Swansea Bay Radio re-launches Rob Pendry ...
The new local radio station for Swansea Bay has taken to the airwaves. 102.1 Swansea Bay Radio launched at midday on Sunday with the first song by Take That - Back for good.
The song signifies the return of the station, having previously operated an RSL licence over a year ago in the area.
Ex Swansea Sound Presenter Rob Pendry launched the station, which aims to be a distinctive radio station for listeners aged 35+, with a core audience aged 45 to 64, living in Swansea, Neath, Port Talbot and Llanelli.
Swansea Bay Radio promises local information with music from the 60s to the present day, and is 65% owned by Town and Country Broadcasting. T&C also have an interest in other local stations in the area, Radio Pembrokeshire and Radio Carmarthenshire. Monday 6 November 2006

Chrissy Wissy weturns ...
Chris Tarrant is to return to radio at Christmas with a broadcast on BBC Radio 2 for the third year in a row. The presenter is also planning a regular return to radio next year with a weekly show that hasn't yet got a home. He has signed up to record a weekly show with his former Capital Radio producer Sarah Jane Eddon - who runs an independent radio production company.
Sunday 5 November 2006

Sky and Classic FM in £900k deal
Sky has signed a £900,000 deal with GCap's Classic FM for a six-month promotion. The deal includes a daily bespoke feature on Simon Bates' breakfast show, which will see Bates endorse Sky's programmes by reading the Sky TV Guide - a synopsis of the best programmes the DJ thinks his listeners will be most interested in that day. Sunday 5 November 2006

Chrysalis profits soar
Chrysalis Radio, the owners of Heart 106.2, London's number one commercial station, has more than doubled its profits over the last year, according to the latest results. The company reported that pre-tax profits to the end of August grew from £2.5 million to £5.8 million.
Sunday 5 November 2006

Jono Coleman to leave BBC London
Jono Coleman has announced he is leaving BBC London 94.9's breakfast show in the new year. Coleman, who is midway through a two-year contract, is returning to Australia to care for his 81-year old mother, who is due to have a serious operation in the new year. Sunday 5 November 2006

The battle for South Wales new Regional Radio ...
First out of the stocks, Emap's Kerrang!. Emap Radio were recently granted permission to broadcast KISS London in Bristol to replace nearly all the old Vibe 101 / Galaxy 101 'local Wales & The West' output - now they're bidding to put an Indie/Rock commercial station in South Wales ...
This new Regional station will not necessarily be a Rock Station, it could be talk, easy listening or whatever. It really rather depends on Offcom's eventual decision.
We'd contend that Cardiff, and South Wales needs most is a 'fun' loving Indie Rock Plus station run and broadcasting from Cardiff, Unlike Red Dragon where near 40% of the output now comes from across the border, Kiss's 70% and unlike Real Radio who are still attempting to enter the 1990's ...
A station which will go out on a limb to give airtime to our budding new artistes alongside the big stars of today. We've proved people do not turn off at the sound of an unfamiliar new Welsh act if skill is used in programming on The Wave Late Show in the 90's and occasionally when the Red Dragon Programme Controller wasn't listening ...

Here's positive coverage for Kerrang!'s bid, perhaps surprisingly from Cardiff's Independent listings mag, Buzz

Lying to a nation ... we're on to you
Prime Minister Tony Blair has surprised radio listeners by phoning in for a showbiz competition.
Mr Blair called Virgin Radio's Who's Calling Christian? hotline.
The competition, run by breakfast DJ Christian O'Connell, asks listeners to persuade a celebrity to ring the programme with the best celebrity winning £10,000 for their chosen charity and the listener who nominated them wins the same amount.
The Prime Minister rang in after charity campaigner Graham Marsh contacted his Sedgefield constituency.
If he wins, Mr Marsh, from North Shields and who received a heart transplant in 1999, plans to donate his £10,000 to the two charities he supports - the Freemans Heart and Lung Transplant Association and the Tyne Youth and Community Centre, both in Newcastle upon Tyne.
Other stars who have called the competition hotline include Liam Gallagher, Rod Stewart and Jack Black.
A nervous Mr Blair began by telling the programme: "Probably nothing in my career has prepared me for this."
When O'Connell asked if he should be referred to as The Right Honourable Tony Blair, the Prime Minister replied: "Refer to me any way you like as long as it's reasonably polite! Tony will do fine."
He explained: "Someone from my constituency phoned me and said 'Why don't we do this?' and I said yes because they are really, really good causes."
The exchange ended with O'Connell asking Mr Blair to choose his favourite song from the 1980s. He chose Street With No Name by U2 - actually called Where The Streets Have No Name.
Friday 3 November 2006

GCap drops Capital Gold
GCap Media is to rebrand its Capital Gold network early next year. The revamp is intended to shake off the station's medium-wave, old-fashioned image and position it as a modern digital offering. Richard Mintz, marketing director for Xfm and Capital Gold, said: "The Capital Gold brand is in desperate need of revitalisation and has been for some time." The rebrand will see GCap Media merge Capital Gold and Capital Life, a digital radio station that plays classic hits, to create one national digital sound programme. A name for the venture has not yet been decided. GCap Media initially said last November that the timing of the merger would depend on the speed of digital take-up. It has now been brought forward to the first half of 2007. GCap has previously announced that Capital Gold's AM signal will be turned off in early 2007 which leads to big questions over the regional breakfast shows. We understand that Tony Wright on the Capital Gold South Wales Breakfast Show at least has been signed up for another two years and Mick Brown's replacement on the Capital Gold London Breakfast Show has already been recruited ... then again we were told a new Capital Gold jingle package would be arriving in 2002 ... yeah.
Thursday 2 November 2006

GCap spurned £70m bid from Chrysalis
GCap, the troubled media group which earlier this month sold two of its radio stations to Guardian Media Group for £60m, rejected a significantly higher offer from Chrysalis because it did not want the stations to fall into the hands of its arch-rival.
It is believed that Chrysalis, which was not invited to bid for the two Century stations covering Manchester and the North-East, made an eleventh-hour indicative offer of over £70m.
A banker close to GCap said: "It is true that Chrysalis made a higher offer than GMG, but it was a last-minute approach and one made without the benefit of detailed information about the two stations."
Chrysalis had hoped to re-brand the two stations as Heart and secure cost synergies by integrating the businesses with its operations in the Midlands.
Despite the risk of handing Chrysalis a competitive advantage, shareholders in GCap will be concerned that the company spurned the chance to secure a much higher sum for its two Century stations.
Chrysalis's Heart FM station in London is outperforming GCap's flagship station, Capital FM, according to figures last week from Rajar, the body that monitors radio listeners.
Heart's audience share remained unchanged at 6.1 per cent for the second quarter of this year, while Capital's sank from 5 per cent to 4.7 per cent. Both stations have been hit by the continuing rise of BBC Radio 1.
On the day the Rajar figures were released, GCap's shares slid 5.6 per cent to 218p while Chrysalis's stock enjoyed a 2.6 per cent rise.
Earlier this year, GCap gambled on reducing the number of adverts on Capital FM in the hope that this would entice listeners back to the station.
It has been reported that the group is attempting to lure Karren Brady, the managing director of Birmingham City football club, to take over the reins at Capital FM.
GCap, the troubled media group which earlier this month sold two of its radio stations to Guardian Media Group for £60m, rejected a significantly higher offer from Chrysalis because it did not want the stations to fall into the hands of its arch-rival.
It is believed that Chrysalis, which was not invited to bid for the two Century stations covering Manchester and the North-East, made an eleventh-hour indicative offer of over £70m.
A banker close to GCap said: "It is true that Chrysalis made a higher offer than GMG, but it was a last-minute approach and one made without the benefit of detailed information about the two stations."
Chrysalis had hoped to re-brand the two stations as Heart and secure cost synergies by integrating the businesses with its operations in the Midlands.
Despite the risk of handing Chrysalis a competitive advantage, shareholders in GCap will be concerned that the company spurned the chance to secure a much higher sum for its two Century stations.
Chrysalis's Heart FM station in London is outperforming GCap's flagship station, Capital FM, according to figures last week from Rajar, the body that monitors radio listeners.
Heart's audience share remained unchanged at 6.1 per cent for the second quarter of this year, while Capital's sank from 5 per cent to 4.7 per cent. Both stations have been hit by the continuing rise of BBC Radio 1.
On the day the Rajar figures were released, GCap's shares slid 5.6 per cent to 218p while Chrysalis's stock enjoyed a 2.6 per cent rise.
Earlier this year, GCap gambled on reducing the number of adverts on Capital FM in the hope that this would entice listeners back to the station.
It has been reported that the group is attempting to lure Karren Brady, the managing director of Birmingham City football club, to take over the reins at Capital FM.

O'Connell praised by Tarrant
Virgin Radio has launched a new 400-site poster campaign this week, featuring a direct quote from Who Wants To Be A Millionaire? presenter and former Capital Radio breakfast DJ Chris Tarrant.
It was taken from a voicemail left for the Virgin breakfast show host as part of the "Who's Calling Christian?" competition, where listeners get celebrities to ring the station for the chance to win £10,000.
The message said: "Hello Christian, it's Chris Tarrant here. You remember me, I used to work in Capital Radio, the same bloody building as you [at Xfm].
"Apparently if I leave you this message some bloke, who has just come up and really bugged me in some shop in Kingston, apparently he gets the chance to win £10,000. I appear to get sod all for this but it's because I'm a very very nice man. You're rather good on Virgin breakfast by the way. Take care, bye."
The latest Rajar radio listening figures, released last week, showed that Virgin and Capital's breakfast shows have each lost listeners in London between the second and third quarters of 2006. Thursday 2 November 2006

Radio 2's Wussel & Woss Breakfast Show???
Comedian and presenter Russell Brand has landed a new show at BBC Radio 2 after a successful eight month stint at the digital BBC radio station 6 Music.
The move means the 31-year-old star will no longer present his Sunday morning show on 6 Music, which helped boost the station's audience by 40%.
"It is the Hogwarts of radio," Brand said of his new station. "I just hope I can keep my wand up."
His new show will go out in the weekly 2100-2300 slot, from 18 November.
Brand said: "I had a brilliant time on 6 Music and I now can't wait for the challenge of Radio 2."
Lesley Douglas, controller of both BBC stations, said Brand had proved to be "genuine radio talent".
Brand, who found mainstream fame as the host of Big Brother's Big Mouth on E4, was first introduced to Radio 2 listeners in March when he stood in for Mark Radcliffe.
The presenter's most recent television show, Russell Brand's Got Issues, started with disappointing viewing figures in September, attracting only 148,000 viewers on its opening night.
Thursday 2 November 2006

radio2XS joins MySpace
Praise be to Rupert the Murdoch .... myspace.com/radio2xs Sunday 15 October 2006

Vaughn loses another 100k listeners - great says his Boss
Johnny Vaughan has lost almost half the audiance he inherited from Chris Tarrant and there are more question marks over his future at Capital Radio today, after the breakfast show host's audience plummeted to an all-time low.
The DJ has shed more than 100,000 listeners in the past year, down to 782,000 - the lowest ratings ever for the high profile morning slot.
The results add to widespread woes at Capital 95.8FM, which has seen audiences decline by nearly half a million in the past months.
When the last quarterly radio ratings released in August, Capital bosses said the station had hit "rock bottom". But months on it has fallen even lower.
According to radio ratings body Rajar, Capital listeners are down from 1.8 million week to 1.4 million — a fall of nearly 20 per cent in the year.
The station's market share — the key concern for commercial stations - has also dropped to an all-time low of 4.7 per cent, pushing it into third behind rivals Heart, in the number one spot, and Magic, in second place.
While Vaughan remains the No1 commercial breakfast DJ in London, the gap has narrowed dramatically with Heart's Jamie Theakston. There are now just 14,000 listeners between them.
Vaughan's defence, most of London's breakfast DJs have seen their ratings crash quarter. Only Kiss FM, where Robin Banks has replaced Bam Bam, and Magic, Neil Fox, have seen audiences rise.
Ratings fell for Xfm's Lauren Laverne, Heart's Theakston and Virgin's Christian O’Connell.
However, Vaughan's decline could be as more significant because he inherited such a large fan base from predecessor Chris Tarrant.
When he left the station and-a-half years ago, Tarrant enjoyed listening audience of 1.2 million.
Steve Orchard, operations director of Capital owners GCap, today insisted: "Johnny is still the number one commercial breakfast show in London. We believe in him." But while he said there were "no plans" to ditch Vaughan, he added: "You can never say there will be no new changes in the line-up because we are constantly improving what we've got."
Mr Orchard also defended Capital's overall losses, insisting that the station's new marketing campaign — featuring lipstick scrawled posters across London — had not kicked in yet and that a new programme director, Scott Muller, had only just arrived.
But one industry insider said: "Johnny Vaughan has been a disastrous show. He's only just sitting in No 1 place and there seems to be no question of him going up again any time soon."
Meanwhile, there was good news for Chris Evans, who has confounded critics of his move to replace veteran Johnnie Walker in the Radio 2 drivetime seat.
His national ratings rose from 4.78 million last year to 4.88 million. BBC 6Music also enjoyed a significant boost, with audiences up from 285,000 last year to 400,000 this quarter.
How they fared: 12-month change
RADIO 1: Chris Moyles 836,000 (down from 900,000)
CAPITAL: Johnny Vaughan 782,000 (down from 893,000)
HEART: Jamie Theakston 768,000 (down from 883,000)
MAGIC: Neil Fox 725,000 (up from 645,000)
KISS 100: Robin Banks 645,000 (up from 505,000)
VIRGIN: Christian O'Connell 519,000 (down from 648,000)
XfM: Lauren Laverne 283,000 (down from 349,000)

Chris Moyles has increased his lead over No 2 Johnny Vaughan or Johnny Yawn as he calls him from 7k to 44k. This is a quite staggering result for the manmouth Moyles when you remember how far behind Radio One was positioned with Sara Cox and Zoe Ball at the helm, indeed the last Radio One Breakfast Show to hold Number One in London was Simon Mayo in 1988.
Interestingly Johnny Vaughan has lost 110,000 listeners in the past twelve months while Foxy who many expected to be Chris Tarrant's natural Capital Breakfast Show successor has gained 80,000 and looks set to overtake Vaughan in January.

Beware spin doctor at work ... GCap Media Operations Director, Steve Orchard commented:
"This has been an excellent set of results for GCap and they give us much confidence for the future. Our portfolio of local heritage stations is in good growth and our national brands have turned in another impressive performance, with Classic FM and Planet Rock playing starring roles. GCap's digital hours have also reached a record high.
"In London we have increased our reach and share and remain the number one commercial radio group. The plan for Capital's recovery is well under way. We are number one at breakfast and are building a loyal audience base, with listeners listening longer. Since the survey period, our new Programme Director Scott Muller has arrived and we have launched our first marketing campaign in 18 months. We expect to see the effects of these initiatives over the course of 2007."
Capital Radio at an all time low, and a slow start for Xfm Manchester, but GCap Media remains the largest commercial radio company in the UK.
First figures for Xfm Manchester were lower than expected with a 1.1 per-cent audience share and a weekly reach of just 3 per cent (85,000 listeners in a TSA of 2.7 million).
Capital Radio figures show a decline in listeners over the past year, hitting an all time low this quarter of 4.7 audience share and 14 per-cent weekly reach.
Classic FM remains the UK's leading commercial radio station with 5.9m listeners whilst hours for national digital brands are up 10%, with Planet Rock trebling its market share over the last year.

