Briefing note from Phil Riley, CEO, Orion Media

Beacon set to be Free Radio – Black Country & Shropshire

I wanted to personally let you know at the earliest opportunity that we will be changing the name of Beacon to Free Radio – Black Country & Shropshire in April as part of a major strategy to sustain and grow our listenership across the area.

This is obviously a decision which has been subject to significant research and consideration given the 35 years that the station has been operating under the Beacon banner. I therefore wanted to share our thinking with you.

Since we established Orion Media in 2009 to acquire brmb, Beacon, Mercia and Wyvern, the stations have been owned and managed by a Midlands company with highly experienced locally-based radio executives. We have grown the combined audience to the four stations by nearly 100,000 listeners in that time, with a commitment to local output and by investing in programming and presenters which have engaged their audiences. As well as arresting a ten-year decline in listening, we have also
significantly increased local advertising revenues.

However we are facing growing challenges in the national market. During the last three years, here in the West Midlands other, once local, commercial radio stations have consolidated around
network brands, some with few or no presenters or journalists now based in this transmission area. They have used television and other marketing spend to promote their brands effectively, and now
rely heavily on established presenters operating from outside this area to attract listeners. These network stations have also been able to invest in their national sales organisation and present simple propositions to national advertisers and their agencies. We at Orion need to respond to these challenges.

The decision being announced today is a change in name only, not output. As is the case now, the majority of peak time programming on 97.2 & 103.1 FM / DAB will continue to be aimed at serving
the needs of Black Country & Shropshire listeners and there will be no significant change to the overall mix of local and regional programming across the station. This change in name will not affect our presenter line-up, with our established local breakfast and afternoon drivetime programmes remaining in place providing local news, sport, traffic and weather. All weekday news bulletins between 6am and 7pm on 97.2 & 103.1 FM / DAB will continue to be specifically produced and presented for listeners in the Black Country & Shropshire, and we are maintaining the investment we make in original and locally based journalism across the region. Similarly, Black Country & Shropshire advertisers will continue to be able to specifically target their local customers using 97.2 & 103.1 FM / DAB.

The change to Free Radio – Black Country & Shropshire will be made at the same time as we alter the names of our other local stations (brmb, Mercia and Wyvern) which will become, in turn: Free Radio – Birmingham, Free Radio – Coventry & Warwickshire and Free Radio – Herefordshire & Worcestershire.

In the face of increasingly aggressive opposition, there is a clear need to promote our output assertively. TV (notably the ITV Central West platform) is the only realistic option for us. Given
Central West has an almost identical transmission footprint to the combined coverage of all four of our stations; the only logical way to promote all of them together is via a shared identity. Promoting four different brand names is not financially feasible, whilst only promoting one would be unfair and confusing to listeners ignored in such a move. One new master brand, Free Radio, covering all four sets of transmitters, gives us the opportunity to promote all stations equally.

We are obviously saddened to be losing radio names with the heritage of brmb, Beacon, Mercia and Wyvern, not least as many of us running the stations established our love for radio with them. However, it is the name which is changing, not the output or philosophy, which remains one rooted in serving the needs of local listeners at key peak times, and remaining true to the wider region at all times. Even when we are in network mode on Free Radio, sharing programming between all four stations, we will still be broadcasting from, and ensuring the stations only serve the needs of listeners of, the West Midlands.

We expect to make the change on-air in early April, and back it up by investing a significant sum in a locally based marketing campaign. I should also highlight that there are no net job losses involved in this change; in fact, we expect to be employing more people after the transition.

We will continue many of the fine traditions established by Beacon, such as the Walk of the Black Country which we launched last year that raised over £100,000 for local charity Promise Dreams, and we will continue to support big local events like The Quarry Concert in Shrewsbury as well as working closely with partners like Wolves Civic, the Racecourse and Himley Hall.

I expect there will be some press coverage and other commentary concerning this announcement. I hope this note helps to set out the rationale for the changes, but please don’t hesitate to call if you have any further questions on the decision or the process.

My argument is this: I think Orion have lost it. I just don’t get this. Don’t get it at all. The logo looks like a tampons packet, the name is weak.

The only rationale they’ve really given is that they can advertise across the Central West region, which is a fair point. The Heart rollout was effectively done by ITV region for that precise reason.

They will have to market the ARSE off of this for it to work; but really the only issue was the output – not the brand. It’s unfocussed. Simple as. A pig in lipstick is still a pig.

Someone at Global once told me the way to do it was “1. Find a market. 2. Rape it ‘till it can’t walk to the Police station.”

You can see why they’ve got this right – twice.

“Someone at Global once told me the way to do it was “1. Find a market. 2. Rape it ‘till it can’t walk to the Police station.”“

This doesn’t even make sense and is vaguely offensive.

Forgive the rawness of the analogy I guess, I think the point was just to be damn focussed.

I can’t see why they can’t keep the current names, or at least come up with a better name than the one they have

NO merger of Coventry & Birmingham (for now.)

You really don’t help yourself at all James. You really don’t.