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From Analogue to Digital Radio pp 123–159Cite as

Palgrave Macmillan

Competition on All Fronts: The BBC and Commercial Radio

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Abstract

The 1990s saw the arrival of the first independent national radio stations in the UK—Classic FM, Talk Radio, Virgin Radio—thus opening up a new arena of competitiveness beyond the local. By this time other radio actors had also made their mark on a national and local level including Atlantic 252 and Kiss FM. This ultimately led to a realignment of the BBC services directly affected by this new level of competition. Television as a form of competition for radio also entered a new dynamic era with growth of multi-channel cable and satellite television. Devlin illustrates how a competitive radio industry now existed on both a national and local level and describes how commercial radio achieved its ultimate goals while BBC Radio entered a period of crisis.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    Memo from Head of Audience Research, 18 June 1974. BBC WAC: Audience Research, Commercial Radio R78/3, 861/1.

  2. 2.

    Luxembourg Faces The Commercial Music. The Times, 14 March 1972.

  3. 3.

    ibid.

  4. 4.

    ibid. It should be noted however that such estimates are not wholly accurate as ascertaining the size of Radio Luxembourg’s English audience was difficult to measure (see Worcester and Downham 1978, 701).

  5. 5.

    Forty Years of Radio Luxembourg. Daily Telegraph, 12 August 1974.

  6. 6.

    In 1969 ITV advertising revenue fell by 1.2% and in 1970 by a further 2.9% (Fletcher 2008, 88).

  7. 7.

    In 1989 a daytime English service returned on Radio Luxembourg but aimed at Scandinavian audiences.

  8. 8.

    Shows like these which broadcast roughly from 8pm to midnight focused on new music.

  9. 9.

    Radio Luxembourg’s parent company.

  10. 10.

    Digital audio broadcasting technology designed to work over the short wave band.

  11. 11.

    Board of Management Meeting minutes, 17 Feb 1986. BBC WAC: Commercial Radio, General R92/301/1.

  12. 12.

    Atlantic 252 broadcast from Trim, County Meath, although it carefully concealed its location from British audiences (Horgan 2001, 154).

  13. 13.

    By 1998 Atlantic 252 was achieving and audience share of 1.4% compared to Talk Radio’s 1.6% and Virgin 1215’s 2.6% (RAJAR Q4 1998).

  14. 14.

    Irish national network broadcasting a mixture of music and speech programming.

  15. 15.

    Commercial Radio: the 19 stations that showed why the cynics were wrong. Campaign Magazine, 2 July 1976.

  16. 16.

    This was also now permitted under the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea.

  17. 17.

    Memo from Chief Assistant, Radio Management, Programmes to Deputy MD Radio, 30 August 1978. BBC WAC: Commercial Radio, General R92/301/1.

  18. 18.

    Letter from Douglas Muggeridge, Deputy MD Radio to Broadcasting Department, Home Office, 1 September 1978. BBC WAC: Commercial Radio, General R92/301/1.

  19. 19.

    Radio 1’s sole contribution to the dance music scene at the time consisted of a three hour show on Friday nights, Jeff Young’s Big Beat Show, until a reorganisation of the network in the early 1990s brought in programmes catering for other genres.

  20. 20.

    White Paper: An Alternative Service of Radio Broadcasting, 1971 (Cmnd 4636).

  21. 21.

    IBA Press Statement, 25 July 1985.

  22. 22.

    Independent Local Radio: Serving the Community. IBA, December 1977.

  23. 23.

    Stations with a community remit but operating within an existing ILR space.

  24. 24.

    Office of Communications, formed in December 2003.

  25. 25.

    Community Radio Order 2004. London, HMSO.

  26. 26.

    Report of the Committee on the Future of Broadcasting (Annan Report), 24 February 1977 (Cmnd 6753).

  27. 27.

    See Brown (2007) and Hobson (2008) for more in-depth studies of Channel 4.

  28. 28.

    Breakfast TV: The Impact on Radio. BBC Audience Research, July 1983. BBC WAC: CS/83/06.

  29. 29.

    Both companies merged in 1991 to form BSkyB.

  30. 30.

    Capital Radio – In Tune With London. Financial Weekly, 13 August 1982

  31. 31.

    Commercial Radio: Profits and Problems in the Air. Financial Times, 5 November 1983.

  32. 32.

    More Competition Gives Greater Urgency to Radio’s Image Problems. Campaign Magazine, 4 November 1988.

  33. 33.

    Other examples in London included Melody Radio and Jazz FM.

  34. 34.

    IBA News Release, 9 November 1988.

  35. 35.

    Terry Smith, MD Radio City. Media Week, 26 January 1990.

  36. 36.

    Radio: Choices and Opportunities. Green Paper, Cm 92, London: HMSO, February 1987.

  37. 37.

    Formed on 1 January 1990.

  38. 38.

    The Act also catered for the expansion of Community Radio although these plans remained undeveloped until well into the 2000s.

  39. 39.

