Sharewatch: Radio Groups Dip Amid Merger News
The UK’s radio groups saw a disappointing week, as broadcasting giants GWR and Capital announced the details of their proposed merger, only to see their share prices slide by 4.04% and 4.70% respectively.
The proposed £711 million merger will create a single broadcaster controlling more than 40% of the radio advertising market. The single sales house created as a result of the tie-up will be run by Capital Radio’s commercial director Linda Grant and Opus managing director Duncan George (see Capital And GWR Name Team For Single Sales House).
The UK’s largest independent radio production company, UBC Media, was also seen in focus last week, inching up by 1.01% as it revealed a ‘positive’ outlook for the year, claiming that the market continued to ‘meet expectations’ (see UBC Claims Outlook Is Positive For This Year).
Elsewhere, ITV saw an increase of 0.70% week on week as the broadcaster welcomed proposals from Ofcom to ease its public service obligations. The move could clear the way for ITV to concentrate on more revenue-generating commercial programming (see ITV Welcomes Ofcom’s Public Service Proposals).
The closing prices of media company shares on Monday were:
