Happy Birthday Afan FM
Friday 20th April, South Wales radio revolution begins .. Not in Cardiff or Swansea, Wrexham, Aberystwyth or Newport but in down town Port Talbot.
The day when Afan FM becomes ongoing radio reality.
The station (brainchild of Craig Williams, Young Person of The Year and one of the most able chaps you're likely to meet) began a few years broadcasting its menu of indie alternative and support for local new music in a series of trial broadcasts
Check out their impressive new website and ponder a big first sales success Afan FM is the Official Radio Station of the Swansea Bay Film Festival 2007, whisking it from established broadcasters Swansea Sound and The Wave (owned by Ulster TV), Swansea Bay Radio (led by former Virgin MD Jason Bryant) and for that matter Real Radio (owned by Guardian Media Group).
In the true spirit of Independent and local radio we wish Afan FM a long successful future!
afanfm.co.uk Posted Thur 19 Apr 07

Channel 4 pulped again ...
Popworld Pulp magazine has closed after just one week because of poor sales.
The first issue of the music magazine, which was linked with Channel 4's Popworld show, had an initial print run of 130,000 copies but sold just 9,000.
Darren Styles of the Brooklands Group publishers said: "The magazine has bombed in a way nobody connected with it could ever have envisaged."
The magazine, priced £1.49, was aimed at 16-24 year olds and focused on indie, pop, rock, emo and R&B.
The magazine had been in development for more than a year and had been heavily trailed on TV, radio and the internet.
'Acid test'
Mr Styles said: "Every piece of research we did, every dummy we created and the concept in all its forms was fantastically received from first to last.
"The industry wanted it, the news trade wanted it, the market was there according to every group we asked - but come the acid test the readers were absent."
Management had targeted a long-term circulation of 40,000 and launch sales of around 60,000.
"But the data tells us we have achieved a little over 15% of that," Mr Styles said. "Which makes continuation impossible for us - however brutal a rush to judgement that may seem."
Ten of the magazine's 14 staff have been made redundant.
The move follows the closure of Smash Hits magazine in 2006 after 28 years. Its publishers said teenagers were increasingly turning to new platforms like the internet to satisfy their interest in music. Posted Thur 19 Apr 07

Imus "a good person who said bad"
US television and radio network CBS has fired broadcaster Don Imus after an explosive row over his use of racist language on his radio programme.
The move came just hours after Mr Imus broadcast his last show on Thursday.
Several companies had cancelled their advertising contracts on his Morning programme and high-profile guests said they would no longer appear.
Mr Imus called the mostly black members of the Rutgers University women's basketball team "nappy-headed hos".
"Ho" is slang for prostitute and "nappy-headed" is a derogatory term for the hair of many black people.
Immediate effect
CBS President and CEO Leslie Moonves said he had been disgusted by the comments.
"From the outset, I believe all of us have been deeply upset and repulsed by the statements that were made on our air," he said.
Members of the Rutgers team say they were hurt by Mr Imus' remarks
"There has been much discussion of the effect language like this has on our young people, particularly young women of colour trying to make their way in this society," he added.
CBS said the cancellation of Mr Imus' contract, which follows a two-week suspension, would take place with immediate effect.
Earlier on Thursday, the CBS head held meetings with civil rights activist Rev Al Sharpton who had demanded that Mr Imus be sacked.
A day earlier, US cable TV company MSNBC said it was dropping its simulcast of Mr Imus' programme as calls for the dismissal of the "shock jock" grew.
Mr Imus has a history of making controversial comments. His show was also known for attracting prominent guests, some of whom have said they will not appear again.
Democratic presidential contender Senator Barack Obama was among those who vowed to never again take part in the programme.
American Express, Procter and Gamble, and General Motors all decided to cancel advertising on the programme.
'Insensitive' comments
Groups including the National Organization for Women and the National Association of Black Journalists had called for the DJ's resignation.
The 10 members of the Rutgers team - eight of whom are black - have spoken of their hurt over the "insensitive" comments Mr Imus made in his 4 April show.
Mr Imus has already made several public apologies, including on his Imus in the Morning show on Monday, when he said he was "a good person who said something bad".
In his last broadcast, on Thursday, Mr Imus admitted his comments had been "really stupid".
Mr Imus' show was worth about $15m (£7.6m) annually to CBS through advertising and syndication fees, said Associated Press news agency.
It had about 3.5 million listeners a week in 2005, according to media research, and the MSNBC simulcast was estimated to draw about 330,000 viewers per week. Posted Tue 17 Apr 07

