GWR today announced increased commercial collaboration with the Daily Mail & General Trust (DMGT), which could lead to the creation of Classic FM TV. DMGT owns a 18.8% stake in the radio group and the two companies are considering a number of proposals to leverage the audiences of both groups in the new media environment.
A relaunch of DMGT’s cable television channel, The Performance Channel, as Classic FM TV, is one of the options being considered. Also being discussed is the creation of local portal internet sites which combine the content of the two companies, and cross marketing between both Classic FM and GWR’s local stations and the regional and national newspaper titles of DMGT is planned.
GWR Group announced the proposals today as it reported pre-tax profits of £18.8 million in its preliminary results for the year ending March 2000. This is a slight increase on last year when profits of £18.3 million broke previous records (see GWR Group Announces Record Profits). Turnover for the group was £102.3 million, a 21.5% increase on last year.
The year as a whole was a good one for the group, with the Digital One network, in which it holds a 63% stake, bringing digital radio to the UK (see Digital Radio Launches In The UK). The latest set of RAJAR results showed rising audiences amongst 24 of GWR’s 38 local analogue stations (see Feature: Radio Groups Show Improvements In Latest RAJAR Report) and today the group’s chairman, Henry Meakin, looked forward to continued improvement within the group.
“These are a strong set of results achieved through a strengthening of our brands. We expect to see continued improvement in underlying operating margins. We have a commanding position in digital radio and the take-up is encouraging,” he said.
He said that the “complimentary strengths between radio and the internet” will be a driver of future growth. The group announced the creation of a separate wholly-owned company, Ecast Ventures, earlier this year, to push the group’s net presence (see GWR Group Launches New Internet Company).
Meakin also looked forward to the Government’s White Paper on the communications industry, due this autumn. For some time the group has been lobbying for changes in the ownership rules in the radio industry (see GWR Chief Calls For Relaxation Of Radio Regulation), and today the chairman said in a statement that plans to ease media ownership regulations would be welcomed by GWR. He particularly looks forward to changes in the internal regulation of the BBC: “We believe that the BBC enjoys unfettered and unfair advantage which should be controlled by a regulator outside of the Corporation”, he said.
GWR Group: 020 7284 3000