Wogan blasts himself & other 'overpaid' presenters
The BBC is pandering to the dictates of overpaid presenters on whom it is wasting taxpayers' money, according to a veteran broadcaster.
Sir Terry Wogan launches the attack on his employer in a new book of essays - Shooting Stars, A Collection of Essays, Musings and Rants on Talent on TV - about the television industry, the Sunday Telegraph reports.
Referring to the corporation's presenters, it said the "lunatics have taken over the asylum" and that the BBC was paying huge sums to people who would prefer to work for it anyway.
But critics will point to Sir Terry's lucrative career with the BBC spanning four decades and that he is reputed to earn £800,000 for presenting his breakfast programme on Radio 2, the newspaper said.
Sir Terry, 68, writes: "You might say the lunatics have taken over the asylum. The culture now in television is that the presenter calls the financial and, increasingly, the creative shots."
He adds: "As for those much-trumpeted seven-figure deals, I have the suspicion that the corporation is in some cases overpaying. Their excuse is that if they do not offer millions, the opposition will lure the talent away with honeyed words and equally large sums.
"Frankly the BBC is often giving huge quantities of money to people who would prefer to work for the corporation anyway."
In his essay, Sir Terry admits that he is well paid by the BBC, joking that he is "worth every penny of the small fortune they deign to pay me", the newspaper said.
Sir Terry does not name individual presenters in his essay. Highly-paid BBC presenters include Graham Norton, who in August signed up to a new multi-million-pound, three-year BBC contract. ITV reportedly tried to poach the star but was outbid by the BBC.
The BBC said: "Presenters' salaries need to be set against our audience's firm view that they expect the BBC to provide them with the best talent but not necessarily the cheapest talent. The success of presenters like Jonathan Ross with his new TV series and the ongoing radio show demonstrate that for millions of people he is a good investment." Sunday 22 October 2006

Terry Wogan's Producer dies
Paul Walters, a long-time producer of Sir Terry Wogan's breakfast show on BBC Radio 2 has died in hospital following a long illness.
Paul was better know as Doctor Wally, and had been with the BBC since 1974.
Sir Terry, on news of his death said: "To know Paul Walters was to love him. His character was in his smile. He was charming and he was relaxed, almost to the point of sleep sometimes. He was the self-styled 'best putter in the world' and he was also the best music programmer in the world. Millions of listeners will mourn the loss of a friend. Me too," he added.
Lesley Douglas, Controller for BBC Radio 2, said: "Paul Walters was a uniquely talented producer. He loved radio, music and Wake Up To Wogan. In return he was loved by every individual who knew him in Radio 2, and by millions of listeners to the station. His relationship with Terry Wogan produced magical radio which will be remembered with affection for years to come," she added.

Blue Peter & Blur down The Tube
Blur bassist Alex James and Blue Peter's Konnie Huq (girlfriend of Richard Bacon) have signed up to present the comeback of music show The Tube.
The groundbreaking programme, which propelled hosts Paula Yates and Jools Holland to fame, is returning on the radio 19 years after it was last broadcast on Channel 4.
The Tube gave Wet Wet Wet, Frankie Goes To Hollywood, The Housemartins and the Fine Young Cannibals their first breaks, and featured Madonna's debut UK TV performance.
The original programme ran for five series between 1982, the year Channel 4 was launched, and 1987.
It is being resurrected on Channel 4's web-based radio service, launched in preparation for a digital licence bid to create competitors to the BBC's radio stations.
Newcomer Emily Rose, 22, who has presented on MTV and appeared in several Hip Hop videos, will be joining Huq and James on the weekly show.
The Tube will be presented in Manchester in front of a live studio audience and will feature a mix of new and unsigned acts and established names.
The Tube was home to Eighties bands such as The Boomtown Rats, REM, Elvis Costello, The Smiths, U2 and Wham, and became famous for the flirtatious interview style of Yates, who once persuaded Sting to remove his trousers.
Blur bassist James, 37, said: "I'm very excited to be presenting the new Tube. I'm looking forward to being part of something unpredictable. The programme will be intelligent and funny, serious and irreverent.
"This is a completely new recipe for radio. Mix a whole bucket of music show with a tablespoon of contemporary art, a teaspoon of rocket science and a pinch of bottom. Stand well back and listen for an hour." Friday 20 October 2006

GCap & GMG play Pass The Franchise
GCap Media has sold its two Manchester and North East Century FM stations to Guardian Media Group for £60m. Newcastle's Century FM was started by GMG Radio's head honcho-ho-ho John Myers way back when and is now set to become along with Manchester's Century part of the Real Estate ... geddit.
GCap will continue to handle national advertising sales for the two stations for at least the next five years. Ralph Bernard, chief executive of GCap, said: "This deal not only allows us significantly to reduce our debt levels but will also provide us with the financial flexibility to continue to invest in priority areas of the business. "The negotiations with GMG have been conducted in an excellent spirit and both parties believe there are partnership opportunities for our respective businesses in the future." Wednesday 18 October 2006

What goes around
Our Minister for Jocularity & High Jinks Ed Parnell has just landed at Swansea's 96.4FM The Wave. The Pants Of Panic were flying all around South Wales at the long overdue return of Mon. Parnell, who spent most of Monday evening co-hosting The Late Show with Steve Shaw. For 'eccentric' Ed's frequently updated funny bits and 'strange' news check edparnell.co.uk

Today's great prize ... our admin expenses
A competition on Fox FM, a GCap station, offered listeners the chance to win "£500 worth of stuff".
One winner's husband, however, complained to Ofcom, the media regulator, that the prize was subsequently valued at only £329. GCap said the £500 figure included its administrative and shipping costs. Unsurprisingly, Ofcom said it did not believe audiences would generally expect additional charges to be included in a broadcast prize value. It has welcomed GCap's promise to be more transparent with future prize descriptions. Tuesday 17 October 2006

'I'm so funny please don't hit me'
It's worth pondering the often deliberately offensive nature of some radio 'heroes' like Moyles and countless others who've corrupted a version of shock-jockery into a very often humourless assault on ordinary. Acceptable it may seem to some media bosses, but if the same rudeness and deliberate offensiveness were used in a one to one situation with Mike Tyson there'd probably be a body bag called for... here's more from Ofcom, bless them
Ofcom has resolved two complaints from listeners regarding two different GCap Media stations.
A cover presenter on Invicta FM asked a caller if she was old, and therefore smelt, whilst Fox FM included administrative and shipping costs in the price of a prize worth £500.
At Invicta FM a listener called to enter a competition, but when asked her age by the presenter she replied that she was a pensioner - he then asked her whether she smelt. Another listener found this objectionable. Whilst GCap has since stressed that it takes its responsibilities very carefully with regard to the content of its programming, Ofcom said that the remark was not justified by the context and was based on a derogatory stereotype of elder people.
But in view of the reflective nature of the station’s apology, Ofcom considers the matter resolved.
Meanwhile over at Fox FM they ran a World Cup competition where a prize was described as “500 pounds worth of stuff” and listeners were offered a choice of a television package or £500 to spend in the pub or on pampering session. A winner’s husband claimed that listeners were led to believe the package alone was worth £500. He told us that the prize she chose – the television package – had subsequently been valued at £329 and that the broadcaster had told him that the total prize value included administrative and shipping costs.
GCap Media, who own Fox FM, accepted that listeners could have interpreted the amount referred to in the prize description as its retail value. However the broadcaster believed that listeners could also have interpreted it as the total cost to the broadcaster in providing the package. It added that wildly fluctuating prices could be found on the internet, “with differing levels of service and delivery, the latter often charged for.”
GCap had therefore included an events company’s handling charge in the prize value, some of which had covered delivery to the prize winner's home. It did not believe that there had been an inaccurate description of the prize.
However, GCap said it was keen to avoid any possible ambiguity and that it had therefore put in place procedures, “to ensure clarity of description particularly where values are ascribed to prizes.” It clarified that, if a monetary value was broadcast, it would “endeavour to state from where this value derives”. In the case of retail goods, it would state the likely retail value.
Ofcom finds this complaint resolved by saying: The purpose of describing a prize on-air is primarily to provide listeners with sufficient information to decide whether to enter the associated competition. We acknowledge that the price charged for consumer electrical goods can vary greatly. However, we do not believe that listeners would generally expect additional handling charges (such as delivery charges) to be included in a broadcast prize value.
In this case, we believe the generic reference to all the prizes available (“500 pounds worth of stuff”) clearly indicated prizes of a similar value to the winner. This interpretation was supported by the detailed descriptions of the alternative prizes to the television package, as they allowed the winner to spend £500 in specific ways.
However, GCap did not appear to describe the television package with any intent to mislead listeners. We welcomed its assurance concerning future transparency concerning prize descriptions, and we believe this resolves the matter on this occasion. Tuesday 17 October 2006

Xfm appoints new programme director
Lucio's former boss, Adam Uytman has been hired by GCap Media as programme director at London's Xfm to replace Andy Ashton, who left the company last week by "mutual consent", ie 'we want to sack you so there's no point in you staying'. Uytman joins the alternative music station from the Emap-owned Kerrang! Station in the West Midlands, where he has been programme director since June 2005. Sunday 15 October 2006

Gcap eyes soccer boss for top radio job-report
Birmingham City football club Managing Director Karren Brady is in talks with Gcap Media to take the helm of the radio firm's flagship Capital Radio, the Sunday Times reported.
Brady has been in talks with Gcap for several weeks but a contract has not yet been signed, the newspaper said, citing friends of Brady.
Brady, 37, became the first woman to be appointed as the managing director of an English league club in 1993. She underwent surgery for a brain aneurysm earlier this year.
Gcap has struggled with a decline in listeners for Capital Radio in the last year, dropping from its position as the most popular London radio station.
The UK commercial radio industry, along with television and newspaper companies, has battled in a sharp downturn in the advertising market.
Gcap was not immediately available to comment. Sunday 15 October 2006

BBC scoops Premiership radio packages
The BBC has won six out of the seven Premier League radio packages for the next three years. TalkSport won the seventh package - the second pick Saturday game at 15:00. The packages cover live commentary rights from August 2007 until May 2010. Sunday 15 October 2006

GCap pull rank & Hirsty is dropped from Hit 40 UK
National chart show hit40uk, produced by Somethin' Else has dropped presenter Simon Hirst in favour of Capital Radio drivetime host Lucio.
Simon has been presenting the show for just over two years, since Neil Fox stepped down after 11 years to concentrate on other work.
Even though hit40uk is second in the ratings to Radio 1's chart, he told Media Guardian today: "I'm fully confident that within just three to six months, the new show that we are putting together will be the most listened to chart show in the country.
"The dismal, bland and cheesy excuse for a chart that Radio 1 broadcast will really be no contest for us," he added.
Hirstie's run began as a male female double header, but hit40uk dropped the former Blue Peter babe who had a speech impediment some time back.
Emap are ready to drop their own Smash Hits Chart in favour of hit40uk as Lucio gets ready to present his first show this weekend. Thursday 12 October 2006

Cybermen delete Bobby McVay
He was at Red Dragon FM for fourteen years, he's been gone two months but try a search for Bobby McVay on the Red Dragon FM website and you'll find no mention of him. Benito finito, he is an ex-jock. The Cybermen who run the Red Dragon FM website have deleted all reference to Bob who is one of South Wales longest serving DJ's - try a site search by linking here reddragonfm.com. It's all the more amazing because the same people run the Capital Gold website and with the exception of Kevin Thomas's immediate deletion that seems to be permanently out of date too. Come to think of it if you search Red Dragon FM for Mike TV - he's still up there and he hasn't worked there since 2004. What can Bob possibly have done to have prompted such conscientious work from his former company? The same fate probably awaits other 'employees' who inadvertently stumble upon the answer. Monday 9 Oct 2006

BBC defend druggie Norton
In a statement the BBC said: "The issues Graham discusses in this interview are aimed at an adult audience and reflect the frank and open nature of his personality.
"They do not in any way impact on his ability to be a first class entertainer on BBC television."
Martin Barnes, DrugScope's chief executive, said: "It would be naive to deny that people use drugs because they enjoy them but there are risks and many who use drugs do come to harm.
"We shouldn't rush to condemn admissions of drug use but it is reasonable to ask that celebrities recognise a responsibility - that for many people there is a downside to drug use."
A spokesman for the National Drug Prevention Alliance said: "We're appalled, it's absolutely mind-blowing that somebody has said that.
"He's in the public eye and influencing young people, so who is it helping? I don't know - I'm just staggered."
In a seperate development it's been intimated The BBC are trying to get Doctor Who's Tardis working so they can go back in time and sign up Adolf Hitler. Although Herr Hitler was responsible for mass murder and the destruction of most of Europe, it's thought that he also wil be a first class audience winner. Thankfully they haven't got the Tardis working yet. Monday 9 Oct 2006

Graham Norton confused about The Big Picture
TV star Graham Norton has revealed he has taken "loads of drugs'' and that the drug ecstasy is "just fantastic''.
Sunday October 8, 2006
In an interview with Marie Claire magazine, he said: "The only time I took ecstasy was years and years ago. It was absolutely amazing. It was just fantastic - really, really fun.''
He added: "I've tried loads of drugs, but it would really bug me if I got busted in the tabloids because I take them so rarely.''
Asked about cocaine, he said: "I think that coke is middle-aged stuff. It's quite a slow drug that involves coffee tables. To me, it's a middle-class choice of drug.''
He made the comments in an interview with broadcaster Janet Street Porter.
The frank admissions by the comedian, who signed a multi-million-pound deal with the BBC in August, earned him censure.
Referring to Norton, Tory MP John Whittingdale - chairman of the House of Commons culture, media and sport select committee - told the Daily Express that to "boast about the extent of your drug abuse and enjoyment, as he seems to have done, sends a message which is extremely dangerous and against everything which everyone, including the BBC, is trying to do.''
Labour MP Gwyn Prosser told The Sun that Norton's comments were "grossly irresponsible''.
Peter Stoker, of the National Drug Prevention Alliance, added: "Perhaps he'd like to ask the parents of those who died from ecstasy if they think it's fun.''
Norton's three-year BBC contract will keep him with the BBC until the end of 2009.
Norton, 43, hosted BBC1's Saturday night show How Do You Solve A Problem Like Maria?, which found a singer to play the lead in Andrew Lloyd Webber's West End revival of The Sound of Music.
He joined the BBC from Channel 4 two years ago.

Listen to us we'll give you lipstick (but not Estee Lauder)
Katie Allen, The Guardian, Thursday October 5, 2006
GCap Media's London music station, Capital Radio, has revealed it will dispatch people armed with lipsticks and thousands of innuendo-laden, hand-written notes across the city next week in its first advertising campaign for 18 months.
Britain's biggest commercial radio group had held back on promotions for Capital as it streamlined the business following a £711m merger of it with GWR last year. But the struggling media group said mistakes that lost Capital the title of most popular London station were now behind it and it was time to claw back listeners.
The campaign, starting on Monday, is based on the slogan "Who's doing who?". Posters, scribbled notes, web adverts and faxes to London firms will ask questions like "Is Christina doing Robbie?". If Capital is right, consumers intrigued by the cryptic questions will tune in to hear a competition where listeners guess which artist is singing another's song.
"There's a feeling that over the last three or four years Capital has retreated a bit from that sort of street level activity and has become a bit more remote and detached. We have to re-engage with people," said Steve Orchard, operations director at GCap.
Capital's advertising team will also scrawl questions like "Is Lily doing Justin?" in lipstick across 5,000 London pub mirrors. The competition will dole out £100,000 in prize money, but the station is tight-lipped on the campaign's cost, estimated by analysts at £1m.

Radio One says Sorry, we meant faggots and peas
BBC Radio 1 have issued an apology after premiership footballer Rio Ferdinand called Chris Moyles a "faggot" live on air.
The England star made the derogatory comment during a light-hearted conversation with Moyles about which players he found attractive.
Ferdinand immediately said: "I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm not homophobic."
A spokesperson for the station said: "There was no offence intended and we apologise for any offence caused.
On-air Chris Moyles said: "you can't say that," he then added that the comment was: "footballing terminology for a funny lad".
The whole conversation had started as Moyles had been discussing footballers and the way they look.
When Peter Crouch's name came up Ferdinand said: "He is a half decent looking geezer.
"I am not feminine or gay in any way but he is not ugly and a few birds like him," he added.
It is not the first time Radio 1's Breakfast Show has been in trouble for its language.
Earlier on in the year, complaints were received about Moyle's use of the word "gay" to mean rubbish, although the complaint was not upheld.
And he was forced to apologise for swearing live on air during a phone call with a listener.
There's thought to be no truth in the rumour that the complainants were Johnny Vaughn and team. Tuesday 3 Oct 2006

Woss steers clear of Council Estates
A remark by chat show host Jonathan Ross that people on council estates should be banned from giving birth has attracted more than 60 complaints.
"Do you think we should put something in the water supply, stop some people having children in the future?" the presenter asked chef Jamie Oliver.
But the remark, on BBC One's Friday Night With Jonathan Ross programme, was "not out of character", the BBC said.
Ross was "well-known for his irreverent approach", a spokesman added.
After the star made the comment, Oliver asked: "What, you mean like lead?"
A member of the audience then shouted "Oi!", prompting Ross to point at the crowd.
"There's one," he said. "We could have stopped that happening. See what I'm saying?"
Oliver appeared on the show to talk about his mission to improve the meals served to children at schools around the UK.
The pair had been discussing a recent case in Rotherham, South Yorkshire, where parents passed fish and chips to their children through the school's railings, as a protest against the introduction of healthier menus.
Some 61 viewers had complained to the BBC by Sunday evening. Monday 2 Oct 2006

GCap turning the corner, says Bernard
Richard Wray, MediaGuardian.co.uk Friday September 29, 2006
Ralph Bernard, the chief executive of embattled radio group GCap Media, has issued the equivalent of a 'put up or shut up' challenge to the private equity bidders that are said to be circling the UK's largest commercial radio broadcaster.
"People have been talking of private equity since May 9 last year when we launched," he said following the release of the company's trading update. "If there is private equity out there let it show its head. I'm certain it's out there but are they going to get more value out of our business? I very much doubt it."
He also dismissed talk in the City that Daily Mail & General Trust, which has a near 15% stake in the business, has been pressing for his removal in light of the poor performance of the company since it was created.
"I can honestly say I have not had a single conversation with a single shareholder where they have said 'you better sort this out or there will be trouble'," he said.
"If they [investors] don't like something they tend to vote with their feet," he added, by selling out their shares.
He also pointed to the recent stake building by Schroder - which has about 14% of the company - and the involvement of well-respected City fund manager Andy Brough. "Presumably he's done that for a reason," he said.
Mr Bernard said that GCap, formed by the £711m merger between Capital and GWR, has finally "turned the corner in terms of the way we are trading in line with the rest of the market" and that is "the first time we feel we have been able to say that since GCap started".
In a trading update, GCap said revenues for the six months to the end of September are expected to be down 9%, as a result of its decision to reduce the frequency of adverts on flagship London station Capital Radio.
"We had an awful July in common with a lot of people," said Mr Bernard. "July was World Cup month, it was ghastly, but we thought it was a one-off and it does seem to have been a one-off."
August was an improvement upon the same period last year, he said, while September was slightly down, in line with the rest of the market.
GCap is planning an advertising campaign to try to resuscitate Capital, which has lost market share to rivals Magic and Heart.
The adverts - to be based around the slogan "Come back to Capital" - will be launched later this year and marks the station's first major marketing investment since last year's campaign alongside the arrival of Johnny Vaughan in the station's morning slot.

Come back to Capital??? Come back to rabbit poo - This does not mean that some GCap managers won't continue to behave like utter jerks in sacking and humiliating loyal employees of fourteen years like Bobby McVay with no notice. Or sorting out their holiday cover by luring wanna be employees like Tony Dibben out of secure Breakfast Show employment with a company long established since 1859 on a promise - then dumping them when the cover's done - dumping them into financial and personal meltdown apparently without so much as a thought. These greedy GCap radio flops masquerading as caring human being's ought to get a life, but then again at the top of that chain there's an easier life and sizeable pay-off's for f**king it up rather than working hard to make it appealing. This inhuman behaviour I am reliably informed by a GCap solicitor is perfectly in order because they are protecting their brand.
A more honest recruitment campaign would read something like - 'Ever wondered what it's like being a frightened rabbit - come work for us - we're really in the s**t!'

Chiles leaves Five Live while Stubbs arrives
Adrian Chiles is leaving his last remaining show on BBC Radio Five Live to concentrate on his television career. Ray Stubbs, the face of BBC television's Final Score football show, is to become the new voice of Wednesday's football phone-in 606.

UKRD hand back licence to Ofcom in protest
UKRD, the commercial radio company, is to become the first media owner to hand a radio licence back to Ofcom in protest at the way smaller radio stations are regulated. UKRD, owner of 10 commercial radio stations across England, will return the FM licence for Star Radio in Stroud, making a stand in an effort to force a review of the sector's regulation.

Gervais puts a stop to podcasts
Gervais joked his co-star Karl Pilkington may never work again
Ricky Gervais is to stop making his comedy podcasts, saying he wants to "knock it on the head for a while before everyone hates us".
The Ricky Gervais Show podcasts, which also featured The Office co-writer Stephen Merchant and producer Karl Pilkington, were downloaded nearly eight million times.
The first 12 shows were available free but fans had to pay for the second 12.
"It's getting ridiculous and someone has to make it stop," Gervais said.
"I was trying something out. I wanted to see if I could cut out the middle man and make podcasting a commercial concern. Karl never has to work again and I believe that maybe he won't," he added.
The show largely consisted of Gervais and Merchant teasing Pilkington for his idiotic ideas, including his regular Monkey News bulletin of stories about apes.
The comic's second series of Extras is currently showing on BBC Two.
He recently signed a deal with ITV to televise his best-selling children's book Flanimals. Tuesday 26 Sept 2006

6 nought 6
Dissappointed ... the best Five Live's Alan Green could do when a Bluebirds fan phoned in was "and how well do you think Cardiff would do in the Premier League?". It may seem obvious but ask the boss of Wigan, or Reading or the former boss of Wimbledon! Friday 22 Sept 2006

Bobby McVay gets Real
As predicted four ... nah five years ago ... Bob's got Real Radio Wales ... initially Sunday Night 7-10pm then who gets chopped??? And ... maybe GCap have trademarked his name coz Real have misspelled it as Bobby McVae or maybe it's someone pretending to be him! Friday 22 Sept 2006

Offcom advertises new FM licence in South Wales
Offcom has advertised a new FM local commercial radio licence to cover South Wales. Ofcom is also considering advertising up to two new FM commercial radio licences for coverage of most of North and Mid Wales next year, subject to gaining international agreement for the use of the required frequencies. Sunday 17 Sept 2006

Kiss boss considers breakfast changes
Bill Griffin, the boss of Emap's newly relaunched Kiss radio station has cast doubt on the future of its breakfast show. Robin Banks has presented the show since April and increased the show's audience by 47,000 between April and June compared with the first three months of the year. But Griffin said he "reserves the right" to put a new breakfast show on air next year. "We feel Robin is doing a good job, but that's not to say the show can't improve," he added. "The show is on air until January and I reserve the right to have a new show on air, with or without Robin." Sunday 17 Sept 2006

Swansea's Wave owner UTV profits rise 5 per cent
UTV has posted pre-tax profits of £8.5m for the six months to 30 June, a growth of 5 per cent year on year. The company, which owns radio station talkSPORT, recorded revenue of £57.1m, up from £35.6m a year ago. UTV said radio advertising revenue was up 16 per cent on a like-for-like basis in both Britain and Ireland. Sunday 17 Sept 2006

Parfitt restructures Radio 1 execs
BBC Radio 1 controller Andy Parfitt is to restructure his senior management team having been named the corporation's teen tsar. Mr Parfitt, the architect of the Radio 1's recent renaissance, has created three new management roles at Radio 1 and its sister digital station 1Xtra. Responsibility for programming at the two stations will be split into two separate head of programme posts. There will also be an new, as yet unnamed, position with responsibility for editorial standards across Radio 1 and 1Xtra, and the BBC's radio and music interactive services. Sunday 17 Sept 2006

Wossy's Everett interview shocks listeners
Imagine being able to say whatever you want ... to whomsoever you choose ... no matter how offensive ... no matter how insensitive ... no matter how hurtful ... if you're thinking it you just come out and say it ... we're heading there fast ... the process is speeded up by residents of the ivory tower ...
Shocked listeners were treated to a series of lewd remarks when they tuned into a radio interview with actor Rupert Everett.
The My Best Friend's Wedding and Shakespeare in Love star was appearing on Jonathan Ross's Saturday show on BBC Radio 2, to plug his new book Red Carpets and Other Banana Skins.
But Ross was forced to reprimand his guest when Everett began to swear, and made reference to getting into actresses' knickers, during the first few minutes of the interview.
After the news, a chastened Everett referred to fame as a "mind make-love" before going on to talk about masturbating as a Catholic.
The homosexual actor, who has had relationships with famous women including Susan Sarandon and the late Paula Yates, put his heterosexual affairs down to "adventurousness".
"I was basically adventurous, I think I wanted to try everything," he said.
After the show, a BBC spokeswoman said they had only received four complaints about the radio programme.
Both Ross and Everett apologised straightaway for the remarks, she added.
Radio and television presenter Ross is no stranger to controversy, with both he and guests previously rapped for swearing. Saturday 16 Sept 2006

Viking FM's Mystery Voice Mystery ... four arrests so far
Four people have been arrested over an alleged attempt to swindle the Viking FM Mystery Voices, worth £22,000.
A station employee, a police officer and two members of North Yorkshire Police support staff have been bailed pending further inquiries into allegations about the jackpot.
Managing director, Mike Bawden told the Yorkshire Post: "Viking FM understands that a number of arrests have been made following an investigation into matters surrounding our Mystery Voices competition earlier this year. This investigation has the full support of everyone at the station. For 22 years, Viking FM has been responsible for thousands of successful, innovative, big-prize competitions throughout the region. These have generated incredible interest, produced many happy winners and, most importantly, been managed with the utmost professionalism.
"We, therefore, strongly believe it is in the interests of our listeners and the integrity of the station that no stone should be left unturned until this matter is resolved. A new set of celebrities are currently being used for a new Mystery Voices competition, which began in August."
Mr Bawden added: "Whatever the outcome of this investigation, the current Mystery Voices competition continues with great success and popularity and we do not envisage any reason for that to change. In the meantime, as this matter is currently in the hands of North Yorkshire Police, no further comment is possible."
I remember working for a station who ran a cash prize contest - I fear I would've got the sack if I'd complained when a presenter and her friend scammed the competition and split the £700 prize for one round. Perhaps I should have gone to the radio authority or maybe the bingo company sponsors ... Friday 15 Sept 2006

One Jonathan Ross or 200 news staff
One of the BBC's own reporters has attacked the "obscene" £18 million pay deal given to presenter Jonathan Ross.
Theo Leggett, the Corporation's Brussels-based Europe business reporter, slammed bosses for wooing Ross at a time of job cuts.
Ross recently signed a reported £18 million three-year golden handcuffs deal.
In a letter to the BBC's in-house magazine Ariel, Leggett said: "At a time when managers are culling staff in the name of 'value for money', it is little short of obscene that a single performer, however talented, can earn (a reported) £6 million a year. That's enough to pay 200 people an annual salary of £30,000.
"Over the past 18 months, management have been trying to close 330 posts in news alone in order to save cash.
"The implication here is clear: the BBC is willing to compromise its news operation in order to secure the services of one supposed ratings-grabber. I'm not sure that's what public service broadcasting is supposed to be about."
Ross is not the only BBC star with a lavish pay packet.
Earlier this year it was claimed in a series of leaks that Jeremy Paxman is paid £940,000 a year, Radio 2's Sir Terry Wogan gets £800,000 a year and Radio 1 breakfast host Chris Moyles pockets an annual £630,000.
Graham Norton signed a new three-year deal last month reported to be worth £5 million, while Little Britain's David Walliams and Matt Lucas are said to be picking up £6 million.
Responding to Leggett's remarks, a BBC spokesman said: "Presenters' salaries need to be set against our audience's firm view that they expect the BBC to provide them with the best talent, not necessarily the cheapest talent The success of Jonathan Ross's new TV series and ongoing radio show demonstrates that, for many millions, he is a good investment." Friday 15 Sept 2006

Bam Bam launches daily podcast
Former Kiss FM DJ Bam Bam has launched his own daily radio show on the internet. Bam Bam Daily reunites the DJ - real name is Peter Poulton - with his former co-host, Streetboy. The podcast is available for download every weekday morning from theshow.com website. £1.50 per week will get you a brand new thirty minute show from 5am each weekday. September 11 2006

GCap attacks note on breaching covenants
By Emiko Terazono and Neil Hume Published: September 9 2006 03:00
GCap Media, the UK's largest commercial radio group, yesterday hit out at an analyst note by Merrill Lynch, saying it had not breached its banking covenants and refusing to comment on suggestions by the report that it would have to cut its dividend for the current year to March.
A report by analysts at Merrill Lynch said that the weak advertising market would hit GCap's revenues and cut its earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation. This, it claimed, could cause it to break banking covenants that demand that GCap's net debt/ebitda ratio should be less than three times and it should maintain minimum interest cover of four times.
The 'when will someone bid for GCap plot' is akin to Leslie Grantham's long goodbye to Walford. The pace of events seem to be hotting up ... a little. Sad as well.
Before the merger of GWR and Capital I think it's fair to say most observers would have put money on Capital bods being the dominent force after the event.
Rather like the BBC, Capital sought to spend on quality programmes to attract listeners, by that I mean quality local programmes. Often in South Wales holiday relief's were of greater celebrity status than long serving Breakfast Show hosts. For instance Tony Wright's leave was covered by Mal Pope, Jason Harrold on Red Dragon FM by HTV's Lucy Owen and Jonathan Hill.
Richard Park's strategy was superior content quality and a very structured music streaming, a tack which was executed professionally at all times and without doubt appealed to listeners by offering tight music radio as opposed to the BBC's very often lengthy 'talkie bits'.
GWR netwoked their Evening Show, Late Show and Overnight Show on all their stations - eleven hours of non-local radio on local radio .. callers had the place they were calling from chopped blandly from 10 second request spot interactivity ... so short of talent were they at one time they had David Rees hosting the overnight show.
In GCap Media the cost cutting, quality cutting GWR philosophy won - consequently the listenership is in steady decline on key shows around the group. Further and more worrying, credibility is in decline.
When listeners are turning away in such large numbers over such a protracted period - morale begins to suffer much the same as it would on a sinking ship. Fine employees have been shed and there seems to be a lack of direction, a lack of ingenuity, a lack of ideas.
The danger for GCap is that they've cut away so much of the 'meat', so many of the benchmark reasons to listen that there is now no incentive for former listeners to return. Especially when they are better served elsewhere for instance as they are with Real Radio's 24 hour 'local' news.
The City's financial institutions could at any moment decide the GCap is doomed.
And so the latest financial battle for GCap ... are the debts piling up and becoming unpayable ...or have Merrill Lynch got it wrong. Here's the article which began a flurry of activity yesterday ...
GCap's woes may lead to second cut in dividend
By Dan Sabbagh, Media Editor
GCAP Media, the embattled radio group, could be at risk of breaching the conditions of its £76 million overdraft, forcing the company to cut its dividend for the second time in less than a year.
The warning came from Merrill Lynch, the investment bank, which concluded that the company behind Capital Radio and Classic FM is struggling as an already weak advertising market deteriorates further.
In a research note, the bank predicts that GCap’s advertising revenues will tumble by 9.5 per cent this year, leaving it with underlying earnings of £25 million, down from the £32 million previously expected.
Wilton Fry, analyst at Merrill Lynch, wrote in a circular that the company was “now likely to breach its banking covenants” and said “this may trigger a refinancing, in turn causing the dividend to be cut”. The analyst put a sell recommendation on the company’s shares.
GCap Media has endured a horrific period since the merger between Capital Radio and GWR Group that led to its creation in May 2005. It began life with a severe profit warning, and, in the months that followed, Capital lost its leadership in the lucrative London market where it trails both Emap’s Magic and Chrysalis’ Heart stations.
It appears that problems in the advertising market will deepen in the autumn, with ITV, the industry bellweather, estimated to be down by 22 per cent on its core channel in October. No consumer media group is immune to the effect, and the larger UK TV market is now expected to be down by 4 per cent.
GCap has promised its lenders, Lloyds TSB, Barclays and HSBC, it will ensure that its debt is no greater than three times underlying earnings. But, with borrowings set to rise, Merrill Lynch believes that critical test will no longer be met.
The radio group declined to comment on the report yesterday, but it is understood that the company would be obliged to renegotiate the terms of its overdraft should it fail to meet its covenants.
It is expected that the banks would tighten the terms of their lending, possibly forcing GCap to pay a higher interest rate and reduce cash outflows.
GCap’s dividend, currently 9.5p, is the most obvious place to make savings. Merrill estimated that it would be reduced to 4.5p, saving the company a badly needed £7 million a year. It would be the second such dividend cut in under 12 months. GCap agreed to cut its dividend last year in an attempt to raise more funds to invest in its schedule.
The renewed fears add to the pressure on Ralph Bernard, the chief executive, who is due to face the City when the company provides a trading update later this month.
Merrill Lynch did not believe that a bid for GCap would emerge because no media group is interested and a debt-backed private equity bid is too risky in the current market enviroment.
The shares closed down 4 per cent at 200¾p. Friday September 8, 2006

Emap's new Kiss FM for South Wales & The West
launched 7am Wednesday 6th September 2006, click here to visit their new site TotalKiss.com

London's No.1 ILR Magic ready for battle
Emap station Magic 105.4 is launching a new advertising campaign in the Capital to drive audiences to a revamped version of the music quiz Music is Money, which will see £15,000 won every weekday for three weeks.
The new 'execution' launches this week with one 30-second and three brand new 10-second commercials. Created by St Luke’s, the adverts will be shown across ITV, C4, Five and Emap’s Magic TV Channel. From September 11th, the campaign will be supported by a series of bus sides featuring new creative.
The 30-second commercial takes a humorous approach to the idea that everyone can play along with the ‘Music is Money’ competition. It opens with Neil Fox posing that day’s question to a listener who is unsure of the answer before cutting to a bear at London Zoo who, driven by the ‘shout at the radio’ element of the competition, has to chip in with the right answer.
The three new 10-second commercials launch on 9th September and also feature the bear - Koda - taking part in the competition.
Each weekday morning from this week Neil Fox will talk to listeners on air, asking them music-related questions and will keep going until £10,000 is won. Following this, a new question will be posed every hour, giving listeners the opportunity to win £500 by phoning in with the answer. If the caller gets the question wrong, the DJ will then throw the competition open to all listeners who can send in their answers by text. The total cash prize fund is £225,000, spread over three weeks.
As all the competition questions will be music-based, the campaign will emphasise the fact that Magic 105.4 is about great music and great cash prizes.
Additionally, there will be a media agency competition based around an online music quiz that will be organised by Emap Advertising’s trade marketing team.
Andria Vidler, MD of Magic 105.4, said: “The ‘Music is Money’ competition was such a huge success when we first launched it in May that we couldn’t resist bringing it back for a second run. Given the popularity of Neil’s show, and its emphasis on music, it is the perfect platform for a great, music-based competition. The campaign creative is funny and engaging and we’re confident it will attract even more listeners to Neil’s show. Following on from our fantastic Rajar results in August, this campaign cements Magic’s position as London’s number one commercial radio station”.
The ads were created by Alan Young and Julian Vizard of St Luke’s with art direction and copywriting by Eloise Smith. TV production was by Stink and the ad was directed by Zak and Dan. Media was planned and bought by Starcom.
The St Luke’s team flew to Vancouver earlier this year to film celebrity showbiz Kodiak grizzly bear “Koda” who has the starring role in the ad.