SMG plans Virgin Radio floatation
Broadcaster SMG has announced plans to float one of its key businesses, Virgin Radio, on the stock exchange.
SMG said the move to turn Virgin Radio into an independent company would allow SMG to focus on its TV business, which includes Scottish Television.
It said income from a flotation would give a strong platform to Virgin Radio - which has one of the three UK national commercial radio licences.
SMG also announced a 50% fall in pre-tax profits to £10m for 2006.
It also said it had halted the sale of its outdoor advertising business Primesight, which owns more than 13,500 large outdoor advertising panels across the UK, because the price it would attract was too low.
However, SMG, which is also selling its cinema advertising business Pearl & Dean, said it would restart the Primesight sale when market conditions were better.
SMG chairman Richard Findlay said he was "very excited about both the prospects for Virgin Radio as an independent company and the turnaround in our core TV business".
Chief executive Rob Woodward said Virgin Radio had seen a lot of investment in technology and in hiring broadcasters, and that the float would create "a strong and focussed radio business".
SMG had already warned that its 2006 profits would be down, with tough advertising hitting its STV and Ginger Productions arms. Group income fell 8% to £147.3m.
The firm added that in the first three months of 2007, television advertising income had fallen 5% but said revenue from radio had grown 8% on the same period a year before.
In February this year, SMG broke off merger talks with Ulster TV (UTV), operator of TalkSport. The deal would have created a media group worth about £400m.
Hiving off Virgin Radio as a separate business made sense, said Hargreaves Lansdown Stockbrokers analyst Keith Bowman.
"Whilst investor appetite for radio assets is not exactly running high at the moment, due to the challenging advertising backdrop, separate management concentration on two completely different businesses should significantly increase the focus on recovery".
He added that retaining the Primesight arm looked to be a "sensible move given the fire sale perception which had developed".
"The music we all love" is a strange strapline ... it's too easy to think 'well I don't love this' and tune elsewhere.
Posted Mon 16 Apr 07

Murdoch eats LBC
The biggest shake-up in the history of LBC is set to take place in London with the launch of Sky News Radio on 1152 AM, replacing LBC News 1152. And LBC 97.3 is changing what the initials stand for, from the historic London Broadcasting Company to London's Biggest Conversation.
New research commissioned by LBC reveals the station compares to MySpace and YouTube in the way that listeners actively engage with presenters and programmes to generate original content. The new branding will be used on-air and in other marketing activity.
The station broadcasts around 3,000 hours of user-generated content a year and LBC’s findings reveal this on-going conversation results in very close relationships between listener and station, with 18% describing it as a partner and 14% as a mother, while 90% said they discussed what they’d heard on LBC.
The station receives, on average, around 140,000 calls a month and more than 50,000 SMS messages. The LBC web site also counts a quarter of a million unique users*.
LBC’s Managing Director, David Lloyd, said: “LBC is the home of entertaining conversation and this repositioning reflects the relationship our growing audience enjoys with LBC’s presenters and programming. Primarily, LBC is a meeting point for Londoners, a place to engage in conversation, life in the capital and create captivating new content on air.”
The repositioning of LBC 97.3 FM follows news that rolling-news station LBC News 1152 AM is to be rebranded Sky News Radio for London, as part of a joint venture with BSkyB to launch a 24-hour digital news radio service, Sky Radio News. The initiative is part of the consortium bid headed by Channel 4 for the soon to be awarded second national digital multiplex.
Posted Tue 2 Apr 07

go ahead for Xfm South Wales?
Have GCap Media had a favourable nod and wink from Ofcom about their bid to franchise the new South Wales regional radio station ...
Well maybe. GCap, the largest radio group in the UK is creating a single Welsh region to incorporate stations from Red Dragon to Buzz 97.1. GCap Media are also bidding for the new South Wales regional with Xfm.
The new division, based in Cardiff will be headed by Nick Davidson, the current MD for GCap South Wales (Nick is a former Red Dragon FM Sales Director and partner of former Red Dragon MD Beverly Cleall-Harding).
The recently appointed position of MD for GCap North Wales went to Clive Douthwaite, who will now report to Nick.
Posted Tue 2 Apr 07

