Is the roll-out of national brands fundamentally altering the nature of commercial radio?

Mark Barber, director of planning at the Radio Advertising Bureau, says the changes to the Heart, Smooth and Capital brands are just a natural evolution but could also be an important factor in helping radio claim a fairer share of ad revenue…

So the story goes, the launch of Smooth on a national basis last week, and the imminent roll-out of the Capital brand, coming hot on the heels of the expansion of the Heart brand across a wide number of heritage ILR licences across the last year or so, is further evidence that the face of commercial radio has changed beyond recognition.

National brands with networked content are great for advertisers, but are anathema for commercial listeners brought up on local stations with local content, aren’t they?

There’s a compelling nostalgia in this line of thinking, but recent history demonstrates that there’s room in people’s lives for both types of station, and that they can both happily co-exist successfully in the radio, and wider media ecology.

Across the last decade or so, the radio landscape in the UK has already experienced huge change. In addition to traditional analogue radio, listeners now have the opportunity to tune in via DAB, online, and via their (digital) TV.

The latest development of branded radio apps in mobile devices alongside existing availability of FM receivers in mobile phones has further extended radio’s accessibility.

This diverse range of listening platforms has created new spectrum, enabling the launch of new national radio stations, and for established local or regional analogue stations to extend their reach to national audiences. Across this time, we have also seen robust local and regional brands replace existing brands, and successfully apply for new licences advertised in different parts of the country (e.g. Magic).

Ultimately what this means is that the expectations of radio content have changed, as the internet has changed most media rules of engagement. You can now listen to localised content from anywhere in the country, and different content from the same station brand depending on where you’re listening, or which platform you’re listening on (e.g. Classic, Absolute).

In this context, the changes to Heart, Smooth and Capital brands are just a natural evolution within the vibrant and dynamic radio ecology, which offers the listener rich choice at both ends of the “community” spectrum.

Despite the dissenters suggesting otherwise, most cities and major towns still have access to stations serving relevant local content to listeners within a defined geographical community – according to RAJAR, there are 114 commercial stations serving areas with a population of less than half a million people.

The real change is that these listeners increasingly are able to access a wider range of national station brands based around a music-based community of interest, serving their wider listening needs on different occasions.

The fact that radio, in the face of increased demand on people’s media time from the internet, has just recorded record levels of reach and (according to the latest TouchPoints survey) is the second most consumed medium after TV with a 26% share of the media day, is strong evidence that the medium continues to get the content pitch about right.

And with the Heart experience suggesting that better understanding of station brands leads to increased advertiser investment in the medium, these changes could be an important factor in helping radio claim a fairer share of ad revenue commensurate to its share of the media day.