Emap pulls radio into line
Mark Sweney, MediaGuardian.co.uk - Tuesday September 5, 2006
Emap has restructured to make its radio division the responsibility of the consumer chief, Paul Keenan, following a savage Ofcom attack on Emap's radio management.
The move brings Emap's standalone radio business, including Magic, Kiss FM and Kerrang!, in line with its television and magazine units under the Emap Consumer Media chief executive
The shift of responsibility for radio adds an extra layer of management above Dee Ford, Emap Radio group managing director, who will now report to Mr Keenan.
The move comes after Ofcom levied the UK's biggest radio fine against Emap in June - £175,000 - following 10 complaints about Kiss FM's Bam Bam breakfast show. A bigger shock than the size of the fine was Ofcom's series of damning indictments of Emap Radio's management.
The regulator said the broadcaster showed "abject failure" in being "unable to manage its talent", had "little control" over its local management and "showed an almost wilful disregard ... for not only Ofcom's codes but also the station's own audience".
Now, Mr Keenan will take ultimate responsibility for the radio station's output.
He is already responsible for the rest of Emap's consumer businesses in the UK including magazines such as FHM and Heat, TV stations including The Hits and The Box, as well as its mobile phone, online and events divisions.
The Emap group chief executive, Tom Moloney, said the restructure fitted with the company's cross-platform strategy.
"The strategy has always demanded excellence by platform above all other considerations. But Emap has still led the way, through innovation, in cross-platform brand development and advertising sales.
"Paul's new role will accelerate those initiatives and further increase cross-promotion, shared consumer insight and talent development."
Meanwhile, Emap also announced that Derek Carter, the chief executive of the group's business-to-business division, has been appointed to the board.
Radio has not been the only low point for Emap recently. It became a bid target in July after a profit warning sent its share price down 125p to just above 700p.
The company said it expected flat revenues this year in a poor advertising environment.
Dogged by low revenue growth in recent years, in June the group sold its struggling French magazine business for £380m to Mondadori, the publishing business controlled by Italy's former prime minister Silvio Berlusconi.

EMI and The Beatles fall out
The world’s third-largest music group, EMI, will have to go to court to face accusations by the Beatles that the company pocketed millions of pounds of excess royalties, said a judge in New York.
New York State Supreme Court Justice Karla Moskowitz denied EMI’s request that the suit for fraud and breach of contract be thrown out. The complaint seeks to reclaim rights to all the master recordings by the band, said Beatles lawyer Paul LiCalsi.
"It’s a great win for us," said LiCalsi, a lawyer with Sonnenschein Nath & Rosenthal in New York. "It’s been a very complicated and long-standing relationship between them," he told Bloomberg.
The dispute between the Beatles, EMI and its affiliate Capitol Records dates back three decades, said Judge Moskowitz in a ruling last week. The Beatles alleged in a 1979 suit that the companies underpaid the band by more than $20m (£10.5m). The Beatles’ company Apple Corps Ltd is also a plaintiff.
A settlement was reached in that case in 1989, LiCalsi said, granting the band and Apple increased royalty rates and requiring EMI and Capital to follow more stringent auditing requirements. The lawyer said a recent audit uncovered fraud, triggering the filing of the new lawsuit in December.
The Beatles claimed that EMI and Capitol wrongly classified copies of Beatles recordings as destroyed or damaged, and secretly sold them for $19m, pocketing the proceeds.
The suit also claimed the music company under-reported the number of units sold. The Beatles are seeking at least $25m in damages and unspecified punitive damages, LiCalsi said. The band’s representatives said the record companies had exercised a "half-century exclusive right to exploit commercially the Beatles’ recordings on a worldwide basis," Judge Moskowitz said. Wed Aug 30, 2006

No Simon Bates day
A second John Peel day will be held on 12 October to mark the anniversary of the late DJ's last BBC Radio 1 show.
Bands, artists and DJs will be encouraged to stage concerts and club nights in honour of the celebrated broadcaster and new music champion.
"I hope many bands and venues will want to celebrate John's anniversary," said his widow Sheila Ravenscroft. "Everyone should have a fantastic night."
Last year more than 500 music events took place around the UK and the world.
As well as airing a selection of classic Peel sessions, Radio 1 will report live from John Peel day events.
The station is also planning a John Peel night, to take place during its Electric Proms season in Camden, north London, between 25 and 29 October.
"Last year's first John Peel day was a phenomenal success," said Jason Carter, Radio 1's live music and events editor.
He described 12 October "as a day in which we can celebrate the great man, new music and continue his legacy".

David Rees follows Rob Earnshaw to Norwich
Disgraced former boss of Red Dragon FM has been recruited by Mark Franklin, group programme director of Tindle Radio to run their Norfolk station, Radio Norwich. Rees was promptly let go by GCap Media in November 2005 after making lewd and offensive remarks on Red Dragon's overnight show, he'd been at a programme controllers night out, and had been very 'happy'. Tuesday August 29, 2006

Virgin Radio firm rejects merger
Virgin Radio owner Scottish Media Group (SMG) has rejected a revised merger proposal from Ulster Television (UTV).
SMG said UTV was now offering SMG shareholders 52% of the joint company, rather than a 50:50 split.
However, SMG did not entirely close the door on any further offers, saying it was prepared to meet UTV to discuss a merger on mutually acceptable terms.
Both firms have major radio interests. Last year UTV bought the Wireless Group which includes TalkSport.
SMG also owns the Scottish Television Group (STV), cinema advertising business Pearl & Dean and TV production firm Ginger Productions.
Takeover speculation surrounding the two firms has been rife in recent weeks.
Earlier this month, reports suggested former Channel Four executive Rob Woodward was putting together a cash offer for SMG.
Meanwhile, further reports have said that UTV is awaiting a counterbid from SMG.
Experts said a lack of cash in the UTV proposal would put off many SMG shareholders, given UTV is worth about £40m less than the Glasgow-based group. Monday August 28, 2006

Town and Country expands in Wales
Media investment firm Town and Country Broadcasting has become one of the largest commercial radio operators in Wales after confirming it had acquired the remaining 56.5 per cent of 102.5 Radio Pembrokeshire from taking full control of stations in Pembrokeshire. The group, owned by former Virgin Radio and Wireless Group executive Jason Bryant, is also set to launch a new station in Swansea after winning the licence from Ofcom last year. Monday August 28, 2006

BBC's indefensible greed defended - scandal says Bell
Former BBC war correspondent Martin Bell has hit out at the salaries claimed by senior executives at the corporation - calling their wages "a big scandal".
The former journalist and MP made his comments following the disclosure that BBC bosses pocketed bumper pay rises last year - while thousands of workers faced redundancy.
Broadcasting unions have threatened to call strikes over salaries claimed at the upper echelons of the corporation.
Bell, 67, who now acts as an ambassador for Unicef, told the Edinburgh International Television Festival: "The big scandal is the jacking up of the salaries of the top management which sends appalling signals to the little guys. It should look after the platoons, not the big guys."
He said the likes of the corporation's Director General Mark Thompson, whose pay packet rose by £160,000 from £459,000 to £619,000 last year, should see working for the BBC as "an honour".
"Public broadcasters should think differently and be paid differently. When I worked for the BBC we expected to be paid two thirds of what our rivals got paid," he said. "The danger in the new landscape is that the BBC thinks differently and commercially."
The former MP also defended the corporation, saying it was "admired and trusted" around the world.
The BBC's director of Policy, Legal, Strategy and Distribution Caroline Thomson defended the salaries during the debate on the licence fee settlement. "The BBC policy is to pay the market median. Governors did a review and found that salaries slipped below the market median," she said.
Director of television Jana Bennett got £353,000 inclusive of benefits and bonus. Her basic rose from £255,000 to £321,000, the annual report published earlier this year revealed. The basic pay of Jenny Abramsky, director of radio and music, went up from £233,000 to £295,000 - taking her total wage to £322,000 with benefits and bonus.
Already 1,132 BBC workers have lost their jobs as part of on-going changes, with more than 2,000 more due to go next year. Monday August 28, 2006

Capital's future ... Shock-Jockery Aussie style?
ADELAIDE radio shock-jock Bob Francis has escaped going to jail over comments that a magistrate's face should be "smashed in".
Francis was sentenced to nine weeks in prison today and fined $20,000 after being convicted on two counts of contempt of court.
But Supreme Court Justice David Bleby suspended the jail term, instead putting Francis on an 18-month good behaviour bond.
Justice Bleby also fined Festival City Broadcasters, owner of radio station 5AA, $80,000.
On October 26 last year, Francis used his top-rating evening program on 5AA to discuss the case of Robert John Walker, a man charged with possessing child pornography who had been found with a list of names and addresses of young children and documents expressing a desire to eat them.
During the program, Francis said Walker was guilty, despite the fact he had not entered a plea at the time.
Francis went on to describe the case as "worse than the Snowtown bloody deaths" and said a decision by Adelaide magistrate Gary Gumpl to hear a bail application for Walker was irresponsible.
"Am I here as a normal bloody human being or do judges live in another world?" he said.
"Oh, smash the judge's face in."
Francis later said he was unaware that, by law, a magistrate must give due consideration to all bail applications. Friday August 25, 2006

Kiss get Cox - will Daley go nightly?
High-profile club DJs Carl Cox and Armin Van Buuren are joining Emap's Kiss radio network as it gears up for relaunch and expansion.
Emap said Kiss will be the only radio station in the UK to broadcast shows from the two DJs. Cox will play the best in funky house while Van Buuren will focus on the top trance tunes in their late night/early morning slots across the weekend.
Their arrival is one in a series of changes being made to the London station. Justin Wilkes is leaving Capital Radio to host a show from 9am to 12pm on weekdays. Toni Philips is moving to a new lunchtime slot while Simon Dale and Jez Welham will take over drivetime and evenings.
A new duo, Melvin and Rickie, are to front the Saturday and Sunday morning shows on Kiss 100, having been discovered working behind the scenes at 1Xtra.
Earlier this month Emap announced that it was extending the Kiss FM radio network across the south-west and east of England, where its Vibe stations will begin to carry syndicated content from London's Kiss 100FM.
From 6 September 2006, Vibe 101 in Bristol and Vibe FM in East Anglia will be rebranded under the Kiss banner. Networked shows across Kiss 100, Bristol's Kiss 101 and Kiss 105-108 in East Anglia include Kissalicious with Jez Welham; FNK, a Sunday morning chillout show, and late night specialist shows from the likes of Loose Canons, Jay Cunning, Shortee Blitz, David Rodigan, John Digweed and Patrick Forge.
New shows shared between Kiss 101 and Kiss 105-108 include James Merritt on weekdays from 9am to 12pm, Nikki Elise in the lunchtime slot and Wec from 7pm until 9pm.
Stuart Grant will present the breakfast show on Kiss 105-108 while Daren Daley & the Stikka Vicca will be replaced by the predictable male/female double header format fronted by Vibe morning man Matt Rogers and Vibe afternoon gal Caroline Cooke will do the same in Bristol, which also gets a new drivetime DJ in the form of AJ, who joins from Galaxy.
Emap said the Kiss network will encourage more interaction from its audiences.
Andy Roberts, group programme director, Kiss, said: "I want current listeners to love Kiss even more and new listeners to get excited about discovering Kiss on the radio. The new schedule is a really exciting mix between established local talent; excellent new signings and some superstar names." Thursday August 24, 2006

Bridgends Bridge FM is sold
Bridgend station 106.3 Bridge FM has been sold by Tindle Radio Group to Town and Country Broadcasting. The South Wales station joins Radios Pembrokeshire and Carmarthenshire, plus Scarlet FM which are also fully owned by Town and Country.
The purchase of Bridge FM, along with the recently won new licence for Swansea Bay Radio will give the growing company five stations around South Wales. It is owned by former Virgin Radio and Wireless Group boss Jason Bryant. The former station director for Swansea Sound, Esther Morton, will become the new regional managing director for the group. Tuesday August 22, 2006

The Odd Couple ...
Atomic Kitten Liz McClarnon, 25 and Swansea City's Lee Trundle, 29 ... for two months now ... both Everton fans.

Big Brothel plans shelved
Reality TV makers have for the time being shelved plans for a series called 'Big Brothel' to be filmed in a real brothel. The series would have featured candid and revealing details of the way prostitutes conducted their affairs with the winner being the contestant who came out on top in a league table. Although the idea may have seemed on dodgy ground legally, the real problem was similarity with the Big Brother series just ended. The three month BB7 was won by a Tourettes sufferer who has now hooked up with another of the contestants who was in fact a former prostitute. It was felt that BB7 used too many of the ideas earmarked for 'Big Brothel'.

ILR lures young listeners into pubs
We know the advertising market is slow, but is it right for ILR's to encourage youngsters, many of whom will be under 18, under 16, to go and spend a fiver at their local pubs to win tickets for a concert? Here's the latest ground breaking idea from Red Dragon FM ... win tickets to see "the world famous Orson" ... quote the VIP club e-mail
Red Dragon FM are bringing the world famous American band Orson to a local Brains pub on Tuesday 29th August 2006. If you are passionate about music and would love to see Orson Live at the Local, keep reading to find out how you can win...
Performing to only 150 people at Red Dragon FM's Live At The Local, Orson will be lighting up the stage with the latest material from their debut album 'Bright Idea' including their smash number 1 hit 'No Tomorrow'.
If you'd love win a pair of exclusive tickets to be there on the night, simply spend more than £5 at any participating Brains pubs and you'll be eligible to receive a golden ticket scratch card. If you're lucky enough to reveal a winning golden ticket, you'll be winging your way to a top secret Brains pub to enjoy this intimate gig.
To find your nearest participating Brains Pub click here
For further chances to win tickets, make sure you're tuned into The Full Welsh Breakfast with Jase and Mel all this week from 6am. Red Dragon VIPs also have the opportunity to be amongst the crowd on the night by winning online, click on the link below to grab your chance to win:
Good luck and we look forward to seeing you there!
The Red Dragon FM Team
The person that e-mail was sent to is aged under ten!
Desperate, misguided and incompetant, here, have a free ad. on us.

