We frequently consider the direction being taken by the BBC. There has been much discussion too recently of the Murdoch empire. It might then be worth spending a short while looking at the organisation of radio in this country. Frankly, it is just incredible, not only because of the sheer numbers of stations offering aural wallpaper, but in the constant, manic and largely unfathomable business-led changes. In fact, it would be the media equivalent to the Wild West if it were not for the fact that with the Government's full endorsement, the financial backing and the power are in the hands of a very small number of people.
The history - Let's set the scene. In the early 1970s, 19 identifiably local commercial stations were given permission to broadcast alongside BBC national and local radio. This number was added to significantly in the next decade. By the late 1980s, it had been agreed that different services could be broadcast on each station's FM and AM frequencies. Generally, old records were played on the AM frequencies, none of those halves sounded at all local, but at least conceptually it could be understood. In the early 1990s, three national commercial stations were permitted. These included CFM. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Independent_Local_Radio. And from then onwards, local stations were bought by huge companies who frequently also owned further national stations, particularly with the advent of DAB. Finally, it all became completely mad. Split, merge, split, merge, build an empire or two.
The "brands" - Here is the Global Music "brand", including its radio stations. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Global_Radio. The scale of it is enough to make the mind boggle. According to media reports it 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. Here is the Canadian and North American styled Jack FM which owns 60 stations in Canada, the US, the UK and Russia, including in rural Oxfordshire and on the South Coast. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jack_FM. So then to the huge Bauer Radio and its list of stations. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bauer_Radio. The Bauer Media Group has radio, tv and magazines and offices in 16 countries from Germany to here, the US and Nigeria . http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bauer_Media_Group.
And here an example - I do urge you to read this part because it is so involved I would be surprised if anyone could follow it in full - of what happened to little Radio Victory in organisational terms after it opened as one of the original 19 local commercial stations in the 1970s, ceased in 1986, and was then in a bewildering number of forms passed from pillar to post in the grip of very big business. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Capital_South_Coast. Pity the auditors. Pity the locals trying to keep sense of locality. In respect of balance, it should perhaps be added that there are some other groups - the Guardian Media Group has a few stations and so of course does the Times - of India - and the Sun. I doubt this reassures much. There are also one or two stations of some size that are truly independent. Oh yes. All hail Isle of Wight Radio. I kid you not and can confirm that it sounds like all the others.
So, Murdoch is significant but what I think this all proves is that he is far from unique in the media world. There are other individuals who have greater media power than any Government. If this is what the BBC is competing with, and it is, it is not just striving, or not, to maintain a standard. It is at the axis of the battle between private enterprise and nations to govern us. Meanwhile those in the upper echelons are keen to give what remains of our national broadcasting and its values away. Scary.
The history - Let's set the scene. In the early 1970s, 19 identifiably local commercial stations were given permission to broadcast alongside BBC national and local radio. This number was added to significantly in the next decade. By the late 1980s, it had been agreed that different services could be broadcast on each station's FM and AM frequencies. Generally, old records were played on the AM frequencies, none of those halves sounded at all local, but at least conceptually it could be understood. In the early 1990s, three national commercial stations were permitted. These included CFM. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Independent_Local_Radio. And from then onwards, local stations were bought by huge companies who frequently also owned further national stations, particularly with the advent of DAB. Finally, it all became completely mad. Split, merge, split, merge, build an empire or two.
The "brands" - Here is the Global Music "brand", including its radio stations. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Global_Radio. The scale of it is enough to make the mind boggle. According to media reports it 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. Here is the Canadian and North American styled Jack FM which owns 60 stations in Canada, the US, the UK and Russia, including in rural Oxfordshire and on the South Coast. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jack_FM. So then to the huge Bauer Radio and its list of stations. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bauer_Radio. The Bauer Media Group has radio, tv and magazines and offices in 16 countries from Germany to here, the US and Nigeria . http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bauer_Media_Group.
And here an example - I do urge you to read this part because it is so involved I would be surprised if anyone could follow it in full - of what happened to little Radio Victory in organisational terms after it opened as one of the original 19 local commercial stations in the 1970s, ceased in 1986, and was then in a bewildering number of forms passed from pillar to post in the grip of very big business. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Capital_South_Coast. Pity the auditors. Pity the locals trying to keep sense of locality. In respect of balance, it should perhaps be added that there are some other groups - the Guardian Media Group has a few stations and so of course does the Times - of India - and the Sun. I doubt this reassures much. There are also one or two stations of some size that are truly independent. Oh yes. All hail Isle of Wight Radio. I kid you not and can confirm that it sounds like all the others.
So, Murdoch is significant but what I think this all proves is that he is far from unique in the media world. There are other individuals who have greater media power than any Government. If this is what the BBC is competing with, and it is, it is not just striving, or not, to maintain a standard. It is at the axis of the battle between private enterprise and nations to govern us. Meanwhile those in the upper echelons are keen to give what remains of our national broadcasting and its values away. Scary.
Comment