Digital One Can ‘Reassess’ Situation If MacKenzie Gains Talk

Digital One, the GWR-led radio consortium which offered the only application for the digital national radio licence yesterday (see RA Receives One Application For National Digital Multiplex), will be able to reassess the stake held by Talk Radio if the station is bought by Kelvin MacKenzie (see Murdoch Backs MacKenzie’s Talk Project). Digital One is owned 57% by GWR Group, 33% by NTL and 10% by Talk Radio.

A clause has been written into the Digital One contract which states that if any of the member groups changes ownership, “a facility exists” to review the situation. Effectively, this may mean that if Talk’s management buyout fails and ex Mirror deputy chief executive, Kelvin MacKenzie, gains control of the station, Talk could be forced to leave the consortium.

A spokesperson for GWR said that there was not necessarily a problem with MacKenzie owning Talk, but that a change in ownership could cause a reassessment.

The main fear of MacKenzie’s bid is that he is 20% backed by Rupert Murdoch’s News International. Concerns have been expressed that Murdoch is attempting to gain a dominant position in a gateway to digital radio as he may have in digital television through BSkyB.

Conservative MP Nicholas Winterton, recently asked Parliament to examine MacKenzie’s bid in this light before allowing it to go ahead (see Conservative MP Asks Parliament To Examine MacKenzie’s Talk Bid). ITV chairman, Leslie Hill, also recently warned MPs of BSkyB’s potential to ‘dominate the future of digital television’ (see ‘BSkyB Is Trying To Dominate The Future Of Digital Television’, Says ITV Chairman).

Digital One’s service is set to launch on 1 October 1999, reaching around 69% of the population. The Radio Authority will announce whether it has decided to grant the licence to the consortium in September.

GWR Group: 0171 344 2744 Talk Radio: 0171 636 1089 Radio Authority: 0171 430 2724