GMG stations' revenue boosted 26 per cent
Revenues at GMG's stations Real Radio and Smooth brands rose by 26 per cent for the three months to 30 June, the media group said today. Sunday August 20, 2006

New FM licence for Herefordshire and Monmouthshire
Ofcom has announced the advertisement of a new local FM commercial radio licence to cover Herefordshire and Monmouthshire. Ofcom estimates that this licence could achieve coverage of an area with an adult (aged 15+) population of around 200,000. The closing date for the receipt of applications is 14 November 2006. Sunday August 20, 2006

Dixons to stop selling analogue radios
Dixons (owned by WH Smiths), the leading UK e-tailer of consumer electricals, has announced it is discontinuing the sale of analogue radios. The decision follows substantial growth in the sale of digital radios, and expansion in the number and range of digital transmitters. Digital radios are now outselling analogue radios by 30:1 at dixons.co.uk. Sunday August 20, 2006

Anthea re-Turner
Did you know Anthea's back? Her fairytale rise and fall and possible re-rise is being tested where it won't matter if no one is interested BBC3 .... and the programme has irony in the title ...
Anthea Turner: Perfect Housewife (BBC3 - 8pm Thursdays)
Anthea Turner is back for a second series of the show where she turns domestic disasters into Perfect Housewives. She's still hell-bent on sweeping the homes of the nation clean as a whistle. Help! Thursday August 15, 2006

Get On radio2XS.com Band Space
The new (free) radio2XS Band Space forum is live.
You can comment on a band, start your own band's page, plug gigs or releases, show flyers or CD artwork and add links to audio.
It's all free , and could be accessed by up to 10,000 people per day - including a huge number from the UK and US record and music industries.
Just go to radio2XS.com open the Band Space Forum and make a noise!

It's a story of Great British calamity unparalleled in recent times ... except by numerous other poorly run outfits ... The FA & Sven, Sunderland FC, the replacements for British Rail, British Gas, the CEGB errr The Home Office ... damn it's bloody normal .... here's another analysis from Media Week (back in May) on the success that is GCap, heading for stock market valuation at only a third of its formation value 15 months ago.
Capital Radio needs bolder thinking to progress
Colin Grimshaw is the deputy editor of Media Week.
The timing of the recent departures at the top of Capital Radio looks rather like a pre-emptive strike at minimising the doom and gloom headlines expected come the release of the next Rajars on 11 May.
In contrast to rivals Heart and Magic, Capital did no marketing in the first quarter and is braced for a disappointing result, the first since a strategic review at the end of last year that saw a relaunch and rebranding of the station. The review came on the back of dire financial results for parent company GCap and chief executive Ralph Bernard had to be seen to be taking decisive action.
This included slashing advertising spots in half to no more than two in each ad break - a move designed to stop the haemorrhage of listeners to Radio 1.
It was a bold move - Capital expects to take a £7m hit in revenue this year - and one hopes that Bernard will not bow to short-term shareholder bottom line pressure and axe the strategy before it has been given a chance to work.
Lord knows, the radio industry needs some bold thinking and a greater focus on its long-term health. For instance, it could start investing seriously in its digital businesses, but that is another story.
As for the latest decisive action, the ousting of Capital's MD and programme director, the only surprise is why it wasn't done sooner. The ad strategy may prove to be a clever move, but it can't work if the station's identity is confused and lacks a reason to listen.
Capital's real failing is that it is still trying to target too broad a demographic when London has segmented into a wide choice of listening defined by music taste and age group. The revival of indie/rock and the demise of mass appeal pop hasn't helped either.
The station has started to play up its London affiliation, a smart move, but it also needs a credible identity to hang the London badge on. This may require even bolder thinking - going younger to distance itself from Heart and Magic and the trend towards cutting out droning DJs and playing more music are things Capital might consider.
Then there is the Johnny question. Marketing efforts have integrated Vaughan into the Capital brand to the point that he now is the brand, so replacing him sounds unthinkable. Yet the cold fact is that nearly 400,000 listeners have deserted the breakfast show since he replaced Chris Tarrant. And will he be the right figurehead for a new Capital identity?
Some people are still known to rather stupidly think that the key to attracting listeners may be to put on good programmes - not the over market researched and targetted drivel that is persistently forced into our heads, Mr Vaughn himself being a prime example of where that nonsense can lead.

Kiss to relaunch in September
Emap Radio is to relaunch Kiss 100 FM on September 6 with a new lineup of shows and DJs across the week. The station will benefit from a new logo and marketing push. Emap will also rebrand Vibe 101 in Bristol and Vibe FM in East Anglia under the Kiss name. Sunday August 13, 2006

Channel 4's Tube returns as a radio show
Channel 4 is to ressurrect its music show The Tube, as a radio show on Channel 4's recently launched 'virtual radio' service. The web-based service is a statement of intent for Channel 4's digital radio licence bid, which could mean the launch of up to five stations competing with the BBC. The Tube will go out live and be available for download afterwards. Sunday August 13, 2006

Bobby McVay has left the building
For some years now Bobby McVay has been having to mount a rearguard action in defence of what some of his bosses have labelled too cheesy for 2000 .. 01 .. then 02 .. 3.. 4 .. 5 .. finally in 2006 ... 31 July the day all the aligned GCap contracts terminate .. it's finito Bobbito. Some said too cheesy, but for nearly twelve years he's been the 'man' of daytime Red Dragon FM ... the new bosses have replaced him with Matt Lissack and comedy wind-up calls, now there's pressure for you and nothing cheesy about it at all. At one time there was much talk of Bobby replacing Tony Wright on the Capital Gold Breakfast Show for South Wales ... as Tony has just signed on for another spell that has become a no go. The exit can only be a thinly veiled cost cutting, quality cutting exercise.
What could the future hold for Bobby, a former Song For Europe Winner, who's biggest audience was 300 million? Has Matt been handed a poisoned chalice? It will certainly be a most difficult job trying to prevent Red Dragon haemorrhaging listeners to Real Radio. Saturday August 12, 2006

LBC to expand to regions
LBC is to broadcast to the regions by moving onto the DAB digital network. The London station will broadcast to a potential 17 million listeners nationwide on five separate MXR multiplexes covering South Wales, the Southwest, the West Midlands, the Northwest, Yorkshire and the Northeast. News, traffic and travel bulletins will be replaced with local bulletins specific to those regions. Sunday August 13, 2006

DJ Bacon attacked in pub toilet
Richard Bacon suffered a broken nose but was otherwise unhurt
DJ Richard Bacon has been left with a broken nose after an apparently unprovoked attack by two strangers in a central London pub.
The 30-year-old said the men followed him into the toilet of the Garrick Arms on Charing Cross Road on Monday.
"The first I knew about them was when one started punching me in the face," the ex-Blue Peter presenter said.
Mr Bacon, a DJ at radio station XFM, said he needed an operation to rebuild his nose.
He said he was "not angry, not upset - just a bit perplexed" by the attack, which is being investigated by police.
"The CCTV shows some men following me down to the toilets and one of them waiting outside, presumably to make sure no-one came down while I was being attacked," Mr Bacon said.
"I just covered up and tried to get hit a bit less than I was being.
"I can't really remember what they looked like - I was just trying to cover my head up with my arms." Wednesday August 9, 2006

Chris Tarrant's return?
Rumour has it ... Chrissy wissy has signed a million pound deal to present a Saturday afternoon show on Magic. If true it would reunite him with his old boss Richard Park the radio guru who led first Capital FM and now Magic FM to commercial radio's Number One rating in London. Monday August 7, 2006

Predators eye up declining British radio empire ...
If I was an American or Aussie media company or for that matter an Arabian media company I'd be thinking the time was nearing to bid for GCap ...
GCap Media value dips below £300m
Julia Day, MediaGuardian, Tuesday August 8, 2006
The value of Capital Radio and Classic FM owner GCap Media sank below £300m for the first time today as its share price hit a new low.
GCap's share price fell to 183p at 2.15pm today, giving the company a market value of £299.76m, which is £411m less than when it was formed in May 2005 from the £711m merger of GWR and Capital Radio.
At their highest point last year, GCap's shares were worth 353p. But analysts believe the share price will fall still further, which could spark fresh speculation about takeover bids.
Last week the company recorded a dismal set of radio ratings, with its flagship station, Capital, posting its lowest-ever audience, share and breakfast show figures.
Capital Radio has lost 300,000 listeners over the past year, bringing its audience to a record low of 1.64 million.
Year on year, Capital's audience has declined by 15.4%. Its share of the market has fallen from 6.1% this time last year to 5%, according to the latest figures from radio measurement body Rajar for the period from March 27 to June 25.
GCap's operations director, Steve Orchard, said Capital's poor set of results was not unexpected, adding that he believed the station had hit rock bottom and was now confident audience figures would improve to take it back to the number one slot in London.
The company's Choice and Capital Gold stations also recorded falling audiences, but Classic FM and Xfm provided bright spots for GCap.

Kiss 100 ... Kiss 101 ...
It started as Galaxy Radio with a load of old school enthusiasts playing classic soul and reggae for Bristol .. then the old Horizon group snapped it up ... then GWR swallowed up Horizon and sold it on to Chrysalis ... Chrysalis relaunched a much streamlined regional service as Galaxy 101 ... the Vibe people turned it into Vibe 101 .... from September 6, it will become Kiss 101, after its new owners Emap Radio decided to expand the radio network across the South West and East of England as part of a revamp of the dance music station.
The former Vibe stations, which Emap bought in 2005 as part of its acquisition of Scottish Radio Holdings, will retain local breakfast and drivetime shows, while "benefiting" from new and greater access to Kiss DJs. Tuesday August 8, 2006

Idiots killed the radio star
Some time ago celebrity big boss wannabe's took control of recruitment jobs in radio and tv, so you now get people who well known rather than people who can do the job. Rather like a cast system they also need people who know little and say 'yessir'. The truth is that Chris Evans didn't have many viewers on Big Breakfast, it was a psychophantic audience and Johnny Vaughn had even less. It must be an incredibly depressing time to be Vaughn, yeh he's got the dosh and the position right now but with a tough new Aussie boss starting, many would wager top priority will be to find a winning breakfast show host - after two and a half years and with around half the listeners he inherited Johnny's not waking up London. From the other extreme a seasoned professional with experience all over the UK found the only way he could get back in was by changing his name and pretending he'd never done the job before - offered to present a Sunday morning overnight. It's not only a media thing, think of the number of times you may have had poor service ... does it sometimes make you wonder why all the elaborate systems within our society. Many fear we're living through a house of cards, a small gust of wind and the whole thing will come tumbling down ... Click here to read today's Evening Standard 'nobody loves me' article on Johnny Vaughn ... Monday August 7, 2006

Ofcom allows LBC news hub
Chrysalis has been given the go-ahead by Ofcom to relocate Digital News Network's five regional stations to create a centralised news operation at London's LBC. DNN's five stations have been acquired by Chrysalis for an unnamed sum and will be relaunched as LBC at the beginning of September. Sunday August 6, 2006

Ofcom urged to look at sweeping changes
Nothing to do with keeping roads or airwaves clean, Ofcom is being urged to consider a range of radical changes to the radio sector, including looser station format regulations and the auctioning off of spectrum, as part of a wide-ranging review of the industry. The regulator will launch a public consultation in the autumn and Shaun Gregory, media advisor to Australian investment bank Macquarie and a former executive at Emap Radio, said the consultation should be used as a chance for some radical thinking. Sunday August 6, 2006

GCap share price reaches new low
GCap Media's share price has hit a new low, dropping below 190p, the lowest point since the £711m merger of GWR and Capital 14 months ago. More than more half of the company's value has been wiped off since its creation in May 2005. It's a frightening thought to ponder, that the sum of the two parts that GCap comprises is now worth less than either GWR or Capital Radio Group were individually at the time of GWR's 'aquisition', a merger which was said to be essential for the 'consolidation' of radio in the UK ... whatever that means. Most of us just wish they'd put on some decent programmes. Sunday August 6, 2006

GCap share price reaches new low
It's a scenario worse than Eastenders, your husband has an affair with your colleague who presents the show before you on national radio, right under your nose ... you have to go on the air everyday and put on a show - smile though your heart is breaking. Then the other woman gets your job!
After what must have been a lifechanging sabatical to get her head together the excellent Fi Glover is to become BBC Radio 4's voice of Saturday mornings, the slot formerly occupied by John Peel's Home Truths series. Glover, currently on maternity leave from Sunday morning news programme Broadcasting House, after having a baby with her new partner will start hosting a 9am one-hour show from September. Sunday August 6, 2006

Moyles coming into more money
More people are tuning into Chris Moyles's BBC Radio 1 breakfast show than ever, according to latest figures.
His morning show attracted an average of 6.79 million listeners a week between April and June, according to Radio Joint Audience Research (Rajar).
That was up 470,000 on the previous quarter. Radio 1 saw its total audience rise by 700,000 to 10.4 million.
Radio 2 also saw an increase, with Terry Wogan and Ken Bruce helping swell its ratings to 13.29 million.
Bruce had a particularly successful period, achieving a record audience of 6.64 million for his mid-morning programme exactly 20 years after it began.
Hard-fought battle
In his first set of ratings since taking over Radio 2's drivetime show from Johnnie Walker, Chris Evans recorded listener figures of 4.85 million a week.
His audience is down 150,000 compared with his predecessor's last show but is on a par with previous years.
Evans took over Johnnie Walker's Radio 2 drivetime slot in April
Capital Radio's Johnny Vaughn remains London's top breakfast DJ, despite losing 111,000 listeners since the first three months of 2006.
In a hard-fought battle for the city's morning audience, his 852,000 audience puts him just ahead of Heart's Jamie Theakston with 820,000 and Magic's Neil Fox with 803,000.
Magic 105.4, however, has the largest overall share of total listening time with an average weekly audience of 1.87 million.
The UK has one of the largest radio audiences in the world, with more than 90% of the population tuning in each week.

GCap shares hit new low
Leigh Holmwood, MediaGuardian.co.uk, Thursday August 3, 2006
Commercial radio group GCap today saw its share price plummet to its lowest ever level following poor Rajar audience figures for a host of its stations, including its flagship Capital, which slumped to its lowest ever audience and share of the London market.
The group's share price stood at 186.50p at 9.40am, down 2.1% on last night's closing price of 190.50p.
The slump is a new low for GCap, the UK's largest commercial radio company, which has seen more than £400m wiped off its share price since it was created by the merger of Capital Radio Group and GWR in May last year.
At their highest point last year, the shares were worth 353p.
City analysts Morgan Stanley set a new price target for GCap shares of 160p earlier this week, and said the falling price could spark renewed bid speculation, which has buoyed GCap shares in the past.
The fall in share price follows the latest in a string of trading warnings issued by the company.
In a statement last week, GCap said the advertising market decline was likely to worsen during July and August and "visibility remains limited".
Audience figures published today by radio measurement body Rajar showed Capital came in third in reach and share behind Emap's Magic and Chrysalis' Heart in London.
The station has lost 300,000 listeners over the past year, bringing its audience to a record low of 1.64 million. Year on year, Capital's audience has declined by 15.4%. Its share of the market has fallen from 6.1% this time last year to 5%, according to figures for the period from March 27 to June 25.
The station's breakfast show also recorded its lowest ever audience.
Since former Big Breakfast presenter Johnny Vaughan took over the show from Chris Tarrant in April 2004, he has lost over half a million listeners. He inherited an audience of 1.37 million from Tarrant, but now only 852,000 tune in.
Other commercial radio companies also suffered share price falls this morning, with Emap standing at 691p, down 0.83% on last night's close of 691p.
Chrysalis stood steady at 111p this morning.

Listeners desert Vaughan's Capital breakfast...
by Daniel Farey-Jones, Brand Republic 3 Aug 2006 11:00
Capital Radio's Johnny Vaughan has lost 111,000 listeners as the London breakfast show contest got tighter, while in national radio the BBC's Chris Moyles and Terry Wogan pulled in an extra 300,000 listeners each.
In a bad second quarter for Capital, its breakfast show pulled in just 852,000 listeners, compared with 963,000 in the previous quarter and 1.08m a year ago. It is a new low for the station and Vaughan, who inherited a 1.38m breakfast audience from Chris Tarrant in the spring of 2004. Heart's Jamie Theakston could have overtaken Vaughan if he had held on to the 855,000 listeners he got last quarter, but he failed to do so. With 820,000, he is in second place, narrowly ahead of Magic's Neil Fox, who got 803,000. Fox lost just 1,000 listeners from last quarter.