Capital FM begins the fight back
With a new RAJAR three monthly listening survey upon us Capital Radio has been given a makeover.
New Programme Director, Aussie high-flier Scott Mueller's influence has been brought to bear with the station is now identifying itself as Capital 95.8 - The Sound of London. The changes coincide with a new evening show hosted by former Kiss 100 breakfast DJ Bam Bam (which started on 12 March), the exit of Breakfast Girl (and former Red Dragonette) Zoe Hanson and the arrival of former Vibe Bristol Breakfast Jock Ben Glover.
The new sound, and new look comes just 14 months after the previous logo change when the station switched from Capital FM to Capital Radio. The ad-policy of no more than two in a row has survived the change, and Johnny Vaughan remains on Breakfast after signing a new three year deal to stay at the station.
GCap's Classic FM star girl of the moment Myleene Klass has also started her first regular Sunday evening programme on the station. The former Hearsay star was most recently the winner of ITV show I'm a Celebrity.
The new logo, pictured above features the shape of the River Thames in the background, just another way of making the station more London centric.
View the new Capital 95.8 TV advert by clicking here, with introduction from Johnny Vaughn Breakfast Show funny man Welshy or Dai as South Walians will remember him from The Jason Harrold Breakfast Show.
Posted Fri 30 Mar 07

Richard Eyre returns to Capital / GCap
GCap Media, Britain’s biggest commercial radio group, is poised to announce the appointment of Richard Eyre as its next chairman, returning him to the Capital Radio business that he ran a decade ago.
The Times has learnt that Mr Eyre, who led Capital in it's 'nice people with talent days' from 1991 to 1997, was due to be appointed on Thursday, replacing the long-serving Peter Cawdron — although the announcement may be brought forward.
Mr Eyre will be non-executive, leaving the running of the business to the chief executive, Ralph Bernard, who is fighting to show that the GWR-Capital Radio merger that created GCap is delivering value.
After leaving Capital, Mr Eyre, 52, spent three years as chief executive of ITV’s network centre, followed by a brief spell as director of strategy and content at Pearson.
He sits on the board of Guardian Media Group, but is almost certain to step down because of a possible conflict of interest. GMG owns Smooth FM and this radio interest means that sitting on the board of both GMG and GCap Media would be impossible. Posted - Dan Sabbah, The Times Mon 26 Mar 07

Steve Lamacq joins Radio 2
DJ Steve Lamacq is to join BBC Radio 2 for a weekly show introducing audiences to new music and emerging acts.
His show is part of an overhaul of the station's evening schedule prompted by jazz presnter Humprhey Lyttleton, who has decided to cut back his workload.
Mark Radcliffe will gain Stuart Maconie as a co-presenter as his late night show moves to a 2000 timeslot.
Nick Barraclough's weekly country music show is a casualty of the new schedule, which comes into effect on 16 April.
The presenter will continue to front a series of exclusive specials featuring some of the biggest names on the country scene.
"Country music remains high on the network's agenda - with Bob Harris's regular country show complemented by Nick Barraclough's new specials," said Radio 2 controller Lesley Douglas.
Several programmes move around the schedule, with Mike Harding's Folk show and Paul Jones' Rhythm and Blues show securing an earlier time of 1900.
Humphrey Lyttleton, who has presented The Best Of Jazz for almost 40 years, has taken the decision to scale back the programme.
He will now make 26 editions a year, with pianist Jools Holland taking up the reins for a further 26 weeks.
"If this announcement has summoned the word retirement to your minds, dismiss it at once," said Lyttleton.
"I now want to have a bit more time for other things - my own band high among them."
The 85-year-old presenter will continue to chair Radio 4's comedy show I'm Sorry I Haven't A Clue.
As well as his new Radio 2 slot, Steve Lamacq keeps his shows on Radio 1 and 6 Music. Posted Fri 23 Mar 07

Fratellis start a revolution
The singles chart could be set to undergo another revolution.
Scottish band The Fratellis release their new single 'Baby Fratelli' on Monday on a USB memory stick.
The stick fits into the back of a computer and contains not just the track but also the accompanying video. Industry watchers believe that, if they prove a hit with music fans, USB sticks should be eligible for the charts.
It will be another nail in the coffin for the CD, and it could also pave the way for albums to be released on the same format.
At the beginning of the year, chart rules were changed to make downloads eligible for the top 40.
The USB stick was piloted last October with Keane single Nothing's In My Way, which sold out within a day.
Around 7,000 Fratellis sticks will be made available exclusively at HMV stores and online at hmv.co.uk.
HMV's Gennaro Castaldo said: "Success for this format would create a growing case for the Official UK Charts Company to consider making them chart eligible."
Lee Jenson, head of marketing at the Fratellis' record company, Island Records, said: "The success of the Keane single last year convinced us that music fans would welcome more audio releases on this format.
"If demand really does start to take off, it may well become viable to think about releasing selective albums on USB as well, especially if they were to become eligible for inclusion in the chart.".
Posted Sun 18 Mar 07

