The end of local radio in the UK (almost)
In news that will surprise nobody really, it’s emerged that Bauer - one of the big two commercial radio broadcasters in the UK - will close all its local radio breakfast shows in England and Wales in June, meaning an end to any local radio production. There are twelve different local breakfast shows currently being broadcast; those talented breakfast presenters will disappear, and one show (not yet announced) will be a national show. Listeners will get regional news and travel, as is mandated by law. (And local ads!)
Back in 2010, more than 35 of Global’s local radio stations were rebranded as Heart, with increasing networking happening until, in 2019, it shunted its local breakfast shows to the afternoon drivetime slot. Their equivalent removal of all local programming in January this year was less of a big deal for listeners, who’d been waking up to Jamie and Amanda for a long while. A well executed strategy which has led to Heart becoming the most listened-to commercial radio network in the UK, with ten million listeners.
Bauer, on the other hand, appeared to dither, with no clear plan. In 2013, Tfm in Stockton was closed, taking Metro FM programming from Newcastle (with station names recorded separately by each presenter). In 2018, Key 103 in Manchester was rebranded as Hits Radio, merging with a national station called The Hits. In 2019, Bauer bought a number of of local stations from Wireless, UKRD, Celador and Lincs, and all the company’s heritage FMs broadcast a growing amount of networked programming from Hits, but all these stations retained their local branding on-air until 2024. Just a year later, they’ve lost their local breakfast personalities as well. Hits Radio has 4.6mn listeners (excluding stations in Scotland and Northern Ireland which are - true to Bauer’s apparent dithering - yet to gain the Hits brand). The big change of breakfast show will bring more uncertainty to those figures.
Bauer also closes almost all their station buildings. Over the last few years, Bauer has been closing station buildings all over the place, presumably coinciding with lease contracts, shifting local breakfast shows to neighbouring radio stations, some of which were ninety minutes drive out of the transmission area they serve. Viking Radio’s breakfast show came from Sheffield; Bradford’s Pulse station was moved altogether to Leeds (and then fully networked). These changes mean the closure of a further eight radio station facilities; leaving Bauer with just four broadcasting hubs in the UK, and three smaller production centres. Sheffield (seen above in Feb 1997), is one of those to close. The station was once a Carlsberg Tetley brewery distribution centre. I’ve only spotted the obvious spot where the brewery sign was on the wall. (It had a very 1980s-looking pub inside it; left to rot.)
Important, as I did in January, to highlight that listeners will still hear local information, local travel, and local news - if more regional than local. Important, too, to highlight that these changes are happening in June, so broadcasters will have the opportunity to say goodbye. (Some will stay with the company - Hits Metro/Tfm broadcasters Steve and Karen will be on Hits Radio 90s, as one example.)
Because of the way that UK radio is licenced, that’s probably it for local radio in most cities in England, certainly. Community radio exists, but is hobbled in terms of legislation and transmitter power; almost all radio licences of interest are now part of a large group, and mostly networked and automated.
Local isn’t, as US radio consultants would have you believe, the most important part of the future of radio. But relevance is; and something is lost when there won’t be a local accent on-air, nor a knowing mention of the M62 at this time of night, or slipping in a song for people coming back from the Steelers game. That’s a shame.
Next week, I’m talking in Ireland, where none of this has happened.
BBC domestic radio is to remain available to those of us overseas, it turns out - just not from the BBC. A new paragraph was quietly added to the BBC’s FAQ last week saying that BBC domestic stations will remain on the same third-party platforms as before outside the UK. That suggests that TuneIn, among others, will continue to carry all of the stations moving forward. (Remember when I congratulated the BBC on having a clear strategy? Yes, me too.) The BBC hasn’t responded to me asking for more details.
In Australia, switching problems meant that some ABC Radio stations were off-air for almost a day. Just astonishing!
Jacobs Media’s Techsurvey is always an interesting read - 25,000 “core listeners” in the US, asked questions about their radio listening. This is particularly interesting: music is not the #1 reason to listen to radio any more. The reason flipped in 2019 to be about the people on the radio, not the music. This isn’t saying “don’t play music”, of course. But it is saying, I’d suggest, to focus more on the human connection and shared experience that we get from radio.
- Also, just as importantly, people listen to the radio less because their favourite people are no longer on the air. See above.
On my blog, I compare the definition of a ‘podcast’ with the definition of ‘radio’, and the big mistake they made in the US radio industry.
Also on my blog, a list of some of the RSS feeds from ABC News in Australia, given that they don’t publish any of them.
If you’re in Dublin, or in Chicago, over the next few weeks, please get in touch. I’d love to catch up.
Want to supercharge your radio show? Here’s a £1 week-long trial of Show Prep - from a world class radio consultant and the best show-prep writer in the UK. Great for UK stations, or for English-language stations everywhere, too. (ad)
Where I am speaking next
- Radio Days Ireland, Dublin, Ireland (Mar 27-28)
- Evolutions, Chicago IL, USA (Mar 31-Apr 3)
- Radiodays North America, Toronto ON, Canada (May 7-8)
- The Podcast Show, London, UK (May 20-21)
- Podcast Movement, Dallas TX, USA (Aug 18-21)
- Radiodays Asia tbc (Sep 1-3)
- Pennine Radio’s 50th birthday! In Bradford! Yes, I’ll be there, somehow.
- PodSummit YYC, Calgary, Canada (Sep 19-20)
Supporters
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