Issue no. 14, dated 12 February 1993, of 'Radio News' weekly newsletter for the UK radio broadcasting industry, written and published by Grant Goddard in February 1993.

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THE WEEKLY UPDATE ON THE UK RADIO INDUSTRY
ATLANTIC 252 SUCCESS
Eire-based pop station Atlantic 252
and new national classical
broadcaster Classic FM both found
cause for celebration in last week's
RAJAR/RSL audience figures. Atlantic
achieved 12% weekly reach in its
survey area of 31m adults comprising
70% of the country, whilst Classic
scored 9% across the whole OK only
months after launch.
In its key 15-34 age group, Atlantic
achieved a remarkable 20% reach,
which makes it "the premier station
targeting 15-34 year olds outside
London", accocding to MD Travis
Baxter. Only three years ago, the
Irish station was branded a "pirate"
at launch by some elements within UK
commercial radio, yet now it is
participating in the industry's
audience research for the first time
and has recently joined the Radio
Advertising Bureau. It seems as if
the "outcast" Atlantic has finally
been accepted into the Establishment.
"People keep saying this to me and I
find it very worrying," laughs
Baxter. "It's always been our case
that we wanted to contribute to OK
commercial radio. 1 know a few people
had a bit of a problem with that at
the start, but it's fairly clear that
those feelings have now gone and
we're able to play our full role as
part of the commercial radio sector
in the OK. And we 're still banging on
about the principles we've been
banging 00 about for three years flOW,
which are: get audience off the BBC,
increase commercial radio's share of
listening, get new advertisers to buy
radio and get current advertisers to
spend more. It's far better if we're
all doing this together."
The successes of Atlantic 252 and
Classic FM, together with the
impending launch of Virgin Radio,
seem to indicate that national
radio's "day" has arrived.
"1 think it's exciting," says Baxter,
"because clearly, with Virgin on, we
could see national radio reaching
more than 12m listeners a week before
the end of this year, quite easily.
If that happens, it really is a
completely new opportunity for
advertisers to get to grips with."
And some ILR stations are having
their complacency shaken by the new
competition.
"1 do think the OK market is
changing. A lot of the ILR stations
have been monopoly operators in
single markets, and competition is
increasing for them. The new stations
understand competition from the
outset, because they have had to
compete to get into a market where
there already are commercial
operators. People currently operating
have, over the last few years, been
learning a new game, but the new guys
came in knowing that was the game
they had to play. There's a
re-orientation of what's going on in
the market and that's pretty
exciting."
BBC/ILR. .... DIFFER.ENT WAVELENGTH ....
BBC local radio will continue to
increase its emphasis on speech,
according to MD of BBC Regional
Broadcasting Ronald Neil, putting it
on "a different wavelength" to
commercial radio. He said that
"analysts predict ILR will be even
more dominated by pop/gold music with
less and less speech, and less and
less of it of local relevance."
Addressing an audience of BBC
managers, Neil said that his local
stations will provide a
comprehensive, in-depth news service
throughout the whole day, not just at
key listening points. "Backing up the
/
straight news service must be output
that puts flesh on the hard news," he
insisted. ''More extended reports and
interviews on the big stories that
really do affect people's lives at
local level - the Council Tax, health
reforms, education, benefits,
transport and a hundred others . These
are not dry dusty subjects that make
listeners turn off. These matters are
at the heart of everyone's daily
lives."
But Neil stressed that news must not
be the only programming attraction:
"Local Radio should increasingly
provide a really strong local sports
service covering local teams and a
wide range of local leisure
activities. And of course we musn't
undervalue the importance of other
core information services - traffic,
travel and local weather will
continue to make it the comprehensive
local service."
He warned his staff: ''No radio
station in future will pass muster by
simply hitting speech quotas. The
100% [speech content] is much much
more than that. It is the
underpinning of a philosophy for BBC
Local Radio for the rest of this
century."
RADIO NEWS PO BOX 514 HARROW MIDDLESEX HAl 4SP tel 081 427 6062 fax 081 861 2694
~ radio news 1993 page 1

2. LBC & REPRIMANDED
LBC/London and Sunrise East
Midlands/Leicester have each had
three listener complaints about their
programming upheld by the Radio
Authority, as have eight additional
~laints about stations'
conrnercials.
LBC presenter and Sun newspaper
columnist Richard Littlejohn was the
subject of two complaints, for
describing the Royal Family as "a tax
evading bunch of adulterers", and for
conrnenting "I'm no Royalist - I'd
string ,em all up tanorrow." The
other LBC complaint concerned a
listener's dissatisfaction with a £15
postal reading by the station's guest
psychic.