Bacon, done like a kipper
Lucky Richard Bacon has had a number of promotion's recently ... Following a successful stint on BBC Five Live's weekend Late Show he was poached by GCap Media's Xfm to host their Drivetime Show (a show he'd previously hosted on Friday afternoon's as a freelancer while still on The Big Breakfast). Listener response was v. encouraging and promotion beckoned into the sadly dispatched Neil 'Doctor' Fox Capital FM Drivetime Show ... A short time ago Listener response again encouraged GCap to promote him back into his old Drivetime Show at Xfm, with Lucio stealing his Capital FM boots ... now the grapevine tells us erm GCap seem to have promoted him again, back to where he started ... almost BBC Radio Five Live ... plenty to talk about in the Bacon household with girlfriend Konnie Haq, rumour has it Blue Peter are looking for new presenters ...
Posted Sun 18 Mar 07

Well well, the Beeb got caught too
The BBC has apologised for faking the results of a competition last November on children's programme Blue Peter (50 years old in Oct 08).
A technical problem meant that viewers calling in for a competition were not getting through to the studio.
A member of staff asked a child who was visiting the show to pose as a caller and answer a question live on air.
BBC Children's controller Richard Deverell called the incident a "serious error of judgement and I would like to apologise unequivocally to viewers".
The BBC did not make money from calls to the programme.
Viewers who did ring in were charged 10p per call, with 3.25p going to children's charity Unicef.
However, the child who posed as the winning caller took home a prize chosen from a selection of children's toys.
Premium phoneline regulator Icstis has confirmed it is mounting an investigation into the programme.
The incident was discovered after a viewer contacted the BBC by e-mail to express concerns about the competition.
An internal investigation discovered the error and a separate independent review will be carried out into the circumstances surrounding the competition.
"This edition of the programme fell short of the high standards Blue Peter viewers quite rightly expect," said Blue Peter editor Richard Marson.
"We are very sorry for the way this competition was conducted."
Blue Peter broadcast a quite cringey apology to viewers on Wednesday's edition of the show.
The competition will also be re-run, with a winner chosen from the callers who contacted the programme on 27 November, 2006.
"I would like to apologise unequivocally to viewers, to all the children who took part in the competition," said Mr Deverell. "We have already apologised directly to the child involved and her family for this incident."
Mr Deverell called the faking of the competition an "exceptional incident", and said the person responsible had acted "in a panic".
But speaking to Radio Five Live he refused to rule out the possibility that staff would be sacked over the incident.
A freephone number - 08000 565 363 - is available for viewers who took part in the competition and would like more information.
A cheap shot way of winning listeners for years has been to hype up competitions sometimes beyond belief ...
... amazing mind-numbing scams include a station in Bolton offering listeners the chance to win a Mini ... sadly this small station thought it fit to dupe listeners into thinking the prize was a real motor car. The contest winner was flabbergasted when the Breakfast DJ revealed the prize was actually a model of a mini. Naturally upset, this plucky listener complained to Offcom and the station had to fork out thousands of pounds for the brand new car they intimated in their competition hype ...
Undetected but widely known within the station's concerned at the time ...
'Call in now and tell me What Goes Up But Doesn't Come Down' - £100 added to the prize fund everytime we get a wrong answer - listening figures increased ten fold to this particular evening show - the prize money for this otherwise smalltime trivia question eventually reaching an unbelievable £8000 ... a winner eventually guessed correctly 'Florence Nightingale's nose on a £5 note' and even more amazingly lived some 100 miles North of the transmission area.
Or how about the station that ran a 'Cash' competition where listeners had to guess the amount of dosh in the safe to win it ... one of the station's younger dj's passed on the answer to one of her friends, who rang in and with insider information cheated to win the cash. The two wild child femme chums split the £800. No one would have been any the wiser but the farce came to light when one of the girls bragged about her 'lucky' win to her college chums, some of whom not surprisingly thought her immoral. The whole sorry chapter was hushed up though, because the competition was sponsored by a Bingo company.
Sad but true ...
Posted Fri 18 Mar 07

