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Post by Sheriff Moto on Mar 19, 2009 14:06:47 GMT
Blimey, Patrick, you've obviously thought long about this - that's total overhaul you're suggesting there ;D
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Post by Patrick on Mar 19, 2009 14:24:24 GMT
Back in the mid 90's and the GWR and Capital Radio group were buying up the radio stations - they wanted them all to be the same. So they stripped out all the formats - Gone was any variety of music - Gone was any kind of minority music (many ILR stations would spend Sunday nights with Indian sections or country music sections depending on what was popular) and in the main they replaced it with radio for the 15-24 year olds. In response, the BBC locals got it into their heads that they should go "All Speech" - One BBC station famously auctioned off their record collection. Invariably it meant that the 25-44 or 54 age market was left bereft for anything to listen to at all! I predicted then that the ILR stations were making a big mistake - and within six years they were desperately trying to get their missing market share back - but it was too late because Ofcom had already allowed new smaller stations who jumped in to provide the service that the origninal ILR's had left behind. Consequences? The original (from the early 70's) ILR's went into meltdown. Someone on the BBC woke up to what was happening and brought music back. So the GWR and Capital Group begged for a merger and got one. They in turn have failed to turn their slide around and have sold out again - meaning a lot of the stations have had to be sold into smaller groups. Which is what the people would have wanted all along - "Local" radio.
Gawd! Sorry about that. What I mean to say is that ITV should never have been mucked around with - and would have grown just as powerful had the separate stations stayed at arms length and kept their unique styles - BUT simply shared more resources.
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