Capital sinks to a new low - lowest audience ever
By Liz Thomas, The Stage, Published Thu 3 August 2006 at 11:20
Capital Radio has sunk to its lowest ever ratings, with its all important breakfast show suffering the brunt of the damage.
The troubled station dropped a further 79,000 listeners in the quarter from April to June this year according to the latest Rajar audience measurement figures.
GCap-owned Capital now has a share of just 5% - a drop of almost 300,000 listeners year on year. Johnny Vaughan’s breakfast show has slumped by more than half a million since the presenter took over from Chris Tarrant more than two years ago. However Vaughan, with an audience of 852,000, still attracts more listeners than key rivals Jamie Theakston at Heart with 820,000 and Neil Fox, who now pulls 803,000.
Overall the figures have had a dramatic impact on the media company’s share price and will add further to its problems with the current slump in the advertising sector. Emap’s Magic 105.4FM is the London number one with a 6.5% share, while Heart 106.2FM is just behind with 6.1% share.

Magic number one commercial station in London again
... Capital halves ads and listeners
LONDON, Aug 3 (Reuters) - Emap's Magic 105.4 was the top London commercial radio station in the second quarter, according to data released on Thursday, followed by Chrysalis' Heart 106.2 and GCap's Capital 95.8.
Magic's share of total listening time was 6.5 percent, down from 7 percent in the previous quarter, data from Radio Audience Joint Research Ltd showed. Its reach, or the number of people who listen in an average week, was 1.87 million, unchanged on the previous quarter.
Heart's share rose to 6.1 percent from 5.7 percent in the previous quarter while its share dipped slightly to 1.66 million from 1.7 million. Capital 95.8 FM, once the dominant force in London commercial radio, saw its share fall from 5.5 percent to 5.0 percent and its reach decline to 1.64 million from 1.72 million.
"Our plans for the station remain on track and we are confident about its long term prospects," GCap said in a statement. Last year the company said it would halve the number of adverts at the station in an attempt to draw in more listeners and drive up advertising rates.
The UK commercial radio industry, along with TV and newspaper companies, has struggled amid a sharp downturn in the advertising market as marketers have cut their budgets due to low consumer spending.
The publicly-funded BBC dominates the UK radio industry with a 54.7 percent share of listening time, down slightly from 55.4 percent in the first quarter. British radio listeners are among the most avid in the world, with more than 90 percent of the population tuning in each week.

Someone, somewhere get some sense
In order to survive any country needs strong institutions the majority believe in, to carry out their purpose faithfully and honourably - the idea that we can remain in charge of our own affairs while letting ownership pass to foreign consortium's is as misguided as believing we can win the World Cup with an untried 16 year old Theo Walcott in the squad .. someone needs to get a grip before it's too late.
And now here's the latest on Britian's biggest private sector radio company ....
GCap Media PLC is likely to report another disappointing set of audience figures tomorrow, deepening the gloom surrounding the troubled radio group.
The UK's largest commercial radio company saw its shares drop below 190 pence earlier this week.
GCap, formed by the merger between GWR and Capital last year, has lost more than half of its value since its creation.
The slide in GCap's share price has sparked bid speculation, although Morgan Stanley said it does not believe a trade buyer or private equity bid is likely.
"GCap's high operational gearing, dependence on advertising, and low visibility of revenues make a leveraged deal unlikely," the investment bank said in a research note.
Problems integrating the two companies, poor audience figures, and a weak advertising market have hit GCap's performance.
Last week GCap said its revenue fell 6 pct in the three months to June 30, blaming a weaker-than-expected advertising market.
For July, revenues are expected to be down 14 pct, due to lower ad spending during the football World Cup, GCap has warned.
GCap's flagship radio station, Capital 95.8 FM, last year lost its pole position in the hotly-contested London commercial radio market for the first time, Audience figures from industry body Rajar showed.
In the first quarter of this year GCap slipped to third place in terms of audience share behind Emap PLC's Magic 105.4 and Chrysalis Group PLC's Heart 106.2.
"I expect (Chrysalis's) Heart to do better this time but I think GCap will be treading water," said Paul Richards, a media analyst at Numis Securities.
GCap has recently appointed a number of senior managers including Scott Muller as programme director for Capital Radio, and a group strategy and development director, Will Harding.
Last November GCap said it would halve the number of adverts it played in an effort to prevent listeners tuning out during ad beaks.
afxnews.com 2 Aug 06

Xfm promotes Camfield in daytime schedule shuffle
GCap Media alternative station Xfm has reshuffled its daytime schedule, with new slots for Shaun Keaveny and Ian Camfield, following the return of Richard Bacon from sister station Capital Radio.
The drivetime move, announced last month, is a direct switch between GCap Media Group stations, with Bacon taking the helm at the 4pm-7pm show on Xfm vacated by rising star Lucio, who will now present a new Capital Radio drivetime show. Bacon starts his new Xfm drivetime show on Monday August 7, which will now include a live music element, as programme director Andy Ashton makes further changes to the station's daytime schedule. As the main consequence of the reshuffle, Camfield will be promoted to the 10am-1pm mid-morning show taking over from Keaveny, who is moved to the 1pm-4pm afternoon slot taking the helm of the station's request show 'The X-List'. Tuesday August 1, 2006

GCap let Kelly return to Classic FM
Henry Kelly is to return to Classic FM as part of a revamp of the GCap-owned station's line-up for autumn, which also includes the arrival of 'Blackadder''s Tony Robinson.
As well as the return of the Classic FM stalwart Kelly, lunchtime presenter Jane Jones is moving to the early morning breakfast show. Breakfast show presenter Simon Bates will move to a new later start time of 8am from his usual 7am start, with Jones taking on the extra hour. Kelly will return to the station to present a new three-hour Sunday morning show, starting at 9am, after a four-year hiatus from the GCap Media-owned station. Former early morning presenter Jamie Crick will follow Bates at 12pm with 'Most Wanted'. Between 1pm-4pm there is the Classic FM daily chart voted for by visitors to classicfm.com . The slot will also include a new 'Children's Requests' feature. Wednesday August 2, 2006

Top Of The Pops finale seen by 3.9 million
Almost four million people tuned in to the hour-long final episode of Top of the Pops, according to unofficial overnight figures.
The BBC Two programme averaged 3.9 million viewers, representing a 20.8% share of the TV audience at that time. Recent audiences averaged about one million in the Sunday slot, down from about 15 million in its 1970s heyday. Sir Jimmy Savile returned to co-host the final show, with a programme looking back over its 42-year history. The BBC announced last month that it was axing the world's longest-running weekly music show, saying that it could not compete with 24-hour music channels. Other former presenters returned for the final episode, including Janice Long, Reggie Yates, Edith Bowman, Pat Sharp, Sarah Cawood, Rufus Hound and Tony Blackburn. Sir Jimmy, who presented the first show in 1964, was seen after the credits turning out the lights in BBC TV Centre's Studio 3. The programme counted down to the current number one, Shakira and Wyclef Jean's Hips Don't Lie. Tuesday August 1, 2006

GCap share slump tragic .. worse to come
Posted by Julia Day, MediaGuardian.co.uk, Tuesday August 1, 2006
GCap Media's share price has hit a new low, dropping below 190p, with £400m - more than half of the company's value - wiped off since its creation in May 2005.
Shares in the UK's largest commercial radio company stood at 188.75p yesterday at the close of the stock market - its lowest since the £711m merger of GWR and Capital 14 months ago.
At their highest point last year, the shares were worth 353p.
But City analysts believe GCap's share price has not yet bottomed out and that the company will report a downbeat set of quarterly Rajar audience figures later this week.
Morgan Stanley has set a new price target for GCap shares of 160p, and said the falling share price could spark renewed bid speculation, which has buoyed GCap shares in the past.
But the investment bank does not believe a private equity or trade bid is likely.
"GCap's high operational gearing, dependence on advertising, and low visibility of revenues make a leveraged deal unlikely," it said.
The market capitalisation of the owner of Capital Radio and Classic FM stands at £311m, £400m down on its value at the time of the merger.
The fall in share price follows the latest in a string of warnings, issued by GCap last week, which produced the steepest drop in the FTSE 250 on Monday July 24.
In last week's trading statement, GCap said the advertising market decline was likely to worsen during July and August and "visibility remains limited", a standpoint reiterated today by a GCap spokeswoman.
However, the company pointed to difficult trading conditions in the radio industry and media market as a whole, which have also affected Kiss and Magic owner Emap and ITV.
One City analyst said today: "We still think there is a downside to the shares. If you have already invested in the stock then you would want to wait and weather the storm, but if I was talking to someone looking at the stock, I would say that I don't think the shares have hit the bottom yet."
Looking ahead to this Thursday's Rajar audience figures, the analyst said: "The second-quarter Rajars will not be pretty, GCap's haven't been for some time.
"GCap told the City last week it did not expect the number of listeners for Capital to increase until the first quarter of 2007, but their timeline seems to be fluid.
"Plus, the new director of strategy and director of programming don't start until this month, so may take some time to bed in."
GCap shares opened at 190p today and had climbed to 191p by mid-morning.

The pair are "total stars", said Ben Cooper, Radio 1's head of mainstream.
He wished Spoony well, saying he had "done a great job for the station" and had "an amazing career ahead of him".
The schedule changes mean Cotton and Yates will be on-air between 0700 and 1000 each Saturday and Sunday. Posted 31 July 2006

The Final Countdown
So TOTP is history and the final weekly show passes with a collection of presenters and acts from 42 years and .... no footage of The Beatles ... the best production can do for Tony Blackburn is a faulty microphone .... then we're treated to Jeremy Clarkson and his Top Gear crew as roadies for The Who - not breaking the law using mobile phones while driving but communicating whilst motorway driving at speed via walkie talkie ... how very rock & roll .... £200 licence fee - stroll on! (Ed Posted 30 July)

The Final Countdown
Top of the Pops, the UK's longest running weekly TV chart show marks its final countdown this weekend, and helping to celebrate 42 years of pop, the god of radio, the man we all love, Tony Blackburn, will be presenting his special part of the show.
Other previous presenters including Sir Jimmy Savile, Janice Long, Mike Read, Pat Sharp, Reggie Yates and Edith Bowman will have their own slot. Like the very first show, this programme will begin with the Rolling Stones - on this occasion performing The Last Time from the Sixties on tape - and conclude with this week's No.1.
The one hour special will air on BBC TWO this Sunday (30th July) at 7pm, and celebrates the programme's glorious history with many of the greatest performances through the decades including The Rolling Stones, Spice Girls, Wham, Madonna, Beyonce and Robbie Williams. Posted 27 July 2006
People will always have a Top 40 songs - or there will always be a need to judging what the most popular songs are for large numbers of people. Top Of The Pops or a music chart popularity show will always have a place.
For some extended time the Beeb have set about making Top Of The Pops dis-function with a view to ending it, as they did with Noel Edmunds Saturday Teatime Show transferring the Producers and team that made the show work, as they did replacing Wogan with El Dorado (that mistake halved BBC1's viewers and cost us helpless licence paying citizens £10million for the set alone), as they did destroying the old Radio One and gifting to ILR millions of listeners who did not really want a commercial with their Pop, as they've done with Grandstand, as they're probably about to do with Match Of The Day and as they should have done with Eastenders.
For me the moment comedians and gormless models became the main presentation team it signalled the BBC itself no longer took Top Of The Pop's audience seriously. It became tedious to watch the latest unconvincing celeb fluffing lines when you knew you could have been watching a professional link the music together.
I was working with Andi Peters in 2004 when he was given the job of reviving the show. I remember thinking when I saw the result arrive in a blaze of glory this glitzy production and crappy gossipy bits could never in a million years replace the tight format idea of playing an established Top 40 hit next to a slightly newer record with minimal chat - the soul of the living chart show had become the prey for any ole incredulous self-important 'celeb'.
The music seemed to have become last in the list of priorities.
Some of the greatest music is being made now.
I would wager soon terrestrial television will again have a mainstream weekly showcase for the music we love. Ed

You Don't Win & We're Keeping The Prize
Good Music Bingo was the game, ten thousand pounds was the prize - and one lucky winner was taken to air to win the lot. But after station bosses checked her 'bingo card' it turns out she didn't have all the artists listed.
So GWR FM in Bristol kept the money and didn't award the prize. The unlucky listener then complained to Ofcom who investigated further.
In responce, GCap, which owns GWR FM, confirmed that the complainant had not had a winning card. It said that the listener had been told before she was taken to air that the award of the prize was subject to checking that her game card had been correctly completed. However, it acknowledged that it should have had in place “a more robust process for checking whether a claimed “winner” was in fact a winner before taking him/her to air.”
The broadcaster said that it had taken the decision not to refer subsequently on air to the complainant having not won the competition. It believed the original announcement of her winning would have resulted in most other players discarding their game cards. The station therefore decided that, “to have resuscitated the competition in such circumstances would have been impractical and unfair” and, instead, it elected to run a further competition with a prize of £10,000, at a later date.
Nevertheless, GCap maintained that the original competition had been conducted fairly, with prizes that had been described accurately and rules that had been clear and appropriately made known.
So whilst it is not up to Ofcom to say whether or not the listener should win the prize, they do say listeners who participated were entitled to know that the main prize had not been won, why it had not been won, and that the station had decided to resolve the matter by running another competition with the same prize.
Because GWR FM did not announce these, Ofcom found the broadcaster in breach of Rule 2.11 of the Broadcasting Code which states: “Competitions should be conducted fairly, prizes should be described accurately and rules should be clear and appropriately made known”. Posted 27 July 2006

GCap averts shareholder rebellion
Chris Tryhorn, City correspondent MediaGuardian.co.uk - Monday July 24, 2006
Radio group GCap Media escaped a kicking from investors today over former chief executive David Mansfield's £1.16m payoff.
Just 11% of shareholders voted against GCap's remuneration report at its annual general meeting, suggesting they had been mollified by the company's explanation that Mr Mansfield's payoff was the legacy of an old contract.
GCap took the unusual step of publishing an "explanatory statement" in its annual report last month, a move said to have impressed investors.
"It referred to policies put in train by a previous board and affected previous management at a time radically different from today," the GCap chief executive, Ralph Bernard, said after today's meeting.
Today's relatively small protest vote compared with a 25% vote against the remuneration report at GCap's most recent shareholder meeting in October.
Mr Bernard today admitted the advertising market was tough for GCap, but said the company was trading in line with the rest of the sector for the first time.
He predicted that Capital Radio's new policy of playing no more than two ads in a row, which has hit revenues, would start to deliver results by December.
GCap warns of worsening ad market
Mon 24 Jul 2006
LONDON (SHARECAST) - GCap Media, the radio broadcaster, warned today that the poor advertising market is set to continue into July and August.
The group warned that trading in the quarter was primarily affected by a worsening advertising market with the difficult conditions set to continue well into July and August.
“July, which is forecast to be down 14%, is we believe, like June, an exceptional decrease primarily due to lower advertising spend around the World Cup,” said GCap Media.
GCap Media added that recent trading has been weaker than we expected. “Visibility remains limited and the GCap Media Board takes a cautious view on market conditions in the near term.”
Total GCap Media revenues for the three months to June 2006 fell about 6% year on year, while total revenues, excluding Capital Radio, fell 3% year on year. Here's GCap's six-month share chart ...

