Commercial Radio Needs To Be More Diverse Says Abramsky

Commercial radio has been less diverse than BBC radio with stations concentrating more on competing with each other than on providing a broader range of services, according to Jenny Abramsky, director of BBC radio and music.

Speaking at a special Any Questions debate at the Radio Festival in Cambridge yesterday afternoon, Abramsky said that the new super regulator Ofcom should demand quality and work to create an environment that encourages the commercial radio market to take risks.

RAJAR figures for the first quarter of 2002 show that commercial radio has seen its share of listening decline year on year from 46% to 44.6%, compared to the BBC’s 51.7% share (RAJAR Q1 figures). Commenting on this Phil Riley, chief executive of Chrysalis Radio, said: “If regulators gave the commercial sector more spectrum it could take on and beat the BBC in terms of share.”

He added: “It is a signal of a resurgent BBC that the commercial sector has seen its share of listening decline. The fact that we’ve achieved the share that we have with the spectrum that we’ve been allocated shows how far commercial radio has come.”

Riley said that he was “shocked” by the Government’s decision to allow non EU investors to buy into the UK commercial radio market, but said: “It will be a good thing for the TV and radio industries in general to have the best companies in the world competing within the UK market.”

Yesterday at the Radio Academy’s annual Radio Festival, the chief executive of US-owned Clear Channel Worldwide, the world’s biggest radio group, admitted that he would like to take over one of the UK major commercial radio groups (see US Radio Group Could Move On UK Commercial Stations).

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