Ad Breaks and Minutage Cut on Flagship Capital Radio from December
GCap is to re-brand and re-position its flagship Capital 95.8FM station from the New Year, and is to cut advertising minutage and the length of advertising breaks from December 12th
The announcement was made to major agencies at a briefing last night attended by GCap senior management after the stock market had closed, and prior to this morning’s results announcement.
Advertising has been identified as the biggest turn off for audiences ” the length of breaks and the repetitive nature of the advertising itself. From December 12th, Capital Radio 95.8 will cut advertising minutage to six minutes per hour at breakfast and five minutes per hour in daytime; and there will never be more than a 60 second advertising break ” this will include sponsorship messages, but not competitions linked to sponsors.
The bold move “will cost GCap £4m-£7m in year one, but we are compelled to act to justify maintaining our price premium in the London market, commented National Sales Director Duncan George. “Research shows that a two-spot break can be 2.6 times more effective in terms of awareness, and we are willing to conduct further research with our customers into this. Nine to fourteen minutes of advertising per hour will be untenable in a digital world.”
Chief Executive Ralph Bernard described it as “a model that will dictate the future.”
The station will re-brand as Capital Radio, dropping the 95.8FM tag, which is “increasingly less relevant anyway in a digital environment,” said Operations Director, Steve Orchard, whose focus this has been. “We have seen a severe and unprecedented audience decline ” over half our audience in less than five years, 11m hours of listening. We have to get them back”
The station will reposition its music output from the New Year, based on research which is completed in 2-3 weeks; will ensure “more disciplined” DJs, so a greater quantity of music; and will stress its London-ness is all its output. “The minutage changes will allow us to tell our listeners they are never more than a minute away from music,” said Orchard.
Orchard commented that he “would like competitors to follow suit” on reduced minutage. “We would rather be market leader of a strong industry.”
Bernard felt that the minutage alterations were not needed at local level just yet, but the company was investigating whether these might be rolled out to Birmingham next.