A Fresh Start For GCap With Hazlitt
The past year has been an exciting one for the radio industry, and just before Christmas there was a major move when Fru Hazlitt was appointed as the new chief executive of GCap Media.
Hazlitt took over from Ralph Bernard, the man who oversaw the merger of Capital Radio and GWR in 2005, creating a single broadcaster with combined airtime sales accounting for almost 40% of the UK’s commercial radio market (see Capital And GWR Name Merged Group).
She was appointed managing director of GCap London in May 2007 (see Hazlitt Takes MD Role At GCap), having previously been chief executive of Virgin Radio.
It was announced in November that Bernard would be stepping down as chief executive, and immediately the pundits placed Hazlitt in pole position to take over the role (see Ralph Bernard Steps Down As GCap Chief Exec).
Bernard relinquished his position on December 20, with Hazlitt taking over with immediate effect.
The start of the year saw the GCap unveil a radical rebranding for flagship station 95.8 Capital FM, returning its name to Capital Radio and shifting its music policy to offer less repetition and fewer advertisements (see Capital Radio Returns Following Rebrand).
The radically reduced ad minutage, first announced in November 2006, was specifically designed to attract those who see advertising as a “turn-off.” The move saw Capital vow never to play more than two adverts in a row.
In March, GCap revealed that its revenues for the first quarter of the year would be down by 17% year on year, citing the “short term” impact of its decision to reduce the number of ads on Capital Radio, as well as a weak advertising market in general (see GCap Remains Optimistic Despite Slip In Revenues).
Then in March it bought the Classic Gold network, consisting of 18 AM Classic Gold radio stations, from UBC Media for just shy of £4 million, with Bernard saying that it would, allow GCap, “to create a single classic hits network with the potential to become a fast-growing national brand as audiences increasingly migrate to digital platforms” (see GCap Nabs Classic Gold Network In Almost £4 Million Cash Deal).
This was followed by the announcement that commercial director Duncan George would be leaving in June (see Duncan George To Leave GCap).
May also saw the company publish its full year financial results, which showed that its revenue for the year was down 9% at £200.1 million (see GCap Revenues Decline).
The results revealed that GCap’s profits were down from £22.2 million in 2006 in £14.4 million, whilst its advertising revenues dropped 8% to £167.5 million.
However, just a couple of months later GCap revealed that total revenues to June were up 6% year on year, ahead of the company’s expectations, and were up 2% year on year for the three months to 30 June (see GCap Media Revenues ‘Ahead Of Expectations’).
Meanwhile, the latest RAJAR figures, for Q3 2007, showed that Capital Radio bolstered its reach by around 16.8% year on year and around 12.4% period on period.
GCap’s flagship station now holds a weekly reach of around 1.7 million, while its share of listening was up from the last Q2, by almost 15 percentage points. Its hours per listener dropped by around 14.5% year on year to just under six hours on average.
GCap had been one of the main contenders in the frame to buy Emap’s radio division, but this was eventually sold to German magazine publisher H Bauer.
At the start of December, MediaTel Group held a seminar on the future of radio, at which Ralph Bernard was one of the panelists, and it was clear that he still thought consolidation of the industry was the way forward, despite the Emap sale (see Continued Consolidation For Commercial Radio?).
However, judging by comments made in the press by Hazlitt, consolidation no longer seems to be at the forefront of GCap’s strategy.
Speaking to MediaGuardian.co.uk, she said: “It’s not so much about size, it’s about brands and brand behaviour.
“We need to demonstrate more than we have to date the quality of our brands. We don’t need the distraction [of consolidation]. I think we will be serving our investors better if we are building growth within our own stable.”
GCap Media: 0207 663 7000 www.gcapmedia.com