Global Radio
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| Type | Private |
|---|---|
| Founded | 2007 |
| Headquarters | Leicester Square, London, England, UK[1] |
| Key people | Stephen MironCEO Charles Allen Chairman Richard Park Director of Broadcasting |
| Industry | Media |
| Website | Global Radio |
Global Radio is a British commercial radio company, the largest in the country following acquisitions of Chrysalis Radio in July 2007 and GCap Media in June 2008.
The company's Chief Executive Officer is Stephen Miron, while the Group Chairman is Charles Allen. Richard Park is Group Executive Director and Director of Broadcasting.
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[edit] History
According to media reports [1] Global Radio was funded 75% by a consortium including John Magnier, JP McManus, Michael Tabor and Dermot Desmond. Debt from HBoS and Bank of Ireland comprised the remaining 25% of the 375 million pounds used to form the group.
Global Radio officially took control of all GCap Media brands at 23:59 on 31 October 2008. The GCap Media name was dropped at this time.
In the 2007 purchase of Chrysalis, Global took control of Heart, Galaxy, LBC and The Arrow. The GCap purchase gave Global the network of FM stations which GCap had operated as The One Network (many of which are now Heart or the Hit Music Network), plus Classic FM, Xfm, Choice FM, Gold and Chill. Following the merger Global were required to sell off a number of stations in the Midlands; this led to the creation of buyout venture Orion Media, headed by Phil Riley, former owner of Chrysalis.
[edit] Criticism of Global Radio
In February 2009 Global Radio and LBC were the subject of criticism by technical and scientific bloggers following their threat of legal action against medical journalist Ben Goldacre for mounting part of an LBC 97.3 broadcast by Jeni Barnett on his website. [2] The move was interpreted as an attempt to suppress criticism and debate rather than enforcement of copyright.
The broadcast has been characterised as irresponsible by David Aaronovitch in The Times, and LBC and Barnett were specifically identified in a critical Early Day Motion by Norman Lamb MP.
[edit] Stations owned by Global Radio
[edit] Classic FM
Classical music station broadcast nationally on FM and DAB; also available on Freesat, Sky Digital and Virgin Media.
[edit] The Galaxy Network
A group of stations playing rhythmic (dance and urban) music. Choice FM - an all-urban station based in London that was formerly owned by GCap - is now considered part of the Galaxy network for marketing purposes, but retains its own separate branding and programming.
- Choice FM - London FM, various areas on DAB, nationally on Freesat, Sky and Virgin Media.
- Galaxy Birmingham
- Galaxy Manchester
- Galaxy North East
- Galaxy Scotland
- Galaxy South Coast - South Hampshire on FM; on DAB in various parts of the South of England.
- Galaxy Yorkshire
- Galaxy Digital - now a relay of Galaxy Yorkshire content - is on DAB in various areas and nationally on Sky and Virgin Media.
[edit] The Gold Network
A network of golden oldies stations. Many of these were the AM sister stations to heritage CHR stations which are now Heart or Hit Music Network stations; though Gold Manchester was previously a standalone station (Big-AM). On DAB, Gold is available in some areas which do not have Gold on AM; in these areas Gold London is carried, though it may carry local branding on the label.
- Gold London (AM & DAB) - also nationally on Freesat, Sky and Virgin Media.
- Gold Black Country (AM & DAB)
- Gold Bournemouth (AM & DAB)
- Gold Bristol & Bath (AM & DAB)
- Gold Cambridge (DAB)
- Gold Cardiff & Newport (AM & DAB)
- Gold Central Scotland (DAB)
- Gold Derby (AM)
- Gold Essex (AM & DAB)
- Gold Gloucester & Cheltenham (AM)
- Gold Humberside (DAB)
- Gold Kent (AM & DAB)
- Gold Lancashire (DAB)
- Gold Leeds (DAB)
- Gold Luton & Bedford (AM)
- Gold Manchester (AM & DAB)
- Gold Norfolk & North Suffolk (AM & DAB)
- Gold Northamptonshire (AM)
- Gold Nottingham (AM & DAB)
- Gold Peterborough (AM & DAB)
- Gold Plymouth (AM & DAB)
- Gold Reading (AM & DAB)
- Gold Reigate & Crawley (AM)
- Gold Shropshire (AM)
- Gold South Hampshire (AM & DAB)
- Gold South Yorkshire (DAB)
- Gold Suffolk (AM)
- Gold Sussex (AM & DAB)
- Gold Teesside (DAB)
- Gold Tyne & Wear (DAB)
- Gold Wrexham & Chester (AM)
[edit] The Heart Network
Heart is a network of adult-contemporary pop stations. The network began with a regional station in the West Midlands and subsequently a station in London. Heart 106 in the East Midlands became part of the network having previously been known as Century 106; it was sold off (becoming Heart) when GWR and Capital merged into GCap. In 2009 many of the heritage CHR stations which had formed part of the One Network were renamed Heart, as were Ocean and South Hams Radio (which were not part of the One Net). Heart 106 is now owned by Orion Media but uses the Heart name and format under licence from Global, and Heart South Devon (formerly South Hams Radio) is partly owned by UKRD Group; all the other Heart stations are wholly Global-owned. Heart is also available on DAB in some areas where there is not a local Heart station; these areas receive Heart Digital, which is a relay of Heart London content. On Freeview, viewers in the ITV Central region receive either Heart West Midlands or Heart East Midlands (depending on transmitter), with viewers in other parts of England and Wales getting Heart Digital.