Look it's the Radio One Roadshow - luxury 'my TV licence is worth it for this alone' edition
Talk about company jollies ... www.bbc.co.uk/radio1/summer06/schedule.shtml

Emap boss under fire as shares plunge
James Robinson, media business correspondent Sunday July 16, 2006. The Observer
Media giant Emap is facing a shareholder backlash after it announced last week that its revenues will slide this year. Shares in the company, which owns 'lads' mag' FHM and radio station Magic FM, fell by nearly 15 per cent last Thursday following the news.
One of Emap's largest shareholders hinted that it would support a takeover bid for the group. 'It is not a huge surprise they have underperformed. There is a lot of venture capital money around in the media sector. They wouldn't have much of a defence if someone came along with a bid,' the stakeholder said.
The market reacted badly to Emap's statement, sending shares tumbling by 125p to 712p, the biggest fall for 15 years. Analysts estimate profits will be around £10m lower than expected. Emap had previously predicted they would grow by around 2 per cent this year.
Another investor questioned whether chief executive Tom Moloney should remain in his job: 'Moloney's job is under severe pressure. He's had three strikes now. It is a cumulative thing.'
Last September, Emap warned that advertising revenue in some of its public-sector trade titles was falling rapidly and overall growth was slowing. Before that, Moloney had announced that the group's French arm was performing badly, and the business was subsequently sold.
Emap got a good price for it, but shareholders said the company would now come under pressure to dispose of more businesses, or even break up the group completely. '[Moloney] doesn't want to do that, but if he doesn't, there is a lot of money out there that will. This may give them the kick they needed. I guarantee they'd get more for the constituent parts of the business than they are worth [together],' said one.
Venture capital groups are targeting the media sector, which has underperformed the market recently. The ad industry is in the middle of a slowdown and money is migrating to new media. Industry analysts say Emap has done more than most of its competitors to prepare for the onset of the digital age, but the pace of change is worrying the City.
Emap said last week that revenues from its men's lifestyle and automotive titles, which analysts estimate generate around 40 per cent of profits at its magazine arm, had slowed significantly. Magazines including FHM - one of the publishing success stories of the Nineties - music title Q and car publication Max Power are not performing as well as they were. Arena and Motor Cycle News are also believed to be suffering.
The company has launched successful weekly titles like Zoo and Closer, which are growing, but investors are worried that the latest comments from the company indicate the slowdown in the magazine market may be permanent rather than cyclical. One analyst said: 'The market is catching up with them.'
A company spokesman said: 'Emap continues to outperform markets which are clearly under pressure', and emphasised that it had raised the dividend and returned money from the sale of the French business to shareholders. He added that Sir Robin Miller, a former chief executive and chairman of Emap, described the company's current management as 'outstanding' last week.

The last Top of the Pops???
Sir Jimmy Savile presented the first ever Top Of The Pops in 1964 and amazingly he will co-host the final edition of Top Of The Pops on 30 July.
The veteran DJ, 79, said he immediately agreed to take part in the show, telling producers: "I did the first one, and I'll do the last."
According to Broadcast magazine, Sir Jimmy will be joined by other former Top Of The Pops presenters such as Pat Sharp, Tony Blackburn and Mike Read.
The BBC announced last month it was cancelling the long-running music show because of falling audiences.
In its 1970s heyday Top Of The Pops was regularly seen by 15 million viewers, but recent programmes on BBC Two have struggled to find an audience of more than one million.
Sir Jimmy presented the first ever edition of the show from a converted church in Manchester on New Year's Day 1964.
The programme included music from The Rolling Stones, The Beatles and Dusty Springfield.
The former Radio 1 DJ says the BBC phoned him last week and asked him to take part in the final edition of the programme.
"They're not even entirely sure what the format will be yet," he told the BBC News website. "It's all up in the air."
A spokesperson for Top of the Pops confirmed Sir Jimmy's involvement in the last show but said full details of the format and line-up were still being finalised.

Surprise Surprise ... BBC chief tops media power list
Source The Guardian
Mark Thompson first joined the BBC as a production trainee in 1979
BBC director general Mark Thompson has come top of the Guardian's list of the most powerful figures in the UK media.
Three people in the top 10 come from technology companies, including Apple boss Steve Jobs at number two.
Google creators Sergey Brin and Larry Page share fourth place, while Bill Gates from Microsoft ranks ninth.
Rupert Murdoch is at number three with Channel 4 chief executive Andy Duncan at five in the survey, which recognises achievements and potential success.
The newspaper said Mr Thompson, 48, could "reflect on a job well done" over the past year.
He had seen "the licence fee secured for the next 10 years, external regulation of the BBC rejected, and the government's largely favourable white paper" on the corporation's future. MEDIA GUARDIAN 100
1. Mark Thompson, BBC director general
2. Steve Jobs, Apple chief executive
3. Rupert Murdoch, News Corporation chairman and chief executive
4. Sergey Brin and Larry Page, Google co-founders and directors (above)
5. Andy Duncan, Channel 4 chief executive
6. Charles Allen, ITV chief executive
7. Michael Grade, BBC chairman
8. Jana Bennett, BBC director of television
9. Bill Gates, Microsoft chairman
10. Paul Dacre, Associated Newspapers editor-in-chief

But it added that with more than 1,100 job cuts in the past 12 months, the BBC "might be a lean operation, but that doesn't make it a happy one".
Mr Jobs had "transformed the music industry and in the process created a whole new demographic - the 'iPod generation'", the Guardian said.
His company had a turnover of $17.3bn (£9.5bn) in the last financial year.
Rupert Murdoch, who controls The Sun and The Times newspapers and satellite broadcaster BSkyB, is in third place for the second consecutive year.
Having purchased community website MySpace and spoken of the importance of emerging digital technologies, he is describesd as being "one of the biggest media moguls to predict such radical change".
It claims he "virtually ignored the web when it first flourished in the late '90s", however, so now "it is catch-up time" for the American citizen.
Also on the list is ITV chief executive Charles Allen at number six, with BBC chairman Michael Grade one place below him.
The top print editor is The Sun's Rebekah Wade at 12. Jonathan Ross is the highest-ranked presenter at number 19.
Mr Thompson's success on the survey contrasts with that of his predecessor as BBC director general, Greg Dyke.
Now chairman of media company Hit Entertainment, he is at number 100.
Six judges chose the final list, including Guardian Unlimited editor-in-chief Emily Bell, former Walt Disney Television executive Paul Robinson and ex-BBC One controller Lorraine Heggessey.

GCap accused of digital radio spoiling tactics
John Plunkett, Tuesday July 18, 2006
Channel 4 has accused Capital's owner GCap of spoiling tactics in the race to become the country's second national digital radio operator.
The broadcaster said Ofcom's insistence that the new digital multiplex offered services distinct from the ones currently available gave an unfair advantage to the existing national digital radio outfit, Digital One, which is 63% owned by GCap.
Channel 4 added that Digital One could expand its services to "snooker" potential competition, and said the regulator must ensure that Digital One "does not abuse its monopoly position in the runup to the award of a second national digital multiplex by cynically varying its licence to hamper competition".
There was already "evidence suggestive of the strategy" after GCap announced it would be including golden oldies station Capital Gold as one of its national digital radio stations, according to Channel 4.
The TV broadcaster is planning to launch a rival to Radio 4's Today programme if it wins the new radio digital licence, which will enable the new station to be up and running by 2008.
It is the latest salvo in the battle to win the second digital radio multiplex. GCap had threatened to sue Ofcom if it went ahead with the award of a new licence, which will be in competition with Digital One offerings including Life, Planet Rock and Oneword, which is majority owned by Channel 4.
The stand-off appeared to be resolved after the regulator said the new wave of services would not compete with GCap.
Channel 4 criticised the move in its submission to Ofcom, published today. It was one of a number of broadcasters to comment on the regulator's plans to launch a new digital multiplex, including GCap, the BBC and BT.
GCap said new licensees "should ensure that its services are distinct from those broadcast on Digital One, in addition to those that have significant quasi-national coverage across the UK ... to ensure increased take-up of the medium [rather than just providing additional choices for consumers that currently consume it]".
Ofcom expects to advertise the second national multiplex by the end of this year. Another 12 local digital radio multiplexes will be advertised from late this year.

now then now then ... Sir Jimmy Jimmy
Sir Jimmy Savile has said he was looking forward to presenting the last ever edition of Top Of The Pops as he handed over £60,000 of his own cash to help trainee doctors.
Sir Jimmy was at Leeds University to present a cheque for the money which will provide scholarships for medical students in his home city. And the veteran broadcaster used the occasion to eulogise about the long running TV pop show.
He said: "Next week I'll go to London to do the final Top Of The Pops. I did the first on Wednesday, January 1, 1964 and I'll do the last in 2006. The golden egg we laid in '64 is now a world phenomenon."
Sir Jimmy said he was only too happy to help out young medics.
"I think it's 60,000 quid of mine well spent," he added.
"And after a couple of years it will be so successful I'll pass it on to some rich pharmaceutical company and it will go on forever. I was born a quarter of a mile from where I'm stood and grew up under the shadow of this great university. To come here, to this court yard, is something I couldn't have dreamt of in those days."
The university said Sir Jimmy's generous donation will help five trainee doctors pursue career paths in research and teaching, as well as treating patients.
The DJ was awarded an honorary doctor of laws from the University of Leeds in 1986. .
University Vice-Chancellor Professor Michael Arthur said: "We need talented medical graduates to combine their clinical work with research and teaching, so they can pass on their knowledge and experience to future generations of doctors. I am very grateful to Sir Jimmy, and we both hope others will follow suit."
The Savile scholarships will be awarded to students who display a flair for research and enthusiasm for careers in academic clinical research and teaching. (Posted 16 July)

GCap boss positive in spite of tough market
Article by Amanda Andrews, Fri 14 July 06.
IT IS hard to believe that Ralph Bernard’s office at GCap’s headquarters in Leicester Square once belonged to David Mansfield, the radio group’s first chief executive.
The walls, plastered with rock ’n’ roll posters and Capital Radio memorabilia in the Mansfield days, are now bare, except for two small prints of musical instruments advertising Classic FM — Mr Bernard’s biggest brand from his GWR days. The lounge-cum-office is instead dominated by four armchairs and a huge hi-fi system stacked with CDs.
Times have changed since the short-lived Mansfield era. Mr Bernard, who stepped down from the chairmanship to take over, says: “I was friends with David Mansfield before and am friends with him now. It was just not right at the top of the business together. We did our best and came to a mutual agreement.”
It has not been an easy ride; Capital’s audience has been dropping over the past five years, while advertising has fallen away sharply. Yet, Mr Bernard tries to be positive, predicting a strong future for radio. He has a passion for radio and wants to prove it is not doomed — a determination that can be overpowering, but is impossible not to respect. “My heart is with radio. My soul is with radio. Radio is still the most robust medium around despite an extraordinary avalanche of competition. It has been around for 100 years and it is growing with the rise of digital radio.”
But is enthusiasm enough? GCap’s poor performance since the merger of Mr Mansfield’s Capital and his GWR has put Mr Bernard’s job on the line. He knows that the pressure to deliver is on his shoulders, but suggests that any past criticism about his management ability is unjustified and any pressure on GCap’s revenues is the result of other factors.
“The advertising market is not good. I have run radio stations for 25 years and I didn’t suddenly become a poor manager,” he says.
So what is the Bernard plan? One idea is to reduce radio’s dependence on advertising; so he has just appointed a new strategy and development director to source new non-traditional revenue streams. “We are clearly in a world where the existing business model is undergoing change. Of Classic’s revenues, 17 per cent are non-traditional. Capital Radio’s are less than 10 per cent.”
However, with a difficult advertising market, the one thing Mr Bernard does not want to do is to reduce the prices charged to advertisers. He said that Capital Radio charges 30 per cent more than Chrysalis’s Heart and about 50 per cent more than Emap’s Magic, a legacy of its history as the number one.
Naturally the argument is that Capital Radio is much more appealing to advertisers than its rivals because it attracts key consumers — listeners aged between 25 and 34. “The decline of Capital has taken five years and you don’t arrest this overnight. We decided the premium was the most important thing to keep.”
Mr Bernard has appointed a new programme director, after the dismissal of the long- serving Keith Pringle. Scott Muller, currently programme director at Sydney’s Nova, is expected to start next month. Mr Muller has a difficult task ahead of him. Mr Bernard admits that Capital, once a dominant force in the London radio scene, has lost a lot of its “London-ness”.
The question, though, is whether that can be enough; is a standalone radio business big enough to survive? Although Mr Bernard said he would not rule out future partnerships with the likes of ITV, he says that this is not on the agenda and GCap does not need to be anything other than a pure radio player.
He is, however, looking at cross promotion. Planet Rock, a digital radio station invented by Mr Bernard after he found inspiration playing with a juke box at The Lamb Inn in Marlborough, is one station earmarked for cross-promotional activity. He is considering launching a magazine and/or music television channel to promote the brand further.
“You’ve got to make sure you keep talent happy and you provide them with the right environment to express their talent. I can’t stop the BBC tapping into its vast resources.”
GCap’s biggest challenge is to ensure that it has leading brands that will secure talent. This in turn will win listeners. It also has the task of putting merger difficulties behind it.
“The morale in this building is good. The morale in this building six months ago was bad. You move on.”

Shock Horror - Vandals Smash Things
Police have received a complaint about an item on the BBC's Newsnight programme which saw a car bedecked in English flags attacked by vandals.
Programme-makers left the car in the Gallowgate area of Glasgow after an item on Scottish attitudes to England.
Cameras then filmed as five youths attacked the vehicle with bricks.
The piece was broadcast on 30 June after a series of incidents in Scotland which had seen people attacked for wearing English emblems.
The car stunt drew criticisms that it had been staged and effectively stirred up racial hatred.
A Strathclyde Police spokeswoman said: "We can confirm that we have received a complaint and inquiries are ongoing."
The Scottish National Party's broadcasting spokesperson Pete Wishart now plans to raise the matter in the Commons in a Government-sponsored debate about the BBC.
He said: "The sensationalist report by the UK Newsnight arm contrasted sharply with a Newsnight Scotland version which was informative and measured - and at a fraction of the cost I would guess."
The Perth and Perthshire North MP said this underlined why Scotland needed its own broadcaster, so that national and cultural life can be "properly represented".
"To the great irritation of many in Scotland we have been exposed to the sports coverage and commentary of another nation," he said.
"As the Newsnight report shows, this is hardly reflective, proportionate or even responsible for the audience in Scotland."
The BBC has rejected claims that the incident was staged and said the item generally portrayed light-hearted banter among Scots on the subject.
A spokesman for the broadcaster said: "We've not had any contact from the police, but if we do we will respond to that."
It's worrying that we're being led to mistrust and even envy eachother in such a way. If you leave any car in a vulnerable position it's likely to suffer, that's what the Police have always told us, don't leave valuables (like a National Flag) on display, so why antagonise people? Divide and conquer went the Roman philosophy. An English reader who buys four copies of any one of our lovely 'news' papers on the same day - in Wales, Scotland, Northern Ireland and England - could be forgiven for having a seizure. Comparing the 'brand' bias, the market researched and targetted tittle tattle becomes rather like the shock of discovering one's partner has been unfaithful. Big questions should be asked of the many newspaper Editors and Proprietors, TV Producers & Broadcasters who have little regard for a United Kingdom if they feel an anti-English story will sell more newspapers / gain more viewers outside England's borders - they dare not print the same shoddy headlines in England. Shhhh secret - one English Radio Company will not hire English presenters for it's Scottish Station, if there was an English only rule in England there would be outrage. We must be in the middle of a National Nervous Breakdown. (Posted 13 July)

BBC One Rule for Bosses - BBC Any Other Rule for Staff
Some 10,000 employees at the BBC are to vote on whether to strike in a dispute about wages and pensions.
Union officials said staff were angered by the level of salaries of top managers when most workers were being offered pay rises of 2.6%.
Unions also oppose plans to change the pension scheme and the loss of more than 1,100 jobs in the past year.
Bectu, Amicus and the National Union of Journalists will send out ballot papers next week, with the results in August.
On Friday, the corporation's annual report revealed that director general Mark Thompson was paid £619,000 in the last financial year.
However, he declined to be considered for a bonus for a second successive year.
More than 2,000 staff are to lose their jobs in 2006-7 and the corporation plans to close its final salary pension scheme to new employees.
It also wants to raise the retirement age from 60 to 65 and increase staff contributions to pensions.
Gerry Morrissey, the assistant general secretary of Bectu, branded managers "extremely hypocritical in accepting huge pay rises for themselves".
The BBC was unavailable for comment.BBC chairman Michael Grade has defended the recent pay increases awarded to the corporation's top executives.
Speaking on Radio 4's Today programme, he said the increases represented "a lot of money" but were "not as much as they could all be earning elsewhere".
"Pretty well everybody in the BBC works for less than they could in the private sector. There is no reason why their loyalty should be punished," he said.
Concerns over BBC pay were "an annual ritual", he continued.
Broadcasting unions meet on Monday to consider their response to BBC moves to close its final pension scheme to new members.
It is likely they will agree to ballot their members on strike action.
Mr Grade said he was "very sorry" that people objected to the salary increases, but said it was BBC policy "to pay the market median".
He said the Board of Governors had to act "in the long-term interests of the corporation".
The National Union of Journalists (NUJ) has responded angrily to the rises, which - according to the BBC's annual report - puts its executive base pay at 4.5% above the market average.
"BBC executives have awarded themselves inflation-busting salary increases at a time when staff are being offered a below-inflation pay rise," it said.
But the BBC said those figures did not take into account caps on bonuses that bring total pay and benefits below the market median.
Mr Grade's own salary will rise by more than £57,000 when he becomes a trustee in January under terms set by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport. Why are these outrageous lies being told? Anyone who works in radio or television knows the commercial stations will pay as little as they possibly can. In radio £50 for a three or four hour show is not uncommon and yet these stations frequently achieve more listeners than Radio One. By comparison a Jo Whiley costs £800 per show & Jonathan Ross £3,000 per show. If senior management shouldn't be punished for their loyalty why should ordinary members of the workforce? Since the day Greg Dyke dared cross the Government his replacement's have had their palms 'oiled', it is the ordinary BBC workers who more accurately reflect a realistic wage in Britain today. (Posted 12 July)