McVay gets Real for Breakfast
As long suspected at xplosure hq, Bobby McVay is the new man on the Real Radio Breakfast Show for Wales.
Ian Brannan's figures disappointed bosses at Real and along with his having to learn about the nuances of life in South and Mid Wales they must have felt Bobby would far better tap into disenchanted Dragon listeners and pull them away to Real.
Bobby has been based in South Wales since 1994 and since his sacking by Dragon last August 2006 has not wanted to move from his Newport home.
It will be a fascinating battle on the airwaves between best friends Red Dragon FM's Jason Harrold and Real Radio's Bobby who were head hunted by Peter Milburn & John Dash for Red Dragon Radio from Radio Wyvern where they were an enormous success in the early 90's.
On his first Breakfast Show for Real Radio this morning, Bobby who's quips have frequently got him into difficulty was heard bragging "I'd like to say a few hello's, firstly to my new co-host Angela, and to my former colleagues at Red Dragon come on over to Real, it's great here, the boss smiles and says hello, and we don't repeat the same records every three hours!!!!!"
Let battle commence!
wales.realradio.com Posted Mon 5 Mar 07

Wogan In Need - please give an 'honararium'
The BBC has said it is "not ashamed" of paying Sir Terry Wogan a fee of more than some nurses annual salaries for hosting the annual Children In Need charity fund-raising gala.
Sir Terry, who is the only celebrity to receive a fee, has been paid since he began presenting the show in 1980.
A BBC spokeswoman said the payment was "never remotely commercial" and came from the programme's budget and not from charitable funds.
The veteran broadcaster said: "I would quite happily do it for nothing."
The 68-year-old added that he had "never asked for a fee" for fronting the marathon appeal, which raised more than £18m on the night last November.
'Honorarium'
Documents which were released to The Mail On Sunday newspaper under the Freedom of Information Act showed that Sir Terry received £9,065 in 2005 for anchoring the seven-hour extravaganza.
The BBC's spokeswoman said the payment was an "honorarium" for Sir Terry's services and had "never been negotiated", but added that it had risen in line with inflation.
"We are not ashamed to pay him and see no reason why it should not continue. If It wasn't for Sir Terry, Children In Need would not be what it is today," she said.
Sir Terry anchors the fund-raiser from BBC Television Centre
Sir Terry, who reputedly earns £800,000 a year for hosting Radio 2's breakfast show, said last year that the BBC was paying too much for stars who would work for the corporation regardless of salary.
"The culture now in television is that the presenter calls the financial and, increasingly, the creative shots. It is comparable to what happened in Hollywood 15 or so years ago," he wrote in a series of essays for the Sunday Telegraph.
The Irish-born star's other regular commitments include hosting Making Your Mind Up - the show which selects the UK's entry for the Eurovision Song Contest - and commentating on the annual event. Posted Sun 4 Mar 07

Alfie Moon lighting @ Virgin
Former EastEnders star Shane Richie has signed up as a DJ on Virgin Radio.
Richie, 42, will play British music and interview celebrities in the series of shows.
The actor, best known for his former role as EastEnders' Alfie Moon, begins his new job with a three-hour afternoon slot on Easter Monday.
Other DJs on the station include former Madness frontman Suggs, breakfast DJ Christian O'Connell and, last year, TV star Al Murray.
Richie, a former singer, said: "I love Virgin Radio, I love Suggs and I love Christian O'Connell. I can't wait to be part of the team.
"I like to think of myself as voice of the people, friend of the stars. We're going to have a bit of fun here."
Virgin Radio chief executive Paul Jackson said: "This is the start of a marriage made in rock'n'roll heaven.
"The conversations between Shane and his showbiz mates could go anywhere - from the stories he's already told me this is not to be missed."

