The Wireless Group, owners of the UK’s first national sports station, TalkSport, is soon to unveil another first for radio with the launch of a station dedicated to business. Bloomberg TalkMoney, a 24-hour digital network, is the result of a deal between the financial news provider, Bloomberg, and Kelvin MacKenzie’s radio group.
In a soft launch expected in the next month, the station will broadcast business news, views and information, appealing initially to the high end of business people – those in the ABC1 category – but will eventually offer a wide range of programmes covering all aspects within the genre.
Broadcasting will begin each morning with a simulcast of the On The Money programme which Bloomberg produces for TalkSport. After that, the sound from Bloomberg’s existing business television channel will be simulcast onto the station, to be replaced in the coming months by business programmes commissioned and developed by the station itself.
Jason Bryant, managing director of development at the Wireless Group, said: “This is a genre of speech that the BBC can’t compete in. The impartiality of the corporation makes it difficult for it to comment on business in the same way as a commercial broadcaster can.”
Increased interest in business and financial issues has heightened the profile of the genre and TalkMoney aims to corner the market in business broadcasting through digital radio. Rolling financial data and information across digital radio screens will enhance the speech programming, and allow CEO’s to have constant access to time-sensitive data.
It will be marketed on Bloomberg’s existing platforms, and the group is looking to gain carriage on Sky Digital in the future, and to extend broadcasts to the internet.
Another radio group, GWR, has a 20% stake in the venture.
Wireless Group: 020 959 7800