GCap to charge listeners as radio revenues tumble
Owner of beleaguered Capital Radio plans commercial-free versions of stations such as Classic FM
By Tim Webb
Published: 09 July 2006 .
GCap Media, the owner of Capital Radio, is planning to charge listeners to tune into some of its stations. Chief executive Ralph Bernard said the group was also looking to form partnerships with other media companies such as ITV to launch new interactive services.
Mr Bernard told The Independent on Sunday that GCap, whose profits have plummeted on weak advertising, could launch a commercial-free version of its Classic FM station on a digital frequency, charging listeners a subscription of several pounds a month.
Mobile phone or online radio listeners would also be able to download or "podcast" premium content from other stations for a fee, he added.
GCap has already struck a deal with the BBC that allows the corporation to broadcast the Captain Kremen radio comedy shows of the late DJ Kenny Everett. Mr Bernard said other money-making opportunities could include GCap charging for podcasts of the show, or for specialist content such as fishing programmes, which he dubbed "rod casts".
GCap would become the first mass-market UK radio group to offer "pay radio". Unlike in TV, where broadcasters such as BSkyB already charge a subscription, mainstream UK radio has always been free to air. Mr Bernard denied the move to charge for podcasts and pre- mium content was driven by falling ad revenues,.
"[The] advertising market is clearly soft at the moment. But this is not an alternative to existing free-to-air services," he said.
This week, the group will announce the appointment of a new group strategy director, Will Harding, to focus on boosting new media and non-traditional revenues.
Mr Bernard declined to say how a deal with ITV might work. However, he added: "I would not rule out a relationship with ITV, Clearly this is something which works in a multimedia world. If there is an interesting proposal, we do not have to remain sole operators."
But analysts have urged Mr Bernard, who is a fierce advocate of digital radio even though the medium has so far failed to return a profit, to concentrate instead on arresting the decline in the group's advertising and listening figures, particularly at Capital Radio.
Last year, the group's flagship was knocked off the top spot as most popular commercial station in London for the first time in its 32-year history by Chrysalis's Heart FM.
Johnny Vaughan, who pre- sents Capital's breakfast programme, has also been criticised for his "laddish" style. In the third quarter last year, the audience for his breakfast show fell 17 per cent.
Mr Bernard responded in January by almost halving the number of adverts broadcast by the London station, in order to attract more listeners and maintain the rates charged for ads. But when the group reported results in May, it admitted that Capital Radio's revenues were forecast to be down by more than a quarter in April and May.
Analysts have criticised the group for not marketing Capital, which is trying to appeal to an older, more sophisticated audience. Mr Bernard said changes were still being made to the format, and that once a new programme director had joined the group, a marketing blitz would be launched.
But he denied rumours that Mr Vaughan, who took over from Chris Tarrant in 2004, would be replaced as part of the changes.
"We do not junk a winning formula," he said. "He has a contract to stay with us. You should never say never - that would be stupid. But there is no reason to believe he will not be with us to see out his contract and beyond when we renew it."
He added that Mr Vaughan had become more "female friendly" in his presenting style. He did not know when his contract was up for renewal.
But one analyst said: "The company won't say what's wrong with Capital Radio. It's very hard to get a consistent message from them. How long does it take to get Capital Radio in order?"
He added that while rival companies like Emap have been developing strong brands, "no one has heard of some of GCap's digital stations".
Later this summer, BT will launch its Movio service in partnership with GCap. This will allow users to listen to digital radio on a mobile phone for the first time.
Digital radio is growing in popularity. It now accounts for around 10 per cent of total commercial listening.
GCap Media, the owner of Capital Radio, is planning to charge listeners to tune into some of its stations. Chief executive Ralph Bernard said the group was also looking to form partnerships with other media companies such as ITV to launch new interactive services.
Mr Bernard told The Independent on Sunday that GCap, whose profits have plummeted on weak advertising, could launch a commercial-free version of its Classic FM station on a digital frequency, charging listeners a subscription of several pounds a month.
Mobile phone or online radio listeners would also be able to download or "podcast" premium content from other stations for a fee, he added.
GCap has already struck a deal with the BBC that allows the corporation to broadcast the Captain Kremen radio comedy shows of the late DJ Kenny Everett. Mr Bernard said other money-making opportunities could include GCap charging for podcasts of the show, or for specialist content such as fishing programmes, which he dubbed "rod casts".
GCap would become the first mass-market UK radio group to offer "pay radio". Unlike in TV, where broadcasters such as BSkyB already charge a subscription, mainstream UK radio has always been free to air. Mr Bernard denied the move to charge for podcasts and pre- mium content was driven by falling ad revenues,.
"[The] advertising market is clearly soft at the moment. But this is not an alternative to existing free-to-air services," he said.
This week, the group will announce the appointment of a new group strategy director, Will Harding, to focus on boosting new media and non-traditional revenues.
Mr Bernard declined to say how a deal with ITV might work. However, he added: "I would not rule out a relationship with ITV, Clearly this is something which works in a multimedia world. If there is an interesting proposal, we do not have to remain sole operators."
But analysts have urged Mr Bernard, who is a fierce advocate of digital radio even though the medium has so far failed to return a profit, to concentrate instead on arresting the decline in the group's advertising and listening figures, particularly at Capital Radio.
Last year, the group's flagship was knocked off the top spot as most popular commercial station in London for the first time in its 32-year history by Chrysalis's Heart FM.
Johnny Vaughan, who pre- sents Capital's breakfast programme, has also been criticised for his "laddish" style. In the third quarter last year, the audience for his breakfast show fell 17 per cent.
Mr Bernard responded in January by almost halving the number of adverts broadcast by the London station, in order to attract more listeners and maintain the rates charged for ads. But when the group reported results in May, it admitted that Capital Radio's revenues were forecast to be down by more than a quarter in April and May.
Analysts have criticised the group for not marketing Capital, which is trying to appeal to an older, more sophisticated audience. Mr Bernard said changes were still being made to the format, and that once a new programme director had joined the group, a marketing blitz would be launched.
But he denied rumours that Mr Vaughan, who took over from Chris Tarrant in 2004, would be replaced as part of the changes.
"We do not junk a winning formula," he said. "He has a contract to stay with us. You should never say never - that would be stupid. But there is no reason to believe he will not be with us to see out his contract and beyond when we renew it."
He added that Mr Vaughan had become more "female friendly" in his presenting style. He did not know when his contract was up for renewal.
But one analyst said: "The company won't say what's wrong with Capital Radio. It's very hard to get a consistent message from them. How long does it take to get Capital Radio in order?"
He added that while rival companies like Emap have been developing strong brands, "no one has heard of some of GCap's digital stations".
Later this summer, BT will launch its Movio service in partnership with GCap. This will allow users to listen to digital radio on a mobile phone for the first time.
Digital radio is growing in popularity. It now accounts for around 10 per cent of total commercial listening. (Posted 12 July)

The end of Independent Local Radio continued ...
Following Offcom's decision to allow Emap to broadcast London's KISS 100FM's daytime shows on Vibe 101 in Bristol & Cardiff, GCap have now been alllowed to axe The Capital Gold South Wales Evening Show and replace it with The London Evening Show. How quick to implement a cost cutting measure which will alienate thousands of Welsh listeners? Well the decision was imparted on Monday 3rd July, and the last broadcast of a local Evening show for South Wales was made on Friday 7th July. While it can't be wrong for people to move around this leaves just one Cardiffian (Hiya Mel) and only four Welsh people in total on the four main ILR's for Cardiff - Capital Gold, Real Radio, Vibe 101 and Red Dragon FM (Angela J, Leigh Jones and Tony Wright are the others). (Posted 9 July)

Some things are not for sale ... Britain is
Can you make sense of this crazy idea ...
Five million people who buy their TV licence at the Post Office must change their habits when its deal with the BBC ends on 31 July.
In future, licences will be available from Paypoint outlets in newsagents, petrol stations and supermarkets or can be purchased online, by post or phone.
People will also no longer be able to save for their licence through special stamps available at the Post Office.
Instead, savers will be given a plastic card which they can "top up" at Paypoint outlets or over the phone.
Existing stamps can be taken into a Post Office until 31 July with the new swipe card and credit will be transferred across.
After that point, the transfer can still be made but must be done by post instead.
Chris Reed, spokesman of TV licensing explained the reasons for the changes to BBC Radio 4's Money Box.
"We want to make it easier for people to pay and also we want to provide better value for money in the way that we collect the TV licence. [It will] save about £100m over six years," he said.
"What we are doing is changing the contract to Paypoint which is in fact a bigger network than the Post Office."
He said Paypoint has over 15,000 outlets across the UK and are bringing on another 2,000 outlets by 2007. And he added that many of the outlets will be open 10 to 11 hours a day, seven days a week.
But despite this, not everyone is happy with the change.
BBC Radio 4's Money Box listener Sharon was sent one of the new cards.
She told the programme she was angry because she never asked for it and was concerned about privacy issues.
For all I know they are going to use it to make up consumer profiles.
"I was never given the opportunity to tick a box and say I don't want my details passed to anyone else and it was also linked with a Paypoint system, so presumably they have my details as well," she said. "It will be another electronic footprint - for all I know they are going to use it to make up consumer profiles and they could hand this data onto a third party."
But Chris Reed from TV licensing was quick to reassure her.
"We would never disclose that data to a third party for direct marketing purposes, nor would we use that data to gather information about a person's spending patterns and pass it on to a third party," he said. "I can give people an absolute assurance that the information that we gather will be used solely for the purposes of TV licensing. All of our agents must act in accordance with our instructions and there are strict contractual rules in place. That absolutely includes Paypoint. It is us that has access to that data, not them."
It's as daft as The Inland Revenue closing it's payment centres, and puts more unnecessary pressure on the focal point of every community - The Post Office. Another Great British own goal. (Posted 9 July)

Ofcom slashes radio licence fees
If proof were needed that commercial radio is undergoing a revolution, Ofcom has just provided it. The communications industry watchdog yesterday slashed the annual licence fees for several analogue radio stations.
Classic FM, owned by GCap Media, will now pay the Government just £50,000 for its national analogue licence, down from £1.16m. SMG's Virgin Radio will see its outlay fall tenfold to just £100,000. The cuts reflect the increasing popularity of digital radio; fierce competition from broadband, mobile phones, mp3 players and digital television; and the BBC's growing market share.
At the radio industry's biennial jamboree in Cambridge today a panel of industry heavyweights, chaired by the Daily Telegraph's Jeff Randall, will discuss what future commercial radio has - and indeed, whether it has a future at all.
On the panel will be GCap chief executive Ralph Bernard, whose company has suffered more than most as the BBC leaves commercial stations trailing and advertisers divert budgets online.
"We've been living with the BBC for 30 years here, so we may as well get used to it," he says. "The good news is that commercial stations have a bigger share with 15-44 year olds, which is the principal target market for advertisers.
"But nonetheless we have to do more to get listeners listening for longer, and that's one of the opportunities for digital radio, because we've got more spectrum which should mean more listening and more share."
On the advertising slump, Virgin Radio's chief executive Fru Hazlitt draws comfort from her experience at her previous employer Yahoo: "I freely admit radio ads are out of fashion but I saw it before in internet advertising. It was in fashion in 1999, then by 2003 was least fashionable thing ever, then when I left it was, unfortunately for me, trendy again."
The challenge, she says, is for radio to make itself appealing by exploiting relationships with the music industry. "When advertisers get reminded again that radio is still a very sexy medium for consumers, things will turn. We recently had Chris Martin of Coldplay stand up at Isle of Wight festival and say, 'Thank you to Virgin Radio, the best ****ing radio station in the world.' And we didn't even pay him. It's the kind of brand identification advertisers like Levi's love."
Radio is also facing new breeds of competition, from Channel 4, which is entering the market, to national newspapers offering daily podcasts.
Patrick Yau, media analyst at Bridgewell Securities, sees podcasting - whereby spoken word news and features are downloaded over the web to be listened to on a computer or digital music player - as a medium-term, rather than an immediate threat to commercial radio. He believes music podcasting will pose a bigger threat, but says royalty issues need to been resolved before it can seriously take off.
Technology change is an opportunity for radio, says Ms Hazlitt, whose Virgin station is the UK's most listened-to station on the internet. "People will listen to radio on their mobiles, through their TVs and through the internet. We should be everywhere."
That is after all the point about radio. You can listen to it anywhere, while doing something else. (Posted 7 July)

Bacon grilled ...
Capital Radio DJ Richard Bacon will leave his drivetime show in August to be replaced by Xfm's rising star Lucio. In a direct switch between GCap Media Group stations, Bacon will take the helm at the drivetime show on Xfm vacated by Lucio. Bacon joined Capital Radio in May 2005, presenting the 'Go Home' show for the radio network. The former Blue Peter presenter first emerged into the spotlight after a high-profile sacking from his job as a 'Blue Peter' presenter after it came to light that he had used cocaine. He resurrected his career with youth TV presenting duties and radio slots including filling in for Christian O'Connell, the host of Capital's Xfm breakfast show. He had also previously been a permanent DJ at the station. So Doctor Fox, star of Capital FM for 15 years will have a wry smile tonight in the knowledge his replacement lasted just over a year. Like many others, he'll be wondering if a similar fate awaits Johnny Vaughn. (Posted 4 July)

Bacon grilled with slight spin
Richard Bacon is quitting his Capital Radio drivetime slot 15 months after taking the job.
Bacon, 30, is returning to host the drivetime show on alternative music station Xfm, his former territory.
He will be switching places with Xfm's drivetime Gold Sony-award winner Lucio, who is moving to London station Capital.
The stations, owned by GCap Media, said both presenters were "very excited about the move" and denied that Bacon had been axed from his show.
Bacon said: "I have enjoyed my time at Capital, but I am looking forward to a return to my radio home at Xfm."
GCap media operations director Steve Orchard said: "This is a great opportunity for both Richard and Lucio.
"In Richard, we have a presenter who is already well-liked by the Xfm audience and with Lucio - while he has already proved popular on Xfm - I believe he can reach new heights at the reinvigorated Capital Radio."
Xfm programme director Andy Ashton said: "We're delighted at the prospect of Richard Bacon returning to Xfm.
"Richard's previous shows for Xfm were a huge success and he is still very much part of the family.
"We are also extremely proud of Lucio for whom this new appointment is well deserved following a storming year of development at Xfm."
Bacon's Capital Radio Drive Time show currently reaches 676,000, more than double that of Lucio's.
Recent listing figures from Rajar showed that Capital Radio had lost its spot as the most-listened-to station in London. (Posted 7 July)

Steve Lamacq to stay at Radio 1
Lamacq hosts an afternoon show on digital station 6 Music
DJ Steve Lamacq will continue to present at BBC Radio 1 following the recent schedule overhaul.
He will now host the Monday night edition of In New Music We Trust, the station has announced.
There was speculation over the DJ's future at Radio 1 when his current slot was given to Colin Murray last week.
Other presenters of the new music slot will include Tim Westwood, Pete Tong, and daytime DJ Jo Whiley, who will showcase live music on Wednesdays.
Lamacq will continue to host his daily afternoon show on BBC digital station 6Music.
Radio 1 said the In New Music We Trust programmes will be "one stop guides to everything that's happening in a particular genre fronted by the experts in that field".
The programmes will be broadcast at 2100 from Monday to Thursday.
New schedule
The station has announced major changes to its specialist music programming.
Murray will host a youth music show from Mondays to Thursdays at 2200, and Fridays will see the introduction of a 1Xtra showcase, playing the best in new black music.
Most of the schedule changes will come into effect on 25 September.
Lamacq, who was a journalist for NME before moving into broadcasting, hosted Radio 1's long-running new music show The Evening Session from 1993 to 2002.
A passionate supporter of live music, he once saw 197 gigs in one year as part of a bet. (Posted 4 July)