ITV suspends premium rate services
Hats off to Michael Grade, who's first major effort to make ITV look respectable has been as decisive as it's possible to be.
ITV is suspending all premium rate interactive services across its channels following the row over TV phone-ins.
The broadcaster has also announced an independent review of premium rate services across its interactive services. Its decision means that quiz channel ITV Play will come off air immediately until it has passed a "security audit".
The next instalment of Dancing on Ice will only return at the weekend if phone-in procedures have been shown to be sound.
John Cresswell, chief operating officer of ITV plc, said: "This is a concern across the whole industry but ITV viewers can be confident that we will always act responsibly and take firm action to address issues that may arise.
Millions of people enjoy interacting with ITV - either by voting in our entertainment shows or by taking part in prize competitions. It is critical that our viewers have absolute confidence in the services that we offer."
Yeah and both TV and radio enjoy a near monopoly of gullible audients willing to part with their cash at sometimes phenomenal amounts with very little chance of playing never mind winning.
The announcement follows news that ITV overcharged X Factor viewers to the tune of £200,000 in an interactive vote blunder. The error - affecting 1.3 million votes - occurred during every live show in the last series. Viewers who voted for their favourite contestant by pressing the red button on their remote controls should have been charged 35p. Instead the calls cost 50p, making ITV an extra £200,000, and the blunder came to light during a company audit.
It's not unlike the legalised highway robbery of speed cameras, oh yeah and Mega Casinos ha ha ha.
Ouch! Posted Mon 5 Mar 07

Penk from Manchester to Oxford
GCap Media radio station Fox FM is set to sign-up former Capital Radio and Key 103 DJ Steve Penk, RadioToday.co.uk can exclusively reveal. Penk will host the breakfast show as competition for listeners in Oxfordshire steps up with the launch of JACK fm later this year.
Steve Penk said: “Oxfordshire is one of the most beautiful places in the UK; I’m really looking forward to waking up and entertaining the county every morning. I just can’t wait to get started."
Fox FM’s Programme Controller Jon O’Neill said: “This is a real coup for Fox to attract a presenter of Steve’s caliber. Steve is a seasoned broadcaster who brings a wealth of talent and experience to the radio station. I am thrilled that Steve has chosen to join the team at Fox.”
His new show will start on March 12th. Posted Fri 2 Mar 07

launch a weekly podcast service
GCap Media's Capital Gold is launching a new weekly podcast service on Monday (5 March).
The podcast, entitled 'David Jensen's Celebrity Interviews', will be taken from the Capital Gold DJ's Saturday morning show and will include both archive and current interview content with personalities from the world of music, TV and film.
The first podcast will launch with Take That, followed by Art Garfunkel on 12 March, Donny Osmond on 19 March and Pete Townsend on 26 March.
The podcasts will be available to download for free at www.capitalgold.com/podcasts and on iTunes.
Grant Brookes, head of marketing and partnerships, Capital Gold UK Radio, said: "The move into podcasting is a fundamental step for the brand if we want to respond to the needs of our listeners and tap into new audiences. Since its launch in 1988, Capital Gold UK Radio has amassed a rich and varied back catalogue of content which for the first time will be available to existing and non-listeners to own. With its rich musical heritage, podcasting is the ideal way for the station to showcase both current and archive content dating back over the last five decades, including interviews with artists such as: Paul Weller, Colin Firth, Jamie Cullum, Juliette Lewis, Jarvis Cocker, Sting, Elton John and The Who."
He added: "As a national radio station Capital Gold is now more accessible than ever before through new platforms such as podcast, downloads, CDs, books and the creation of an e-shop in the next few months for users to consume and interact with the brand." Posted Fri 2 Mar 07

for sale?
Chrysalis Group PLC is considering the sale of its radio and music business as part of a full strategic review into the division's future, pushing its shares up more than 4 percent on Monday.
"The valuable market positions we have created at Chrysalis Radio, coupled with the ongoing consolidation in UK radio, suggest that now is an appropriate time to consider a formal review of our strategic options in this area," Chrysalis Chief Executive Richard Huntingford said in a statement.
He said the review will be wide-ranging and will assess all options that can deliver maximum value to Chrysalis shareholders, including a potential demerger of the radio and music businesses.
At 0835 GMT shares in the group were up 4.6 percent at 164-1/2 pence valuing the company at about 275 million pounds.
Analysts at Bridgewell said recent Radio Joint Audience Research listening figures pointed to the radio business "performing pretty well", providing an opportunity for the group to "unlock the value that we have often argued is hidden within the current group structure."
Bridgewell said if the radio assets were up for grabs, as it thought they might be, there would be no shortage of buyers. It added that regulatory issues might mean the assets were sold on a station-by-station basis.
Chrysalis, whose Heart 106.2 is London's most popular commercial station, said the company was performing in line with expectations. Story started Mon 12 Feb 2007