[all new phil]

Out of interest why do people seem cool with local stations being gobbled up by GHR/other brands but are simultaneously aghast at BBC local radio changes?

[James2001]

I guess people think with the BBC being licence funded rather than at the whims of big corporations after profit they should be putting the effort into providing local services that the commercial sector can't be bothered with.

[Ash101]

Out of interest why do people seem cool with local stations being gobbled up by  GHR/other brands but are simultaneously aghast at BBC local radio changes?

It's an interesting question and I think the simple answer is that Global/Bauer have by and large implemented better sounding products. The programming of Capital, Heart & Greatest Hits are all better than the local stations that they replaced. The same cannot be said for the BBC local changes that have happened.

[Stooky Bill]

RAJAR numbers are out - and not surprisingly, BBC News focusing on how many listeners Vernon Kay has lost and how many Ken has taken over to GHR.

www.bbc.co.uk 

I did find that article odd, I caught up on the figures on RadioToday this morning and thought it sounded fairly good for Radio 2, especially after the last quarter. 

Then I read the BBC article and it spells doom and gloom. They don't like talking themselves up do they?

[Stooky Bill]

Out of interest why do people seem cool with local stations being gobbled up by  GHR/other brands but are simultaneously aghast at BBC local radio changes?

I don't think most people are happy with it but it's normally only a short term thing. Their breakfast DJ does his last show on Friday morning and on Monday it's a different station. Some like it, some go elsewhere and they soon get forgotten. Also it's on a very small scale, especially with GHR the majority of the stations they've replaced have been small very local ones. Very different to the big heritage stations that were replaced by Heart last decade.

There are several differences between a local station becoming GHR or Heart and what's happening to BBC Local. 

* BBC locals are public service and publicly funded. And they're meant to be local with local content.

* the listener/presenter relationship on a BBC Local is more close than those on commercial music based stations. Many of them have been doing it for 20+ years.

* what it's being replaced with isn't a quality product. You might not like Heart or GHR but they are quality products, plus their owners know how to handle the transition and integrate the stations. Commercial radio listeners have lost fairly average local DJs and gained experienced and very good national DJs.  

As discussed in the other thread, the BBC local changes have been terribly handled. They're losing their friend from down the road and getting someone they've never heard of from two counties away

[Brekkie]

Arguably it may have been an easier sell for the BBC to effectively axe BBC Local Radio as we know it and replace it with a new service with local opt outs. It might make listeners and those DJs that remain feel like it's something exciting and new rather than a station being a shadow of it's former self.

[Spencer]

Out of interest why do people seem cool with local stations being gobbled up by  GHR/other brands but are simultaneously aghast at BBC local radio changes?

Having lost my job in the big GHR takeover three years ago, I can't claim to be one of Bauer's biggest fans. And there are times when I do wonder where the most vocal critics of the BBC LR changes were when so many areas were losing their local commercial stations.

But ultimately I have to accept it was a commercial decision, and with regulation set to continue becoming lighter as radio transitions towards the level playing field of an IP based future, it was always going to happen one day.

That just leaves the BBC as the only provider of local radio in many areas, and so I can see why a lot of people are angry that rather than capitalising on the opportunity to really own the local media landscape when so many others have exited it, they seem to be retreating too.

[DJ Dave]

It's an interesting question and I think the simple answer is that Global/Bauer have by and large implemented better sounding products. The programming of Capital, Heart & Greatest Hits are all better than the local stations that they replaced. The same cannot be said for the BBC local changes that have happened.

Don't agree with everything there, I know we are going back a bit but Radio City in Liverpool is a far cry from what it was in the mid 90s and early 00s and the output on hits network I do find a bit sloppy. It is always the same intro from the presenter "this is Radio City (local vt) then into the main hits link) I also find them playing out the wrong jingles on Rock FM from time to time.

Again with Global, Heart North West or whatever it's called now is not a patch on Real Radio/ Century north west.

[Andrew]

Arguably it may have been an easier sell for the BBC to effectively axe BBC Local Radio as we know it and replace it with a new service with local opt outs.  It might make listeners and those DJs that remain feel like it's something exciting and new rather than a station being a shadow of it's former self.

There are two issues with these current changes, the programme sharing, but also the content

In many cases they are going from an older established presenter who knows the area talking about serious grown up topics, with decent speech content, to a younger presenter two counties away who has little interest in local issues, filling their shows with last night’s Telly and filler generic topics, not mentioning any place name to avoid alienating people, and playing loads of music.

I can’t see some of the younger presenters playing music appealing to the typical local radio listener. They will lose the oldies and not gain any youngsters.

If there was a show that was regional but with the same content as a local show from 10 years ago, they’d probably get away with it.

In my area, local at breakfast and drive, but Yorkshire wide (Leeds, Sheffield, York) at all other times, maybe entire north wide at very low listening times such as 7-10pm but with the same speech content would probably have been fine. Also I don’t think any show should be national.

Also they have to actual admit to what they are doing, just like the BBC News Channel, they are making changes but hoping people won’t notice.

[Omnipresent]

Whatever your views on the output, you have to credit Global for their focus and quality of execution. When I find thing interesting about Global is how they have pulled off so many high profile hires without leaks - compared to the BBC which leaks like a sieve.

I do wonder when the day will come when Global comes under greater scrutiny - particularly for its tax structure and willingness to report on itself and its own presenters.