The complaints against Sunrise East
Midlands concerned a phone-in host
who failed to maintain impartiality,
having interrupted and argued with
callers who did not share his
viewpointj an evening presenter's
story about police discovering that a
car emanating a buzzing noise had a
vibrator inserted in its exhaust
pipej and the uncensored broadcast of
a male caller to the afternoon
request show who addressed the female
DJ as ''bitch....bastard."
The advertising complaints involved a
station's promotion of the Fastrack
Music service outside of cooroercial
breaks; a property company whose
claim to be "the premier agent11 was
disputedj a computer ccxnpany that
falsely claimed to manufacture its
own equipment; a used car dealer's
"incredible offers"j a furniture
dealer's "one-off" weekend sale that
LEEDS 2 SOUTHEND
Two applicants have bid for the
re-advertised AM/FM Leeds licences -
present incumbent Trans World
Communications (operating as Aire FM
and Magic 828) and The Voice Of
Yorkshire group led by Christopher
Price and Victor Watson. The sole
bidder for the re-advertised
Southend/Chelmsford AM/FM licences is
incumbent Essex Radio (operating as
Essex Radio and Breeze AM). The Radio
Authority has also announced plans to
RADIO DIAR.Y
was repeated the next weekendj a
carpet shop's offer of free fitting
that was not freej and sexual
innuendos contained in ads for a
balloon company called Blow Job and a
cash &carry store.
Twenty-four of the fifty-seven
programming complaints received by
the Authority in 1992's final quarter
concerned Sunrise East Midlands, the
Asian service owned by Midlands
Radio, whose programming is
contracted to Sunrise Radio/Hounslow.
Several complaints, including two
from local MPs, referred to a dispute
between the station and Geet Radio
who had operated Leicester's first
full-time Asian station as a
Restricted Service Licensee
illlnediately prior to Midlands' launch
of its own similar service.
1
licence a
cross-Channel
motorway to
next week.
new FM station for
travellers on the M20
Folkestone. Full details
15 FER RADIO ACADEMY DINNER in the company of John Drummond with introduction by David Hellor at The Council Chambers,
Broadcasting House, London Wl . 6. 3Opm. £35.25 members/£47 non-members . Info: The Radio Academy, PO Box 4SZ, London W1A
4SZ Tel: 071-323-3837
16 fEE FOCUS ON RADIO (1) debate on BBC Green Paper at RSA, 8 John Adam Street, London WC2N 6EZ. £11.75. Info: 'fhe Radio
Academy, PO Box 4SZ, London W1A 4SZ Tel: 071-323-3837
17 fEE WHAT FUTURE FOR EDUCATIONAL PROGRAMMES? debate at Abbey Centre, London SWl 10.30am-4.30pm, £35. Voi ce Of The
Listener &Viewer, 101 Kings Drive, Gravesend, Kent DA12 5BQ tel: 0474-352835
24 fEE THE GREEN PAPER & THE FUTURE OF THE BBC seminar at Committee Room 14, House Of Commons, 5-6.3Opm with Heritage
Minister Peter Brooke. £4. Voice Of The Listener & Viewer, 101 Kings Drive, Gravesend, Kent DA12 5BQ tel: 0474-352835
2 ~ LUTON/BEDFORD closing date for licence re-applications for AM & FM services serving 1.03m and 0.68m adults
respectively . Info: Radio Authority
2 ~ NORTHAMPTON closing date for licence re-applications for AM & FM services serving 540,000 and 320,000 adults
respectively. Info: Radio Authority
2 ~ AYR closing date for licence re-applications for AM &FM services serving 510,000 and 220,000 adults respectively.
Info: Radio Authority
3/4/5/6 MAR 24TH ANNUAL COUNTRY RADIO SEMINAR at Opryland Hotel & Convention Centre, Nashville, USA. Country Radio
Broadcast.ers Inc. tel: 0101-615-327-4487
3 ~ RADIO ACADEMY MUSIC CONFERENCE at The Brewery, London ECl. £116.32. Info: The Radio Academy, PO Box 4SZ, London W1A
4SZ . tel: 071-323-3837
9 ~ SCARBOROUGH closing date for new licence serving 65,000 adults on AM or FM. Info: Radio Authority
10 MAR WHAT FUTURE FOR FARMING &RURAL PROGRAMMES? debat.e at Abbey Centre, London SW1 2-4 .3Opm, £10. Voice Of The Listener
&Viewer, 1U1 Kings Drive, Gravesend, Kent DA12 5BQ t el: 0474-352835
16 ~ WHAT FUTURE FOR LIVE MUSIC? debate at. Committee Room, House of Commons 6-7.30pm. Voice Of The Listener &Viewer,
101 Kings Drive, Gravesend, Kent DA12 5BQ t el: 0474-352835
16 ~ NORTHWEST ENGLAND closing date for new regional FM licence serving 4.3 million adults. Info: Radio Authority
18 MAR FOCUS ON RADIO (2) debate on Speech Radio at BT Conference Centre, Newgate St reet, London EC1. Into: The Radio
Academy, PO Box 4SZ, London WIll, 4SZ Tel: 071-323-3837
2/3/4 APR WHAT FUTURE FOR PUBLIC SERVICE BROADCASTING? - A GLOBAL ENQUIRY FOR LISTENERS &VIEWERS conference in London.