- Heart Digital (Heart London content) - DAB in selected areas, nationally on Sky and Virgin Media; Freeview in England (not Midlands) & Wales
- Heart London
- Heart West Midlands
- Heart East Midlands - Owned by Orion Media operating under a brand licence.
- Heart Dunstable
- Heart Peterborough
- Heart Milton Keynes
- Heart Northants
- Heart Cambridge
- Heart Norfolk
- Heart Colchester
- Heart Ipswich
- Heart Berkshire
- Heart Oxfordshire
- Heart Bath
- Heart Bristol
- Heart Wiltshire
- Heart Somerset
- Heart Gloucestershire
- Heart Torbay
- Heart Exeter
- Heart North Devon
- Heart Plymouth
- Heart South Devon - Owned as a joint venture with UKRD Group.
- Heart Dorset & New Forest
- Heart Kent
- Heart Hampshire
- Heart Sussex
- Heart Essex
- Heart Wirral
- Heart Cymru
- Heart North Wales Coast
- Heart Wrexham
[edit] The Hit Music Network
This is a group of heritage CHR/pop stations formerly part of the One Network that were not rebranded after the Global takeover. Having been excluded from the One Network by GCap, Global now consider Capital FM to be part of this station group; however, it and Red Dragon largely exclude the networked programming carried on the smaller stations in the block.
- 95.8 Capital FM - FM/DAB in London, also available nationally on Freesat, Sky and Virgin Media.
- Leicester Sound
- Mercury FM
- RAM FM
- 103.2 & 97.4 Red Dragon FM
- Ten 17
- Trent FM
[edit] LBC Radio
LBC is a speech-based station featuring news, opinion and information. Its sister station LBC News offers rolling news during daytime, but now simulcasts LBC's FM content overnight.
- LBC 97.3 - FM/DAB in London, DAB selected other areas, nationally on Sky and Virgin Media.
- LBC News 1152 - AM//DAB in London only.
[edit] Xfm Network
Xfm broadcasts alternative rock and independent music. It began officially in 1997 as an independent London station, later purchased by Capital (thus now being part of Global). The Xfm brand was extended in 2006-7 with the launch of stations in Scotland (formerly Beat 106), Manchester and South Wales; however, the Scotland station is now Galaxy and the South Wales station was sold to Town & Country Broadcasting in 2008, becoming Nation Radio. The Xfm network now consists of two stations:
- Xfm London - London FM, various areas DAB, nationally on Freesat, Sky and Virgin Media.
- Xfm Manchester - Manchester FM, various DAB multiplexes in north of England
[edit] Digital-only stations
Global currently operates two stations exclusively broadcast to digital listeners:
- Chill - mellow music; DAB in London and Birmingham; nationally on Sky and Virgin Media.
- The Arrow - classic rock music; DAB in selected areas. No longer available on digital TV.
Several DAB-only stations previously operated by Global or its predecessors have now been sold off or closed down, including Capital Life, Core, The Storm, Capital Disney, theJazz and Planet Rock. There was also a digital station called The Mix, which aired content from GWR's Mix Network to DAB and digital TV listeners, but this was withdrawn following the GWR-Capital merger.
[edit] Internet Television stations
[edit] See also
[edit] References
- ^ thisisglobal.com - Radio Global Radio
- ^ "Radio Station Uses Copyright Claim To Try To Silence Bad Science Critic; Guess What Happens?", TechDirt, 6 February, 2009
