small gap to fill for GHR though and I think would be very much out on its own in terms of coverage areas.

There can't be many other stations they could take over after Jack, Sunshine and KMFM. What's left? The Nation stations are mostly where Bauer are already I think. Same with the bigger locals like Radio Exe and Isle of Wight

Sorry to hear that Jack FM is being swallowed up by the Bauer machine. I’ve happened upon it on visits to Oxfordshire and I really enjoyed its playlist, whilst some of the sweepers really had me giggling.

I also hadn’t realised that Sunshine was a Muff Murfin operation - interesting stuff.

[BBI45]

Going through the Wikipedia list of stations, here's what I think COULD happen (don't hold any of this against me).

Dee / Silk Radio - I could see either Bauer, Global or Nation making a move. They're doing the bare minimum to meet their license requirements, so I think it's fairly safe to say these will get eaten up soon enough.

Fosse 107 / Mansfield 103.2 - There's a chance Bauer could buy them, but given they cover relatively small areas, I'm not sure the cost would be worthwhile. Can't see Global touching them as both areas are already covered by Capital and Smooth. I think if anyone was to buy them, it'd be Nation.

More Radio / IoW Radio - Similar to Fosse & Mansfield, I can't see Global being interested. I could see Bauer or Nation doing something, but ownership rules could get in the way.

KMFM - I doubt the likelihood of any buyout in the near future. The station seems to be doing fine as it is, and I'd have thought that if anything was going to be done, it would have been done a while back.

Radio Essex - Again, I'm not sure there will be a buyout in the near future. The station owners sold off their other stations (Heart Hertfordshire & Connect FM) to Communicorp back in 2019, but they clearly saw reason to retain Radio Essex. If anything was to happen, I think it'd go to Communicorp again, but who knows.

Radio Exe - Despite struggling during COVID, they seem to have bounced back and are now expanding into other areas of Devon. I could see them being approached by Global or Bauer, but I don't know what they'd do with it.

Radio Jackie / Time 107.5 - I could see them getting bought out by Nation in a bid to get a couple of FM licenses covering parts of London. Can't see Global or Bauer either wanting them or being allowed to own them.

Star Radio - I could see Global and Bauer trying to make a move. If either of them would be successful or not, who knows.

Central FM - I can imagine Global having some interest, but given the station is owned by John Quinn (Former chair of TLRC), I'm not sure it'd go without a fight.

Kingdom FM / Original 106 / Pure Radio - Wouldn't be surprised if Bauer is eyeing them up as a way to move GHR from AM to FM in these areas. Global could be interested, but it's difficult to know without knowing how their networks do on other platforms in the area.

As I said at the start, these are all hypothetical and there's a good chance I'll be massively off.

[London Lite]

Radio Jackie / Time 107.5 - I could see them getting bought out by Nation in a bid to get a couple of FM licenses covering parts of London. Can't see Global or Bauer either wanting them or being allowed to own them.

Radio Jackie seems to be run as a vanity project for the station owner. It's basically a commercial radio museum where the station sound has been exactly the same since it relaunched in 2003. They also had the opportunity to apply for the local SSDAB licence and didn't, nor have they applied for a DSP licence. Up until a couple of months ago, they still used the same website template from launch, it also had an anti DAB section.

Time is being supported by parent company Lyca's two Asian AM stations and the MVNO service, so I'd speculate that it's not costing Lyca that much to continue operating a local radio station as a stand alone. They have however supported one of the applicants of the SSDAB multiplex for NE London and SW Essex.

[Toby brown]

Going through the Wikipedia list of stations, here's what I think COULD happen (don't hold any of this against me).

Dee / Silk Radio - I could see either Bauer, Global or Nation making a move. They're doing the bare minimum to meet their license requirements, so I think it's fairly safe to say these will get eaten up soon enough.

Fosse 107 / Mansfield 103.2 - There's a chance Bauer could buy them, but given they cover relatively small areas, I'm not sure the cost would be worthwhile. Can't see Global touching them as both areas are already covered by Capital and Smooth. I think if anyone was to buy them, it'd be Nation.

More Radio / IoW Radio - Similar to Fosse & Mansfield, I can't see Global being interested. I could see Bauer or Nation doing something, but ownership rules could get in the way.

KMFM - I doubt the likelihood of any buyout in the near future. The station seems to be doing fine as it is, and I'd have thought that if anything was going to be done, it would have been done a while back.

Radio Essex - Again, I'm not sure there will be a buyout in the near future. The station owners sold off their other stations (Heart Hertfordshire & Connect FM) to Communicorp back in 2019, but they clearly saw reason to retain Radio Essex. If anything was to happen, I think it'd go to Communicorp again, but who knows.

Radio Exe - Despite struggling during COVID, they seem to have bounced back and are now expanding into other areas of Devon. I could see them being approached by Global or Bauer, but I don't know what they'd do with it.

Radio Jackie / Time 107.5 - I could see them getting bought out by Nation in a bid to get a couple of FM licenses covering parts of London. Can't see Global or Bauer either wanting them or being allowed to own them.

Star Radio - I could see Global and Bauer trying to make a move. If either of them would be successful or not, who knows.

Central FM - I can imagine Global having some interest, but given the station is owned by John Quinn (Former chair of TLRC), I'm not sure it'd go without a fight.

Kingdom FM / Original 106 / Pure Radio - Wouldn't be surprised if Bauer is eyeing them up as a way to move GHR from AM to FM in these areas. Global could be interested, but it's difficult to know without knowing how their networks do on other platforms in the area.

As I said at the start, these are all hypothetical and there's a good chance I'll be massively off.

Maybe global will try and buy the owner of time 107 Lyca who are best known for their Asian stations  (if they are allowed to) so they have a competitor to Asian network they have their own versions of the other BBC stations but not the Asian network

[Stooky Bill]

Radio Jackie is an interesting station, possibly technically the oldest commercial radio station in the UK.

When I was a kid it was the station we listened to, it was massively popular and part of the community. Their car stickers were everywhere, even my school maths classroom had one on the window as late as the early 90s. But it was an unlicensed station running as if it was an ILR. Dave Pearce and Paul Mckenna were both DJs on Jackie. They famously were legit in every way except their license - registered for VAT and PAYE etc so the taxman was happy with them even though the DTI weren't. They knew where they were based as the studios in Worcester Park High Street had a massive sign in the window. A recording of their output was played in parliament in the early 70s as a demonstration of what local radio could sound like. They weren't a pirate as we think of pirate radio today.

They were forced to close in 1985 and disappeared until 2003. Then they bought out the struggling Thames Radio who won the 'Sallie' license for South West London. So they've now be on air longer as a licensed broadcaster than not.

It's a proper old fashioned community orientated commercial station, but with a contemporary playlist rather than a historic station. It gets out a heck of a way too. I've seen it used as an example of how local radio can work today, but as said above it's a bit of a vanity project, apparently not profitable, the owner keeps it afloat.