Radio First this morning said that it has had an ‘extremely successful’ six months in which it signed carriage deals with BSkyB and secured £3.5 million of funding for the development of its stations.
The company recently struck a five-year deal with BSkyB to broadcast its network of football club-related digital radio stations regionally, via Sky Digital (see
Radio First Confirms 5-Year Deal With BSkyB). This Fan Radio Network is set to launch during the next football season (see
Radio First To Launch Football Club Stations Next Season).
Radio First expects the second half of the year to see revenue streams benefiting from the launch in August of the first two stations – Chelsea’s Big Blue and Southampton’s The Saint. The group is continuing to try and bring in more clubs to the Fan Radio Network and is also exploring the possibilities of other delivery platforms for its stations.
It hopes to complete up to eight separate joint ventures with leading football clubs throughout the UK. Each of these will own and operate a commercial, regional digital radio station for a minimum of 12 years.
Pre-tax profit for the six months to 31 March came in at £57,000, as against a loss of £2.2 million last time. Operating profit was £49,000.