    Report of the Committee on Financing the BBC ( Peacock Report) 1986 (Cmnd 9824).

  40. 40.

    Crown Promises LBC Listening Boom After Split. Broadcast Magazine, 2 September 1989.

  41. 41.

    IBA Paper 194 (76), 19 July 1976.

  42. 42.

    National Radio Rival to BBC Planned by IBA. Daily Telegraph, 20 November 1980.

  43. 43.

    New Frequencies: Same Radio Shows. New Scientist, 21 April 1983.

  44. 44.

    BBC Radio Rival ‘Inside Four Years.’ The Times, 24 February 1986.

  45. 45.

    Thatcher Orders More Specialised Radio. Financial Times, 17 April 1990.

  46. 46.

    Radio Authority Press Release, 30 October 1990.

  47. 47.

    RAJAR Q1 1993.

  48. 48.

    1215 referring to the medium wave frequency.

  49. 49.

    Founder of Virgin Group.

  50. 50.

    RAJAR Q3 1993.

  51. 51.

    RAJAR Q4 1994.

  52. 52.

    Atlantic 252 average audience = 3.9 million, Radio 3 = 3.1 million. (Source: RAJAR).

  53. 53.

    Daily Telegraph, 18 November 1993.

  54. 54.

    Now known as Talksport.

  55. 55.

    Sixteen new ILR licences were awarded in 1992.

  56. 56.

    Disagreement between the commercial sector and the BBC over audience figures and the methodology employed to calculate them would persist until a single measurement system agreed by both bodies was established almost 20 years later under the auspices of RAJAR.

  57. 57.

    BBC Press Release, 24 September 1974. BBC WAC Audience Research Commercial Radio R78/3, 861/1).

  58. 58.

    Director General 1969–1977.

  59. 59.

    Director General 1982–1987.

  60. 60.

    Director General 1977–1982, at this time was Managing Director, BBC Network Radio.

  61. 61.

    That is, with no concomitant service on AM.

  62. 62.

    From 16 January to 2 March 1991.

  63. 63.

    From the Scud missiles used by the Iraqi forces in the war,

  64. 64.

    Ariel, 27 July 1988.

  65. 65.

    Radio Times, 7 November 1987.

  66. 66.

    How Radio 1 Has Failed Pop. Tony Parsons. Daily Telegraph, 22 September 1992.

  67. 67.

    Managing Director, Network Radio, 1993–1996.

  68. 68.

    The Guardian, 18 February 1993.

  69. 69.

    Daily Telegraph, 26 February 1993.

  70. 70.

    Independent on Sunday, 27 June 1993.

  71. 71.

    Green Paper: The Future of the BBC. 1992. Cmnd 2098.

  72. 72.

    Privatisation of Radio 1. A Report for the Radio Authority and AIRC, Henley Centre, November 1993.

  73. 73.

    Radio 1 ‘Backdoor’ Adverts Infuriate Commercial Rivals. Sunday Times, 16 May 1993.

  74. 74.

    Controller, Radio 1, 1985–1993. For more on Beerling’s time at Radio 1 see Beerling (2015).

  75. 75.

    Controller, Radio 1, 1993–1998.

  76. 76.

    Particularly names such as Simon Bates, Dave Lee Travis and Bob Harris.

  77. 77.

    Evening Standard, 10 November 1993.

  78. 78.

    Today, 27 April 1994.

  79. 79.

    Sunday Times, 26 September 1993.

  80. 80.

    RAJAR, Q2 1994.

  81. 81.

    Virgin 1215: How Much of a Threat is it to Radio 1. Special Report SP93/135, May 1994. BBC WAC: R9/1, 474/1.

  82. 82.

    Virgin was awarded a London FM frequency on 105.8 in April 1995.

  83. 83.

    RAJAR, Q2 1995.

  84. 84.

    UK Commercial Radio. Special Report 95/565C, July 1995. BBC WAC: R9/1, 809/1.

  85. 85.

    David Hatch, Managing Director, Network Radio. Ariel, 3 April 1990.

  86. 86.

    The Guardian, 27 January 1992.

  87. 87.

    Daily Telegraph, 2 May 1992.

  88. 88.

    The Guardian, 30 June 1992.

  89. 89.

    Typified as addressing a multi-generational audience in the context of the home.

  90. 90.

    Described as being consumed by all citizens in the public realm.

  91. 91.

    BBC Director General 1992–2000.

  92. 92.

    Previously Director of Programmes at London Weekend Television (LWT).

  93. 93.

    For more detailed analyses of Producer Choice, see McDonald (1995), Felix (2000) and Wegg-Prosser (2001).

  94. 94.

    Gardeners’ Defection Time, The Times, 10 February 1994.

  95. 95.

    Before this the BBC did its own research, while the commercial sector employed the Joint Industry Committee for Radio Audience Research (JICRAR).

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    JP Devlin

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Devlin, J. (2018). Competition on All Fronts: The BBC and Commercial Radio. In: From Analogue to Digital Radio. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-93070-1_6

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