Voice Of The Listener &Viywer, 101 Kings D~ive, Gravesend, Kent DA12 5BQ tel: 0474-352835
6 !PR COVENTRY closing date for licence re-applications for AM & FM services serving 620,000 and 530,000 adults
respectively. Info: Radio Authority
6 APR DUNDEE/PERTH closing date for licence re-applications for AM &FM services serving 280,000 and 240,000 adults
~espectively. Info: Radio Authority
20 APR FOCUS ON RADIO (3) debate on music radio at BT Conference Centre, Newgate Street, London EC1 . Info: The Radio
Academy, PO Box 4SZ, London W1A 4SZ Tel: 071-323-3837
19/20/21/22 APR NAB 93 organised by the National Association of Broadcasters at the Las Vegas Convention Centre. Info:
202-429-5350
20 APR LONDONDERRY closing date for new local FM licence se~ving 100,000 adults. Into: Radio Authority
RADIO NEWS PO BOX 514 HARROW MIDDLESEX HAl 4SP tel 081 427 6062 fax 081 861 2694
~ radio news 1993 page 2

3. Following its positive RAJAR result,
Jazz F!! took a fuB-page advert in
London's &vening Standard to proclaim
that "Marvin Gaye, Muddy Waters and
BB King can make nearly as many
people put on Jazz FM as they can a
pair of Levi's." But don't these
three musicians have as much to do
with jeans as they do with jazz?
***** If ever there was proof that
the public wants more legal radio,
look at RAJAR's revelation that 4%of
the UK's listening is to "other"
stations. These are "either the BBC
World Service, or pirates, or local
stations outside the listeners' own
area," says RAJAR's Roger Gane. "It
was a higher figure than anticipated"
***** Commenting on Choice
FM/Brixton's successful gamble to
extend its survey area north of the
Thames, MD Patrick Berry says: "It's
no surprise to us. We ran a big
competition on air last summer and
found that almost half of the entries
came from people living outside our
original survey area" ***** Invicta
F!!/Whitstable is asking listeners to
''make a wish" and choose their own
competition prizes. A trip to Chicago
is already up for grabs ***** Folk
Roots magazine editor Ian Anderson is
presenting a new world music show
World Routes on Jazz F!!/London
Sundays 6-7pm ***** Radio should take
issue with MTV Europe MD Bill Roedy's
comment that his TV station "already
has a bigger influence on UK
music-buying habits than any other
medi um." MTV Europe has at most 2.7m
subscribers in the OK, while Radio 1
has 16.6m listeners and ILR 20.6m
***** Polydor MD Jirnmy Devlin
delivers the keynote opening address
at The Radio Academy's Music Radio
RADIO WAVES
Conference on 3 March. The Academy
has also announced "Pete Waterman In
New Partnership With John Reith",
perhaps proving that PWL can create a
hit for just about anyone, even if
they've heen dead for half a century
***** Broadcast equipment supplier
ASC has published a new illustrated
77-page price list essential for
anyone involved in studios
(0734-811000) ***** Spain's Alfonso
Ruiz de Assin succeeds !IRC's Brian
West as President of the Association
of European Radio. West remains on
the executive committee and chairs
AER's Advertising Group, while Radio
Clyde's James Gordon remains
Chairman of the Copyright Group *****
Radio's first nose job spot?
~/Thamesrnead is listing vacancies
at Sidcup Hospital for minor
operations ***** The Broadcasting
Standards Council has dismissed
listeners' complaints against Radio
4 of alleged "colourful language" in
the serial Georgy Girl, blasphemy in
the play Randle 's Scandals and an
offensive joke about Madonna in I'm
Sorry I Haven't A Clue ***** QEFM's
latest brainwave is Satellite Radio
Blues which is not a history of the
station, but an uninterrupted black
music channel ***** Excellent London
black music pirate station F!!
celebrates its second birthday with a
megabash this weekend ***** Island
F!!/Guernsey announces the arrival of
new digital technology, making it
"the first radio station in the
British Isles t o be able t o receive
their commercials LIVE FROM
MANCHESTER", screams the press
release. How useful! ***** After nine
years on-air, but only eleven months
before the first of its three
)
licences are re-advertised, Signal
Radio ends simulcasting with the
launch of oldies Signal Gold/Stoke
on AM. Signal/Stafford becomes a
breakfast opt-out of Signal/Stoke
on FM and Signal Cheshire continues
in Stockport and Congleton on FM. PD
John Evington presents breakfast on
the Gold service ***** Voice Of The
Viewer & Listener hold a seminar The
Green Paper & The Future Of The BBC
24 Feb 5-6.3Opm at The House Of
Commons with National Heritage
Minister Peter Brooke, tickets £3.
The seminar What Future For Live
Music? has heen rescheduled to 16 Mar
and speakers include producer George
Martin (0474-352835) ***** IFM
launches a Black or Asian Trainee
Presenter Initiative (071-580-4468
x4039) ***** BBC Radio H1Bherside
needs a Daytime Sequence Editor for
its mid-morning and drivetime shows
(0482-23232) ***** RTM/Thamesmead
needs Sales Consultants
(081-311-3112) ***** BBC World
Service needs a Production Assistant
in its Romanian Section
(071-257-2948) ***** Choice
F!!/Brixton needs a Receptionist and
a Senior Sales Person (071-738-7969).
Get well soon! to the station's
breakfast DJ Angie Greaves, in
hospital having her tonsils removed
***** New BBC Network Radio boss Liz
Forgan has written to staff asking:
"Please treat my office like Waterloo
Station." What? And beg for money
like the dossers there do? *****
American female shock jock Randi
Rhodes "The Holy Toilet" used a
roving mic to entertain listeners
with her visit to the ladies room,
complete with appropriate noises!
*****
RADIO NEWS PO BOX 514 HARROW MIDDLESEX HA1 4SP tel 081 427 6062 fax 081 861 2694
~ radio news 1993 page 3

4. lIREA BAND TSA ADVERTISED CLOSED BIDS AWARD WINNER FORMAT ON AIR FREQUENCY
NATIONAL LICENCES
..~
National AM speeeh Spring 95 1053/1089AM
National AM 41m 4 Feb 92 5 13 May 92 VlRGl1f RADIO rock 30 Apr 93 1215 AM
REGIONAL LICENCES
NE England FM 1,900,000 22Jan93 4 May 93 1 Sep 94
NW England FM 4,300,000 8 Dee 92 16 Mar 93 1 Sep 94
Severn Estuary FM 1,600,000 30 Sep 92 5 Jan 93 5 1 Sep 94
RE-ADVERTISED LOCAL LICENCES
Peterborough AM 575,000 4 Feb 93 4 May 93 1 Jan 95 1332 AM
Peterborough FM 225,000 4 Feb 93 4 May 93 1 Jan 95 102.7 FM
Coventry AM 620,000 7 Jan 93 6 Apr 93 1 Jan 95 1359 AM
Coventry FM 530,000 7 Jan 93 6 Apr 93 1 Jan 95 97/102.9 FM
Dundee/Perth AM 280,000 7 Jan 93 6 Apr 93 1 Jan 95 1161/1584AM
Dundee/Perth FM 240,000 7 Jan 93 6 Apr 93 1 Jan 95 96.4/102.8FM
Ayr AM 510,000 4 Dee 92 2 Mar 93 16 Oet 94 1035 AM
Ayr ~'M 220,000 4 Dee 92 2 Mar 93 16 Oet 94 96.9 FM
Northampton AM 540,000 2 Dee 92 2 Mar 93 15 Oet 94 1557 AM
Northampton FM 320,000 2 Dee 92 2 Mar 93 15 Oct 94 96.6 FM
Luton/Bedford AM 1,030,000 2 Dee 92 2 Mar 93 15 Oct 94 792/828 AM
Luton/Bedford FM 680,000 2 Dee 92 2 Mar 93 15 Oct 94 96.9/97.6FM
Leeds AM 1,230,000 4 Nov 92 9 Feb 93 2 1 Sep 94 828 AM
Leeds FM 770,000 4 Nov 92 9 Feb 93 2 1 Sep 94 96.3 FM
Southend/Chlmsfd AM 1,530,000 6 Nov 92 9 Feb 93 1 12 Sep 94 1431/1359AM
Southend/Chlmsfd FM 770,000 6 Nov 92 9 Feb 93 1 12 Sep 94 96.3/102.6FM
Aberdeen AM 230,000 8 Oet 92 12 Jan 'f3 3 29 Jul 94 1035 AM
Aberdeen FM 230,000 8 Oct 92 12 Jan 93 1 29 Jul 94 96.9 FM
AIRMAIL PRINTED PAPER
RADIO NEWS PO BOX 514 HARROW MIDDLESEX HA1 4SP tel 081 427 6062 fax 081 861 2694
~ radio news 1993 page 4